Entre Les Murs aka The Class

So I haven't done this yet, but lets do a movie review! A few weeks back I was talking to a friend about French films and she said, "Hey have you seen this film, 'Entre Les Murs', it is supposed to be really good!" So we sat down and watched it.

Now, I have to say it is not your typical, 'this is so inspiring I feel really touched by this film and want to volunteer for a week then stop.' It is more of a film that plays like a documentary, but isn't. Essentially, it shows a teacher teaching French in one of the urban schools in Paris. The group of students are mixed, showing the diverse background that is Paris. We watch as this teacher goes throughout his day, trying to reach his students and deal with the same diverse group. Of course there is the challenge in the film, a student who is viewed as "a bad seed" and the story ends up following the work done with him.

I'll go out and say it. The ending is not what you want to happen. The way many people like to see a film end is with a happy ending where the bad students get on the right path and all is well in the world. Well people, that really isn't how things go. If anything, those "bad seed" students are left. There was one quote that really got to me in the film. One student said that he hates teachers who expel students because when they do they give up on them. Yes, I realize that expelling students is sometimes the only thing some teachers can do, but it does feel like giving up. I personally feel that we as a society focus on saving the the majority and ignore the minority group. If they are causing the problems, we need to remove that small group to protect the larger. I understand that, but do we really have to leave them to fend for themselves? If anything, they need more help. It is easier to toss a problem to the side rather than fix it.

It is just so frustrating to see it happen. I know many times when I was teaching I had to defend my students because they were those "bad seeds" in school. They were placed in the behavioral problem classrooms and they were the ones teachers dreaded working with. The thing is, those kids loved me, and I really did care about them. When the students would do something in class, the teachers would give up and I would have to go over and talk to them. All they needed was someone to reason with them down to their level. They needed someone who would let them be a kid. It was also frustrating to see the "help" these kids would get. The school had part time counselors who would meet with them once a week. The counselors did a Freudian analysis and really didn't work on the social problems the students were having. Seeing the counselors ended up being free time away from class. I couldn't be too mad at the school though, they were they only counselors they could afford in their budget.

There is defiantly a problem in schools when dealing with these "difficult" students. Unless you have the extra staff, such as my City Year team, working in the school the teacher is the only source of help these students can get. This can cause a teacher to be overloaded and maybe even to give up. As well, schools lack a lot of funding to provide that extra support for kids or to find ways to connect the parents with the school problem. When we look at education reform we have to look at ways to help every child succeed, not just a majority. Like the film says, we can't give up on a child just because it is not easy.

City Year= Nazi Youth? (Answer: No)

Has anyone seen this video? In recent months it has caused a huge controversy on YouTube. Many people have commented that they compare the video to that of the Nazi Youth and Hitler. The critics of the video argue that the individuals in the video are part of Obama's evil plot essentially to brainwash US citizens to follow all his "liberal reforms."

Really people. Really...Now, this is going to sound like propaganda, I realize, but lets look at the organization for a minute. As an alumni of City Year, I understand that the culture behind the organization can be ridiculous and cultish. The organization will say that out front. What needs to be realized by the critics out there is that City Year started long before Obama was in office. It was started by two Harvard roommates in 1989. They wanted to do something with their summer, and it turned into something more. City Year is an organization that supports youth of diverse backgrounds coming together for a common cause, helping the youth in education and promoting civic duty. You give a year, more like 10 months, of your life to serve your country from the inside and fix some problems that the government just can't seem to get around to.

As an alumni I can tell you that a lot of people got annoyed with the organization, but in the end we were working there because we wanted to make some sort of change in the lives of the children we worked with. It wasn't about us, it was about them. It was about something bigger than ourselves. It was about bringing a smile to a child's face and letting them know that they weren't forgotten. It was a very inspiring year in my life, and it made me see a reality that was hidden from me.

So critics can argue and say that it is all brainwashing from Obama. However, I would say that the critics out there need to look at their facts a little more and actually talk to the people in the organization to understand it. The funny thing is that one commercial is getting a lot of heat because it shows "PT" (Physical Training) that is done once a week as a group. It seems "militaristic." However, the other commercials out there don't. You can watch them and judge for yourself. Just before you judge, look into the facts more before following anyone's opinion.

It's Time to Talk Day

So I was browsing the Department of Education's website today and came across this article. Apparently December 3rd was national "It's Time to Talk Day." What is this day? It is a day where adults talk to the youth about healthy relationships, domestic violence, and abuse. This is the 6th day held to acknowledge the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that was passed 15 years ago. The Department of Education has partnered with other organizations, such as Start Strong, "the largest initiative ever funded to target 11-to-14-year-olds" and Liz Claiborne Inc., who have organized the event since 2004

“For too long, we’ve been unwilling to face the reality that teen dating violence occurs,” Secretary Duncan said. “It’s been a taboo subject folks would simply not talk about. But we can’t afford to do that anymore. Too many young people are getting hurt. We must all do our part to break the silence and work toward eliminating teen dating violence.”


I find it interesting that this article was on the Department of Education. This is a serious topic that usually gets glanced over in society, especially in the school system. I know that back at home domestic violence is never talked about. If anything, it is a social norm that everyone learns to deal with. To give an example, when I was a kid the teachers explained rain during a sunny day like this. "The devil is beating his wife." We all knew what it meant, and we didn't say anything. I feel like this is a positive step forward if schools can engage in this kind of conversations with their students and their parents. It is a very real situation that has yet to be addressed in the United States. If children can realize the importance of healthy relationships it can alter the history of many students who live in an environment of abuse.

Where are all the Men?

Where are all the men in early childhood education? Not there, that is what. In my experience in both going to elementary school and volunteering in school I have noticed there are not many adult males who will venture into the field of elementary and sometimes middle school education. Teaching is often a job that is associated with women. Women are seen as care givers and are the ones who usually raise the children. Societies usually see the male as "the bread winner" in the families. These are our preconceived notions of gender types in education, but they are really lacking in today's world.

If anything, schools, especially in urban areas, need male teachers. Again, I will use a story from my time with City Year. I was in a classroom with students from various backgrounds. However, most of them were from the rougher parts of town and acted like it in class. When I first came into the classroom I only had the minimal amount of respect a student would give an adult. I had to prove to them I was someone they could trust and respect. I felt like my students and I had a good relationship. They realized I cared about them and in many cases my story could relate to their stories, at least in some way. I realized many times my students, especially my male students, found it difficult to relate to me because I wasn't from the same background as them and also because I was not a male. I was privileged to work with a male teacher though. My teacher may not agree with me, but he provided something those male students needed, a positive male role model. In the kids' eyes, he was cool and intelligent. They knew he was looking out for them and would always remark in passing that they were happy they ended up in his class.

This is just my story, but I feel like it is a universal one in schools. I do believe female teachers can identify with their students and form that connection, I have seen it happen with myself and my other teacher (a female). However, I feel like that initial connection is more easily formed between male students and teachers. In places where there may not be many male role models to provide positive examples in life, some young males may not venture far from the path they were given. It is when students have that positive image in both genders that they can identify themselves into something else than what was given to them.

Sex Education...Oh Yea.

This video amuses me, and I agree with it completely. Use condoms people. This commercial has been out for awhile, and I remember showing it to friends in high school. We would all laugh and say everyone should use a condom. Everyone should use a condom.

Now here is where it gets funny and sad. Even though these people are saying this, I know for a fact some of the people who saw that commercial have no idea how to use a condom and they are misinformed about sex. It usually results in me having to sit down with them and dislodge some of their perceived "facts" about sex.

Why is this happening? Most schools do receive some sort of sex education. NPR reported that only 7% of Americans think that schools should not teach sex education (aka sex ed). This means 93% agree to the teaching. But what is being taught? I received sex education in the 5th grade. It was taught by the religion teachers and a sister and we were separated by sex for the classes. I remember getting green handouts of the sexual organs and such. I think everyone, almost, knows the basics behind how a baby is formed, but the process of actually becoming pregnant and the ways to prevent it were rushed over and inaccurate.

The Guttmacher Institute has some statistics about sex education:

• More than nine in 10 teachers believe that students should be taught about contraception, but one in four are prohibited from doing so.
• One in five teachers believe that restrictions on sex education are preventing them from meeting their students’ needs.
• By 2002, one-third of teens had not received any formal instruction about contraception
• Approximately 14% of the decline in teen pregnancy between 1995 and 2002 was due to teens’ delaying sex or having sex less often, while 86% was due to an increase in sexually experienced teens’ contraceptive use.
• Despite the decline, the United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world—almost twice as high as those of England, Wales and Canada, and eight times as high as those of the Netherlands and Japan.

Graph provided from the Guttmacher Institute

 

The sex education students are receiving is not good enough and only marginal. Yes, it is a difficult subject to talk about. I worked with 5th graders, remember? They would never out right ask the questions, but I knew they were lurking in the background of their minds from some of the things they would say. That changed though. They are in 6th grade now and all they want to talk about is sex. In the one day I got to spend with them at school as 6th graders I could tell they had a very different perspective in sex education and the school needed to catch up with their questioning minds.
Sex is a taboo subject to talk about in schools, but it needs to be discussed in a serious atmosphere with all the different possibilities for preventive measures taught. The responsibility needs to fall on the school to provide accurate information, but the majority needs to fall on parents. If the school can not teach the curriculum to their students, then they need to provide the correct information to the parents so they can inform their children. I have talked to women from 15 to their mid 20s who do not know some of the basics and are sexual active. Every time I hear some of their stories I cringe on the inside because for the next hour I will have to reteach sex education for them.

Website:
NPR
Guttmacher Institute

Demanding After School Programs

So the last post I gave a small story about my class last year. I think I shall continue the trend. So if not said already, I worked for a non profit organization called City Year in 2008-2009. I worked full time in a fifth grade classroom. Along with this I served as a mentor and after school worker for my students. The last part of what I did will be the focus of the post.

I worked in an after school program run by my team in our school. It was a free program for 3rd-5th graders and ran from 2:45-5:30 pm. It was structured to provide homework help but also to be a social network where students would interact from different grades and learn about issues in their community. I loved the program, and I know the kids did as well.

So why talk about after school programs? Take a look at this graph:


Graph provided from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service

Between 2PM-6PM violent crimes committed by youth under the age of 18 peak.Isn't this around the same time that students are getting out of school? In a society where many households have both parents working, students are left unsupervised and essentially calling the shots for a few hours. Here are some after school facts from SafeYouth.org:

"Other safety issues surface in the after-school hours as well. Students who spend no time in extracurricular activities, such as those offered in after-school programs, are 49 percent more likely to have used drugs and 37 percent more likely to become teen parents than are those students who spend one to four hours per week in extracurricular activities."

Another statistic:

The parents of more than 28 million school-age children work outside the home. As many as 15 million "latchkey children" go to an empty house on any given afternoon. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor; U.S. Census Bureau, Urban Institute estimate, 2000)

And one more statistic to let things sink in:

"Teens who do not participate in after school programs are nearly three times more likely to skip classes or use marijuana or other drugs; they are also more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity. (YMCA of the USA, March 2001)"

So it would seem logical that all parents would have their kids in an after school program. False. It is true parents want to put their children in after school programs, but usually they are too expensive or there just isn't a program near their home. After school programs are a wonderful thing and can help children succeed while also providing jobs for young adults. Currently I work at the YMCA and I would rather be playing a game of 'Fishy, Fishy Cross My Ocean' with my students than see them at home alone. When educators look at education reform, they need to also look at those vulnerable hours after the school bell rings and find affordable alternatives for students.


Websites:
SafeYouth.org 
After School All-Stars

The Great Outdoors and School?

Last year in the fall, my teachers took our students outside to do water tests for ph levels. The school I worked at was located near a nature reserve, something uncommon for most schools in the area because it was near a major city. I was excited to be outdoors and interested in the activity. My students felt differently. They yelled and complained about how they were "city kids" and didn't want to go outside.

Is this a common trend now a days? Or really is it a continuation of what school is? When I was an elementary school student, I never got to go outside, unless for recess. However, sometimes my teachers would let us sit in the sun and read or maybe draw outside. I think that those moments outside made me love to read more, and it is probably the reason why I will always find a patch of grass in the sun to sit on and read. It is in those moments where I think education can be different.

There are many advocates and alternative summer camps that focus on outdoor education. It is thought that bringing students outside gets them closer to the actual science of the world and experience education and life in a different way. Also, some summer camps offer programs where kids build character development through outdoor activities, something you can not always get in a classroom. Along with this, having students spend time outside lets them appreciate the natural beauty around them and would create stronger advocates for preserving out natural resources.

I'm not saying we have to send all our kids to expensive outdoor camps or even have class outside at all times. What I am saying is it should be encouraged, rather than discouraged to have class time outside. It creates a bond with nature and a new appreciation for education.