3-23-09
Mad Mama Tries to Finally Park Her Helicopter, Part I
I don't actually think I'm a helicopter parent, but I have poked around the machines at the helicopter shop, kicked the tires and spun a propeller or two... maybe even turned the keys on the ignition once or thrice. But for the most part, I try to guide and impart my "wisdom" of experience to my children, but still give them room to breath and try to spread their wings a bit, when prudent.
I am the mother of two tween/teen daughters, and now as my oldest daughter approaches High School, I’m looking back at the maze of experiences we’ve had through their educational journey.
I had read every pregnancy-parenting-potty-nutrition book I could get my hands on, and felt well-guided through pregnancy & the first years; but was then coming up short after the “What to expect…” books seemed to end the clearly age-defined manual of how to be the perfect mother… and terrifyingly I was on my own.
Thus, school finally “started” in the first toddler group… (of course there was also a stint of mommy & me music classes…) I had discovered a sweet-sounding toddler group from one of those colorful-covered, black & white paged, local free parent magazines. The director of the class was wonderful, I learned magical things like “5 minutes” and we’re going to go… that little warning really minimized the departure drama that usually came with an abrupt “time to go, now.” Cool! I can do this.
Then quickly, the time came to decide on actually enrolling her in Preschool (I still thought of pre-school as an elaborate day-care, and couldn’t see why I needed that…I was a stay-at-home mom!) I remember confidently asking the preschool director of my daughter’s toddler group, “Why should we even think about sending her to preschool?” And she responded with very sound research on the subject, as well as a hint of “what I do is important, and why are so many families resistant?” So, it made sense, it was educational – and I could get a shower in on Mon/Wed/Fri from 9:30-12:00pm every week! So, we signed up… all went well, lovely place and lots of socialization tools were acquired.
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Then elementary school approached… everyone belittled our local elementary school, but I wanted to see for myself, so I went…and it was not going to be a good fit, I left in tears & quickly applied to two private schools. She was a few weeks shy of the birthday-cut-off, but she was so academically prepared… we thought we could make an exception…
But at the “welcome to school” picnic of this well-sited private campus, our little 4.75 year old, seemed overwhelmed and grabbed my leg so tightly, we paused…wondering what the rush was about? And held her out for a year, during which time we bought a house in a school district with a lovely public charter school, and thus our elementary school years were handled… and a great experience, full of a strong, traditional public foundation…and pretty normal kids.
Middle school selection drama found us again weighing between two more private schools. After my visit to our local public middle school erupted in a mini parent riot, literally! Some parents were quite upset about principal not being available for the question-answer session… and it got ugly. But moreover, just felt that wasn’t the right fit for us, either… so we applied again to private school, and my daughter was accepted to her favorite, and thus a very cool-hip-progressive choice was made, and our little bird has flourished over the last three years into a pretty self-assured young lady, environmental, socially conscious & mostly respectful (save an episode or two of appropriate teen attitude).
Next, we’re getting to high school…
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Posted by Bridgid Coulter at 8:49 am.
3-19-09
Meet Me Halfway
Hilda Solis became our secretary of labor last month. She was the first Latina elected to the California State Senate and she is now the first Latina presidential cabinet member. I met her years ago in 2002 when I was a fellow of the Educational Leadership Institute. We were a group of young educators who were being mentored to become future leaders in education and advocates for social justice. Being a part of the group was remarkable in that we had chance to meet and interact with a number of legendary characters like Cruz Reynoso, Barry Munitz and Bob Moses.
I was so impressed that Solis, at that point a relatively new US Congresswoman, made time to speak with us about the importance of our role in education and by extension the world. I’m not sure why I was so drawn to her in particular. There was something about the way she spoke, the way she carried herself and her background. She was a self-made woman who paid all of her dues on the way up. I noted that she absolutely knew her worth and commanded respect. This was a woman who was fighting for what she believed in and had great vision. Solis has been fighting for environmental justice since before it was commonly accepted that global warming is real. She has been fighting for workers rights since before it was discovered that workers are the majority of the population and thus drive the economy.
And yet Hilda is so regular – a Round-The-Way girl with big goals. She grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, went to La Puente High School and then Cal Poly Pomona. After speaking to us that night back in 2002, she stayed to have dinner and spent a lot of time hanging out, getting to know us and answering our questions. Always paying attention to detail, she brought and bestowed upon us each an official congressional recognition. I remember feeling so proud and optimistic about my future and feeling more committed than ever to doing my part to affect positive change in our nation.
Needless to say I am hopeful and confident that our paths will cross again.
Posted by Marlisa Johnson at 9:37 am.
3-13-09
Infinite Possibilities
Last weekend, I spent the day envisioning a conference for mathematicians who happen to be women of color. The Infinite Possibilities Conference launched in 2005 and was the result of much passion from and hard by a remarkable woman named Tanya Moore. Tanya just happens to be a friend of mine who attended both Berkeley High School (Go Jackets!) and Spelman College with me. One day, several years ago, Tanya and I were having lunch together and were reminiscing about our experiences as mathematics majors at Spelman. We new how important Spelman’s nurturing and inspiring environment was to our success in earning Bachelor’s degrees in mathematics. We daydreamed together about the possibility of a reunion of the amazing women who studied with us at Spelman and dreamed even bigger about the possibility of bringing together a big group of women mathematicians from around the nation. Well, Tanya ran with the idea and the Infinite Possibilities Conference was born.
Nowhere else can a woman of color with mathematical skill and curiosity feel so included. When we are together at the conference, we are not nerds, but rather incredibly intelligent women with big ideas who think outside of the box. Imagine, women doing research on topics such as Wavelet-based Multiscale Measure for Ergodicity (say what?), Chaos in a Generalized Two Person Version of Rock-paper-scissors (really?) and Connections between Math and Physics Pre-Requisites and Student Performance in an Introductory Circuits Course (hmmm). I found the entire experience of being in the presence of these women and learning about their fantastic minds truly awesome. After the conference I wanted to go back home, review and revisit my work on my senior thesis: Iterative Methods for Finding Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors. Needless to say that didn’t happen, however it did remind me of my love for mathematics and hopefully I can pass that feeling on to my students.
For more information about the Infinite Possibilities 2010 Conference at UCLA, go to http://www.ipcmath.org.
Posted by Marlisa Johnson at 11:41 am.
3-4-09
Secrets My English Teacher Never Told Me
Secret number three: be organized. Often, I see my students looking in their backpacks and school bags and am shocked and appalled (really) to see what appears to be a trash can students carry on their backs. Papers stuffed in the bags with no discernable order, wrinkled, dirty – a… well, like I said already, a trash can masquerading as school materials and supplies. I see students who are uncertain of the whereabouts of homework, handouts, and notes. Parents who don’t receive information because their child has absolutely no clue what actually happened to the paper that was supposed to come home. And, oh my goodness, let us mention notebooks! Ladies and gentlemen, I am truly scandalized by the mess I see, but fear not, when (please note I did not write if), when you enact the wonders of secret number three, you’ll find your life much simplified, completing schoolwork much easier, and studying will be a breeze. I can hear your doubts from here: you think that cleaning up your backpack and notebook won’t really make a difference in your quest for academic success. Au contraire, mes petites, you need only read and enact the plan I will provide… now.
The first thing you need to do is take EVERYTHING out of your backpack and notebook. Yes, everything – and throw away those candy wrappers and Starbucks receipts – those are called trash. Now that the bag is empty, put it to the side – you won’t need it for now. Next, look at the jumble of pens, pencils, erasers, white-out, and other little bits of stuff. Ask yourself some questions now: do the pens work? If yes, put in a keep pile; if no, throw it away. Go through the entire pile until you know if each writing utensil works – keep what works and throw away what doesn’t. Next, you will need a pencil case or some small container in which to put these items. Do that now, and then set it to the side. You’re on a roll – don’t stop, because here comes the big job.
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Yes, all of those papers in your bag and notebook must be put in order. First, take the papers from the bag, and make a pile for each subject matter. One pile for English, one for math, one for history, and so on, until each paper has been smoothed out and placed in a neat pile by subject matter. Now, look at each pile. You should (hopefully) find dates on each paper – put the papers in date order with the oldest paper first and the newest last. Next, do the same thing with the papers in your notebook. As you sort through these papers, throw away the trash and keep the important ones. When you finish, you should have a stack of papers, in date order – one stack per class.
At this point, both your backpack and notebook should be emptied, all papers neatly stacked in date order, and you’re ready to put everything in the proper place. When I was a little girl, my grandmother and mother used to tell me “a place for everything and everything in its place.” I cannot begin to tell you how annoying that adage was to me when I was young. As I grew older, I found, much to my chagrin, that my grandmother and mother were correct. Now, mind you, I never admitted such to them, but I knew it. My point – all of this talk of organizing can be intensely annoying to those busy and creative individuals who don’t have time, inclination, or patience to deal with this organizing nonsense; however, trust me for a few more minutes, and you’ll find you’re able to be more creative and more busy without being hampered by disorganization.
I am an advocate of multiple notebooks – one for each subject – but you don’t have to do that (unless you really want to make your life super easy). If your school has a block schedule, you need two notebooks – one for the even days, and one for the odd days. Take a package of indices (notebook dividers) and label one per class, then open the rings of the notebook, and put the indices on the rings. After you do that, take the stacked papers for each class, make sure there are three holes in the papers, and put them in the notebook behind the corresponding paper divider (I actually prefer the plastic dividers with pockets). The advantage of one notebook per class is you can have a section for notes, handouts, tests and quizzes, etc. Consider including a plastic folder with pockets for papers that don’t have holes. Every day, in each class, put your papers IN the notebook – don’t wait; don’t think you’ll do it later; do it now.
Finally, and this is one of the true tests of an organized notebook, pick up the notebook by one side, hold it in the air, and jiggle it. If everything remained inside of the notebook, you’re golden; if something fell out, you have more work to do.
You may not yet understand how you will become a better student and get higher grades because your notebook and your school bag are clean and organized, yet the reason these marvelous events will occur is because you can find everything when you need it. Your notes, your homework, your pens, and pencils are now easily accessible – and that accessibility and organization are the first and most important steps to being a great student.
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Posted by Angela Cobb at 6:35 am.
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