My Week, More Or Less, In Washington, D.C.

Cable In The Classroom’s Leaders in Learning Awards was an event which saw me initially in my default, slouched, slacker-kid-among-grownups posture. By the end of the week, though, I was dry for snarky Tweets, far too awed by a) my first trip to my country’s capital, b) the people – CEOs, senators, congresspeople, incredible educators, among them – I met there, and c) the ceremony itself.

I’ll leave it at that. Plus a Flickr album and two videos if you’re really inclined.

Next Year’s New Job

Which, as it happens, is the old job. What a mess, really. My fiancée and I found little traction for her nursing career in San Francisco while a job opened up, instead, fifteen minutes from the position I had officially resigned months ago (papers and everything), a position which my school had already filled. I told my department head to expect reference checks from the nearby Santa Cruz City School District.

The farewell dinner came and went. My students said goodbye. I signed yearbooks. My principal stopped me on my last prep. He told me they had freed up a math position.

My hesitance precipitated a good discussion of the school’s advantages and disadvantages for a new teacher (each of which I detailed, however elliptically, earlier this year).

Inasmuch as a unionized teacher can negotiate for anything in this job, my principal has graciously accommodated some material and immaterial needs, accommodations for my fifth year teaching which should keep me challenged and push me into my sixthPick at this all you want but the single largest, truest inhibitor to any career I have in a classroom is that I learn less about this job every year..

Good Reading At Home

• TMAO takes a dump on teaching’s couch and flips it the bird on his way out the door. Commenters love this guy but I don’t really get it. (Seriously, though: it’s an overwhelmingly accurate lifestyle piece on a) a certain kind of teacher b) teaching a particular population, and I don’t use that adverb lightly. I was almost too depressed to finish.)
• H. Aychison issues a precise and comprehensive post-mortem of her implementation of skill-based assessment.
• Eric Hoefler examines skill-based assessment within the humanities.
• Glenn Waddell, a second-year teacher in Nevada has pushed skill-based assessment on his department restructuring team and is liveblogging the process.
• Sam Shah post-mortems his math video project, reminding me I have my post-mortem to write.
• And in between drafts, TMAO retires his blog. I’m taking the rest of the day off. I just … need to be alone.

Those middle four citations are emblems of transparent practice which everyone oughtta hold aloft. Or at least comment on.

Worthwhile Math Clip

Here’s a Chris Rock bit from I’m Gonna Git You Sucka which is simultaneously a) hilarious and b) an efficient introduction of rates. I ripped it, cleaned up the language, and re-uploaded it. Are you with me here? Chris Rock! Clean!! Introducing math!!! This is a freaking unicorn I’m serving up here.