The Numbers

We enrolled 29 families this year.  This means 29 parents, 28 mothers and one father with 40 children as a part of our early childhood program.

The National Reporting Service asks for four outcomes.  We had eight GEDs as of August; I am hopeful that one student will retest her written language component and do a passable essay.  At least one other was ready to take the test, but never followed through on registering for it.

25 students went up an academic level in at least one area (math or reading or language).  This means a gain from elementary to middle school levels, or middle school to 9th-10th grade, or 9th-10th to 11th-12th.   It can be an arbitrary distinction because going up from 5.9 to 6.0 is a level gain, whereas going up from 6.0 to 8.9 is not a recordable gain.  13 of the 29 students entered the program with at least one elementary grade level score, most often in math. 

  Nine students found jobs and as far as I know, just four enrolled in college. 

A father in class

In previous years, we have had men in our class.  This year we have not--until the last month.  I had not been eager to call this gentleman.  He had listed a parole officer as a contact and it is sometimes a bit difficult to incorporate a lone male into the class.

However, L has been a delight.  He has been very open about his past and the years he has spent incarcerated.  And "incarcerated" is the word that is usually used by our students.  He said he never went to school past sixth grade and that he was first found guilty of a felony at age 14.  I think he said murder, but I didn't want to quiz him on that.  He has five children--so he must have spent some time on the outside over the years.  He has been out of prison for the last 8 months and has had trouble finding work.  He feels that if he gets a GED and gets some automotive training, he can at least go into business for himself.

L participates in class discussion.  He sings along at circle time even though his voice is the only male voice.  He is wonderful with his two year old son--who is also a delight.  And he is so much more aware of the world around us than most of the women in the class.  He has a good vocabulary and is learning more math every day.  Spelling is not his strongest skill but that should not hold him back.

I think about what a privilege we have to make a difference in his life.  I hope Family Literacy is a help in his turning his life around.  He has been a joy to us!

My last post?

I met with my supervisor this week and talked about the future of Family Literacy and my own future in adult education.  I will definitely have my own class somewhere with hours to be determined as well.  That's fine.  He also asked me to mentor other teachers and to visit other sites in order to think about how the program can be improved over all.  That is a bit nebulous and scary but I said I was willing to do it.  So there will be changes.

I also wanted to record a few Facebook comments I have received in the last few weeks.  Here they are, as written in texting language: 

"Hey MRS. MARY I MISS U SO MUCH N I REALLY MISS BEIN N UR CLASS!!"

 "We are doing well! OMG Mary he has grew so much. And is so smart. I believe when he was comming to the program it helped alot. I signed him up for head start and hope to here from them soon. I wish u the best of luck in ur new field of work. Take care...... Oh i almost forgot..... are u still cupcakin with ur boo? Lol!!!"

 "THANK YOUR VERY MUCH Mary Vanderkam I couldn't have ever done it with out you. Your are the best teacher I ever had . Just wanted to say thank you."

 "Im excited and school start in august for me thanks for helping me when i was younger mary"

There is one more lovely story I want to record.  One of the founders of Talk with your Baby called me last week and said she just happened to sit with one of our former students at St. Margaret's House.  She wondered if I thought this young lady would be willing to take the TWYB training in July and then consider being an assistant teacher with pay in the fall.  I thought this was a wonderful plan.  To my delight, it all worked out and she did attend the first training on Friday and apparently participated and loved it.  The founder even took her out for lunch and asked her to be on the "marketing committee."  As this young woman knows everyone in town and has lots of personal poise, she can be a good spokesperson and has been already for TWYB.

Family Literacy will survive for another year.  Jobs will be posted next week.  But beyond that, outside funding must be found.  I hope and pray it will be.  The program is too good to die.  It is expensive and helps only a limited numbers of families, but for most of those families it makes a difference.

My last "closing ceremony"

We don't call it a graduation.  We call it a "closing ceremony" and, of course, "an ice cream social."  I overheard T calling a friend to invite her, saying, "it's really tight--you should come!"

We made our usual speeches about each child and each adult as we handed out certificates to them.  At the end, our three child care teachers stood up and said a few words about me as I "retire" from Family Literacy.  I don't remember everything they said, but all three got teary.  J said something about there being nothing phony about me and that I made them work hard and the students work hard.  There were many nods!  H said that hardly a day went by that I didn't make them feel appreciated in some way and that she had never had that before in any job.   S said that she had been with me since the first month she came to South Bend and that she couldn't have done her master's degree without my help and that she had told me things she hadn't even told her husband.  That may be true about what she has told me--her life could be a novel.

I felt especially good about H's comment because I think it is so important to feel appreciated and I am so glad they felt that way.  And I truly did appreciate them and their patience and hard work.  I could not take care of little children so well.

Then three students stood up and spoke.  T must have planned her talk, but J and LB were spontaneous.  Both J and LB stressed that I gave them confidence in themselves--that they could do the work and they could succeed.  Again, that was about the nicest thing they could say to me and I felt very affirmed.

I was given a peace lily in which everyone wrote a few words on the pot.  I read the card and its expressions of love and appreciation when I got home.  And that is when I did weep a bit!

But I am not sorry or sentimental about my decision.  I do not want to quit teaching.  I am eager for next year and a regular GED-ABE class.  Family Literacy is a wonderful program, but as one of my former colleagues put it, "Are you ready for something with less drama?"  I am!

Letting go of the butterflies

We went to Potowatami Zoo on Tuesday and had our picnic afterwards.  We had purchased five caterpillars a few weeks ago and watched them turn into chrysalis.  About a week ago, each one turned into a butterfly.  It was amazing to me that all five survived and grew and were ready to go.  After our meal was finished, Miss H opened the cage.  One by one the butterflies hesitantly sat on the rim.  And then each one suddenly found its wings and off it went.  It was a beautiful scene--teachers, parents, and kids--all watching and cheering as the butterflies went into the world.

A few days later, I was thinking, "Fly, LB; fly, TM; fly, V; fly, TB; fly, C.  We're ready to let you go.  Take the exam, get your diploma, and go on with your lives.  This is just the beginning!"

So many obstacles...

I was optimistic that six students would register for the GED exam today.   However, one called to say she had broken her ankle and was at the hospital this morning.  Another one was with her daughter who had a bad attack of asthma during the night.  A third student could not get his truck started yesterday so he missed class.  I don't know if he actually registered or not.  A fourth student's baby is supposedly due in early July, but she will never make it that long. 

I'm hoping that possibly two managed to keep their appointments.   We had half-scholarships for each one, but they still have to come up with a $35 money order, find child care and get transportation for the 9 am meeting.

Using words in context

We had another example this week of how one's context forms one's vocabulary.   I asked T to share a word from her Megaword book with the class.   She suggested "deliberate."  L said, "That's what a jury does when it leaves the room."  Ah, yes--but not the first meaning I would have thought of.  It reminded me of the definition I have heard more than once for "decline"--a word on a reading inventory I often use.  "Decline?--that's when your credit card gets declined." 

Food!

Yesterday we had a breakfast celebration for Miss S, one of our child care teachers,  who graduated with her master's degree from a local university.   Ten students came;  one was excused because she was ill.   They knew there was going to be food and they all showed up!   The previous day and today--we had six students present.  I don't think we can have celebrations and food every day, but it does help attendance!

A model student

TB is almost always in class.  She lets us know if she or one of her three boys is sick.  She participates in other opportunities to improve herself or her family's situation--the Unity garden project or a Financial Literacy class.   She makes sure she is at her daughter's elementary school for special events.  She has followed through on my request that she be tested for a learning disability so that she can request accommodations in taking the GED exam.   But....we have to prove that she can pass the test with those accommodations.  And we have yet to do so, even after a year and a half of faithful attendance.

I know her reading and math and writing have all improved.  But the GED exam demands a level of abstract thinking and vocabulary and background and multi-step problem solving that I am not sure she is capable of doing. 

We are going to give her a certificate at our closing ceremony naming her our "student of the year."  I wish we could award a GED for effort.  Without that achievement, it will be hard for her to ever have a job that will enable her family to become self-sufficient.

Today is her birthday.  Her sons and I made her a birthday cake and we all shared it at circle time.  I hope she felt celebrated.

An iphone

  I am learning to use my iphone as a tool for Family Literacy.  Several students have texted me to ask to be excused from class.  Apparently even when there are no minutes for calling, one can still text.  I have taken a few photos and will send them on to the families. 

For a long time, I have wondered how we could read or listen or watch the daily news.  But it never seemed to work out very well for timing or for getting enough newspapers.    I have now downloaded a radio ap on my iphone and from there have downloaded a four minute NPR news summary and a one minute CNN news summary--both of which are updated hourly, I think.  We have listened to them as a class whenever I can squeeze in a brief activity.  I have posted places in the news on the board and also vocabulary such as "federal", "compound", "detainees", and "assassination."   I hope it is just one more way to expand the world of our students.

A cycle of frustration and futility

I called T today to see if she could be back in class next week after her week of orientation at her new job.  She said her car (recently purchased and trouble from the start) had caught fire today and she didn't know how she was going to keep her job.  The criteria for the work of transporting clients with handicaps was to have an insured car.  She was going to look for another one, dirt cheap, she said.  But that will just mean trouble again.

Added later--We learned that the car seat T had borrowed from our program was destroyed in the fire.  

Purging files

It's spring break and I have spent a few hours each of the last two days going through files dating back to 1994.  Many of the students' names are familiar, but not all.  Some of them resurface years later.  I saved all my plan and record books, all ILRs (Individual Learning Records), and newsletters from all the years.  I am ready to dump four large boxes of files.

It was a reminder of how the emphases have changed over the years.  We used  to have to list numbers for life-skills, we created portfolios, we did Starting Over programs with soft skills, and now the emphasis is on work place and transition to college.  

I also went through teaching materials dating back to the 1980s or earlier.  I will never use many of them again so out they went!  It was a trip through memory lane--the time I presented at a conference, the homework and test-taking workshops I did for students and their parents, the unsuccessful proposal I made to Educators Publishing Service to publish the change-of-letter technique.

Our recyclable container is full and there are still four boxes ready to go out.   But I did salvage some good ideas I had forgotten about and will look over again at my leisure.

A guest speaker

A brief lesson on a pharoah on the Met Museum Art of the Day provoked the comment "Why do people study this old stuff? "  Because that is my husband's work, studying the Dead Sea Scrolls, I invited him to create a simpler power point presentation and come to our class.  Today was the day.  There were eight students present and one volunteer.  The volunteer showed me yesterday how to connect the powerpoint to the TV so that was one challenge and accomplishment.

Maybe two of the students asked questions and  they were good questions.  Most of the others listened politely.  One had her head down and barely made eye contact with Jim or the slides.  I know he made every attempt to explain clearly and yet I was so struck with how far removed most of my students are from academic discourse.  Jim referred to a "quill" and "ritual baths" and "nineteen hundred years ago."  I quickly translated that as 2000 and asked if they knew what a quill was.  He referred to "Jordanian occupation" and the "Gaza Strip" and the "West Bank" and they barely know where Israel is.

A tsunami? an earthquake?

This morning I asked the students to name a few places in the news and then find them on the globe.  Maybe two or three out of the eight present seemed aware that a horrible earthquake had taken place in Japan with 10,000 dead or more.  Two of those students turn on the TV news in the morning.  The third one thought she had seen something posted on Facebook.  

No one seemed aware of the revolutions taking place in Egypt and Tunisia and the fighting in Libya.

Tomorrow, I begin taking in the newspaper from home or picking one up en route.  Or we look at a news source on the web.   I know there is often little awareness of other times and places, but this disaster is not a small thing.  How can they be unaware of it? 

One of the students who turns on the TV every morning at 6 am has received some of the best GED predictor scores in science and social studies this year.  No wonder she has done well.

No power!

Yesterday at 8:15 am I got a call on my cell phone from S, the resident liason at Housing Authority.  She informed me that there would be no electricity in the child care rooms from 9 to 11 am.  We had hints that this might happen, but had not been told directly.  We had called and emailed the previous day to confirm this possibility, but had not gotten any response until it was too late.  By 8:15 the buses were running to pick up students.  This has been typical of my experience with the Housing Authority.  We have been there for 20 years with two years elsewhere during that time.  And we are still forgotten when things like this happen.   We were informed the last time that the "lights" were going to be off--and we canceled class and then they never were turned off at all.  So I might not have canceled anyway.

The child care staff coped with a pretty dark classroom for two hours.  We turned the heat way up before anyone came so it didn't get cold.  We still had water.  We are flexible!  We had seven families and the adult students accomplished quite a bit.  So I am glad we had class.  The child care staff does not get paid if we cancel so that is another reason to keep going no matter what!

It's this kind of thing that strengthens my resolve to leave this program.  It's all the extra hassles besides teaching.  It occured to me recently that someone else will need to be a part of the hiring of childcare staff for next year.  One of our aides will leave for sure; I hope the other two will stay.  But that will be someone else's problem in August--not mine!  The best possible scenario would be to hire in May however so that we can see someone in action in the classroom.  Last time we hired we talked to someone who came across just fine in her interview and then was a dud in the classroom.  She didn't interact with the children and worst of all, she never said how cute our babies were!  The woman we did hire was a stark contrast to that.  The others on staff just knew she was the one we needed when they saw her in the classroom.

So close to trouble

It takes very little to set some sparks going.  Today J went back to the childcare room because her granny was coming to pick up her baby.  One of our child care teachers told her that a new 2 year old in class had scratched her daughter.  The students are to be told if there is an incident; they are not to be told who the culprit was.  I don't think this has come up this year and I am not sure we clarified that policy at the beginning of the year.  The teacher was not defensive when I asked her to refrain from naming names if it happened again.

J came back to the classroom and informed the mother of the 2 year old what had happened--in front of the class.  The mother said she was sorry but of course it wasn't her fault.   I hated for this incident to have happened on someone's first day in class.  I hope it does not upset her enough to stay away.

I told J I was unhappy that she pointed this out in front of everyone and that it took so little to make trouble in a class.  She said she really was upset and did feel like fighting because now her baby would go to her daddy's house and everyone would think she was a bad mother because she had a scratch.

It really has been a good year in that there have been few incidents of this nature. There often have been biters in the nursery or preschool and that took lots of supervision and created much anger on the part of mothers.  And last year there was trouble more often because of one student who said she was a lesbian and then another one who obviously had gender issues and flirted with one of the other students often.  Lots of "she said... and then she said... and it's my own business...no one has to be in my business...etc."

Why did I lose it?

I really just got so impatient and irritated today and I wonder why.  I showed a student how to copy pages for an assignment for herself and one other student.  I asked her to make two copies of five pages.  When she hadn't returned after a long time, I sent our volunteer down after her.  The volunteer was told she needed five copies of the whole chapter.  No wonder it was taking a long time.  Then the pages were all out of order.  I guess I got frustrated with wasting time and my failure to make sure my directions were understood. 

And this was after, once again, several didn't seem to understand there was a difference between 8% and 80% and that 5/10 was different than 10/5.  Sometimes I have to remember that many of these students dropped out of school for a reason.  They got pregnant, they were suspended, they got into fights--but for some, school was not a place of success and learning or they might have endured.

So here is a positive about today.  L, who is the lowest scoring student in the class, related a one on one lesson on discounts and percents to a time recently when she bought a microwave.  It was truly as if she suddenly had an insight and the whole idea made sense!  The microwave's price was $60 and the salesperson offered her a 10% discount.  She was asked if she knew what that was--and at the time she didn't.  Now she does and she was quite pleased about it.  So was I!  I told her we would make up a problem about it for everyone.  

Technology and students

Years ago I needed to teach students how to use a mouse, how to double-click, and how to do many other basics skills in using computers.  We are still a long way from universal access to computers and the internet, but for the most part, these lessons are non-issues.

I bought a new iphone on Saturday.  I played with it some over the next two days, learning to text and to use and send photos.  I neglected to learn how to use it as a phone.  During class, I received a phone call from our volunteer.  I was unable to answer it and my inability was very public.  D asked very sweetly, but with a point, "Mary, how long have you had that phone?"  I have been chuckling about her question ever since! Times have changed.

A good excuse

T asked to be excused from class yesterday.  She was taking all her siblings and her daughter to the dentist--all ten of them.  They range in age from three to 18.  She said all but the youngest had no cavities.  She was "pumped" about that and so were all of them.

Miss J did Talk With Your Baby today and asked for examples of conversations with their children.  T was first and broke the ice by telling of her own daughter's asking about her brother's death and how she really doesn't like to talk about it.  Everyone did tell some incident or at least shared a bit, but T got it started.

J said later, "T is a gift."  I told T that later and she got a wicked gleam in her eye and said, "Just wrap me up like a birthday present."  I got a vision of the old Saran Wrap fantasy in what was that old book about being a perfect wife--Marabel Morgan?  Can't remember.  It made me laugh.  But I did not share my thoughts!  (later correction:  Marabel Morgan--The Total Woman!)

T has so many abilities and gifts.  How can I get her to pass the GED when she suddenly couldn't answer a question this morning about which fraction was larger than 1?  3/4?  3/2?  12/15?  We have attacked that idea with pictures, rulers, computation, but it doesn't stick.   Her sister, who is also in the class, has had to learn how to write 1/2 and could not split a rectangle into three equal parts.  Two parts? OK, but not three.

I think T has a shot at a GED.  Her younger sister does not.  But do I tell her that?  Not yet.  She can learn and maybe more importantly, her four year old needs to be with us so he can learn.  He has made good strides in language and socialization just in a month.

A big step

Yesterday the head of adult education visited our classroom to do a required observation.  The lesson, a GED essay on what makes a good teacher, was great fun and went well.  On her way out, I told her that I was not ready to retire, but was ready to give Family Literacy over to someone else.  Today I told my immediate supervisor the same thing.  He was very understanding and talked about not wanting to lose me and that there were many other ways to use me.  He talked about a time of transition for Family Literacy.  I really think this is what I want to do.

Our one room school house

Years ago a volunteer said our classroom reminded him of a one room school house.  We do have a great variety of abilities and styles.  Two new students in 2011 have many skills and a sense of enjoyment in learning.  One whooped with delight when she remembered how to do long division today.   The other has easily moved through decimals, fractions, and percents in a quick review.  But another new student cannot tell you how many dimes are in a dollar or subtract 8 from 10 without using her fingers.  And then there all those in the middle who have been with us for a few months and need constant review and reminders to use every strategy they have available to do their math problems.  They can usually compute, but get stumped by any two or three step problems or any slightly different than the usual template.

We need to remember that Family Literacy exists for many reasons, not just the "I want to get a GED" reason.  The first two students have the ability to pass the GED exam, but if they are like others, they will need encouragement to take that step.  The second student can certainly improve in her basic skills, but maybe even more importantly, we can help her be a better teacher for her four year old.  He is delayed in speech and socialization and can act out quite violently to others.  We need to be a source of referrals for him and a source of support for her.  So I will try to hang on to her just as much as the students who have the ability to achieve a GED.

  And then all those in the middle are really my biggest challenge.  How can I nudge them to get just those few extra points in order to pass the GED exam?  I can't make them into great students, but I can help them open the doors to better employment and further education if they can just score a 410 in math instead of the failing 400! 

Score: 2-1

I heard two stories that saddened me this week and one that pleased me.  First the good; then the bad.

A, a former student, "friended" me on Facebook.  She said she was doing great, had gotten her high school diploma (not sure what that means) and was enrolling in cosmetology school January 31.  So that's the happy story--even if later that week she posted that there was crime tape all over her street.  A resident had endangered his parents and was shot by the police in a stand-off.

 T, another former student, posted on FB about her gratitude for her church and a woman in it.  I responded by saying how happy I was to read her posting.  Later in  the week, a friend of hers who brought her to that church, told me that T had delivered her third child in the last month, a little girl, and had given it up for adoption.  Three years ago we had been through this with her second child and she backed out of the adoption two days after delivery.    I had assured her the previous time that God would not send her to hell for giving up a baby. I wish she had more self esteem than to get involved with these "baby daddies."  The first father was shot and killed before the child was born; the second got out of jail and threatened her enough so that she called me and I brought her to the YWCA shelter.  I know nothing about this father. 

S dropped out of our class a few months ago and I never found out why.  Her mother told me that she was now enrolled at IVY Tech.  I mentioned the danger of getting student loans when you didn't have a GED.  Her mother said that she thought she did have a loan because she was getting a car.  I fear that enrolling in college and getting a loan is all a way of making easy money.  If she doesn't pass the GED in six months, she will have to repay that money and will not be able to get another loan.  I think.  I'm not sure.

Another day off!

Last Thursday we could not have class because of a power outage scheduled for the 628 building (which never actually occurred!)  Today there is no class because the roads in the city are not cleared enough for the buses to get through.  Next week is MLK day and then a teacher record day.  Our students need to be in class regularly!  This is not good.

  We are going to have lunch as a staff today and that is nice.  We won't have to rush to get there or rush to get away.  This is my twice postponed Christmas treat.

But I do realize that I need to be teaching.  I just might not need to be teaching or administering Family Literacy.   I would like to be in class today and that is a good sign.

One on one

My jury duty was canceled.  And then at 5:15 I got a call from Housing Authority saying there would be no power in the child care rooms due to major construction in the area.  I made many calls canceling staff, students, volunteer and buses.  I went in to my classroom where there was power.   I had plenty of projects I could do. 

However, one new student was not given the message by her housemates and she showed up with her one year old.  She worked so hard all morning and was so eager to keep working.  Her baby alternately played, ate, and slept.  The morning was worth it for her sake.

The irony--When I went to get a car seat so I could take her home, I turned on the lights in the child care room automatically.  They went on!  The power was never turned off.  We could have had class. 

Little things make me happy

Yesterday was our first day back after the holidays.  I didn't feel well and we had only five students show up.  Today we also had only five students but I felt better and it was a good day.  Two quite faithful students have been absent and have not called.  I am concerned.  One new student also is a no-show.  So it seems to be a week of some uncertainty.  Plus I have jury duty on Thursday for the first time ever.  The students seem to know more than I do about jury selection--in one case, having watched it from "when my baby's daddy was on trial and it took two days to choose a jury."  That must have been a serious offense.

So here are the little things that make me happy--and it may not seem like it takes much!

When I said one of my new year's resolutions was to sit in my rocking chair in the kitchen and just be there--to think and pray.  T said "What was that vocabulary word we learned before Christmas?"  It was "contemplate"--I'm glad she thought of it.

When D was doing map work, she saw "Madagascar".  She said that some dude told her he was from Madagascar and she laughed at him and said that was a movie.  Now she knows he wasn't kidding.

D and K both smiled today--and maybe even laughed.  Part of the humor may have been the reaction when I talked to the bailiff on my cell phone.  They asked what would happen if I didn't show up.  I said I'd be in real trouble and as T said, "Jim will get a collect call from you" (from jail.) 

  Yesterday four out of five students could not draw a picture of 2 1/2 as requested on a textbook review page.  Today we used pictures, notched rulers, and money.  There were some "Ahs" as they got it--maybe.  Yet a few still tried to draw  6 1/4 inches instead of  6/4.  No wonder the processes are so hard to remember when there is so little concept as a foundation.  Maybe I will repeat and extend this lesson when my supervisor comes to observe next week.