Bronwyn Harris, Author

In my 8 years of teaching in Oakland, I was lucky to never have my grade level changed in the middle of the school year, but I had plenty of co-workers who did.  The schools try to staff for the kids who will come but they don't actually know who is coming and in which grades.   So every year, teachers would spend hundreds of dollars and countless days on getting their rooms ready, only to have to switch in mid-October. Here's a very brief story about it and another teacher's thoughts , very well explained. My Little Sister's teacher is being consolidated and she LOVES her teacher.  I happen to know that the teacher she's getting is very very good but she's spent 6 weeks bonding with the teacher she has and starting over is scary.

The regrets I have from my time teaching in a classroom are not what you might think.  I know I gave everything I had to those kids - no regrets there.  I was tired - very very tired - and would have done better if I wasn't so exhausted, but there wasn't much I could have done about that.  What I regret most is not standing up for myself to authority figures in the school and the district.  When my first principal told us that we should all be afraid for our jobs, I wish that I had said that I didn't feel motivated by a constant reminder to be afraid for my job.  Each and every time an administrator answered my request to sign my after-school tutoring papers or reimburse me for something with "But don't you do this for the children?" or "I'm disappointed that you're asking me this - I thought you did this for the children," I wish I had said "Excuse me!  I am a professional and we had an agreement!  Please do not try to tell me tha...

Here's a story about one of the principals from another teacher. I can't decide if my favorite part was that she had to call and tell the district that they had openings because they didn't notice or if it was that the principal didn't feel like showing her where her classroom was. I was hired two days before school started, (After calling all the elementary schools in the city to find out where the openings were and then informing the district that they in fact did have jobs to fill). I went to the office to introduce myself to the principal and see if I could see my classroom so that I could get it ready for kids. When I walked in to the office it was utter chaos. I saw the principal in her office. I knocked and said, "Hi, my name is ---, and I was just hired to teach second grade here." Her response was "OK." I said, "I was wondering if I could go and see the classroom I am going to be in so I can set it up for the students tomorrow. Her r...

Wow, am I glad I don't have to deal with this anymore. Thursday, May 25, 2006 Time Travel and Foolproof Logic The District has reached a new low in logic. For the last few years, we’ve had these things called “Buy-Back Days.” They are professional development days but because of the contract or because the district is cheap or something, they’ve been optional, and only the people who go to them get paid. Then the people who want more money can go, some of us can sleep in, and the district doesn’t have to pay for everyone. Then, to make things a little more confusing, our school is in the “intensive Support Network" and we have three more optional professional development days. For most of these days less than half of our staff showed up, not because we don’t want the extra money, but because we’re generally exhausted. I went to two of them, but I don’t know if they were district-wide or particular to our school. Now things get interesting. We just got a new ...

In my second to  last year of teaching, I had a student who missed over 70 days of school.  I forget exactly how many, but it was more than 70.  There are only 180 days in a school year, so that was about 40% of the school year that she missed.  Absolutely nothing was done because the child wasn't failing.  She was pretty close, but she wasn't failing and she wasn't a behavior problem so no one wanted to do anything about it.  I begged administrators to take notice but no one would.  Apparently she's not the only one . One year ago: Overly Protective Four years ago: Countdown

OK, for the second of my comprehensive two-part program to improve the district I used to work in, I propose that we all try to Make Sense.  If you think that is an obvious point, you clearly have not worked in this district. 1. The person in charge of subbing shouldn't sign people up for jobs and then not tell them about it, making it impossible for them to show up. 2. More than one person in the district should know how to reset the clocks . 3. The district should not require time travel in order to get all professional development days completed. 4. If you want kids to do projects using the Internet, you have to provide computers and Internet access . 5. It rains sometimes .  We need a plan. 6. Assessing children on math concepts that haven't been taught yet makes no sense .  And is incredibly frustrating. 7. If you build a playground and then don't let the kids play on it , they get sad.  And parents get angry. 8. Why would you spend a ton of money to ...

In my hypothetical plan to improve the district I used to work in, the number one priority is to be nicer.  Yes, I know that sounds simplistic, but when everyone is rude and grouchy - the custodians, the principals, the HR clerks, the sub coordinator, the lunch ladies - it really wears on you.  A big, big part of why a lot of teachers leave is the simple lack of human decency.  Now, I hope that has changed.  I haven't worked there in several years and I really really hope that is not longer true.  But just in case it still is true, here are some tips: Being Nicer: 1. The person in charge of subbing shouldn't get to call and yel l (and yes, I mean yell) at subs who get sick. 2. The person in charge of special ed shouldn't get to yell at a mother and tell her that it's her fault her child is emotionally disturbed, when the mother is doing everything she can to help. 3. The HR people shouldn't be perpetually scowling and actually snatch documents out ...

A wide variety of people have asked me recently what needs to change in the district I used to work in.  Although it is one of the most improved school districts in the state, it is notorious for being difficult to work in and having a ridiculously high turnover.  Each time, I think my answer boiled down to two things: 1. Be nicer. 2. Make sense. These may seem too simplistic, and I think people were expecting more of a sweeping pedagogical approach, but I really think these two things are key.  I'm going to work on some examples for the next couple of posts. Three years ago: Art Gallery Five years ago: My Beast Friend                         Teacher Appreciation Week                          Magic Pencils

One of the many, many principals that we had (mostly bad), Principal Five was one of the special ones.  She wasn't outright racist like Principle Four, but she was completely usless.  This is what I wrote about Principal Five a few years ago: Principal Five: After the disastrous P4, we thought that maybe the district would get a clue. They picked someone who was not bad in any of the same ways as P4, but was still bad. Example: My classroom wasn't cleaned and it was the last day that we had before school started, as P5 lived almost two hours away and wasn't coming in on the weekend. I told her that my classroom was still messy and dirty and there was no way it would be ready for kids on the first day of school. She looked at a space right past my head so that she wasn't looking me in the eye and said, "I really don't know what you're going to do," and walked off. She also had a limp-fish kind of handshake and a tendency to walk away when ...

I wanted to re-post this in honor of the great teachers at Urban Promise Middle School.  I haven't been back since this post, but it was just so wonderful... Tuesday, April 14, 2009 The Difference a School Makes Wow. I've talked before about the two kids that a friend and I hang out with, or I guess you could say "mentor" in a way. I'm forgetting the pseudonyms I have them so I'll call them Jorge (the older one) and Luis (the younger). I had Jorge in my class in third grade and he has had it rough. He's the oldest of six children and was born when his mother was 14. His mom is frequently in rehab or jail, although she seems to have been out for the last couple of years. If she's clean or not is anyone's guess. Jorge helped raise Luis, at their grandmother's house (the rest of the kids live with other relatives). He's always been super over-responsible, stressed out, and had way too many adult responsibilities. About a y...

When we go into teaching, we all know that we're not going to be working in shiny state-of-the art facilities.  We know that we're working with children and that things will get broken and dirty.  I was, however, under the impression that the custodians cleaned up and that basic supplies were provided.  Silly of me, I know. The kids' bathrooms didn't have hot or even warm water.  They usually didn't have soap or paper towels.  Every year or so someone medical would come and do a big presentation for the kids about how to stay healthy by washing your hands in hot water with soap and drying them with paper towels.  The kids wouldn't listen, and it was hard to blame them - they had none of those supplies.  It's a little crazy-making to be told what to do and not be able to do it.  These same people had mandatory trainings for the adults, to tell us how to avoid bloodborne pathogens.  Of course, it involved some of the same tips, but here was...

Although the name of this school always makes me want to call the school next to it "Commodities," it has come very very very far since it started.  All but one teacher got a layoff notice. There's a video here .  Two years ago: More Education News Four years ago: From Mystery to Medicine

I've had several people ask me the same basic question about the previous post.   Some variation of this (which I just copied and pasted from the latest email from a friend): I thought it was typically part of the agreements that school districts have with the teachers' unions that required the "last hired, first fired" approach to layoffs.  Is that true?  If so, is it not expected that the layoffs would hit a brand new school like Futures?  Why should I think something different should happen?  Is this not what the teachers have negotiated with the schools? Excellent question.  I answered, but then I ran  my answer by an anonymous teacher friend who helped me edit.  Here is our answer: this part mostly from me, augmented by anonymous friend: You're correct that typically unions have policies of last hired, first fired. The union in this district is no different. In practice, because this is a highly segregated district, teachers wit...

I have never been laid off from a school.  Apparently I am one of the only ones.  This year, this district is pink slipping over 500 teachers.  I'm going to have a guest post by a teacher soon who is getting one of these letters. The pattern I've seen in this district, every single year has been this: 1. March: Panic about budget, lay off all the teachers they can. 2. March - August: refuse to answer questions about if jobs will be available 3. August: start complaining that there aren't any teachers and there are too many vacancies.  You'd think someone would learn. Layoffs .  More layoffs . Four years ago: School Closings                         They Have a Dream Four years ago: Loyalty and Authority, Part II.  And Attachment                  ...

I'm hoping that this sub grows up a little before she becomes a teacher.  It's been a year.  She could very well be a teacher at this point.  Check out her helpful comments. Monday, February 22, 2010 First Day of School How often is the first day of school February 22? I am happy to report that I really like my new class.  I mean, I've met them for a total of 103 minutes, so that judgment may be premature, but I don't think so.  They are very diverse - not like my other district where "diverse" meant black kids - but actually diverse.  There are kids who came from Bosnia, Russia, China, Nepal, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Mexico, Central America, and a few other places I'm not sure of.  There are kids who didn't say one word and a couple who came in like it was their job to be a one-man (or woman) show. I'm impatient for Wednesday because at the moment, their sub of the last two months is still there.  The principal thought it woul...

... I remember things like this. Monday, February 19, 2007 My evaluator is afraid of the gecko. I realize that this shouldn't bring me pleasure, but it does. (Especially because his teeth are probably the size of an ant's brain. They're teensy.) Jesus wouldn't feel happy and superior because His evaluator was afraid of the gecko. But I do. It's not entirely fair to take out all my frustration on my evaluator. Some of it is actually just way too many years (sad when 8 years is way too many) in the district, which is entrenched in negativity, dysfunction, failure, and hopelessness. Does that sound dramatic? Probably. But I think it's true. (Lindsay, you were there, what do you think?) But she is doing her part to earn my defensiveness and ire. Apart from the things I have already talked about, with my not-so-good evaluation and such... last week she was trying to schedule an observation with me. Note that word, schedule . Because it is a ...

I'd like to think of myself as a dedicated teacher.  However, there's no way I would do this, just out of sheer exhaustion. The AP English class got cut at one of the small high schools in the more difficult part of Oakland and the teachers are teaching it anyway .  For free.  Before school and during their prep time.  And the students are taking it.  Pretty amazing. Three years ago: From Mexico, Part 2 Four years ago: No Child Left Behind, Football Version                         A Year Off

Just when I start really missing teaching, I remember that, although I miss the relationships I had with the students, I really really don't miss the bureaucracy.  Here's a look into a professional development session, four years ago.  You can see that the intent is good but that none of our specific needs were taken into account, making the whole thing almost useless.  This is time that could be spent really helping teachers who need ideas and strategies, and it's hard not to feel bitter when it's wasted. Wednesday, February 14, 2007 Professional Development We read a story about Picasso which told about his Blue Period. We tried a Blue Period too - I don't know which shades of blue Picasso had, but we used black, white, royal blue, sky blue, turquoise, and glitter blue. Picasso could have used glitter blue. ---------------------------- Professional development is often an exercise in boredom and/or sitting still. I never like it. Today we ...

Another old one.  I really would have appreciated an answer to this, even if it was "You're right and there's nothing we can do." Speaking the Truth.. ...whether or not anyone's listening. My letter (also known as career suicide) to the people in charge of "Research, Assessment, and Accountability" in my district. Also known as the department that makes my kids take so many tests. (They're not responsible for the state testing, only for the mountains of district testing heaped on top of the state testing). I may be blacklisted now, but there are some times that - even if it's just for my own sake - I need to say what I know to be true. Dear XXX, I am a 3rd grade teacher in this district. I have just finished giving my students the mid-year math assessment and mid-year language arts assessment and I have a number of concerns that I hope you can address for me. First, this is the second math assessment this year which ...

I'm in New York visiting my brother and sister-in-law, so here's some reading for all of you. An article about how black boys are doing in school (some very interesting points). Teacher credentialing programs should be totally changed around . Happy Black Friday!  Try not to buy too much stuff. Three years ago: No News and No Clothes Four years ago: Vacation is Over                          Rainy Day Routine