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Update to the can of rigorous worms...

8/13/2013

 
Here’s the update, as I promised… (this is a follow-up blog to a previous blog where my child was given an assignment by her teacher to write a paragraph about what Common Core is)

We attended Curriculum night (which was really an hour and half long meeting).  Following the meeting, two teachers came up to me.  One was the teacher who asked the infamous, “What is Common Core?” question to my child’s math class.  He was led by another teacher who introduced me as “this is the Mom who blogged about you.”  (oh, dear, what have I done?!?)

The math teacher shook my hand, smiled, and said, “Wow! I made it into a blog?”  He then told me he really has no control over the common core, and he has to teach what they tell him to.  He complimented my child’s knowledge and participation in class, and told about a common core scenario he’d given students to do in groups that day, and how well my child did on it.

And that’s it. 

I don’t think my child’s answer to his question changed his opinion, and his response didn't make me change mine… but maybe it made us both question the validity and use of common core?  We're both having to deal with it, like it or not.  

There is no proof that common core works because it has never been done before.  In fact, the test results from the state of New York, which gave the first common core aligned PARCC test this past spring, are devastating.  When 2/3 of students are labeled as failing, many of whom are normally excellent, bright students, what good can come from it?  The unfortunate consequence of the test results means that Art and Music will be cut for those failing students to enroll them in intensive math and English classes to prepare them for next year's testing.  How sad for those children!  Our state is going to administer the PARCC next year, so I worry how our children will be affected, and if opting-out of testing for my children will hurt their grades.  Right now, it is mandatory in TN, but there are parents who are saying "not with my child" and opting out.

I can't ignore all the the glossy advertisements and professional commercials I see about Common Core.  I can't help myself from wondering, "what if they'd used that money to hire more teachers and support staff for overcrowded classrooms?" or "What if they'd used that money to fund art and music in schools that couldn't afford it?"  Alas, it isn't my money to spend, but when it affects my own children and their public schools, don't we, as parents, get a say-so in it? 

When organizations that have no relation to public education suddenly are in the news supporting common core, and I do a little research and find out that, sure enough, Mr. Bill Gates did give a generous donation to the Tennessee Police Chiefs...  or a few million to the National PTA... or the campaigns of those politicians...  I have to shake my head and wonder what it must be like to have so much money that you can buy people's support like that. 

Speaking of glossy brochures and news articles, have you noticed that descriptions of Common Core always include the words, “RIGOR” and “RELEVANCE”???  It is getting on my nerves how EVERY description of common core has those same two words.  Then I saw this funny picture (below) from one of my favorite childhood movies, "The Princess Bride."  So, me and my questioning self, in trying to look "deeper" into text, as common core supposedly does, decided to find out:
            
"What is the relevance of rigor?”

I've never really used the word, “rigor,” myself, but I've heard it used before in books and TV with the term, “rigor mortis,” which in Latin, literally translates to: “stiffness of death.”  yuck.  I turned to the good old Merriam-Webster dictionary and looked up the definition of RIGOR.  (NOTE: Bill Gates is going to need to buy all the dictionary companies to change the meaning of that word, because the definition is atrocious!) This is not something that any parents would want for their child's education:

rig·or  noun \ˈri-gər\  1 a (1) : harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgment :severity (2) : the quality of being unyielding or inflexible :strictness (3) : severity of life : austerity  b : an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty 2 : a tremor caused by a chill 3 : a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable; especially : extremity of cold 4 : strict precision : exactness <logical rigor> 5 a obsolete : rigidity, stiffness b : rigidness or torpor of organs or tissue that prevents response to stimuli


Does this sound like joyful learning to you?  Would YOU, as an adult, enjoy being in a rigorous college class or working in a rigorous job, as described above?  This Momma Bear doesn't want her children's memories of school to be rigorous.  They will have plenty of time for rigor when they grow up.    
Picture

Teacher opens can of worms with this Common Core question:

8/7/2013

 
A Momma Bear's cub gives the teacher a lesson about Common Core...  
Picture
My child's 6th grade enriched math teacher asked a simple question to their class this morning: 

                    "What is common core?"  

Students were given a few minutes to write their answers down.  My daughter said most students did not know what to write, and her friend wrote about apple cores.  My dear, observant child quickly wrote a paragraph.  The teacher then asked if anyone could tell the class what Common Core is.  Nobody raised their hand, except my dear, brave daughter.  She read her answer aloud, and I'm certain it was not an answer her teacher expected to hear from his students.  My little mini-me, who I love so much, wrote this: 
 
     "Common Core is a bad program sponsored by Bill Gates.  It makes kids do lots of tests and is taking over the schools.  It makes kids do lots of work.  It is going on all over the country.  People are working together to get rid of it."

She said there was a silence in the room, and then her teacher said, "Well, I can definitely see where you're coming from because some teachers don't agree with parts of Common Core, but I think it is good for students."  Then he asked what her mom did for a living.  She told him I was a stay at home mom who was working to get rid of common core and other bad things for schools.  
 
So...
 
I haven't gotten a phone call from her teacher... 
 
    Yet. 
 
Tomorrow night is Curriculum Night at her school.  I wonder if her teacher will say anything to me about it?
 
               I'll let you know. 

(Click HERE for the follow-up post)
 

A Snarky Momma Bear

8/1/2013

 
This Momma Bear nearly spit milk out of her nose this morning when she read the Editorial Column written by the Editors at the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She stewed over it as she sorted laundry and bathed her children.  Then she sat down at her computer instead of getting allergy shots and going to the bank & grocery like she planned on doing.  Her kids made a mess with art supplies while she pounded her keyboard.  The email below is what she wrote and sent to those big, bad, dumb editors (after deleting lots of 4-letter words).  She sent the email, and then took her kids out for an ice cream cone.

Dear Commercial Appeal Editors,

I have wonderful news for you!  After getting a generous donation from a corporate billionaire, I started a new non-profit organization called "Write for America."  We, at Write For America, know how difficult it can be to get journalists to go into the "bad" areas of town to cover the news that nobody wants to hear about.  Solution: Our naive recruits will now do that!  It is okay if they mess up, because the poor people don't care, right?  

Write For America recruits fresh graduates with law and business degrees (that never considered being journalists until we told them they could get their college loans paid off through our WFA program in as little as 2 years).  We will train them for 5 weeks in the summer, require them to actually write with a mentor for 8 hours, and “poof,” they will magically be prepared to write and publish for your newspaper!  You will pay them the same salary and benefits as your journalists, of course, and you cannot fire them.  Oh, but first you'll need to sign a little contract with WFA for a mere $1 million agreeing that you will put these journalists on your staff and, of course, print their work even if they don't know what they are doing, and even if you already have an excess/surplus of qualified, award-winning journalists. (Note: The contract and fee should be no problem, since one of our appointed politicians by the Governor used to work for us at Write For America.  He will be happy to sign the check since it comes from the tax payers, benefits his wealthy golfing buddies, and it doesn’t affect his own pocketbook or family.)

These journalists will be "INNOVATIVE" and "YOUNG." They will demand "ACCOUNTABILITY," "DATA-DRIVEN RESULTS," and will "FOCUS INTENSELY ON DATA" and other various key words that people love to see in print to convince them everything is peachy-keen. 

Your current, experienced journalists will look greedy and evil for wanting a fair paycheck for their work. Some will quit, or you can "excess" them (you won't have to pay them severance that way), and we will replace them with our temporary WFA recruits.  Believe me, you'll save a bunch of money not having to pay their increasing salaries, benefits, etc. not to mention having to listen to their whining about having too heavy of a workload, the crippling effects of poverty, needing support staff to be effective, blah-blah-blah.  As a result, their Union will have no power to negotiate for their welfare. (Note: Our wealthy donor detests Unions, and now that he can’t golf any more due to his bad tennis elbow, dismantling Unions has become his hobby of sorts.  This hobby has become quite profitable for him and his friends... without Unions to haggle with, they don't have to pay their employees as much money, which means they keep more money!  That is better than a record golf score any day!!!).

The best part of this program, and I'm sure you'll agree, is that after these recruits work 2 years as journalists, they will be qualified to be Editors (just like you!), District Managers, Charter Paper Operators, or even be appointed to political offices to make decisions about the publishing industry!  What a fantastic program for these recruits, wouldn't you agree?

Please contact me on my yacht in the Bahamas to work out the details with my Assistants, Media Relations Department, Social Media Department, Professional Lobbyists, and my team of Lawyers to cover my rear-end in case we get sued for using tax money so corruptly. 

I am sure you will agree that "Write For America" is "Right" for America... right, Commercial Appeal???

Cheers!
J. Proseus

ps - In case you can't tell, WFA is a parody of Teach For America, which your editors gushed over and praised in today's Editorial.  I don’t own a yacht; I drive a minivan.  I'm a middle-class Momma Bear who is upset over how our public schools are being destroyed by corporate executives, including and especially by those that own and operate the Commercial Appeal.


I doubt you’ll have the guts to print my full letter, but at least please answer me this question: Would you honestly allow your own child to be a guinea pig in the classroom of a Teach For America recruit for an entire year? Or would you want a level 3, 4, or 5 teacher who knows how to teach (and is unfortunately now without a job due to this school merger)?  I thought so.

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