Dispatch from the Front

Well, here I am again.
Since Friday, June 14th I've been at the Academy for Language & Technology, near Mt. Eden Avenue, grading Global Regents exams. Needless to say, this has been a huge fiasco. Scoring was supposed to have been completed last Thursday and here it is Tuesday--the penultimate day before the close of the 2012-2013 school year.

I missed the school trips Ms. Cho & I planned for the school yesterday and today. But it's great knowing we have students visiting Columbia University today. Kids at NYU yesterday.
Other students had the opportunity to visit NFL headquarters, while still others went to South Street Seaport yesterday. Today was a big Chinatown trip for other folks.

It's even better seeing some of the Global scores coming in from our students. We still await some scores--as I stated, this has been a GIANT fiasco--but one sophomore, J., earned a 97% while M. earned a 96%.
Another boy surprised me with his 90 and I'm happy for D. and his 83%. He worked on the test for 8 hours! [English Language Learners get a lot of extra time.]

So, an unusual way for me to close out this school year, in exile here in the South Bronx, now with a whole new collection of colleagues at a different school. But perhaps I will eventually be reunited with my true school. Maybe.
I was supposed to be back there last Friday. Then Monday. Then today. I am fairly sure I will be back at HSLI tomorrow for the final day. Then I can see students just before summer break begins, as they pick up their report cards.

For now, we sit and wait. Regents exams were still being scanned into a new electronic grading system as of this  morning. There were at least 73,000 Global exams in all [last week we thought there were only around 60,000 but none of us knew the actual number.]
I think the scanning may have now finally finished. But we are no longer receiving any exams in our individual scorers' accounts. And so we wait...and wait...and wait. And this is how it all began this time last week, which is a major reason why this process has seemed infinite.
It finally picked up last Thursday and Friday with exams shooting in to us pretty much non-stop.
But then teachers were called in for overtime pay ("per session") during the weekend. I worked at Lehman High school on East Tremont on Sunday from 0830-1330.

It's been a bit surreal.
This time last year schools were still grading their own students' exams and it took as long as two days, but usually 1.5. Now it's been 9 days of grading, including the overtime days. Meanwhile, McGraw Hill or a sub-contractor connected to them has picked up a $10 million contract from this brilliant example of "performance evaluation."

Oh well. Summer break is near. Everyone is gearing up for adventures. My summer reading has begun. It's hot out, 92 today, but it's all good.

Conversations with Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old Holocaust Survivor, Part II

Conversations with Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old survivor of Auschwitz-Chelmno-Bergen Belsen concentration camps, Part II:

This conversation took place on Sunday, April 21st, 2013 with me in The Bronx, New York. Words in [ ] brackets indicate my additions/notes. I've attempted to quote Jacob as much as possible, in his direct words. Please read future updates with more of Jacob's tragic but, ultim...ately, triumphant story...

Jacob, as he prefers to be called, served in the Polish army from 1935-1937.

"There was no lunch (in the concentration camp H______; need to confirm the name of this camp, one of the first). It was sitting a little bit, resting. People went to nearby farms to beg some food, a few potatoes, a piece of bread.

One time there was a (situation). We was standing, they were looking to see if someone had a potato or something. There would be a beating. After a short time, I was carrying a friend's potatoes. They came back, the Gestapo. They called back the seven people they had on the list [Note: These were people suspected of sneaking away to "steal" food from the farms/homes of people living near the camp.] What kinds of beatings we had, my God.

One Gestapo, pushed the legs so we could not move. Another held the feet so we could not move. What was the question, the question, they had the beating. I was the seventh guy in the list. Five people signed. The sixth one, a very strong, a big guy, said: 'Why are you beating me?'
They said: 'Because you a Jew.'
They didn't have a reason.

I was black and blue, my God. After 2-4 weeks, I don't know how long it was, they told us...They took away the five who'd signed their names. The Gestapo. We didn't know what had happened to them.

In January 1 or 2, 1942, they brought them back to the camp. We woke up on a Sunday. The gallows was already made in the camp. They brought back the five people and they hung them. Because they left the workplace to beg food.

The officers, they read it out--the verdict. They called out the whole camp and they called the verdict and they hanged them. Then we had to run around the gallows for two hours and we had to look how they hanged.
[To me] You say: Why?
It's no 'why?'

In Germany...they come into your house and shoot you. They had special commanders they sent into the ghettos and they was killing people.

In 1942 was the hanging. After we walked around the gallows for two hours, they picked out (a 50 year old) man and they had to look up straight at the dead people because they didn't go fast enough.

I came to the barracks and couldn't breathe. My friend pat me on the back. Oh my God! When my mother find out they hang me.
In my town, they make a death camp. At the time, they didn't have gas chambers. They had buses. This was the first camp, I think, in Poland.

In January, we received, my town [his hometown of Dabien, Poland], there was 29 people in one room. Everybody got a postcard and they...the Gestapo took the Jewish people to 'resettle.' So, 5 kilometers [3.1 miles] from my town, they make a camp: Chelmno.

They was waiting to be resettled. So they was waiting...buses made [with exhaust going into bus]. Men, children, pregnant woman...in two days, three days, they was dead.
I was saying [while worried about mother's reaction about my being hanged in the camp], 'My God...' But my mother was already dead.
The whole city...my one brother....two sisters...father. The whole city."

"I am angry at war..." ~Shigeko Sasamori

Mrs. Shigeko Sasamori, survivor of the attack on Hiroshima in 1945, just shared with us in the library. An amazing woman. With extensive 3rd degree burns over much of her body and her face permanently disfigured, her message was the complete opposite of vengeance. The main message she wants to share with us all and for us to share with others, by extension: 

Be happy. Be good to each other. Happiness leads to social promotion, not war. 

Any type of physical fighting is a type of "war," leading to larger War. 

War should be avoided at all costs. 

Smile. Love one another. 

Appreciate your family. Appreciate your friends. 

Mrs. Sasamori instinctively, yet very conscientiously, hugged each of us. A warm embrace. 

We are all within the arms of the very nation that bombed her country mercilessly in those waning days of the Second World War.

Yet, Mrs. Sasamori tells us: Why should I be angry with you? "It was not YOU. 

I am angry at war."

**Look up 1950's film "Children of Hiroshima" to see Mrs. Sasamori.**

Conversation With Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old Holocaust Survivor, Part I

Conversations with Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old survivor of Auschwitz-Chelmno-Bergen Belsen concentration camps, Part I:

This conversation took place on Sunday, April 21st, 2013 with me in The Bronx, New York. Words in [ ] brackets indicate my additions/notes. I've attempted to quote Jacob as much as possible, in his direct words. Please read future updates with more of Jacob's tragic but, ultimately, triumphant story...

Jacob, as he prefers to be called, served in the Polish army from 1935-1937. He was drafted into service. One of his four brothers, two years younger, served in Jacob's regiment and battalion. However, Jacob served in company two, while his brother served in company three. His brother was later killed in war.

"I saw him the night before he was killed. They went to push out German invaders. The next night I was wounded." Jacob took shrapnel behind his ear, in his left thumb, and in his arm.

"Hitler invaded Poland September 1st, 1939."
[I wanted to quote that to illustrate the impeccability of Jacob's memory.]

"I didn't know how bad I was injured. I took the shovel," put it by my head, for cover.

"In '33 when Hitler came to power 'till '39, he was five times stronger than America. I was taken as a prisoner of war (POW), to a POW camp: Stalag, in Germany. [I need to confirm name of camp.]

I was writing letters home...I think it (camp) was in East Germany. After half a year since we came to the camp, they took the Jew soldiers, separated from the Christian soldiers...the war was still going on...
They (Nazis) took France, Belgium, Holland. They took the whole of Europe. After half a year in the camp, they released Jewish POW's, because soldiers have some right according to convention of...[war].

They released Jew soldiers. I went to Debien--my town [in Poland]--it was a ghetto. You know ghetto? Ghetto? I was, I was, a short time home. Then they took us to a slave camp. They took out young people from 16-50 and they was building a new railroad--Reichsautobahn, a new road from Frankfurt to Poland (not Frankfurt am Mein--the other Frankfurt). They think Hitler building the country for a thousand years."
[I need to find out if it was a road for automobiles or a railroad for trains.]

"We got two meals a day, in the morning to wake us up. 6:00-7:00, we was marching and work 'till 5:00-6:00, we left the work. We went home, back to the barracks, the camp. We got a soup--a bowl of soup. From there we was marching 5-6 kilometers [approx. 3-4 miles] back and forth to work. So many people died there. Terrible. From hunger, starvation, beating. They punished... very, very bad with beating. A dog had more right than we had...no right at all. They could kill you, okay. They hanged so many people."

[I need to confirm the name of this concentration camp.]

April 7th "AM New York" Newspaper Article Featuring HSLI !

We made the paper (and website)! Please see the link below and segments I excerpted from the larger article regarding eight high schools in NYC with "creative programs"...

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/nyc-high-schools-a-look-at-creative-programs-across-the-city-1.5025168

In New York City, there’s tons of options for teens when it comes to picking a high school. The city boasts more than 400 schools; many have quirky or out-of-the-box curriculum. While many pride themselves strictly on rigorous academics, others are tailored toward specific interests or careers.

The Department of Education encourages students to start considering high schools as early as the sixth grade, so we’ve compiled a list — it’s by no means exhaustive — of some of the city’s interesting and lesser-known high schools.

High School for Language and Innovation, 925 Astor Ave., Bronxwood, 718-944-3625, languagehs.schoolwires.net
Public, approx. 195 students

This Bronx school was founded in 2011 and uses dual-certified and ESL teachers to teach nonnative English speakers who’ve been in the country for less than four years. Native English speakers also attend. Principal Julie Nariman blends all of the students together.

“It works beautifully,” she said. “Schools get too obsessed with levels. There’s this idea that creating separate levels leads to more learning when it really doesn’t.

Powerful communication happens every day in New York City between people who speak different languages.”

Spring Break!

Yes, yes, yes. Spring Break is here. And I am enjoying it immensely.
Even at a school such as ours--where most students are respectful and all staff members get along well--breaks such as this are critical to our professional and, perhaps, literal survival.
Every school is such a break neck-paced environment; each day loaded with so much thinking, so much work, it is absolutely necessary to have these down times.

The week before break, HSLI undertook our second annual (in our school's second year) "Mock Regents Exams" period. Student and staff schedules were readjusted masterfully by Ms. Wal. Tenth graders took three consecutive days of tests: Global, Living Environment, Integrated Algebra (majority) or Geometry.
Ninth graders took two days of tests: Living Environment & Integrated Algebra.

Although there are still a couple months of content lessons and materials left to share and distribute to students, most students did a great job rehearsing for June's Real Deal exams.
These sessions were also a great rehearsal for teachers as we hone our proctoring skills. Most importantly, teachers now can zero in on particular information we feel students still need to learn and emphasize such content in the coming weeks. For example, in Global we taught a mini-lesson just before break regarding multiple choice content trends on various Regents Exams.
Students were shown two exams and students picked out several topics found in multiple choice on both exams.

Belief systems, geography, League of Nations, ancient civilizations---all rear up as trends on different exams. Therefore, students should begin listing such topics and studying them on their own, not having to wait for teachers to arrive at World War I or the Nuremberg Trials before learning about such history. In fact, most of what students need to learn between now and late June must come from their own study initiatives.

Conversation with Ms. Wang, Math Department

This transcript is based on a dialogue with Ms. Wang that took place in Room B55 on February 26th, 2013. Enjoy reading...

How did you find HSLI?

I found about the school while at my previous workplace. I interviewed at One Fordham Plaza. There were a whole bunch of people there, about five or six. There was a panel of questions that were being asked and I responded to those questions.

How did people in the school meet for the first time?

It was awkward. That was when I first found out theories behind Learning Cultures. It was a good time for team building. Overall, it started out awkward but I ended up happy. We started out in HSLI for planning. At that planning were those who were interviewed earlier.

The ones interviewed later met on the bus in Indiana [enroute to a Learning Cultures conference].

What makes our school different from other schools you've been involved in?

Colleague relationships:

I find myself actually willing to be a lot more open with colleagues, talking, being very up front when we're having team-related discussions or talking about work-related issues. I find myself having a bond more with colleagues outside of school. Even with long days, I find myself with more time to create a personal bond with colleagues. This bumps up the level of trust. Even when I've had doubts about whether to trust people, at this school I find myself giving more a try to trusting people.

Student-teacher relationships:

First of all, it's amazing even though these are teenagers--they're so many areas where they're in the stage of growing--but it's amazing to see how much they can actually do. I've never trusted students so much before. If a student says, "Hey, I'm going to be over here after school." I know the student will be there.

Something I have not seen as much before, is students showing sympathy/empathy for each other. Seeing that level of sympathy/empathy. And kids being more open with other kids, and attempting to resolve their own issues in order to promote each others’ learning and thinking. In Unison Reading for example, seeing kids solving conflicts without too much personal feelings attached to things--at least not during the class time. To me, this says how strong this particular model is.

What is the future like for the math department?

Last year, was the beginning of a trial stage. We ended up in a good place last year, considering we really only had  a couple of months to practice this model.

I can see how questioning can be so important--helping them build up their critical thinking. But when I look over my lessons from previous years, it's like Regents Prep.

But now, I see teaching more as getting students to start questioning more on their own. Working with peers to solve questions on their own.

I want the students to become more autonomous and independent in the classroom and not to come to me as a first source. Students should come to me with a lot higher order questions, after working with their peers. After they have collaborated together and formulated questions with their peers. I still want to answer their questions with more questions to get them thinking more about searching for solutions.

Where do you see some or all of our students 5 years from now?

Personally, I don't agree with every student having to go to college. With the skills they get from our school, if they decide to go right into the workplace, I would say they would be ahead of a lot of other students not graduating from this particular model.

For students who are going to college, I am very optimistic about our students not dropping out of colleges for reasons relating to being unprepared. Our students are becoming much more proficient at problem solving and collaborative problem solving. In math, it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. With this and a lot of other skills such as independence and autonomy, they will be a lot more successful in college.

With this model, it's interesting how we focus on intentionality, pushing for kids to think from various perspectives. This is a very important piece for kids when they get older. What we are doing here, making decisions after examining so many different perspectives, will help them become someone with a strong voice.