Category: Community Based

Community Based Activities

Educators always working against common misconception!!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

As I was perusing my Facebook feed, I came across an interesting post from an old friend, Ed:

  • CNN’s Michaela Pereira did a story today about which states have the “higher probability” of winning the Powerball based upon the historical percentage of winners. This drivel implies that people have a greater probability of winning based on the state they play in.

    The fact that this is seen as some level of insight into winning the lottery is beyond ignorant. It reminds me of my favorite bumper sticker “The Lottery: a tax you pay for not understanding math”

Ed is not a teacher but a engineer for Intel. I am so glad that He gets frustrated with a news report that is showing ignorance of math. It seems like a regular occurrence these days that new agencies misstate facts or run a story that improperly applies math principles.

The story, Ed is referencing, implies that someone has better odds of winning the Powerball jackpot depending on the state in which they live. When in fact,  The change of winning is fixed based on a how many numbers there are and how many there are to choose from, period. CBS news ran a similar story today too.

Simple stories like this one, seem harmless at first but the undermine the entire education system. Students are more likely to believe what they see on the news, than remember a lesson presented at school. Educators are always working against the common social misconceptions. Our media outlets need to do a better job in “informing” the public. Teachers often get the blame when students don’t understand concepts, shouldn’t we start holding all of our media outlets to this same high standard?

As a teacher, I often remind the students that anyone can be wrong, and that misconceptions exist all over our society. Fact checking from multiple sources is a must but does not always result in a “correct answer”. Just remember the next time you watch the news to be a bit skeptical, and check for common misconceptions.

Sad but True

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

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In class today a few of my students were looking at maps after they finished a project on the computers. I came over to make sure they were done with their assignments and ask “What are you doing?” One of the girls responded, “Looking at maps.” The other stated “Yeah, I have to show her all 16 of the places I have lived!” This was a 13 year old girl who has gone through the moving process 16 times, more than once a year. After my “Oh” expression she continued “I can’t help it we have been kicked out alot.” My heart continued to break for this girl.  Thirteen years old, frequent moves and evictions filling your life. No wonder she struggles in school.
wordle poverty

Our district was just looking at attendance data. 1,354 of our 3,785 student have been absent from school for more than 10 days. Either the flu was really bad this year or student are staying home in large numbers. Are students sick for all of these days? Over 1/3 of our population sick that much? Probably not. Many times when I talk to a student about their absence, they reply “couldn’t get a ride” or “I had to watch my younger sibling.” Large amounts of absences in general a result of poverty. How are we going to address this issue?

10 days of school is 6% of the school year. I know students that have missed twice or even 4 times as many school days. Missing this much instruction has to have an impact on student learning. How can schools help students catch up when they miss school? Poverty is a growing issue in American schools. Sure it is not as bad as some countries, but it is like never before here. We need a plan to assist these children that are born into their circumstance.

Why bullying won’t end in schools!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

We live in a society fully of bullying! In recent years films have been made about how this affects the learning environments in schools. Bullying is a HUGE problem in schools. It needs to be solved. Many states have enacted legislation that make schools follow specific protocol to follow to prevent bullying. These types of actions are just simple window dressing to a complex problem.

Bullying is present in all aspects of our society. It is modeled everywhere. Schools are not where the bullying starts. It starts in the media with advertising. Imagines that place more value on beauty and size infiltrate our culture starting at birth. The most recent example comes from the CEO of clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch, Michael Jefferies. Below are his comments:

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Comments like these create bullies! Since when did size determine cool? If our goal is to rid our culture of bullies why would his comments be acceptable? Thankfully some news outlets are taking notice and writing about it. The media attention is only temporary. In time, the stories will fade and Abercrombie will continue to sell clothing and make profits. “Cool” kids will get to wear the popular gear and others will be picked on for not having A&F clothes in their wardrobe.

This is just one small example of how bullying is allowed to persist in our society. Turn on most televisions today and bullying actions are easy to find modeled for our youth. Most reality programming model bullying. MTV, which used to focus on music, now if flooded with bullies. Just watch Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, Buckwild, etc and observe where many grade school students see behaviors that model bullying. How can schools teach that behaviors are not appropriate, when they are modeled everywhere? Bravo’s real housewife series, takes it to another level. Showing that adults should shout and fight about the smallest issues. Why do we let this modeling of bullying exist so predominately in our media? It can be entertaining, funny and makes for good drama, but do we want our youth following these models?

Currently the very legislators who talk about ending bullying in schools are active bullies. Most states are actively attacking teachers, claiming that they are not effective. Saying teachers need more passion for their students and tearing down the traditional American education system. Attacking teacher pay, benefits, unions job security and tenure rights. Teachers feel they are being bullied by the very body that ask teachers to be the first line of defense against bullies.

Many would argue that we have the freedom of speech and expression in the United States of America. By restricting options on television, we would be creating a society of censorship. No good American wants censorship!! How can we address the prevalence of bullying in our media without censorship? Many networks like MTV and the Cartoon Network have used counter programming to help address bullying. Running specials or week/month-long promotions to address bullies. Is this enough? Isn’t it hypocritical to fight bullying while running programming full of bullying? I feel WE can do better!

I am glad that bullying is making it to the forefront of conversations today. It used to be stated that “Kids will be kids.” We are at least trying to change. More certainly needs to occur before we can rid schools of this problem. Society has to recognize bullying behaviors and work hard to not model them. The following poem by Shane Koyczan speaks volumes to how bullying can affect our youth.

I Wanted to watch NCAA Championship with my son!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

As I sit here waiting with my nine-year old son to share a ONCE in a great while lifetime experience, I am angry. Our society has been taken over to maximize revenues for large corporations and holds no value for education and our youth.

It has been 20 years since U-M has been to the NCAA championship game (13 since MSU won we root for all teams in the state). Griffin has played basketball for the last two years. This past year his third grade team was dominant, going undefeated, winning all games by double digits, never giving up more than 12 points. He loves the game and has become a huge fan of ALL things basketball. The Detroit Pistons haven’t been much to watch this year, but MSU and UM playing in the Big Ten has been great. He gets so excited for each game. The Tourney has brought him more excitement. He has learned so much about geography and colleges while watching. Michigan making the Final Four made him so excited. Saturday he got mad. He asked WHY is the game on so late? I started thinking about it. Saturday games could have been played during the day or at least at a time where the game doesn’t end after 11 pm EST. (I realize I am using an east coast biased sorry Pacific Time Zone.)

9:23 start for a Final Four game is really late for a nine-year old. He will fall asleep by 10:00. WHY does the game start so late? When I started thinking about it more, Why is it on Monday? It seems like the Superbowl and World Series have similar time issues. Do these sports only want to cater to the late night “bar” crowd or west coast? Sports need fans, if the young are not going to be awake to watch the biggest games, will they remain fans? Heck, many I work with complained about how late the game is on. Maybe we shouldn’t be fans of the game!

America has to work tomorrow, many students will stay up late and waste a day at school sleeping in class. Many workers will call in sick. Sounds like the Super Bowl all over. Starting the games earlier would not mean the west coast could not see the game, they just might miss the beginning. Starting late means many young and old will miss the most exciting and definitive part the end. Relying on a newscaster to report the score in the morning. WHY? As explained to me, all for TV scheduling and ad sales!!

Work production, education and youth give way to the all mighty dollar! Our society has sacrificed so much over the years to the mighty dollar. Now when our schools are reflecting THIS society, government says reform schools. Let’s fix society, make decisions that show education and youth are valued and then schools will improve. “You can’t cut the hair in the mirror by reaching for the glass!”

Look careful at how society constantly places the dollar, ahead of our youth and their education. This is one small example.

Game Time. Enjoy Go Blue, sadly many will hear results in the morning. Griffin will watch it tomorrow afternoon, have to record it.

Name Brand Education?

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

In class last a few weeks back, I overheard a student complain because her parents didn’t buy here a North Face fleece for her birthday. Her friend was wearing the fleece she desired so she was jealous. I tried to intervene. I explain there was nothing wrong with the fleece she had on. “But it isn’t North Face!” she exclaimed. “And Mr. Bloch you have a North Face so why shouldn’t I?” Wow! How do I counter that argument? I tried to explain that I had recently received the fleece as a present for Christmas from my wife. I always admired North Face products but resisted purchasing them due to cost. I was sure that a “store” brand would handle my needs. I don’t live in the mountains and wasn’t planing an adventure into the wilderness anytime soon. (Sound fun maybe sooner now.) These are hard concepts for teenagers to grasp. Desire of the “Name” brand fashions is a way to maintain or gain popularity. Students learn this from our product placement advertising culture. Many don’t realize their favorite actors are paid to wear the fashions to get them to purchase them. Of course adults learn to not worry about name brand eventually, right?

No,  many adults are similar to children, feeling that name brands can be important and if something cost more it must be better. Frankly some name brands are better quality products and some aren’t. Has this name brand consumer culture pasted over into education?

Sadly, yes. Many feel that the name on the school (or associated state ranking) defines what happens inside each classroom. I realized this in a recent conversation with a teacher friend. She is looking to move from her current apartment to a house. She has a young daughter and has been spending time looking at all the school rankings to decided where to live. When Amy, my wife suggested a near-by condo complex. Her reaction was “Oh, No the school is not rated well.” It just so happens the school she was referring to is where our son attends. Our school is in a stable community, located in our sub-division. Every teacher that has worked with our third grade son has been incredible in their own way. I personally feel it is a GREAT school environment for our children to attend. (We also have 4-year-old twins)

Later that evening Amy asked me what I thought about her comments. Being the ever mindful teachers I answered with a question: “What was your response?” Amy shared how she told our friend that the school was great and we had nothing but positive experiences. In the end, she pointed to the ranking and said “I don’t think it is best for my daughter.”

Rankings are going to make adults choose the brand “ranking” over their neighborhood school. Brand names and marketing will win the school of choice war. Lower ranked schools will slowly but surely disappear. The ranking will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Parents who can afford the choice will choose “The North Face” over “the store brand”, those who can’t will complain about where they are stuck. The lower ranked schools will slide down the slope  and go the way of Ben Franklin’s, Kmart’s and Circuit City’s of the world.

Educators need to change this perceptions of schools. Schools are more than any ranking. Furthermore education is what an INDIVIDUAL makes out of opportunities not what OPPORTUNITIES that come to an individual. Live in an affordable home, nice community, clean neighborhood, near a school. Attend this school and make it great. If opportunities aren’t present seek them out! Help the teachers succeed. Be involved. Ultimately schools are a true reflection of the communities around them. Parents who seek out the Name Brand School for comfort forget about all the hard work that made the brand. The more transient brand seekers that move into a school the quicker the brand will deteriorate. What school wants to be the “Members Only Jacket” of this decade?

Help build your neighborhood school into a lasting brand. Don’t worry about the ranking now, go in and make the school the way it should be: full of involved staff, parents and students who all want to succeed together. Make your school the Coca-Cola or GE, one that will have its ups and downs but be strong for the long haul!!

Send Education a Valentine today!

Posted on by Sweat to Inspire

Today is the day we share love! We share this wonderful emotion. We give cards, flowers and candies to each other to show that we care. I hope that you take the time to give learning a valentine!

The American culture often gives lip service to education. We hear it is a priority. Actions speak louder than words. Today, Valentines Day show others that you LOVE  education.  Embrace the words and turn them into action.

HOW?

Read a book to someone.

Discuss history.

Explain the science.

Model correct grammar. (Not my forte but is important!)

Create art!

Play a sport or become physically active.

Make Music!

Explore culinary arts!

Do SOMETHING that shows you LOVE EDUCATION!! For Valentines Day’s sake.