Dear White People: It's time to confront your inner Karen (or Ken)

May 30, 2020

It has been almost 3 years since I blogged. I have moved from a teaching position, to a principal residency, and now serve as an Assistant principal on the Northwest side of Chicago. During these past 3 years I have lost my mom (RIP Mommy) and gotten married to a wonderful man. But that's not why I logged on today. 

I am writing because I feel paralyzed. Over the last couple months, it has come to my white, privileged attention that it's open season for racists... (no thanks to "45")...and when empowered with a badge and the supposed trust of a community, a racist police officer is the worst kind of terrorist there is. Watching the life slip away from George Floyd while Derek Chauvin (yes I say his name too because he should never have peace again!) knelt on his neck like a prized, hunted animal, made me cry. All I could think of was, that could be my husband, my stepson, my nephew. No, this isn't the first time I am feeling this way, Trayvon Martin, Ahmud Arbery,  Eric Garner, Michael Brown... they all have made me sick to my stomach and fear for my family a little more. But watching George Floyd hit me different. Like, Emmett Till's murderers not being convicted or brought to justice different. And in my disgust and sadness and rage, I feel helpless. So as I stand with my friends and colleagues of color, I listen and I attempt to be more than not racist, but, an Anti-Racist. 

I write today, not for my black friends, but for my white friends and acquaintances. What I have seen on social media over the last month or so has made me realize a couple things - 1. I need to trim my "friends" back and 2. It is so easy for people with privilege to sit behind their computer and scream about "All lives mattering" and "looting will bring shooting".  Growing up privileged, in a community with maybe 2 families of color in elementary school and a sprinkle more in high school, I am here to tell you PRIVILEGED does NOT mean you grew up with some sort of financial advantage or your life hasn't been hard, it means YOUR SKIN TONE ISN'T ONE OF THE THINGS MAKING IT HARDER.  There are other types of privilege - socio-economic, cisgender, male, but this is about your WHITE PRIVILEGE. And guess what? You can deny you are privileged all you want, but YOUR WHITENESS TELLS ON YOU SO YOU CANNOT HIDE. 

Now that we got that out of the way, you may ask or say, "what can I do? I didn't ask to be born white?"  Ah, no, you didn't. But it is important you recognize white privilege exists as a result of historic and enduring racism, which designed practices to oppress people of color.  "I'm not racist" you say. "I have black friends". Mmmm, ok. so again, it's not about you, but the system that has been put in place that you are unfortunately a part of by birthright. What does this mean for you?  Well, it means that as a white person, you actively benefit from the oppression of people of color - this is shown in many forms: 

• your actions are not perceived as those of your entire race; 
• products and learning materials are designed for you - White is the Universal discourse; 
• your citizenship isn't publicly questioned; 
• most people at work look like you; 
• you don't get harassed for being in public places PERIOD!

And then, there is systemic racism, that yes, you benefit from: 

• Black graduates are 2x more likely to be unemployed
• Black americans are 30% more likely to get pulled over by police
• The wealth gap.
• Black students are 3x more likely to be suspended
• Black americans make up 40% of the prison population,
• Black americans are shown 18% fewer homes

I have been disgusted by the comments I see from white friends that DO NOT have the right to have a contra-opinion! Sharing your opinion about looting and what you believe "respectable" protesting should look like was not asked for!  You sure didn't have anything to say when a WHITE man squeezed the life out of a man in broad daylight! Or, when a black man was shot for jogging! So stop for a second and back your whole racist self up. If you didn't know the information above. That's ok. But take this as a learning experience, please. And for my White friends who feel as helpless and paralyzed as me, besides letting our friends of color know we stand with them you can:

• Promise to listen to and amplify the voices of people of color;
• Teach other white people the barriers of success for people of color;
• Be Anti-racist - not just, "not racist";
• Confront racial injustice, even when it's uncomfortable.

Robin Diangelo says it best, "White Fragility is an idea whose time has come. It is an idea that registers the hurt feelings, shattered egos, fraught spirits, vexed bodies, and taxed emotions of white folk" Furthermore, if you aren't the "book-reading" type, Beyonce makes it plain as day - "It's been said that racism is so American that when people protest racism, some assume we're protesting America".  Remember when you got mad when Colin Kaepernick took a knee? A peaceful, not bothering anyone knee? Yeah, that's why we are here. 

Look, we ALL have implicit bias.  If I don't know the barriers you face, or the struggles you see on a daily basis, I can make misguided assumptions based on societal stereotypes. If you are lucky, you have a colleague or friend of color who you trust enough to check you when you show out.

If you are looking for some resources that can help you understand how to promote an anti-racist agenda, here you go: (thank you Janet Lorch) 

Here is a link: bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES

*This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now. Feel free to circulate this document on social media and with your friends, family, and colleagues.

Look, you have a choice, you can spew your hate speech and sit in your house behind your computer judging what you don't understand, or you can educate yourself, listen, and be an ally. At least you have a choice. George Floyd didn't. #SAYHISNAME 

Is it worth it?

Sigh.  This is a difficult post to write.  I am frustrated.  Upset.  Tired of the media making Chicago public school teachers out to be the bad guys.  All of us lazy, fighting over money, over-paid babysitters.  I am also tired of the rhetoric.  Karen Lewis you are exhausting.  I know and understand the history of unions, remember, I am a teacher.  However, I do not believe a work stoppage which affects the lives of 300,000 plus children is justified.  I just don't.  That being said, I support my colleagues 100% on their decision to walk the line.  I see amazing people who work harder than anyone I know in any other industry fight for students who sometimes don't have anyone else to fight for them every day.  They show up sick.  Miss weddings and funerals.  Cut time with their own children short for the good of our 16th and central park babies. 

You see, I work with an extraordinary group of teachers.  Most of us started together, in a residency class in 2013.  We were then all chosen to come together at Dvorak School Of Excellence to serve a previously under served group of amazing children.  We have gone from a near level 3 to almost a 1plus.  In 2 years.  And we did it without cheating or messing with data.  It was through pure blood, sweat and tears...and tears.  On any given day, there are more than 3 teacher cars in the lot before 6:30am, this is not including our director of climate and culture who is usually one of first to get there as well.  On teacher preps and lunches you almost always see children with their teachers.  What does that mean?  There is usually little to no break BY CHOICE.  After school there are children in classrooms, on every level - either receiving after school help, or "working" in a teacher classroom who sponsors them for their DC trip, or just waiting with their teacher as their parent has 2 jobs and calls and asks, "Ms. Ohannes can you please keep _______ until 5:30, you see, I just got this new job and...."  Yes.  Of course I will.  Of course most of my other colleagues will.   That is who we are.  We stay ready.  We come in on Saturdays to help each other out, and put felt on the bottom of a teachers entire classroom because with 38 students in a class now, that will be a lot of extra noise with the chairs.  We purchase first aid kits because we have a nurse ONE day a week and use Popsicle sticks when we have to make a makeshift splint because there is no nurse and mom can't get there until 2:30.   We make difficult calls to DCFS and often make sure students get home safely when we know there is no parent to do so.  We teach ALL the students in front of us, even when their IEP requires them to be in a separate learning environment, but CPS has deemed Diverse learners unimportant and so students with severe social and emotional needs stay in the class with the rest of the students, often holding the hand of the teacher while she teaches others to make sure he does not wander.  We write grants for EVERYTHING in hopes that the little money our principal does have can be used for a much needed teaching assistant or computer cart so students can attempt to compete in the 21st century and, in 7th and 8th grade, learn coding by an extraordinary Science teacher who could be in med school anywhere in the country and chooses to serve our children.  We collaborate, between grade levels and help new teachers with basic issues when our admin has to play the role of case manager with little help from the district.   We get paid for 6.25 hours a day, but I don't know a teacher in my school who doesn't work at least 9 hours and many 12-14 hour days.  Oh, and that doesn't include the weekend we spend grading, preparing lesson plans for whole group, small group, differentiating, modifying, collaborating, and buying items for our class.  Yes, we GIVE money to our work place in addition.  

And I don't know anyone I work with who resents it.  You see it is a calling.  But even people who give their lives to service can only take so much abuse.

I am tired.  Tired of a Mayor who doesn't get it and a Union head who just makes people hate us.  

Tired of a city who doesn't see the free and public education that is our students birthright is being taken away, piece by piece.  

Tired of parents who fight us when we call to ask where your student is because it's 9am and school starts at 8:30 and you tell us to chill.  They'll be there.  Got up late.  Again.  

If you are going to have a wheel and break each one of the spokes, one by one, the wheel will eventually deflate.  

I hear all the time, "Carrie, there are other districts that aren't so stressful and need passionate teachers too"  

But if all the teachers like me and my colleagues leave for the burbs, what will become of the children of Chicago?  

Well, you can already see.  It's falling apart.  Teachers are leaving and have been leaving.  When teachers stress an evaluation system more than they stress getting a student to understand theme it is no surprise.  

But in one little corner of the city, in one of the most violent neighborhoods on the west side, I can still make a difference and fight like hell for the 400+ students that grace the doors of Dvorak.  So yes, it is worth it.

The Miseducation of Miss Carrie: Get that money...Get that Data....

The Miseducation of Miss Carrie: Get that money...Get that Data....: Sorry it's been so long...6 months came and went fast!  But man, it didn't feel like it when we were in it!  Let me just start out...

Get that money...Get that Data....

Sorry it's been so long...6 months came and went fast!  But man, it didn't feel like it when we were in it!  Let me just start out by saying MY BABIES KILLED IT!  6th grade blew their personal and school-wide goals for both READING AND MATH out of the water!  (props to my sister from another mister Mrs. Brunson!!!)  As the Goal poster below shows for 6th grade...we blew it up!  All but 3 students grew....and It doesn't stop there!  Dvorak in general, represented!  Almost every grade blew their targets up.  So much so that as a school we are positioned to possibly become a level 1 school!  Yes, level 1 like Whitney Young and Skinner level 1!  We definitely have areas of growth to focus on, but I am so proud of my school and my babies!!                           

Needed 340..Got 422!  Blew it up!

So, as of today, a school funding bill was passed downstate.  Yay.  A one year reprieve.  What does this mean for CPS and our babies?  The schools will open on time, assuming Karen Lewis doesn't pull some stupid crap, and teachers will get paid the same they have for the last 3 years.  I get it, you might be thinking, "that's what Karen Lewis and the Union are fighting for" but the problem is they are fighting the wrong people.  Yes, I believe money is still being mismanaged at the central office, and Cronyism is still rearing its ugly head.  Yes, we are still hiring unqualified individuals for powerful positions (see the new chief of ODLSS who has limited experience with diverse learning.  Ironically, the deputy looks to have significant experience and is from OUTSIDE the district...imagine that!?!)  Yes, the buildings are still filthy as hell and we are giving more money to Aramark and SodexoMagic.  HOWEVER- if we don't look at the way we fund schools in general soon, we are going to implode, regardless.  Schools cannot continue to be funded by taxes that are not there due to unemployment levels still at record high in our highest poverty areas.  I don't know the answer....I don't have long hours downstate to think about and oh yeah, get paid to figure it out, but I know this isn't working.

Also,  the elephant in the room...parents/guardians.  Even as I sit on my balcony now, at 10pm at night, I can hear gun shots ring out like familiar summer music to many Chicagoans.  Once a melody known to only south and west side residents but now familiar to many more.   Parents...WHERE ARE YOUR KIDS?  I am sorry, but I am tired of the " I just don't know what to do with her/him" argument.  Stop it.  Stop it right now.  You were grown enough to do the no pants dance, so you are now deemed grown enough to raise children according to the law of the land.  Stop sending your kids to school to be raised.  Work WITH your teachers, not against them.  Yes, your BABY stabbed johnny with a pencil unprovoked!  Let's discuss a solution....  NO..your darling daughter cannot add 7 and 12 and she is in 7th grade.  We have resources we can work to get or fight for together!!  Also,  I don't get a budget from the school for feminine products, soap, deodorant, band-aids, kleenex, YES KLEENEX!!!!, pencils, paper, belts, shoe laces, or random snacks.  Get your baby to school on time, with proper sleep and they will get 2 (Sometimes 3) meals, and the education they need and deserve.   I don't mind providing those items for students who might struggle to be able to provide them to the classroom, but I have too many students with new J's every other week for you to tell me I have to provide it all.  When I stopped buying kleenex and snacks the last two weeks my students were besides themselves.  I told them, "ask mom for $1 to buy a box of tissue for the class"  I got 1 box.  Also, parents, when we call you, we are calling to be a problem solver, not a shit starter.  I am blessed to have great relationships with most of my parents, but man, the few that are the hold outs...I fear for their children's lives once they leave the safe confines of elementary school.  I promise, your son is not going to be able to pull that behavior on the street, let alone high school.  Listen to me, to us, your students' teachers, please!  We are with your precious child 7-9 hours a day.  We are on team "your kid"! 

All that to say, all in all, it was a great year. I learned a lot this year, personally and professionally.  I am so excited for next year, but will enjoy my respite from the daily 5am-11pm grind that is teaching.

If you are so inclined, please visit my fundraising site below for my classroom.  You can see a picture of my precious babies from this past year! While I joke, the struggle is real and the need is large.  Any amount helps! 

Thanks for reading and have a great summer!

Ms.OhannesDonorsChoose

Helloooo from the teacher's side.......

Hello...It's been a while!  This whole teaching thing is quite consuming and as my intentions were to post monthly, my weekend came and went, and came and went.  Year 2 is going well.  My grade level partner in crime and I inherited some babies who had quite a reputation.  They haven't had a ton of stability the last two years in terms of teachers and so needless to say, they have some abandonment issues.  But they are coming along wonderfully, engaging in teaching and learning with less and less issues as the year progresses.  The school in general is doing well, and we are a fully functional year 2 turn around school!  I am very proud to be part of such an AMAZING team!

So, with all the niceties complete, you know what's on my mind and I am sure you are thinking about it too...the strike.  I don't give a lot of time or thought to this issue most days as I am busy engaged in teaching and learning, social working. counseling, nursing, parenting, disciplining and praising my babies.   BUT, I have been forced to engage as I am a teacher and this does affect me.  So here is MY and ONLY MY OPINION.  I know I have brothers and sisters who have different opinions and I respect their right to free thought and speech...so please respect mine.

I have 3 issues: 1. the CTU and it's use of funds.  2. The state aka the "real" enemy  3. THE KIDS!

1. THE CTU:  I have done my due diligence and spoken with people in various roles with differing levels of access to information.  Honestly, that's the saddest part too....that other people have better "access" to information about negotiations about my job than me.  Furthermore, why is it so difficult to find information on what the CTU does with my $1100 a year?  $1100 that could go into my classroom, or my savings account, or my gas tank??  And then, if you multiply that amount by all the teachers, esp's and others paying dues (at varying rates of course) CTU takes in over $10million dollars a year!  I know both Karen Lewis and Jessie Sharkey take a salary of over over $200k a year so that's great for them.  Oh, and I also know they will continue to draw salaries while we struggle to pay bills and for some, feed their families while on strike.  What ever happened to the head of the cause joining in the hunger strike with the others?   The CTU also sends members to conferences, aka CTE (Career and Technical education conferences) to do nothing more than rebel rouse and disrupt presentations made by Chicago central office presenters.  I do not advocate that kind of ignorant behavior.  Yet, once again, no one asked what I think of how CTU spends their money.   Because they use scare tactics to get teachers to pay dues and then go on their way.  I know during the last strike, I had friends that, because of family issues and lack of childcare, they couldn't make it to the picket line.  As a result, they received threatening emails and texts.  Yep.  That's what collective bargaining is supposed to be about.  NOT.  Through my research I discovered that much of what CTU was sharing - 7% immediate cut in salary, huge rise in health care, cuts in teachers in all schools, was not the true table discussion.  As a matter of fact, we have some of the best Healthcare around.  Most public companies are going the way of Obamacare and making employees purchase in the open market.  Cost going up a couple dollars is expected.   Recently, Claypool publicly shared the newest offer and CTU got angry.  Why?  Why can't we as teachers and independent thinkers hear what he has to say?  I understand it would be a sacrifice on the teacher's part in the short term, but listen up CTU - THERE IS NO MONEY!  I have many friends and acquaintances in the central office...or rather I did.  They are cutting central office down to bare bones, as they should.  But it's not this administration that has gotten us to this ugly position.  In fact, CTU was at the table for the last approval of a "pension holiday" for CPS,  so stop acting like this happen over night!  Compromises will have to be made based on bad decisions made by previous administrations and you CTU.  So own it and let us move on!  No one WANTS a strike but you....

2.  The State of Illinois: Look, the state of Illinois owes us money.  As a Chicagoan, I pay taxes and cover the pension of every teacher in Illinois AND Chicago.  IF you live outside Chicago, you ONLY pay to cover the Illinois teachers pension which doesn't include Chicago.  So exactly WHY is that?  Also, it is my understanding that Governor Rauner is prepared to launch a smear campaign against you guessed it... teachers if the strike takes place.  If you aren't aware, Mr. Rauner was born and raised in Deerfield, IL a wealthy SUBURB of Illinois.  He went to Dartmouth and Harvard for his bachelors and masters education and prior to becoming governor, he was a millionaire venture capitalist living in Winnetka, another wealthy SUBURB of Chicago.  He represents the wealthy.  He has no context of what our schools in Chicago look, act or feel like.  He has never been in one to my knowledge, except for the 5 minute photo op most likely.  But he is prepared to tell us, the teachers, that we are greedy, and ungrateful and don't care about kids.  I can tell you right now if he walked into my 6th grade class with no context as say, a supposed sub, they would eat him alive.   This is the same Governor that wants to freeze property taxes that could unequivocally help with the budget crisis.  But we the Teachers are the problem.  Yep, that $56k salary that after pension and union dues still has to have at least $200 a month taken out for classroom needs is what's breaking the state budget. Clearly.  

3. The kids:  Our babies CANNOT afford a month, let alone a week out of school!  I have a classroom full of amazing 11-14 year old 6th graders 76% of whom are below to severely below grade level.  Prior to the turnaround, the school, the system, adults in their life failed them.  When a child tells you, "we are just waiting for when you gonna leave us" you know it's real.  I have just convinced them I AM NOT leaving!  Now, in the wake of this success, I may have to face them and explain why everyone in their life will tell them I don't want to be there because I want more money?  (that will be the uneducated explanation shared by the media)  Hell no.  I'm going to teach those babies, if I have to do it at the youth center or a coffee shop, it's going to happen.  No way they will go another week without school.  Yes, vacations are important for both the students and the teachers, but even the few extra snow days last year were painful.

My true feelings are that this potential strike is a political war, waged on the backs of teachers,  and the kids are collateral damage.   I understand there are negotiations taking place and they may still need to continue, but there must be a different way to solve our issues besides keeping our babies (many 3 to 4 years behind already) out of school.  This isn't a Coca-cola factory where while we strike, soda stops production.  Like other political machines, I feel as an individual teacher I have lost my voice in this fight.  Since that is the case, just let me continue to teach while you sort out issues.  Please stop justifying it by telling yourself you are doing it for teachers, for me.  Just stop and let me teach.  Let my babies continue coming to school.  THAT'S WHAT'S BEST FOR KIDS.

Thanks for reading and all your continued support.  I was humbled by all the friends and family members who gave to my babies and classroom this last month.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I can't do it without you. 

Ms. Ohannes's Adopt-a-Classroom page

The sweetest present a teacher can receive!

At the Atten-Dance with my babies!

One of my sweet babies!

                                                    

Year 1 in the Books

Year 1 of my teaching career is over.  First year turnaround school.  We did it.  I sat down to write for this blog at least 10 times between my last post (March) and now.  But every time I did, something school related took my attention off writing and so it goes.  I have been out of school (without kids) for a week now.  Do I miss them?  Absolutely.  Is it healthy for me to be away for a bit?  Oh yeah.  The last several weeks of school I was running on fumes.  I don't want to speak for any other Dvorak teacher, but I know my grade level partner would concur.

PARCC, ANET, PARCC, NWEA, Performance Tasks...... All after spring break.   And with NWEA being the mother of all assessments as it speaks to our schools performance level (with regard the SQRP), student promotion (for grades 3,6 and 8) and teacher performance, tension was running high. 

Let me back up, because there was some really cool stuff that happened in the last 2 months as well.  My birthday was at the beginning of May.  My kids knew because it's on the classroom birthday calendar.  I started my day with one of my favorite babies, T.I. telling me, "Ms. Ohannes, I'm finna be on my business today because it's your Glo day and I'm not gonna ruin it."  Well ok then.  As the day progressed, the kids were actually SO conscious of the fact that it was MY GLO DAY that they reminded each other constantly if a fellow student got  mouthy.  At the end of the day, my Grade level partner, aka best colleague a girl could ask for, handed me a huge pile of cards and said the kids had made them for me in her class.  What got me was the messages inside the cards.  I was super moved.  Regardless of what was going on, for the remainder of the year, I just needed to look at one of these cards and I mustered up the strength for another day.

My students did well on NWEA.  My grade level partners and I were pleased with the growth and the % who made their goal which averaged about 95% between the two.  We still had a good number of students need to go to summer school, but God willing the majority will pass into 7th grade (Please God at least C.S. and D.F.!)

We took a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry.  It was the entire 6th grade sans 6-7 students who unfortunately could not represent Dvorak in the expected manner.  (this would be not smacking girls every 5 minutes, or taking tacks and slapping people on their backs....)  We had the 3 teachers and then 2 parents who graciously agreed to go.   I had a group of 8 boys.  I took the toughest group of boys because I find I bond the most with them.  God knows why!  It was so amazing listening to their questions and how excited they were about learning.  When we got to the airplane, one student, R.M. was so inquisitive the pilot who was there to explain things told him he should seriously consider going into aviation.  All in all the kids had an amazing day.  They were well-behaved and acted like KIDS are supposed to act.  A little goofy and a lot of questions!

As we were leaving the museum, a couple of the girls heard a woman say, "all these damn black kids ruining the museum...."  Now, I fortunately did not hear her, nor did I hear about this until we were back on the bus.  So I calmly asked the kids why they think the woman might have said that.  One student T. A. (straight-As, never  in trouble, not that it matters...) said, "we were eating doritos from our pocket and we know we weren't supposed to Ms. Ohannes but she was just racist."  I looked at their faces and for a moment wanted to cry.  They were so immune to the hate, they only paused on it for a second and went on.  God bless their resiliency and ability to know ignorance when faced with it.  As for me, well, what I would have said to this woman was:

• First of all, ALL KIDS eat snacks from their pockets, it's not a "black thing";
• Second of all, these babies have as much right to be in this museum as you, in fact, probably more as you are most likely from the suburbs and our city tax dollars pay fees for the museum your ignorant a$$ probably knows nothing about; 
• Third, the group of kids I saw push several students out of the way to get to an exhibit was just that, a group of kids...even though it was a group of white suburban kids (which I know from seeing their school shirt) kids will be kids;
• Last, had I heard you I would have calmly requested assistance from a docent or security guard to alert them to the fact you were harassing children and should be banned from the premises.  

I was so proud of the way my students handled themselves that it actually made me smile.  Shortly after this exchange with the students on the bus I had to secure C.S. in double seat belts but that's another story...

The last week of school was bittersweet and went by so quickly.  It was interesting to see how my students reacted to a more lax environment than I had kept all year.  Surprisingly, they wanted work and while responding to the film "Freedom Writers" you could have heard a pin drop.  Here's a scene of that in action:

I learned SO much this year.  I learned that I have ALOT more to learn as well.  I believe my top 5 take aways would be the following for a first year teacher:

1. You can never plan enough, nor be prepared enough (Be Prepared)
2. You can always expect to have to re-work those plans (Be Flexible)
3. You must love what you do and your students, MOST of the time (Be Gracious)
4. You must be willing to take feedback from administrators, fellow teachers, and even students and acknowledge when you have made a mistake.  You WILL make mistakes (Be Humble)
5. You will be pulled to do things a "certain way", or hear about certain teachers ad nauseam. Stay the course and hold strong to the "you" that got you where you are today (Be Yourself)

I'm going to Peace out for the summer as I dig into thousands of pages of curriculum and prepare myself for another amazing year.  Feeling blessed that I get this time to prepare properly for my new babies in the fall!

If you feel so inclined please consider donating to my classroom.  Every penny goes to supplies for my students.  MsOhannes'sAdopt-A-Classroompage

Thanks!!

My response to Ed Weekly article....

Easy to Comment, Hard to Take Action

(This response is based on an article posted January 27th, 2015 in Education weekly. 

The article may be found here:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/01/28/why-do-some-schools-feel-like-prisons.html) 

I am a graduate of the AUSL Chicago Teacher Residency.  I served my residency at Johnson School of Excellence in North Lawndale in Chicago and was lucky to be chosen to serve at Dvorak School of Excellence in North Lawndale as well.  I am a proud first year teacher in a first year turnaround school.  

I recently read the commentary by Samina Hadi-Tabassum entitled “Why Do some Schools Feel Like Prisons?” in Education Weekly.  I was saddened and angered by her response.  Ms. Hadi-Tabassum qualified herself for her commentary by stating she has been “coaching and mentoring” first-year teachers in CPS (Chicago Public Schools) for almost 20 years. My first question to Ms. Hadi-Tabassum or others with similar opinions would be, “Have you been in a school that was chosen to be turned around the year before it was chosen?”    Students at our school, a turnaround school, share stories of children running the halls, hitting teachers, and children running the school.  Adults and children who did not attend the school were able to enter the school freely and limited security was in place.  Based on the number of students I have in my class repeating the grade, I must believe it to be true.   So, that “eerie” silence you hear when you enter a turnaround school?  That is order being restored so a teaching and learning environment may commence.   Does this get looser the more years into a turnaround a school is?  Probably.  But the reality is, your “cacophony of children laughing, running down the halls and slamming lockers” is not a realistic goal for our babies from the get go.  The environment our students come from are extremely different from the students you speak of, and controlled chaos has to be taught so they can be safe in the hallways and the classrooms.  The language and often physical behavior our students exhibit when a cacophony ensues is not always safe or acceptable for school.  

With regard to literary techniques that are frowned upon.  I was sad to see you miss a large part of the feedback that was probably given to this teacher.  I know this because as a first year teacher it’s the thing we forget most often.  Everything must be taught to our students.  They are there to learn so that is fair.  So, coming up to the board, when in the past, this behavior created mass chaos, has to be taught.  Good teaching entails modeling and then having students participate and then finally students leading the behavior or learning activity.  So I would bet the feedback was not so cut and dry, but that is just my hunch. 

With regard to your experience at lunch.  I cannot speak for the school you visited but I know at our school and other AUSL schools, our scholars talk at lunch and recess. That is of course, unless an adult is trying to get their attention or to line up and then in this case, they do turn their voices off to hear instructions.  When I worked on a bank trading floor, filled with educated adults, there came a time when we would have to be silent, for either a conference call, or possibly being addressed by a superior in the room.  While I am in this space, I might add, we had a dress code too.  We were mandated to dress professionally, which meant suits for the men and suits or professional dresses for the ladies.  Our uniform policy at the school, which is khaki pants and a blue polo is extremely affordable and fair for our kids.  

You mentioned that your first year teachers do not buy into this ideology of repression and then the very dramatic, “if their schools were white would they have the same rules.”  Again, there is a bigger, socioeconomic issue at play here.  There are many schools that are majority black students that have a strong climate and culture for learning already in place.  So, if their school was white and a turnaround school would they have the same rules?  Most definitely.   School Climate and Culture is the first and most important issue we address in the first year of a turnaround school.  So how dare you ask “when will turnaround schools take school culture into consideration and produce a school that enriches the whole minority child?”  Because we spent the first several month learning how to do school, my students enjoy shake brakes where they dance in between lessons to move around and release energy.  We have great class debates using accountable talk and question each others opinions in an appropriate manner.  We have valentines dances that included grade 3-8 where all the kids danced, played, ate and sang together with the help of a DJ.  We have 6th grade chants that scream our grade level and school spirit.  We greet each other every morning and afternoon with handshakes or hugs and we have peace circles when we have classroom issues.  In addition, we recently started breathing and yoga stretching the classroom. It was of course, a process to build up to these activities. Yes, we are still a work in progress, but I am damn proud of progress we have made.  Together with some amazing parents, teachers, administrators and most of all KIDS we are closing and achievement gap while readying our scholars to be leaders of tomorrow and having some fun while doing it.  I’d say we are enriching the whole child.  

But I’m just a teacher in a first year turnaround.  What do I know?