The Perfect Teacher

I often get frustrated about our education system. I am bothered by what our kids are forced to learn and what they aren't learning. I hate that kids miss out on so much experiential, meaningful learning because of the multiple choice bubbles they have to learn to fill in.

Reading this essay from Larry James' grand daughter gave me so much hope. My hope is that every teacher who reads this realizes what is important and meaningful to children and what even 3rd graders recognize is important to making our world a better place.


The Perfect Teacher
By: Gracie Toombs


There are many kinds of teachers. Some tall, some small. Some Teachers just speak matter of fact like. Some teachers just Teac the way Textbooks tell them to. But the best teacher’s lessons don’t come from a textbook. Her lessons come from her heart. If you were uneasy, mad or sad—the perfect teacher comforts you. She loves each and every child for who he or she is. This year, I am one of the 21 fortunate third graders who are in her class. I like all teachers, but this year, she has stood out to me. She opened up her heart to every student in my class. She has taught us sooo much this year. Sure, she’s taught us reading and math. But that’s not the most important thing. She has taught us about protests in the middle east and the struggle in Japan and how it effects us. For black history month, she had us memorice speeches about Seggregation and Women’s rights. While the other classes were just reading from textbooks, we were there—at theose freedom marches and protests. For earth day, We helped the world by making New paper from recycled paper. We also planted sprouts, While all the other classes jus colored bookmarks. We gave water to people in Africa through The water project.com. She has taught us life skills: kindess, love, Peace, organization, and sefl esteem. But those aren’t the most important thing she did for us. She has told us to stand up to injustice, that we could be anything we wanted, and the we can change the world. But it is not us. It’s her. The other classes may say they learn more then us but you can go up to any one of them and ask them about protests in the middle east, or the struggle in Japan or about changing lives in Africa or about life skills or about standing up for what we believe in and trust me, They won’t know as much as WE do. Sometimes it only takes ONE TEACHER tho change the whole world. And that teacher is my third grade teacher MISS CORNETT.


note: All writing and spelling was typed in just as Gracie had it on her paper.

Teaching Kids Where they Are and Helping them Discover their Greatness

As I tried to muck through the numerous emails I seem to get on a daily basis, I noticed one showed up only as "Chris." I was right in thinking it was one of our superb Americorps members from last summer.

I can't take credit for the fact that Chris is an amazing person with a gift for teaching. Instead, I wanted to post his email as a reminder to myself (and you guys) of the quality of people we get coming through our programs. I know that when Chris left our summer program, he was determined to start something like our program in Commerce, where he attends school.

What excites me about his letter is that Chris is taking on the challenge of helping inspire kids to be great. It's nothing we have in us that we give to them but, instead, something they have inside of themselves that our job, as teachers, is to help them discover and figure out ways to get them to connect the dots and be as great as we see that they are. Chris did (and is still doing) that even though he's an hour away from us now and working with completely different kids...and that makes me smile. The ripple effect continues.

Here is his email:

Hi Ms. Janet,

I just wanted to share a small story with you that you might find interesting. Last semester (and purely by chance/fate) I took on my first autistic piano student. His name is Sam. He's an extremely bright kid, very quick with numbers, and he is storming through his methods books at a rate I've never seen before...typical Asperger's Syndrome. Of course, with his learning proficiency, there is a communicating deficiency, and after talking to his mother, we think music might be the best way to help him with it.

Anyway, in our last lesson, I had him working on Bach's "Prelude in C Major." He was doing well; he had all the notes memorized, all the dynamics memorized, his fingers were curved correctly. His only problem was that some measures were a little disjointed, interrupting the flow of the piece. So, I asked him a question, "How do I know you're playing the right music?"

He pointed at the music laying on the stand, "Because the notes are right there."

So I took the music off the stand, "But you have it memorized. Let's say you're performing for me without music. How do I know you're playing the right notes?"

He stared at me blankly.

I decided a different approach. "How do you know I'm saying the right words to you right now?"

He thought for a few seconds, "Well, because I know what the words mean. We both know English."

I was impressed with his response. I wasn't sure a twelve-year-old would hit so close to the answer, but then I had to remind myself, this is Sam. I continued, "Right! More precisely, it's because I know what I'm trying to say. If I tell you, 'the cat jumped over the blue fox,' what do you think of?"

"Why is the fox blue?"

I smile, "Because he's in our imaginations. So what do you see in your imagination?"

"A cat jumping over a blue fox...what color is the cat?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"How about purple?"

"Okay, so a purple cat jumps over a blue fox. Now what do you see?"

"A purple cat jumping over a blue fox."

And now I know we're back on track together. I continue, "Alright. So how is it that you see that?"

He thinks again, "Well, because you said it."

"Correct! You see it because I see it first, and then I explain it to you, right? That's how you know I'm saying the right words! And it's the same with music..." And we go on to have a discussion about what music is. A brilliant discussion entailing Bach, John Cage, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Eventually we get back to the Prelude, and I challenge him this time to tell me something with the music.

At first he was rather confused. He wasn't sure what I meant. To him, as long as he played the right notes, rhythms, and dynamics, then he was playing the music. So we tried an exercise. I told him to take the first measure and imagine purple. Then I pointed four measures later and told him to imagine green. Then, in between, I told him to turn the purple color into the green color with the music. He didn't quite understand at first, but we worked on it for a few moments, and I broke it down for him, explaining that when I play, I pretend I am painting; each sound has it's own color and I make a picture with those sounds. So he tries again, and those four bars of music were so...true, raw, and moving. They were perfectly connected. I glanced over at his mom, who was just beaming. Sam was communicating; he was showing us his colors.

After the lesson his mom pointed something interesting out. She mentioned that he had learned the alphabet by assigning each letter a color. Seems like we might be on to a connection here.

I hope things at CityWalk are going well!

Take Care,

Chris

Becoming young entrepreneurs

Every day I find out a new cool thing going on in one of our Education Department programs. 

Our theme for our After-School Academy (ASA) this summer is Environment. The teachers have done absolutely amazing things with the kids. The last time I walked into the ASA, I wondered aloud why there were a series of about six 8 1/2" x 11" pieces of paper stuck to the low ceiling. I was quickly told that the papers were the kids' effort (guided by Mr. Chris) to Google map Dallas to China so they could begin to understand their ecological footprint.

Another one of our teachers, Ms. Danielle, is working on teaching the kids about nutrition, healthy eating, and gardening. She's done some cooking classes with the kids that are combined with literature, nutrition, and the different academic skills that go along with the cooking. The ASA has also started a walking club that involves families in the program. They are even working with our own Dr. Rhonda (pediatrician) to measure their BMI and such to start seeing improvement as the summer progresses.

So, when the farm stands started this week, it folded in wonderfully with our theme and the teachers' lessons. Danielle Evans (different from Ms. Danielle the teacher) has gotten community members involved to oversee the farm stand every Wednesday from 9:00-3:00. Plans are in the works for our Mid-Teen University boys to begin working with the police department on a service project that would take orders from the seniors in the Roseland Gardens high rise and then deliver their produce on Wednesdays. 

Since we are about education, learning, and knowledge...and since we have a theory that part of the reason people in low-income communities don't eat as many fruits and veggies because of lack of access and/or low-quality and high price in the stores, it was very exciting to me to hear that the kids and teens from our different education programs pulled their quarters together to go buy a bag of 4 apples for $1 so they could have a snack for later in the day. (knowing this is leading us to make plans to have the farm stand later in the day once the school year starts so kids can buy healthier snacks once school lets out).

Finally, it was very exciting to me to walk into the building after lunch on Thursday to see Mr. Chris's class with printouts of fruits and veggies on the tables. I love that Mr. Chris took the idea of the farm stand and created a simulation for the kids to learn how to operate the farm stands (which will lead us to our next project of getting the kids to run their own business and operate the farm stands themselves). You can hear them all discussing how the farm stands work, giving me the pitch to sell their fruit and veggies, and learning ways to make extra money.

Our ASA this summer absolutely amazes me every time I visit. Thanks, crew!

Call for Legos!

Thanks to the Dallas Housing Authority (DHA), we were provided space that allowed us to operate our Teen University, Library/Bookstore and Connect U technology lab in the Roseland community since September of last year. Conversations with residents (youth and adults) over the years had told me that our communities didn't have access to the educational opportunities people want and need in order to be successful. Though we had an After-School Academy, it only allowed us to reach kids up to 5th grade. So, I was very excited once we were provided with the space to expand our programs.

Despite our 300% increase in number of programs, we realized about halfway into the school year that we were still missing something. The middle schoolers weren't fitting in to our 6th-12th grade Teen University concept. They just weren't old enough for it to work for them. So, Terrence, one of our Americorps members, branched off on his own to create Mid-Teen U for the middle school (and sometimes younger) boys.

What he found was that the boys wanted to learn "how to." They wanted to figure out how to build structures. They were interested in knowing how things worked. So, the staff started researching and found some curriculum on aerodynamics. They started dropping things from the bannister to see how fast it would fall. They let the boys experiment. They looked into building wind turbines.

As a result, instead of the boys being on the outside of the building getting into trouble with their friends, several of them began going inside and using their brain power to think about educational concepts. You know that saying, "The idle mind is a devil's workshop"? Over the years, I have begun to understand that if we challenge our kids to think and work with them in our programs on things that cause them to leave for the day still thinking and wondering about how they can do something or what they can create next, their brain power is used up strategizing what they can do next. As a result, they know how to use their brain to create and construct instead of destroy.

Investing in these young men takes staffing, time, effort, and lots of emotional energy. However, not investing in them ends up taking much more staff, time, effort, and emotional energy in a much more negative way.

So, this summer, we have worked to try to continue the program two days a week. (We hope to have it 5 days a week this fall). We invested in Lego Smart kits for each kid with the goal of entering Lego competitions in the fall. The boys have begun to take an interest and now want to create a community with Legos. The only problem is, the Lego kits only have about 15 pieces each. So, we need more Legos!

If you or anyone you know can donate retired Legos (tubs, kits, etc.), we would love to take them off your hands...and maybe when the young guys get their city or other structure built, you can come see it....or at least see them in process.

Unique field trip experiences make a difference

You can see all kinds of great things going on at our After-School Academy these days!

This morning, I finally had a chance to catch up on some emails and found this video posted on our After-School Academy blog:



Danielle Evans runs our After-School Academy and goes way above and beyond her job to make sure the kids are constantly engaged and learning new things. The first Saturday of every month, Home Depot offers a free class for kids to build things like rain gauges, a car display rack, a bird house, and now a butterfly house. Danielle has started taking some of our more active boys and has also recruited a parent or two. Phillip is Lamarcus and Joshua's dad and has taken to attending every Home Depot trip to help his boys build new things. I spotlighted Bridgett and Phillip here...and both are still going strong with their involvement in the program.

One thing I feel very strongly about is to expose kids to opportunities that aren't the normal, run-of-the-mill activity. We rarely take the kids to movies (unless they've read the book and then the movie comes out) or Speed Zone or something like that. I believe every child deserves the opportunity to be exposed to as many new things as possible so that they can begin to determine what they really enjoy and what area gives them the most fulfillment.

So far, some of our kids have developed a big interest in gardening, while others have developed pride in their ability to interview people in our Junior Reporters program. The Digital Connectors have created videos at the Apple store and learned about video creation at Janimation. Last summer the After-School Academy learned about the environment when they went to the Waste Water Treatment Plant, learned about emissions at Frito Lay, and visited the landfill, among other things. Our bottom-line focus is college, so the elementary kids take at least one college trip per year. Teen U has visited Texas A & M-Commerce, Prairie View A & M, Huston-Tillotson, UT-Austin, Navarro, and UTD just since September.

I just wish everyone else could see the progress I see.

David laughs and greets and talks. I wouldn't have known what that meant, except that his mother told me (see what his mother told me here).

Lewis has an understanding that he is filled with "knowledge" and will tell you that if I ask him the simple question of, "What do you have?" (if you met him last summer, you would know how important this fact is).

Randy (5th grade) is absolutely certain of where he will attend college. (I learned that when I introduced himself to a guest I toured through the program and he informed the man, "I plan to go to UTD." When asked why (I was even surprised he was so matter-of-fact about it!), he simply stated, "Because we took a field trip there last summer and that's where I want to go."

Unique and engaging field trips make a difference.

Get out of your suits and come help!

I was unable to attend the Jim Wallis luncheon event last week. But I was told that Brittany, a college student who grew up in the Roseland TownHomes, had some well-spoken, but fairly harsh words for the people in the audience. "You need to get out of your suits and come down here to help. There are kids like me who want to do something and we need your help."

I'm glad Brittany said what she did.

Growing up in Roseland and the inner city, what Brittany understands is that the people who have the most resources, contacts, and connections do not and cannot feel her pain, know her dreams, or celebrate her successes. They can't because they don't know her.

Nearly every day I'm told that in order to get funding, we need "outcomes." Outcomes have always frustrated me. I see large organizations get amazing grant dollars...not because they have created a great program, but because they have learned how to write outcomes down on paper in a concise way that look good. I have listened to organizations tell me that they don't care if the kid stays at their program that day, but they want to make sure and count him/her so they can keep their numbers up for their reports.

Outcomes frustrate me.

As a director, my job often keeps me in the office writing grants, figuring out ways to write down on paper what we do, and writing endless charts about what we're going to measure. Just about the time I think I've got a handle on everything needed, I get a new email asking for more "stuff."

Over the last three weeks I have helped create two new educational programs--a library/bookstore and a Teen University--in the Roseland community...in addition to our already existing After-School Academy. (our Digital Connectors program will be starting soon!)

I am giddy with excitement as I watch Katrina (Roseland Library/Bookstore) teach the kids that visit the library how to greet in sign language. I have watched her gather a small group of kids together as they take turns reading a magazine together. I listened to a parent walk by the library/bookstore and ask Katrina if she would be open that day because she was watching three extra kids for the day and wanted them to have something to do (Katrina said people say stuff like that to her all of the time). I have received excited text messages from Katrina on Saturdays telling me how kids showed up all day to read and participate. And I can't help but be excited when she tells me how kids are scrambling to buy the books she reads to them.

I am in awe of Terrence's (Teen University) ability to draw in the Roseland teenagers. So far he has drawn about 20% of the 12-18 year olds in Roseland (which amounts to about 29 teens). I absolutely love walking upstairs to the Teen University unexpectedly and see Terrence sitting on the couch with a couple of them, helping them do their homework, while a few others are on a different couch looking up words in the dictionary. At the other end of the room there are kids playing Scrabble, and still others inquiring about colleges.

My heart warms as Danielle (After-School Academy) updates me on the daily activities and little progresses of the kids. I've seen some of our biggest challenges walk into the garden and completely transform as they dig dirt, water the garden, and check out the vegetables they've grown. I get excited watching Shawn working with our junior reporters, thinking that they will be writing for Dallas South News soon. I love walking in and seeing all of the kids busy on the computers working away.

The reason I get frustrated with outcomes is not that they don't exist in our programs; it's that "outcomes" cannot be written on a sheet of paper. Our "outcomes" are often not represented by a sharp increase in their reading or math scores. Instead, it's what we see and observe. It's the smile on Fred's face compared to the angry, furrowed brow when he entered the program at the beginning of the summer. It's Kevin talking through stuff instead of getting mad and refusing to talk to anyone. It's seeing the light switch go on in Raymond's head as he figures out how to ask a good open-ended question. Outcomes and improvement is different for each child.

I try to think of the kids in the After-School Academy like I would my own children. My parents let me try things out. They knew that letting me explore baton twirling, Future Business Leaders of America, choir, piano lessons, etc. would lead me to finding myself. I learned to discipline myself to work toward goals with the things I loved. I learned to value playing the piano, but also learned that practicing every day was not how I wanted to spend my time. If I didn't make huge gains, my parents didn't withdraw me. They expected me to do my best.

So, I want to encourage people to come be a part of what we're doing. Come see what the kids are doing. Come garden with them. Come work with them on a designated project. Watch the change for yourself. In Brittany's words, "Get out of your suits and come spend time with us." The outcomes that exist when you least expect it and are so much better than what's on paper.

Education and focus through the community garden

As I sat in my office trying to produce outcomes and documents, my phone rang. From the other end of the building, Danielle asked, "Are you going to come see the garden?" and then strongly encouraged, "You really need to see this garden!" I grabbed the camera and quickly went to the garden so I wouldn't miss the kids working.

As I rounded the corner to the garden, I slowed. I could see Ladaysha working so intently with Ms. Susie and I didn't want to miss that moment. I took a few pictures through the bars of the fence just in case they got distracted by me...but it didn't matter. Ladaysha was busy trying to cut the string that would hold the tomato stakes she was putting up. I overheard her say to Ms. Susie, "Man, this takes patience!" I snapped a few shots and then turned to see Niemen.

Niemen has become a favorite of all of ours, but he does present us with many challenges. Yet, Niemen was so intently working on pushing the new thermometer/rain gauge into the ground, he didn't see me either. As I watched, he knelt down to the ground and began packing the dirt around the bottom so it wouldn't accidentally tip over. After getting a few shots, I approached him and asked him to tell me about the garden. His sly little smile told me that he was really enjoying himself.

Ladaysha and Niemen are two of our "Garden Apprentices." Ms. Susie (Gleaning Network of Texas) has been absolutely wonderful! She comes every other Friday to do a Gardening class with the kids...but probably 2-3 times/week she pops in to grab a few Garden Apprentices to help chart the garden's progress, water, pick vegetables, and teach them how to do regular maintenance work.

As I walked around the garden, the Ladaysha and Niemen showed me the black-eyed peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalepenos that are growing. You can see in the videos below that we still have a little work to do on telling the difference between the different vegetables (Niemen had me convinced that the bell pepper was the jalepeno!), but they are quickly becoming expert gardeners. Sometimes the foundations kids need go beyond reading, writing, and math.

Check out the two videos below to see our garden and what the kids are learning:

Education through Exploration

Resources...they're what our kids need to prepare in life.

I had access to resources growing up. One of my friends reminds me that my "resources" are a direct result of my White privilege. She's right. So many kids don't have the same access I did. But it's not *just* about being White. It's a culture...a mindset. It's the way the entire community values and facilitates learning. Unfortunately, many of our communities are not nurturing education hubs. I would like to think that our After-School Academy and University of Values summer program plays a part in changing that tide in Roseland.

Last week I trained our University of Values (UV) summer staff. I asked them to imagine some times they spent outside of school and what they did.

I told them about a chemistry set my mom purchased at a garage sale. I was intrigued by the carmel "recipe" and was convinced that this chemistry set was going to allow me to make Kraft caramels. I spent a number of days outside (mom wouldn't allow the chemistry set in the house) with my test tubes and potions trying to create carmel that I could eat. (I never managed to produce edible carmel)

Brandie told about watching Super Size Me! then trying her own experiment with french fries to see how they held up over time. She was appalled at how "preserved" the french fries stayed day after day.

Other staff told about observing animals on the farm or disecting/torturing frogs when they visited relatives in the country.

Yet, as they told me these stories, they quickly added, "Nothing educational, though." Nothing educational?!?!?!?! When did "education" become synonymous with "boring"??

This summer our theme is Environment and Recycling. We have high school juniors and seniors from the ExxonMobil Green Team; we have a Mayor Intern; we have Americorps members. All are teaching kids in hopes of inspiring them to think differently about the role they play in helping/hurting our environment.

I keep encouraging them to give the kids a little information, let them ask questions, and encourage them to research and explore. We have a "Tech Genius" class that will be documenting everything this summer. I am hopeful that they will create innovative audio and visual products throughout the summer.

As we went through training, I saw lightbulbs going on as the UV Teachers figured out that learning is exciting and that learning is everywhere! However, I'm concerned that teachers have done such a great job of realizing how exciting learning can be that they're going to end up wanting to do all of the exploration instead of facilitating it with the kids!

We have great staff and a great program. The kids will be taking trips to the Landfill, the Waste Water Treatment Plant, the Museum of Science and History, University of Texas at Dallas to see how the sciences provide careers in this area, and many others. If you want to keep up with what's going on, check out their blog throughout this summer: http://www.ourasafamily.blogspot.com/.

We hope to begin updating it soon!

Changing education for our future

I understand that basic skills--reading, writing, and math--are a necessity. But I also believe that our world is rapidly changing and we need to adjust our education system accordingly.

When I was growing up, it was a big thing for everyone to have a set of encyclopedias. I loved going to my grandma's house and reading her Childcraft encyclopedias. I can remember my parents debating over whether they should get Worldbook or Britannica. I used to make fun of my brother because he would spend hours in the living room reading them. Twenty five years ago, encyclopedias were an important source of information. But information is accessed very differently these days.

Today I can't imagine having to travel to a library during open hours in order to pull books and write down information, hoping to get what I need so that I don't have to go back if my research takes a different direction.

No, instead, I sit at home on my couch--doesn't matter if it's 2:00 p.m. or 2:00 a.m.--and search for specific terms that immediately give me access to the information I need. Or...I "follow" different education tweets on Twitter that send texts to my phone so that I can access articles instantaneously and in real time.

Despite the wealth of information at our fingertips, our school systems are set up in ways that still expects kids to learn by sitting in a classroom, facing forward, and listening to a teacher using one, authoritative source--a textbook.

So, it's exciting for me to hear that there are now 10 states working with the Arizona-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21, to develop 21st century skills including critical and creative thinking, becoming technologically savvy, and working well with others.

E.D. Hirsch, a well-known writer about "cultural literacy" has written books about What Every American Needs to Know. In his opinion, kids need to learn his list of items before they learn P21 skills. I disagree. In his book, there are 63 pages of small print of "what literate Americans know"...many items of which I don't know. But what I do know is where and how to find information when I need it (a P21 skill).

Maybe we should learn from the UK, who has plans and proposals to overhaul the primary school curriculum.

Proposals would require:

• Children to leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication. They must gain "fluency" in handwriting and keyboard skills, and learn how to use a
spellchecker alongside how to spell.

• Children to be able to place historical events within a chronology. "By the end of the primary phase, children should have gained an overview which enables them to place the periods, events and changes they have studied within a chronological framework, and to understand some of the links between them." Every child would learn two key periods of British history but it would be up to the school to decide which ones. Schools would still be able to opt to teach Victorian history or the second world war, but they would not be required to. The move is designed to prevent duplication with the secondary curriculum, which covers the second world war extensively.

• Less emphasis on the use of calculators than in the current curriculum.

• An understanding of physical development, health and wellbeing programme, which would address what Rose calls "deep societal concerns" about children's health, diet and physical activity, as well as their relationships with family and friends. They will be taught about peer pressure, how to deal with bullying and how to negotiate in their relationships.

The six core areas are: understanding English, communication and languages, mathematical understanding, scientific and technological understanding, human, social and environmental understanding, understanding physical health and wellbeing, and understanding arts and design.

I don't believe anyone is advocating for taking away basic skills. But I do believe we need a better understanding of what opportunities exist for providing kids with a multifaceted opportunity to gain information.

Maybe they won't access the information E.D. Hirsch or I think is important. They may discover something that we never thought to tell them.

Let's change the way we think of education

A "groundbreaking" survey out of Toronto claims that race and poverty matter as early as grade 3. I'm not sure what's so earth shattering about that, but at least maybe it will shake some people into reality. Though the survey was done in Canada, I expect the groundbreaking results would apply in the United States as well.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was set up because we knew that children of certain ethnicities were being "left behind." NCLB requires every school to break down their test results demographically so that schools can begin to see which group they are not teaching effectively. In theory, this is great. However, once the groups are identified, instead of finding new ways to teach, the school simply drills that ethnic/age group of kids more with the same old strategies.

Our world is not the same as it was 60 years ago. We have got to change the way we educate!

Step in to the Ron Clark Academy:



I am a very critical observer of schools and teachers. When Mr. Clark went on stage at the conference I attended, I immediately thought of Pee Wee Herman. He was way too bouncy and silly looking. But when I heard Mr. Clark speak, he blew me away! Despite his Tigger-ish bounciness, I could tell that he isn't teaching to entertain poor kids. He has extremely high expectations. He expects the kids will achieve academically. He expects them to behave and be polite. He expects them to encourage one another. And he has fun.

I want my staff to go to Atlanta. I want us to learn from his energy and do as much as we can to replicate this kind of learning in our After-School Academy. But we need your help. The only time we would be able to visit is their one-day teacher visitation day on May 29. It is $300 per person...and there are 3 of us. I have already secured a place for us to stay with friends. Now we only need the transportation and registration.

If you can contribute in any way, please contact me and let me know.

We want to do everything we can to ensure that our kids love to learn and know how to excel.

Christmas presents you can feel good about!

Want something fun to give this Christmas?

Christmas is a time of giving to more than just those around you; Christmas is about helping others. However, this Christmas looks to be a little more challenging than most we've experienced. With limited funds, it will be difficult to provide gifts for family and friends, while also donating to your favorite non-profit organization.

But we have a solution!!

The 2nd-5th graders at the After-School Academy have been hard at work learning how to use Microsoft Publisher and creating pages for our First Annual CDM cookbook--Food for Thought! The 8 1/2" x 11" cookbook is full of recipes from our Central Dallas Ministries' staff, volunteers, friends, family, and our community.

As an added benefit, you will also get some of the kids' very own recipes! As I taught the technology class this semester, some of the kids insisted they wanted to type in the recipes. Week after week I tried to explain to them, "Just make the backgrounds! We will insert the recipes later!" Finally, Melvin, seeming somewhat frustrated, explained to me, "I already know the recipe!!" He went on to explain how you, "open the box, pour the cake mix in, add other ingredients, stir, etc." Probably just as frustrated as he was, I said, "Fine. Go ahead and write your recipe." (I should know by now that my ideas aren't always the best ones). As a result of Melvin's insistence, we now have cool recipes like:

"Brownies to Die For "

To make the brownies with nuts, first you will need Cake Mix, 2 eggs, water, and oil. Now when you got that lets cook. Pour the cake mix, put 2 eggs, and nuts. Pour 1/2 cup of water. Now pour 3/4 cup of oil. Stir real good. Now get a pan but spray it with butter. Now pour mix in the pan. Put in oven. Take it out. Put the nuts in the cake. Now put the chocolate icing on it.

But that's not all!! (isn't that what they always say in the info-mercials? :) )

The cookbook not only provides a variety of recipes, but shares the story of the CDM mission and the great programs that support our neighbors and friends in the community. The great thing for the kids who designed the cookbook is that...

All proceeds received from the sale of "Food For Thought" will go to support the After-School Academy in their efforts to provide technology classes, chess classes, art classes, interactive science, financial literacy, family game days, and so much more!!

Buy them for friends...family...co-workers. They are only $10 (please include an extra $2 if you would like them shipped to you). Hurry, though! Orders are due by THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12!!

To place a quick order:

1. Go to www.centraldallasministries.org/donate.
2. After filling out the first page, click "continue" to go to the second page.
3. You can either check one of the set amounts...or click on "Other" and tell what amount you are giving.
4. In the "designation" box, scroll down and choose, "Children's education and after-school programs,"
5. In the comments section make sure to type in COOKBOOK (otherwise, we will have no idea you want a cookbook!) and...
6. Make note of whether you will pick up the cookbook(s) or whether you wish to have them mailed to you. If you wish to have it mailed, please include the address in the memo box.

The cookbooks will be ready December 19th-December 24th (noon) at 409 N. Haskell, Dallas, TX 75246, if you would like to pick them up yourself.

THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE CHILDREN'S LEARNING EXPERIENCES!!

Board games...the perfect teaching tool

Sometimes running a program that requires reporting and "results" makes me forget some of the best ways of learning. I suppose I didn't realize how much my own mother was teaching me when we played cards and board games at home.

Yesterday I saw some of the kids opening up the Chutes and Ladders game. Because I've always played Chutes and Ladders...and it seems like such an easy and self-explanatory game...I figured at least the older kids probably already knew how to play. As I sat down with them I realized they didn't know...and I realized I needed to re-read the instructions to refresh my own memory! I explained the rules to them and we began to play.

Halfway through the game I realized the squares have pictures...a boy taking out the trash gets to go up, up, up the ladder to a picture of a boy eating ice cream...A girl pulling a cat's tail goes down, down, down the slide...things that allowed us to have a conversation about why they got to advance or why they slid back. Life lessons that we were able to talk about in pretend nature... Me: "Quindalyn...why did you pull the cat's tail??!!" ...to which the other kids responded, "You need to apologize to the cat!" ...and allowed Quindalyn to sheepishly look at the board and say, "I'm sorry" to the cat on the board.

As we played, the kids had to count the squares (which are labeled 1-100). The kids had to gain an understanding of how to wait their turn. They had to work on moving from one space to the next without skipping around the board (which, for some reason, seems to parallel the problems the often have with the way they do their math problems). They also learned about concepts of addition by helping a kid understand that if they are on square 53 and move 5 spaces, they advance to square 58. They had to learn good sportsmanship because I wouldn't allow them to quit the game because they were behind...and when Tyrese won, we each reached across the board to shake his hand and say, "Good game, Tyrese."

Overall, though, it allowed me (an adult) to have personal interaction time with the kids...which a lot of our kids, these days, don't get enough of.

As soon as I was finished, a few kids who saw me playing Chutes and Ladders quickly asked me to show them how to play Monopoly. I knew I was on to something when I explained began explaining how to buy property on the Monopoly board and Eddie, a kindergartener referred to the checkbook system we've been using for discipline...which allows the kids to earn or lose money based on their attendance, participation, and behavior...and then allows them to "buy" activities and field trips. Eddie immediately made the connection of buying the property on the monopoly board to saving and spending money from his checkbook: "It's like our checkbook! It's just like when we can choose to buy a camera or a voice recorder!"

Sometimes I think we try so hard to make sure we have "results" that we forget these natural and fun ways of learning. And we forget how much it means to kids that someone sits down with them, focuses solely on them, and teaches them lessons they can carry with them.

Anyone have any children's board games they would like to donate? If so, call/email me!

note: photos taken by Melvin, 5th grade

A different view of education

Because of the inevitable demolition of Turner Courts, we have transitioned all of our After-School Academy efforts to the Roseland TownHomes.

We had such quality volunteers and partnerships in Turner Courts. I must admit, I was concerned that it would take us a while to get to that point in Roseland. But it's all coming together.

For the last 10+ years, I have created my own philosophy (based on a lot of research, of course) that kids learn through educational (not necessarily academic) experiences. I have also found that kids will get excited about whatever excites those around them.

So, I look for people who are excited and passionate about what they do...or about a particular hobby they have. Those are the types of people I seek...and, therefore, those are the people I find.

For our Kinder-5th program at Roseland, we have financial literacy, technology (if you are passionate about teaching all of the new and exciting aspects of technology--blogging, twittering, PhotoStory, etc.--please let me know...I'm still looking for this person), hip hop dance, chess, history, art, and nature (by a naturalist...which I am SO excited about!).

I am constantly asked to quantify and "prove" that what we are doing is working. I have such a hard time doing that. I often can't explain it...not until years later when they have gone off to college...and are determined (no matter what grades they are making) to keep doing better, to graduate, and many of them have already discussed their plans with me to complete grad school as well. But by then, the monthly reports have already been submitted and we are on a completely different generation of Kinder-5th graders.

Today the Sudbury Valley School was brought to my attention. Though I have often questioned Montessori education...mainly because I grew up with traditional school as my norm, because I hear that their students often do better than traditional school students...the Sudbury Valley School seems to be even less structured than Montessori. But, as I read more, it reminded me of our After-School Academy. Their philosophy is that life is learning!...and if you are interested in and excited about something, you will work to understand all aspects of it. This type of exploratory learning often translates into reading, writing, math, etc. at much higher levels than anticipated by traditional teachers and traditional schools who would usually "instruct" a child.


Here's an interview with Mimsy Sadofsky, a lady who helped develop the school:

Mimsy: What is meaningful to you is easier to learn than what is not meaningful to you. It's as simple as that. So if you're excited about something or interested in it, you tend to learn it much more quickly which is one of the reasons we don't worry about the fact that many kids spend very little time doing what looks like academic work here; we know they're perfectly capable of doing any of that stuff whenever they want to.

Daria: If children don't choose the basics to learn, do they waste their time year after year after year? What happens if they choose to go fishing, an example you have in one of your books?

Mimsy: The child who chose to go fishing wasn't exactly missing the basics. He was reading about fishing and doing research on fish and doing all sorts of things that had to do with fishing. ... Many people gain knowledge more through reading and others more through conversation or visual stimulation, so we're not worried about the basics. We think if they're basic everybody will figure that out for themselves, and they do. Also, it's not as if they're here in isolation, because they're here six, seven hours a day and then they go back into the rest of the world and they have a very clear idea from the rest of the world, and from their friends who are students here, what people think of as important and as basic.

Though we don't do everything like Sudbury, our philosophy is much in line with her comments here. Children who learn chess, connect with nature, and experiment with technology may not seem to be getting the traditional academics needed to pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), but creating an environment where people are passionate about what they know rubs off on the kids. And though it may not immediately increase TAKS scores, I have found that it creates the motivation and determination to succeed.

College hasn't been easy for the majority of our kids; most weren't adequately prepared in high school. But that hasn't stopped them. I choose to believe that their determination and desire comes from what they experienced when they were in our University of Values summer program or our After-School Academies. I think many of them would say the same.

Curious minds want to know

It absolutely amazes me what comes out of kids mouths and minds when we ask them.

Each day we now have a Historian who carries around his/her journal all day and records what happens and a Photographer who is given one of our new digital cameras to record the happenings of the day.

Yesterday Kamaurja was appointed as the Historian. I saw him writing a little but I wasn't sure that he was really keeping track of anything. We had told them that the Historian would report back during group time the next day. Quite honestly, I didn't think Kamaurja had done anything but I figured if we put him in front of the group, then the other kids would see that there really was a reason for them to record stuff. Boy did Kamaurja surprise me! When I called him to the front today, he showed us the four pictures that he had drawn in his journal and explained them:








Today was Kamar's turn to be the Photographer. He was snapping pictures right and left...seemingly, at times, very pointlessly. Toward the end of the day, he proudly came up and asked if I wanted to see his pictures. As I quickly scrolled through them I figured I might as well save myself some time while I was looking at them so I deleted a few that seemed blurry or pointless. I got to three pictures in a row of this bright color. Figuring it was yet another pointless picture, I hit delete twice before he looked and said, "Look at that one! That's the light from the projector!" I think he might have even said something about it being his favorite. I sheepishly told him that I had "lost" the other two and asked if he could quickly retake them. He eagerly did so (thank goodness!).

I have no idea what made him think to point the camera straight into the projector light. Kamar wasn't sure how or why he got three different colors, but that was one of the things he liked about the pictures as well. I have to agree with him, these are the coolest pictures ever!

In fact, I think I may frame them and put them on my wall as a reminder.

Making education come alive

Why can't education be interesting?!

In elementary, high school, and college, Science and History were my two least favorite subjects.

My favorite part of high school history class was when Mr. Farmer...yes, that really was his name...would send my friend and I to opposite corners in the back of the room for talking (this happened on a regular basis). Being in the back of the room allowed us to communicate through paperwads thrown back and forth. We could do this because the entire 50 minute class was spent with his back to us, writing notes on the blackboard (in very small print) that we were supposed to copy and study. By the end of the class the entire blackboard, wall to wall, was covered in notes. It wasn't a method that really brought history alive for me.

However, once I learned about the Civil Rights Movement in college...thanks to a professor showing a piece of the documentary, Eyes on the Prize...I began understanding how the movement affected real people. Since then, I have gained a thirst for new information and I am always trying to make new connections about how history affects the decisions, laws, and practices we have today.

Science wasn't much better. Reading a science book and trying to remember all of the technical terms wasn't exactly my cup of tea. However, I do remember my mom purchasing a chemistry kit for me at a garage sale and, though I didn't exactly know what I was doing, I remember sitting outside, reading the instructions, and trying to make carmel with the little vials and burners that came with the kit. Though I never achieved edible carmel (I'm not sure the kit was meant to create edible carmel, but that was my goal), the chemistry kept me occupied for hours.

So why is education in our schools so boring?

Why is learning so disconnected from real life?!

We seem to be on a pendulum. Learning is categorized and departmentalized and single subjects are taught depending on what the political climate deems as necessary. As a result, a child in school focuses on reading OR math OR science OR history...but rarely do these subjects get applied to real life. Over the past few years, because our mandated testing has been on reading and writing, teachers and schools often leave out the other subjects. I have had more than one kid tell me that the reason they have a 100% in Social Studies on their report card is because they don't do Social Studies (the teacher just gives them a grade to fill in the blank).

Over the last several years, the colleges and businesses have noticed the downward trend in students interest in Science and Engineering. To make up for that, mandatory testing has added Science so teachers would be sure to teach it. But that doesn't mean it will be interesting. Actually, it means quite the opposite. Now teachers will have to ensure kids get certain facts down about science.

Maybe instead of "teaching" everything, subject by subject, we should focus on kids "experiencing" things. If we set up our classrooms in a way that kids could explore, create, and experience, I wonder if we'd be surprised by the way kids responded to education...and be surprised at how many subjects are covered.

This week, we start our 4-week summer program on Health and Nutrition at Turner Courts. We have field trips set up to Central Market, UTA's fitness center, Samuell Farm, and the Farmer's Market to stimulate their creativity. We have speakers who will teach about nutrition and health...some who are parents, some who are fitness instructors, some who work at places like Southwestern Medical Center. We will be teaching the kids how to blog and podcast as well.

But the most exciting part is that we have time for the kids to create. The kids will be writing on the blog (you can keep up with it at http://www.ourasafamily.blogspot.com/), taking pictures, interviewing people, creating a practical fitness center that could work in their own home, and creating the menus for our evening meals. The activities and projects they do will incoporate reading, writing, math, art, history, health, science, and so much more.

I admit I am a little nervous. It's hard to think outside of the traditional education box. It is a little scary to wonder what we will do and how we will guide the kids during the "unstructured" time. It puts the burden on those of us who are setting up the program to really listen to the kids and hear what they are saying so that it can inform our approach on a daily basis.

I'll keep you updated on the progress.