Tales of the Invisible Ben

Sounds and Silence




Rest in peace, Marcel Marceau.

Second Verse, Better or Worse?

After four full months without a single lecture or discussion section, the beginning of my second year of graduate school felt like the emotional equivalent of performing a bellyflop from the top of a regulation Olympic diving board. Readjusting to the normal appointments and assignments, configuring my class schedule, and preparing for the looming threat of general exams have all left me feeling physically and emotionally drained. I had hoped that with fewer actual courses under my belt this semester that my stress level would decline, but I should have expected that my work would somehow expand to fill the void. It always has in the past. Why should it be different now?

As mentioned, on paper my courseload this semester appears to be significantly lighter. I am enrolled in only two courses, covering the histories of biology and technology respectively. I have not had the opportunity to work with either of my professors before; one was on leave and the other just joined the department, and so far both seem quite friendly and knowledgeable, which is really all I can hope for at this point. (Though in the interest of total disclosure, I should note that one professor's decision to substitute weekly reading responses for a large final paper doesn't hurt either.)


Given that I am taking two classes this semester, as opposed to last year's average of three, and that the syllabi for those courses are both balanced so far as total workload is concerned, one could legitimately wonder what has me so on edge so soon in the semester. First and foremost is general exams. Although I have basically hammered out what my fields are going to be with my professors, I did not expect to start reading for exams until the second half of the semester at the absolute earliest. But, at least so far as my field in modern science is concerned, it seems that I was mistaken. I had agreed, along with the other two students who are also taking an exam in this area, that since my advisor would be living "das Gute Leben" in Berlin all year, that we would try to keep ourselves on pace with our exam reading. I had thought we would wait a week or two into the semester before we dove into this material, but we started bright and early, as it were, with a meeting on Wednesday and a decision to try to get through three books a week for the rest of the semester, taking us through approximately 1/3 of my total major field reading list. Wonderful in theory, perhaps, but after spending seven hours today reading about the history of solid-state physics, I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep up that pace.

This concern is compounded further when I consider that I will need begin finding material for my second year research paper. Allow me to clarify...my (ahem) mandatory research paper without which I will not be able to even TAKE my general exams, earn my master's degree, and move toward my dissertation. And guess what? I have hardly any ideas for paper topics, much less how I am going to find time to conduct archival research since I'll be so bogged down reading for generals. Last year, my research paper wound up consuming the entire month of January, and I had hoped to avoid that this time around since I'll have an additional 100 or so books that I should be reading at the same time.

The prospects for finishing that paper quickly, however, do not seem too promising given that I am still polishing my previous year's work for its first public presentation before my department. I hope to eventually submit it for publication in a journal, but first it needs to be suitably eviscerated by the astute, but occasional brutal, criticism of my fellow scholars. This will be my first such presentation and I think that my anxiety might be contributing further to my stress.

Add to that the German language exam for which I should be practicing, the two additional lecture courses I'm auditing this semester (modern German and modern American history), and the conference I'll likely be attending in late October, and my once seemingly sparse semester now seems positively jam-packed!

But, like I wrote at the start of this post, is any of this really different from normal? No matter what job I had, if I were just coming back from a vacation, especially a long one, I would probably be feeling overwhelmed. Maybe it's because I've just finished reading biography of Werner Heisenberg on Wednesday, but my instinctual reaction to this situation is to hope that an awareness of the problem may in some way facilitate the moderation of its symptoms. In other words, I may be stressed, but at least I know WHY I'm stressed, so there is hope to change things for the better. (Maybe even expand upon my Germany travelogue.) Or at least, that's how it seems to me at the end of this first week, which appropriately enough ended on Yom Kippur, a holiday devoted to reflection, atonement, and self-improvement. What are the odds?

7 x 13= 28 (and Other Mathematics My Students Would Have Understood)

The results of last year's No Child Left Behind tests were released last week. 324 members of Underwood's current senior class took exams in mathematics, reading, and writing, though only the first two are considered for NCLB standing. Because of the amount of money and prestige associated with good test scores thanks to President Bush, the administration has steadily placing greater emphasis on testing during the past few years. Surprisingly, it seems that their efforts last year yielded positive results!

Of the 324 students who took the mathematics exam,
14 scored advanced (4.3%) +2.8% over 2006
33 scored proficient (10.2%) +2.3% over 2006
64 scored basic (19.8%) +6.1% over 2006
213 scored below basic (65.7%) -11.2% from 2006

On the reading exam, the numbers are not quite as clearcut:
Again, 324 students completed the exam.
6 scored advanced (1.9%) -1.1% from 2006
68 scored proficient (21%) +8.5% over 2006
73 scored basic (22.5%) -2.7% from 2006
177 scored below basic (54.6%) -4.7% from 2006

And for writing, where only 314 students took the exam:
1 student scored advanced (0.3%) -2.7% from 2006
230 students scored proficient (73.2%) +9.4% over 2006
75 students scored basic (23.9%) +6.3% over 2006
8 students scored below basic (2.5%) -0.5% from 2006

The writing scores are quite impressive, with nearly 3/4 of the Underwood student body scoring advanced or proficient. But as I mentioned before, writing is not considered by the state or federal government when judging a school's NCLB status. This explains why Underwood is now under what is called "Corrective Action II", a category which sounds like the sequel to a prison exploitation movie that's just waiting to be made. The full explanation is far less exciting. Basically, if Underwood's students fail to reach testing benchmarks this year, the school will undergo a full management overhaul. This could mean anything from conversion to a charter school to full-scale privatization or, in the most extreme cases, closing the school down entirely. In any case, the pressure is on the administration to reach the student body and improve test scores or risk losing their jobs entirely.

It seemed to me as I was reading over the NCLB FAQ on the state education website that Ms. Oldman (Underwood's principal) and the rest of her staff could use some help reaching out to the student body. If only someone could provide some insight into where the students are currently so that teachers could tailor their test preparation efforts accordingly. Shortly after mulling over this issue, I had one of those striking moments of serendipity that each of us encounters every so often...in this case, while I was perusing a few of my favorite blogs.

First, I found this glimpse into the mathematical mindset of the average freshman at Underwood, courtesy of Eric at Secondhand Thoughts:



Some may claim that Abbott and Costello have absolutely no relevance to the modern classroom, but I am not exaggerating at all. My math teacher girlfriend told me stories that were equally absurd, and things get even more complicated when algebra is involved.

One possible solution to the deficiency illustrated above would be exercises designed to encourage logical thinking. Ideally, they should also captivate students' interests by appealing to their hobbies. Imagine my luck to discover the following useful diagrams mere minutes after viewing the previous skit. (I should note that the following diagrams have been rating PG-13 due to adult language.)

The Wu Tang: More Than Just Financial Services




















This procedure was later adapted by one D. Hack in a 2000 work.
















And finally, straight outta Compton...with a Venn Diagram!



















A well-deserved tip of the hat to Chris Sims of The Invincible Super-Blog for compiling these masterworks of hip-hop related mathematics. I can only hope they serve as an inspiration for other struggling math teachers. And that maybe, just maybe, with tools like these, Underwood can avoid getting bulldozed by the federal government because test scores won't improve.

The First Day of School Imagined From Two Years Out

Students returned to the Halls of Underwood High School today. Two years out of the classroom, and I can still imagine the sights and sounds that the veteran teachers of that establishment are witnessing. Given the uncomfortably high humidity the past few days and the school's lack of air conditioning, there may also be some interesting smells mixed in there as well.

Needless to say, I don't regret my decision to resign, no matter how much guilt the school district attempts to inflict upon me. Just a few days ago, a spokesman from the district's human resources department was on the radio discussing problems with teacher retention and lamenting the absurdly high percentage of new staff members that quit the profession after teaching a handful of years. As one of that number, I can't say I felt a burst of pride at being categorized as a quitter, but I was able to glaze over any feelings of shame or embarrassment by remembering that my decision to resign was not made lightly or for inconsequential reasons.

Underwood High School suffered from several major academic, administrative, and disciplinary problems which severely hindered attempts at effective teaching. The first days of school, which are supposed to set the tone for the year traditionally epitomized these issues and I would imagine that things have not changed significantly this year.

Academically, one might expect a new copy of the district's core curriculum to have been issued, probably last week, thereby thwarting attempts at effective long-term planning. In addition, freshmen entering the building will almost certainly be academically unprepared for their new classes. But that's fine, because the rosters will almost certainly change during the first week or so. Numbers will stabilize in freshmen classrooms to around 35-40 students until leveling in early October brings class sizes down to "manageable" levels.

Unfortunately, it is extremely unlikely that students will actually learn their roster during the first week of school, as one might initially expect, because of administrative decisions on the school and district level. The former is responsible for separating the first days of school for the various grade levels, dismissing upperclassmen early and having freshmen arrive in the afternoon. This sets an incongruous tone for an already challenging week, one which is only further exacerbated when the school district decides to schedule the first days of school during a short week. This year, thanks to Rosh Hashanah, the first week of school is only three days long. So after coming to school for three days, the students will then have a four day weekend to revert to their summer vacation mindsets. By the time they return, they will have forgotten their academic schedules as well as their homeroom teachers and their locker combination...assuming they get lockers at this point. In past years, those were distributed only when the student body had stabilized to an appreciable degree, generally by December.

Perhaps the most damaging part of these administrative decisions is the effect they will have on classroom discipline. The odd scheduling provides students with convenient excuses to "forget" policies that the administration deems so important: uniform shirts, bathroom regulations, cell phones and MP3 players being used in class...I imagine all of these will continue to consternate Underwood's teachers for months due to a lack of consistency from the get-go.

For better or for worse, however, I have no way to definitively test my previous assertion. During my three years, I can not recall a single instance of Underwood beginning the academic year with a consistent set of school-wide procedures and routines through a full week. The closest examples I can cite from personal experience were my own high school and other high quality (i.e. academic magnet) schools in the district. I fully acknowledge that in those cases, consistency of policy is just one factor among many explaining these schools' successes. Furthermore, given the constant turnover of students during the early weeks, it is entirely possible that even if the administration could implement such a system the chaos of the early days of school would continue unabated.

But at the same time, it seems strange to me, even after three years of highlighting the fundamental hypocrisies and contradictions that characterized the management of underresourced public schools, or at least one in particular, to find an anomaly this glaring. The same bureaucrats who constantly insist upon the need for consistency and routine during professional development workshops are themselves incapable of implementing the very systems necessary to cultivate the stability they crave.

And then they go on the record, wondering why so many capable teachers decide to leave the classroom.

Only two years out of the classroom do I fully appreciate the irony.

A Brief Bout of September Schadenfreude

It's getting to be that time of year once again. School has not yet resumed at Underwood High School, although professional development days are back in full swing. For better or for worse, I can only imagine what my former colleagues are suffering through at this point. I imagine it will have something to do with standardized test scores and the need for teachers to take greater disciplinary control of their classroms. Breakout groups may be involved in some way.

Really, I'm just guessing because for the first time in a long while I have no regular contact with Underwood High or its faculty. This is because my girlfriend, who used to provide me with semi-regular updates, is no longer working at Underwood. This is unfortunate, especially for those who remember when this blog used to deal with educational issues more heavily...back in the halcyon days of 2004 or so when crazy students, inane administrators, and contradictory school district policy were this blog's bread and butter.

Not that I'm wishing that I could turn back the clock or anything like that. Besides damaging the space-time continuum, that would also leave me clutching fervently at my sanity when September time rolled around...especially during that limbo zone between Labor Day and the actual start of the school year when hope built up that perhaps the kids would be better prepared or better behaved for high school and that this year, this year would be different in an entirely positive way!

Now, I can just sit back and think about those days and how very glad I am to be on a graduate student's schedule. Like this evening, when I ran into a teacher friend of mine from my old school district at the supermarket.

Q: Why would I run into a friend from the old school district at the supermarket when I now am hobnobbing with the elite shoppers who inhabit the environs of Old Ivy?

A: I was doing research at an archive back near my old stomping grounds, and given that I had just spent seven hours straight with no lunch sifting through seventy year old documents, I needed to grab food before I set off on my drive home.

To continue, I ran into this friend of mine while waiting in the checkout line and we started chatting. He was also puzzled as to why I was shopping for food so far from Old Ivy, but once we dealt with that conversational stumbling block, discussion turned as it so often does to work. My friend lamented this time of year, as I would have myself back in the day. Any of time of year, he noted, generally could muster some enthusiasm for the classroom, but these twilight moments of summer, the grim march of workshops and preparedness seminars that leave no time to set up one's classroom or plan for the first few days...they can drain the life out of even the most capable and enthusiastic of teachers faster than a vampire at a convention of hemophiliacs.

Which was when I foolishly mentioned that I don't start classes until two weeks from now. And that I only will likely have to attend classes three days a week. And while I began to mention my winter break stretching from late December through early February, I was cut off before explaining that I would have to work on a research paper, read for generals, or both during the majority of that time.

Luckily, this friend has a good sense of humor and recognized my schadenfreude as that of the experienced veteran who has shared the same pain rather than purely malicious. We parted on good terms with the promise of possible pub trivia competitions the next time I swung through town. But I can't help but wonder how I would have reacted had the situations been reversed...

Labor Day Weekend Update

Hello, I'm the Invisible Ben...and you're not. And now, our top stories.

It has now been two months since I left for Germany and over a month since I returned home. Mysteriously, more than half of the blog posts outlining my adventures are still reported missing in action. Those few that have trickled in (Click on the July 2007 archive link at right for more.) have informed us that the others have been trapped in a holding pattern over Boston International Airport...along with two million other American Airlines passengers.

This just in: The previous joke was not sponsored by American Airlines as a means to discredit that company's reputation. It was sponsored by Delta.

This just in: Apparently, neither of the "news stories" above were jokes at all, but rather the result of a Weekend Update parody that was doomed to failure from the outset given the consistently brilliant writing of the modern Saturday Night Live writing staff. After all, how can one mere blog compete with the geniuses who brought us the Spartan cheerleaders and Amy Poehler's Aunt Linda?

We now return to something far less imaginative: a list of bullet points.

• As mentioned above, I have been working on blog posts outlining all of the memorable time I spent in Germany. If you haven't checked out my pictures from Heidelberg's student prison, puzzled over the anti-Semitic board game in Nuremberg's Nazi museum, or tried to calculate the absurdly high voltage of the Deutsches Museum's gigantic Jacob's Ladder, then you have been missing out. And this is just the beginning. I promise...even if it takes me another two months, I will be posting a detailed record of my month long European adventure.
  

• Part of the reason for the delayed posts was the two week hiatus I took from blogging in connection with my dental surgery. I am now pleased to report, however, that almost four weeks later, I am now able to eat even the most solid of foods without worrying about searing pain in my lower jaw. (Yes...even corn on the cob!) Granted, I need to take some time after meals to spray water into the the large, but relatively painless, holes in the back of my jaw using a syringe my doctor provided to prevent food from getting caught back there. Although it's really not that big a deal, the fact that I have gotten into the habit of doing this two to three times a day has lately struck me as reminiscent of an episode of The Critic. ("One week ago, I was looking at a death sentence. Now all I have to do is inject 8 little ounces of this into my eyeball every 4 hours!")

• Another part of the reason for delayed blog updates has been that I have been busy at work revising my research paper from last semester using the research I conducted at the Deutsches Museum. Hopefully, now that I have actual "evidence" that I can "cite" in my paper, my "argument" will be much more convincing. On the other hand, polishing my old research paper means that I have spent less time thinking about my research paper for this semester, a fact which may come back to haunt me as I begin confronting the looming menace of my general exams (ugh).

Finally, I have decided to add two new members to the Invisible Blogroll for your consideration, one whose addition is long overdue and the other I only recently discovered.

• Secondhand Thoughts, a blog devoted to educational issues, is written by Eric Turner, an Army veteran currently in training to obtain a degree in history and secondary education. I first became aware of Eric's blog after he was kind enough to comment on one of my posts and have since become an avid reader of his well-written and insightful discussions on the current status of American teacher training. Plus, you have to admire anyone who goes through the effort of organizing his bookmarks according to the Dewey Decimal System! I try to check this site every Wednesday when Mr. Turner posts his Wednesday Website Pick of the Week of new educational blogs. After all, even though I am now out of the classroom, that doesn't mean I don't sympathize with those who are still slogging through the trenches of public education or appreciate what they have to say. Check it out, you'll be glad you did.
• Charlie Trautmann is the executive director of the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York, one of the institutions affiliated with that city's Discovery Trail. (Yes, that's Sciencenter...one word!) He is currently in the midst of an exciting odyssey across Europe, visiting a wide range of museums in order to compare their approaches towards public education with regard to environmental issues. Since he started his European Museum Crawl in Munich last July, it is wholly possible that we might have passed each other in the hallways of the Deutsches Museum a few times. As an experienced museum professional, Mr. Trautmann has a keen eye for the logistics of exhibit planning and pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of various display strategies. Since I have recently become interested in the history of science museums, I will definitely be reading this blog carefully through October, at which point I sincerely hope that its author will consider continuing to post on museum issues in the United States and the world.

Well folks, that's all for now.
I'm the Invisible Ben. At the risk of once more flogging an already dead horse and an equally dead joke, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow...or something like that.