Back from Hiatus

I didn't bother to post for the last two months or so because I have been in such a funk...Thank goodness, I've snapped out of it. About the only worthwhile work that I did during that time was write a sabbatical proposal, (anything to escape teaching 7th graders, please!)The proposal is attached below. If I happen to get lucky and receive the sabbatical, I've thought of starting a blog called "Sabblogical" as a written record of my work.

Here's the proposal I submitted:

Synopsis of Proposal
My proposal for a full year sabbatical consists of two major goals. The first goal is to increase my knowledge of technology-infused instructional methods for implementation in my classroom. The second goal is to increase my knowledge in ethnic and contemporary world literature via the MA English program at Buffalo State College.
RationaleGoal #1: Integrating Technology
A trend toward technology-infused education is increasingly evident. Prestigious universities are digitizing libraries. The US Department of Education’s National Education Technology Plan (www.nationaledtechplan.org) calls for “the support of e-learning and ‘virtual’ schools” and to “invest in leadership development programs to develop a new generation of tech-savvy leaders at every level.” Scholars are working to define a distinctly new form of literacy emerging as a necessary skill in the today’s digital information age.

Although I have considerable experience applying various technologies and web-based instructional tools in the classroom, I am constrained by my lack of expertise in this rapidly growing field. The training I seek will improve my effectiveness and student productivity in my English classes. Prof. John Schacter, writing for the Milken Exchange on Educational Technology, (www.milkenexchange.org) surveyed over 700 empirical studies, and concluded that students with access to technology “show positive gains in achievement on researcher constructed tests, standardized tests, and national tests.” Schacter included a caveat to his findings with a quote from Dr. Martha Stone Wiske, of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, “One of the enduring problems about technology and education…is that a lot of people think about the technology first and the education later.” This leads to the second goal of my proposal.

Goal #2: Pursuing an MA in English
I am a tenured English teacher, but my degrees are in Political Science (BA) and Secondary Social Studies Education (MSEd). Therefore I believe that it is my responsibility to study formally in the discipline that I teach. This will strengthen my foundation in content area knowledge, add to my professional credentials, and allow me to explore new areas of literature that my students may find rewarding and relevant to the challenges of contemporary society. (Note: Completion of this degree within the time frame of the sabbatical is unlikely, due to the coursework I will pursue pertaining to Goal #1. Additionally, this degree is not for the purpose of certification, as I have already fulfilled all the prerequisites for permanent certification, and my application approval is pending.)

Plan of Action
To achieve Goal 1, I will:
 Complete four (4) graduate classes in Educational Computing at Buffalo State College.
 Visit Information Technology High School, Queens, New York, and observe Mr. Ted Nellen’s “Cyber-English” class (Mr. Nellen is a pioneering practitioner of technology-infused English instruction. He presented at the 2004 NCTE national conference and co-authored the article “CyberEnglish,” in the November 2004 issue of English Journal.)
 Attend technology-related workshops at the annual NCTE conference in Pittsburgh, PA on Nov. 20-23, 2005.
 Design and maintain a cyber-textbook/web site for use in my English classes. I will develop original materials for the web site to include study guides for novels, short stories, essays and poetry, with related links to artwork, magazine articles, and other non-fiction pieces of historical and scientific relevance.

To achieve Goal 2, I will:
 Enroll as a matriculating graduate student in the MA in English program at Buffalo State College. I will complete a minimum of five (5) classes in this program during the time frame of the sabbatical. (This is a conservative estimate due to the possibility of scheduling conflicts between the Educational Computing classes and English classes. At a minimum, I will be enrolled full-time for both the Fall 2005 and the Spring 2006 semesters.) The focus of my elective classes and future thesis work will deal with ethnic or contemporary world literature.

Proposed Schedule of Graduate classes at Buffalo State College
(see attached course descriptions) English
Classes Credit Hours Educational
Computing Classes Credit Hours
July- August Summer Session ENG 621 3
September-December Fall Semester ENG ???
ENG ???
ENG ??? 6-9 EDC 594
EDC 601 6
January-May Spring Semester ENG ???
ENG ???
ENG ??? 6-9 EDC 590 or EDC 604
EDC 672 6
May-July Summer Session ENG ??? ?

Outcomes (Returns on investment)Benefit to Students
Through the new knowledge gained in content area and educational technology, I will:
 Provide a web-based platform for guided, student-centered learning and empower students to consult resources outside of the walls of the school.
 Enable students to understand the relevance of content to other subject areas, as well as enable them to make relevant connections to their own lives.
 Facilitate learning using media more compatible with students’ varied learning styles and appealing to otherwise reluctant learners.
 Encourage students to publish to a variety of “real world” audiences using weblogs and other electronic formats.
 Increase students’ time spent reading and opportunities for enrichment and independent review activities.
 Expose students to basic technology applications commonly required of the workplace and higher education.
 Widen the scope of reading selections in my classes.

Benefit to John Marshall High School and Rochester City School District
Through the new knowledge gained in content area and educational technology, I will:
 Provide instructional support as an in-house mentor for web-based instruction within building.
 Contribute English-related content for John Marshall High School web site.
 Advocate and participate in future district initiatives pertaining to web-based instruction.
 Develop and present teacher workshops on technology-infused instruction through U-Lead, other district-wide training venues, and RCSD Technology Fairs.
 Participate in grant writing aimed at increasing technology assets in RCSD.

Benefit to Community
Through the new knowledge gained in content area and educational technology, I will:
 Provide an additional venue for parents to examine class activities and student writing.

Relationship to Superintendent’s goals and initiatives, and to RCSD strategic plans
This proposal has numerous implicit ties to the district’s goals. The most relevant links to the district goals include:
 Building in-house capacity to provide ongoing, consistent site-based professional development.
 Refining and implementing standards for the teaching and use of technology
 Emphasizing the relationship between and among all subject areas.
 Educating to high levels
 Preparing students to be life-long learners and productive members of the workforce
Course descriptions of graduate classes I plan to take if granted a full year sabbatical
(source: SUNY College at Buffalo, Online Graduate Course Catalog)

EDC 590 Independent Study 3 credit hours
[I plan on taking an independent study course to explore legal issues involving security, privacy, and copyright issues. The ultimate objective will be the development of a cyber-textbook/web site for use in my future classes, and to serve as a reference for other English teachers.]

EDC 594 Graduate Workshop 3 credit hours
This course will discuss constructivist theories and how technology intersects with it. The course will be research intensive. Reading literature and identifying software that supports constructivist teaching will also be required.

EDC 601 Instructional Technologies 3 credit hours
Instructional uses of multimedia and Internet, discussion of the hardware and software necessary for multimedia and Internet productions, integration of multimedia components into classroom instruction using presentation software and Web site development.

EDC 604 Authoring for Educators 3 credit hours
Authoring software; hardware and software necessary for multimedia productions; creating computer-aided instructional materials for use in classroom room instruction; use of an authoring package to create lessons utilizing this technology.

EDC 672 The Microcomputer in the Instructional Program 3 credit hours
A course designed for teachers and educational computing majors to acquaint them with the application and integration of microcomputers in the instructional program and to develop their proficiency in the educational uses of computers.

ENG 601 Research in Literature and Language 3 credit hours
Theory and practice in methods of research essential to the historical and critical analysis of literature. (Required for M.A.)

ENG 615 Nineteenth-Century English Literature 3 credit hours
Selected writers, forms, movements, and theoretical approaches. (Required for M.A.)

ENG 621 American Literature 3 credit hours
Selected periods, writers, forms, movements, and theoretical approaches. (Required for M.A.)

ENG 630 Chaucer 3 credit hours
Selections from the major and minor works. (Required for M.A.)

ENG 631 Shakespeare 3 credit hours
One aspect of Shakespeare’s work, e.g., the comedies or the tragedies. (Required for M.A.)

ENG 638 Studies in Individual Writers 3 credit hours
In-depth study of one writer, or limited combination of writers from English American or other literature.

ENG 644 Ideology and Literature 3 credit hours
The study of literature from a major modern perspective. Topics include the ideological analysis of literature, e.g., the Emersonian influence, individualism, colonialism, and post-colonialism.

ENG 670 Advanced Linguistics 3 credit hours
Selected topic, e.g., applied linguistics, social or regional dialectology, English as a second language, grammar, aspects of the history of the English language, languages of the world. (Required for M.A.)

Inner-city schools don't have to be inner-shitty schools

Whilst the Rochester City School District is in damage control mode with today's arrest of a junior administrator at Jefferson High, our departmental meeting revealed that it seems the English department has the closest correlation with dreaded State testing. In other words, the grades received in English classes are roughly equivalent to the State ELA tests at the 8th and 11th grade levels. So why is it that English teachers report what others dare not? Or do they?

Many of our students are failing miserably. What do you expect when locally the academic hurdles are buried in trenches so that they resemble speed bumps? Or the propensity to adopt programs for their cash value, not for their efficacy in student achievement. Programs that leave nothing to teacher innovation...(oh, but you're in an inner city school, they exclaim, don't be so idealistic!) Inner-city doesn't necessarily mean inner-shitty instruction, so don't mandate it to be so.

The system doesn't work. Teachers are continually pressured to "teach to the test." And I would say this is the biggest mistake that can be made. I guarantee that 95% of my students will never see a critical lens after they leave the environs of high school. There is little relevance between the Regents exam and real life. But the politicians in their pseudo-ivory towers keep believing that the academic standards are highest in history, but I'll be damned if half of my students can give correct change for a $20 bill.

I suspect the secret to our "successful" correlation of grades to exams stems from encouraging students to think in the gray areas. People argue that it's not fair to compare departments because the "English" curriculum is loosely organized at best, and allows for a lot of instructional freedom. Yep. It does. And thank goodness for that! Somebody has to reveal the process of thinking critically. We're not hampered by the albatross of Regents-directed content, so we can luxuriate in the gray areas, instead of rushing to the correct multiple choice answer.

Ironically, at the same time that our principal is promoting our Book-of-the-Month, Who Stole My Cheese?, a cult classic of 1990s business management gurus, state and city administrators cling to the Old Cheese philosophy. The book, for those not familiar with it, advocates embracing change with enthusiasm, because change is inevitable...Well someone should recommend the book to the City and State officials who are in a self-induced tranced muttering the mantra of "Testing, testing and more testing equals accountability." No wonder America is on the decline, with all but the most elementary jobs being out-sourced at escalating rates.

Thanksgiving Rules!

Slowly emerging from my self-induced pie-coma, I count my blessings (though I cannot count the pieces of pie that I've had in the past few days and thank goodness for Lipitor.)

Thanksgiving is light years better than Christmas. The fact that retailers have not been able to shanghai Thanksgiving with mass commercialization and exploitation allows families to celebrate together without having to defer quality time (and massive quantities of cash) to shopping--what our fearless "family values"-laden leader has previously referred to as "every patriot's duty."