Tag: education

Influencing Young Lives

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Today’s Los Angeles Times (the article also made it to MSNBC) has an article the oldest teacher currently teaching within the LA Unified School District: Rose Gilbert. Mrs. Gilbert (better known as “Mama Gilbert” to her students) has been teaching at Pali Hi (wikipedia) since the school opened in 1961… and before that, she taught at University High School.

The article says many complementary things about Mama Gilbert: her love for her students, her love for her school, and her love for UCLA. These things I know well about her, for I went to Pali in the 1970s. However, I never had Mama Gilbert for a teacher: she got the AP English classes, and I was never at that level. I had Russell Smith, who no longer teaches there. But I do know that Mama Gilbert had tremendous influence on her student’s lives, and it is teachers who influenced you in that way that is the topic of this post.

So, if during my time at Pali, Mama Gilbert didn’t influence me, who did? I can think of two. Bill Layton, a physics teacher, did to some extent. His was a wild-and-crazy physics classroom, with gigantic speakers in the back. He influenced me less on physics, and more in things like science-fiction, and having fun with science. After he left Pali, he went on to UCLA, where he started a project to prepare future physics teachers. He is currently a lecturer in the UCLA Physics Department.

Even more that Bill Layton, however, was the high-school teacher that supported my interest in computers. Mind you, this was back in the mid-1970s, when computers weren’t that common. LA Unified was using both the MISS System (an IBM 360 running WATFIV) and an HP 3000 running BASIC. This teacher was Lawrence Schoenberg.

Now, the name Schoenberg may sound familar. After all, there was a famous composer Arnold Schönberg. His son, for a while, taught Mathematics, Calculus, and Computers at Pali Hi. Although I never had a formal math class from him (I had other folks, such as Mrs. McGrath and Dr. Kay), I spent a lot of time in his classroom (E203) hanging in the Math Lab. This is where my friends and I formed our love of working with computers — and is one of the reason I am where I am today. So where is Mr. Schoenberg today. From all I can find, he’s busy running his father’s institute (in particular Belmont Music), together with his brother Ronald and his sister Nuria.

So here’s to the teachers that have influenced our lives. Thank you. To those of you reading this who are teaching, thank you also for sharing your love and passion with students. You do make a difference.

So, which teachers have influenced you?

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I’m Just A Bill … Sitting on a Sacramento Hill: Prepaying UC Tuition & Florescent Lightbulbs

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

[And now, some lunchtime observations…]

The San Jose Mercury News has two articles of interest today regarding proposed bills from state Assemblycritters. Note that you can get the bill numbers from this official list of bills submitted.

  • The first, to be proposed by Assemblyman Jim Beall, relates to university tuition. Specifically, it will create a state-run savings program that would allow parents to pre-pay their children’s tuition, locking in rates no matter the dips in the investment market or spikes in tuition. This bill, AB 152, also known as the California Prepaid Tuition Program, would allow parents, grandparents or others to purchase financial units over time based on the then-current tuition cost at the University of California, plus some administrative costs. Each year’s tuition would cost 100 financial units. If students attend a school that charges less than a UC campus, such as the California State University system, a community college or career and technical education school, and the amount of prepaid tuition exceeds the amount of tuition charged at that school, the student will be allowed to use the leftover money for college-related expenses, such as books. If students attend a school that charges more than a UC campus, such as a private institution, the student can transfer the prepaid tuition to the more expensive school, and pay for the difference out of pocket. If a student doesn’t attend college, the prepaid tuition can be transferred to a sibling. The financial units cannot be “bought, sold, bartered, or otherwise exchanged for goods and services by either the beneficiary or the purchaser,” according to the measure.

    This differs from the existing Scholarshare program is that it is more than a savings plan: it is guaranteed tuition. In other words, under Scholarshare, one invests funds in an account specifically designated for college use. The hope is that by the time your child reaches college age, the funds have grown to cover tuition. Of course, if you make bad investment choices, you lose. Under AB 152, you are not investing–you are purchasing the tuition and the state is making the investment choices and taking the risk. I think it is a great idea. I’ll note that a total of 18 states operate plans similar to that proposed in AB 152, and none has run into serious financial problems.

    I encourage support of this proposal.

  • The second, proposed by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, would make California the first state to ban sales of incandescent light bulbs by 2012. In their place, Californians would have to purchase more energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps. This one doesn’t appear to have been introduced yet, although there are rumors it is called the “How Many Legislators Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb Act.”

    Personally, I think this is a bad idea. Much as I believe in the use of florescent light bulbs where possible, there are some significant problems. They can’t be used in all applications, for they still can’t be made small enough to be effective as small flame shaped bulbs, or where clear bulbs are required. They cannot be used in dimmer switch applications. They have disposal problems with respect to mercury and other chemicals. Until these are addressed, I think it is wrong to mandate their use. If this bill was to encourage their use through tax credits or rebates on purchases, it would be much, much better.

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Bringing Up Kids In Today’s World: Two Issues of Interest

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Today’s news (seen while eating my lunch) brings two interesting articles about raising kids in today’s world:

The first, in the Los Angeles Daily News via the Associated Press, is about birthday parties. Specifically, it is about the tendancy today to overdo birthday parties. When I was growing up, I remember parties as a simple thing: you had a few friends over, you had a cake, you played “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”. Perhaps you went to a movie. There were no goodie bags (consolation prizes) for the non-birthday kids (the losers). Today, however, things have become more elaborate as parent (and kids) try to outdo other parents (and kids). For example: A birthday party for a 1-year-old featured a gift-opening that lasted two hours…and the child slept through most of it. At another party, seven-year-olds were picked up in stretch limos to attend the birthday party of a classmate. In still another case, a 6-year-old guest at a St. Paul birthday party didn’t like the contents of the gift bag and declared: “This is a rip-off.” To counter this, a new group has been formed called “Birthdays Without Pressure“. I think it is an interesting notion, and hope they succeed. Next they can attack B’nai Mitzvah Receptions (or would that be Recepiyot?).

The second, in the New York Times, is perhaps more interesting. It talks about a movement to do away with middle schools completely. There appear to be two ways of doing this: K-8 and 9-12 schools, and K-5 and 6-12 school. In other world, the middle schoolers either go with the younger or older set. Again, there is a genesis of an interesting idea in here: reducing the pressure that occurs in middle school. I’m not sure which approach is best. The K-8 approach would shelter the kids more from older peers, thus (hopefully) reducing the pressure to conform to more “adult” activities. On the other hand, it is a bad environment to stress academics and college prep, and could be bad for the honors students and high achievers. The grouping with the older kids has the opposite problems: it pushes the kids out of kid-hood sooner. Which is best? Should there be middle school at all? Was the Jr. High School (7-9) approach better? I guess we just have to stay tuned.

P.S.: Bravo! to the NYTimes for adding the “permalink” feature for articles. I wish other newspapers would do this.

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Living By The Sword…

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

According to the New York Times, a high school senior in Portsmouth, RI has had his high shool refuse to use a yearbook photograph of him that he supplied. Why would a school do this? What could be so bad? I mean, the student in question thinks, “I just really like the picture, and it’s one of the first good photos I’ve taken in a long time.”

What’s the problem? According to the school, the picture ran afoul of its zero-tolerance weapons policy. In particular, according to Robert Littlefield, the principal, “Students wielding weapons is just not consistent with our existing policies or the mission of the school”. However, the school has offered to let the student buy a yearbook ad showing the photo. According to Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island branch of the ACLU, “I guess they think it’s a danger to the school system on Page 6, but not on Page 26”. The schools response was that it had higher standards for editorial content than for advertising.

Further, it should be noted that that the school mascot is a Revolutionary War soldier carrying a rifle. According to the school respresentative, “That’s an entirely different issue. I don’t think anybody could reasonably construe a cartoon depiction of a soldier from 250 years ago as a threat to our educational environment.”

So what was this student’s crime? What was so bad about the picture? Was he carrying an Uzi or an AKI 47? Was he toting his gun in front of an NRA banner? What he threatening small babies with a bayonet? Was he holding handguns and brandishing gang symbols?

No. He was dressed in medieval chain mail, with a broadsword over his shoulder. It appears that this student comes by his interest in chain mail naturally; his uncle makes chain mail, and his mother sells it at fairs. He also belongs to the Society for Creative Anachronism, which promotes re-enactments of medieval history. The lawyer for the school noted that “There have been two instances in the past of kids wanting to pose with weapons. One was a Civil War re-enacter, with a musket, and another was a marksman, and in both cases, we let them take out ads.”

Personally, I think this goes too far. I think a distinction needs to be made between students who study and immerse themselves in history, and those who use weapons and gangs to menace in the present day. Groups such as SCA and Civil War reenactors (as well as Ren Faire folk) are focused on education and living history, which is education in and of itself. Such students often learn more than in the classrooms: they learn the social morees, societal aspects, and responsibilities, and should be recognized for their dedication, not ostracized.

Although my feelings towards the ACLU is sometimes mixed (although I generally support them), this is one case I hope they win.

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If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar… Come in!

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…
If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

And with this, the Nobel Middle School Theatre Arts department started their first production, An Evening of Silverstein, which was a combination of The Giving Tree with a number of Shel Silverstein poems. This was the first production of the reincarnated Theatre Arts Department, with 62 super-energetic kids. So, first and formost, how did they do? In my opinion (as I said yesterday), they did excellent. They all projected well, they all moved, they all spoke to the audience. No one forgot their lines, no one cracked up on stage, no one bumped into anyone else unintentionally, no one fell off the stage. More importantly, they danced, they conveyed emotion, they acted, they sang. They had fun. They became a theatre family. In the words of George Gershwin, “Who could ask for anything more?”

Were there things I would change? Yes. I wasn’t that enamored of the rap version of Unicorn, perhaps because the movement kept the kids from the microphone. Some of the poems that were selected were not ones I would have chosen — I wasn’t that crazy about Thumbs or Hot Dog, but that was more the poem, not the acting. I did find the acting in Tug of War a little creepy (and I can’t quite say why). I do wish they had included The Little Boy and the Little Man and Polar Bear in the Frigidare. I also wish nsshere had a larger part, but isn’t that always a parent’s lament?

Most importantly, unlike Thursday night, we had two Vice-Principals there for the performance, so they got to see the talent of the kids… plus the magnet coordinator saw all the performances during the day. Supposedly, they raised over $2K over two nights, which says something, as they sold no ads and publicity was primarily word of mouth.

I think they did great!

By the way, for those who think Shel Silverstein is only a kid’s poet, you’re wrong. Take a look at this site, which has Shel’s adult works. So let’s end this post with a few lyrics you don’t often see from Grizzly Bear:

Yeah, they call me Grizzly Bear.
They say I’m kooky and square.
They can say anything they want about me I don’t care. (I don’t care.)
Because I’m takin’ it day by day,
And I’m livin’ my own sweet way.
Let me tell ya’ that I howl, yowl, growl like a Grizzly Bear.
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Gather ’round fellas, I’ll tell you some tales / About murder and blueberry pies…

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

… well, maybe not murder… at least yet.

The title of this post is from a poem by Shel Silverstein; the full verse is:

Gather ’round fellas, I’ll tell you some tales
About murder and blueberry pies
And heroes and hells and bottomless wells
And lullabys, legends and lies.


Why am I quoting Shel Silverstein to you? Because last night was the first performance of nsshere‘s drama class, and the reviewer in me must speak.

The show? The show was blueberry pie. Sweet and tasty, with lots of juicy bits. It was a collection of Shel Silverstein poems, together with a performance of The Giving Tree, the famous co-dependency story everyone knows far too well. Alas, they didn’t include my favorite Shel Silverstein (the ABZ book), or even my favorite kids poem (see the end of this post). But it was great nonetheless. How did the kids do? I was very impressed. This was a collection of enthusiastic 11-13 year olds. They spoke clearly, cleanly, and projected. They conveyed emotion. They made the poems come alive. A few were silly, but for an initial drama performance of a new drama program, they were excellent. I look forward to them doing even better tonight.

So where does the murder and the hell come in? That, dear friends, is reserved for the school administration. They provided this program no support. There wasn’t an article promoting it in the school newsletter (but they did promote the band and pep squad). There wasn’t anyone videotaping the program (but they do video the band and pep squad). There was no one from the administration there last night to encourage the students, tell them how proud the school was of them. I’m sorry, but I think that is the role of the principal and vice-p’s: build that school spirit, make the students want to come to school and enjoy learning. You don’t promote some programs and not others. Here you had a bunch of kids bonding, doing excellent work, learning skills that will serve them well in real-life even if they don’t go into the LA Media world — for the public speaking skills are critical in every field. They should be encouraging these kids, and I know there was disappointment that the administration wasn’t there.

Today, the drama class is doing presentations for the entire school. Tonight is the last performance. I have written a note to the one administrator’s address I could find on the web. Let’s see if they redeem themselves this evening.

Oh, and my favorite Shel Silverstein poem?

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that, too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the little old man.
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It’s so simple, So very simple, That only a child can do it!

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

NSS&F just walked in with some great news. She got an “A” on her Science test. She got an “A” on her History test.

Oh, and her teacher recommended her for Algebra 1AB next year, instead of Honors Math 7. So what’s the difference? I found this description on the web site for the Portola Gifted Magnet of LA Unified:

  • Honors Math 7. This course continues the topics introduced in Math 6, with an emphasis on algebraic concepts, geometry and problem solving strategies.
  • Algebra 1AB. This is the equivalent of an honors high school Algebra I course. Topics include operating with both radicals and rational expressions, factoring, quadratics, systems, functions, graphing, statistics, probability and an introduction to trigonometry. Applications and word problems are emphasized throughout.

(Oh, and not to brag, but Nobel’s scores are significantly higher than Portola‘s, even though Portola has the gifted magnet)

Way to go, NSS&F. It will be hard for her, but she loves math.

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Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above / Don’t Fence Me In

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

Today’s Los Angeles Times has a front-page article on my daughter’s school. The issue is fences. You see, most schools in Los Angeles Unified are surrounded by fences that keep the “bad folks” out, and the “students” in. Guess the only school in the district that doesn’t? My daughter’s.

It’s been a big bone of contention. The school has been unfenced for 44 years, and turned its back this spring on a $300K plan to surround the school with a security fence. More than 600 students wrote letters and circulated petitions opposing the proposed fence. Teachers and parents also protested. It’s not just about aesthetics, they said, but also about the notion that freedom promotes responsibility, and students rise to the challenge.

How do I feel? I didn’t want the fence, and neither did my daughter. I think having the fence makes a statement. There is already enough fear in our society today, and the problem elements find their ways to attack their targets regardless of a fence.

The article notes that the 20-acre campus — in an upper-middle class neighborhood along a busy thoroughfare, midway between a freeway exit and a shopping mall — has for years been a shining light in a district under fire for its foundering middle schools. It has the highest test scores of any district middle school, even though half of its 2,200 students are bused in from other neighborhoods — some to attend the school’s math and science magnet and others to get away from crowded inner-city schools. Its attendance record is always among the district’s best and there is little crime or vandalism.

Addressing that last point: My daughter has told me of the zero-tolerance for violence. I hear of more violence indicents at other schools than I do at hers. And as for vandalism: there is the occasional tagger, cleaned up the next day.

The neighborhood is a key factor. Locals know who the students are… and if a student is seen off campus, the school is called immediately. Very effective.

They even interviewed my daughter’s PE Teacher, Mr. Tovey. I never realized he had been teaching there for 38 years!

Interesting article. Of course, I’m not sure I wanted the fact that her school doesn’t have fences publicized. It’s like saying “Hey, vandals, … Over here!”.

In any case, all together now…

I want to ride to the (north)ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can’t look at hovels and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in

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