31 October 2010

say it ain't sew

For the first time in a long time, I didn't watch the Gator game. I couldn't bear to sit there and feel frustrated for a fourth week in a row. So I took to my sewing machine to work on a few projects Saturday afternoon instead. This is what I created:


It's my newest bag in a long time. And I LOVE it! I usually make my own patterns based on old bags and the things I want a bag to hold. But this time I followed a pattern called buttercup by Made By Rae. It was very easy to make, thanks especially to the pictures provided in the pattern. I am obsessed with this fabric by the talented Amy Butler. My favorite detail is the oh-so-adorable pleats:


Of course I had to personalize it somehow. I added more pockets to the inside to hold my must-get-to items. I'm not really sure I love the interior fabric, but it's hard when the outside fabric is so BOLD:


Note the magnetic closures on the sides above. I'd never used those before and can't believe how easy it was! Another thing I'd never tried was sewing the bag handle on after completing the bag. I usually hide it within the lining when I sew the inner and outer linings together. But I really love the look of this square:


Unfortunately, the bag is a tad small. The pocket I made for my phone was certainly big enough, but when I added my phone and snapped the bag shut it fell out. :( And my wallet * just* squeezes in. I'll have to make another one after I tweak the pattern a bit to make it larger.

Of course I didn't actually give up on the Gators. I listened to Mick Huber on the radio and tuned in and out as the game got exciting. It was much better for my blood pressure to just listen. I did run into the Florida room to watch the game winning kick by punter-turned-placekicker Chas Henry. How exciting!

Happily, my new bag wasn't the only thing I finished yesterday. I also hemmed a few dress which I'll try to get up in the next day or two.

29 August 2010

pillowcase transformed

It's been raining for days, and I was starting to go stir crazy. So I dug through my sewing stash and got an idea. It started like this:


And ended up like this:


Yup, a pillowcase dress. I thought it would be pretty simple to do, but it turns out a pillowcase is pretty sack-like unless you add some curves. So I pinned and I sewed, pinned again and sewed again. It took four pins and sews to get it just right -- way longer than I thought. I searched the internets but only found tutorials for how to make pillowcase dresses for little girls, so it was trial and error all the way.

I could have been more ruthless in my pinning/sewing, but my only rule was it had to fit without a zipper (because I was sewing after midnight and there was no way I was running out for a zipper at that hour). It ended up looking pretty good. It's not the best dress in the world, but it fits and works quite nicely as a light summer shift:


I probably ought to go back and line it, but I'm 95% certain that will never happen. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the first dress I've ever sewn. It's still raining, so I may go back into the stash and try something else this afternoon.

16 August 2010

how do your test scores grow?

Wow. The Sunday LA Times article on teacher effectiveness using a value-added analysis (consisting of LAUSD 3rd-5th grade teachers' math and language arts standardized test scores over the last seven years) has caused a gigantic ruckus among education policy folks. My ed policy twitter feed has been in flames over this since Sunday morning. Anything about teacher evaluation is guaranteed to provoke these reactions.

But the most interesting part of the article had nothing to do with test scores, it had to do with the reporters' following observations: Teachers who hold their students' attention and push their students to think critically claim higher results than those who don't.

According to the article, teacher Karen Caruso is loved by her principal, students, and parents. They consider her an outstanding teacher who goes above and beyond. However:

During recent classes observed by a reporter, Caruso set clear expectations for her students but seemed reluctant to challenge them. In reviewing new vocabulary, for instance, Caruso asked her third-graders to find the sentence where the word "route" appeared in a story.

"Copy it just like it's written," she instructed the class, most of whom started the year advanced for their grade.

"Some teachers have kids use new words in their own sentences," Caruso explained. "I think that's too difficult."

She dismissed the weekly vocabulary quizzes that other teachers give as "old school."

Of course everyone loved her: She's an easy teacher!! Not surprisingly, her value-added scores were quite low (she ranked in the bottom 10% in boosting student scores). I cannot imagine a more fruitless exercise than copying a sentence out of a text just because it includes a new vocabulary word. When teaching, I had only four hours of instruction time per day. Certainly not enough time to waste on copying. And of course third graders can use a new word in a sentence. If you really think it's too difficult, you follow the basic pattern of teaching: I do, we do, you do. Scaffolding really does work. As do bonus points on essays for using new vocabulary words when writing, team points for noticing said words in other texts and pointing them out to the teacher, or behavior tickets for getting caught using them in everyday conversation. None of those examples are "old school" methods, yet each one tests understanding without using a quiz.

So why don't we start the teacher evaluation conversation with two simple questions: Can you hold students' attention? Can you push them to think critically? As a classroom teacher, those are fair questions to ask. But I can tell you neither of them was on my yearly evaluation (however being on-time and working well with colleagues was!)

15 August 2010

love, love, love

When I was working on my undergraduate degree oh so long ago (the mid-'90s seem like yesterday, don't they?), my parents encouraged me to travel for a semester. They were thinking overseas. But since I'd never really left my hometown (at that point I'd barely left the neighborhood -- my first apartment was in the Student Ghetto a mere four blocks from my parents' house), I really wanted to go to New York. They protested, but I insisted. So I applied and was accepted to NYU for the summer of 1997.

It was one of the best summers of my life. I lived in a dorm one block from Washington Square Park. Ate amazing meals. Saw phenomenal bands. Bought tons of records. Met interesting people. Most importantly, I walked almost everywhere I went.

I wanted to SEE the city, so I rarely used the subway if it was somewhere I was going for the first time. Copying most New Yorkers, I began to listen to my Walkman (tape version) everywhere I went. One day I got a package from tw with a mix tape inside titled "Pop Side of the Moon." Its cover was a black & white picture of Rockefeller Center (my obsession with the RC Christmas Tree was already in full bloom), and the bands included such indie greats as Small Factory ("So What About Love"), Incredible Force of Junior ("Blue Cheer"), Air Miami ("Airplane Rider"), and Low ("Over the Ocean"). I listened to it so much that the songs on this mix tape are still, to this day, some of my favorite songs.

However, there was one song that I absolutely hated. It was stupid, atonal, and the lyrics made no sense. But since this was a mix tape and not a mix CD, it was a pain in the ass to fast forward through without missing the song after it, which is one of my undeniably favorite songs of all time, Courtney Love's "Uncrushworthy" (Courtney Love being the early 90s band fronted by Lois Maffeo, not the obnoxious Hole singer). So I suffered through it time after time.

But the hated song would just not go away. Unconsciously, it started to grow on me. I began singing it in my head. It popped up in the shower or when I was trying to fall asleep. Then, I found myself fast forwarding to GET to this song. Finally, I began searching for other songs by this artist, amassing a small collection of dubbed tapes and 7 inches. New York City became the place where I began my love affair with what would become my favorite band of all time, the Mountain Goats.

The stupid, atonal song with the senseless lyrics? "The Monkey Song"

01 August 2010

from armoire to office

As many of you know, I've condensed my personal space considerably in the past two months. Instead of a large craft/office space, I'm down to two pieces of furniture to fit everything! I inherited both sets of grandparents' bedroom furniture, and I'm using my paternal grandparents' set as a craft/office space due to its large size (my maternal grandparents' set is smaller and fussier, so I use it as my bedroom furniture).

The first piece I received from my paternal grandparents was a fabulous 40's armoire. I set out to use it for crafting immediately since it has deep, solid drawers. I stored boxes of supplies and other bulky items in the hanging side (the perfect hiding spot!) When I downsized, I decided to use the hanging space as my temporary office. But piling everything inside did not work! A change was in order. This is what I started out with:



I decided to add three simple shelves to hold all of my financial/important papers, as well as craft and work supplies. Eventually I'll stain and varnish the shelves, but I was desperate for some organized space quickly. Not only was it a simple and cheap solution (rails, boards, clips, and screws were around $20!), I actually have more space than I anticipated. Not bad for 2-hours' work!

24 April 2010

the accidental collection


My latest thrift find finally made its way home today. I saw this table while we were down in Tampa Bay for Rays' Opening Day. It was at an adorable furniture store we happened upon accidentally.


It's honestly not my style, with its frilly legs (which are quite wobbly) and extra shelf. I like more classic lines in my furniture. I may very well change the legs out someday. What made me fall in love was the tile top since I have another table almost exactly like it.


I found its sister table at one of my very favorite thrift stores, the Gandy Goodwill in St. Pete. It had just come in off a donation truck. I grabbed it for $15. It remains one of my favorite furniture pieces. So when I found a table so similar to it I was so surprised!

Of course, since I'm so indecisive I decided to wait and think about it. When I couldn't get the table out of my head, I knew I had to have it. We went back the next day only to find out the store was only open three days a week! Knowing I'd be back in a few weeks, I resigned myself to waiting. But when Tim moved out, taking the giant wine rack with him, I knew the table would be perfect in the empty space. I called the store, praying they hadn't sold it in the two previous weeks. It was still there! I bought it over the phone and had them put it in back for me until I could make my way down. My mom was in the area for a conference this week and agreed to pick it up for me.

I've never seen so many different tile leaf designs. Quite unique, isn't it? I'm so thrilled to have it. I wonder if I'll ever find another?

25 March 2010

my email to cretul

I just sent this email to Larry Cretul, who has been asking interested parties for House companion to SB6 (kill public education bill) to send their thoughts to him via email or phone:

I oppose this teacher tenure bill for several reasons. As an elementary school teacher for eight years in a high-poverty school (77+% free/reduced lunch), I really wish that I could be the most important person in my students' lives. If I were, I could instill a passion for education and life-long learning. I would have them eat well, brush their teeth, do their homework, watch appropriate TV shows and movies, go to sleep at an appropriate hour, and get regular exercise. I would instill a respect for adults and for things that don't belong to them. But I only have them with me for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. Their families, peers, and communities have more sway in their education than I do.

So why would you punish me for choosing to work with such a population of children? I work very hard to instill the above ideals in them during the short time they are in my room. I push them, encourage them, reward and punish them as if they were my own children. But my impact does not sway the neighborhood belief that education is not important. They can try their best while in my room, but eventually they have to go back home.


I have consistently high FCAT scores in my school -- last year all of my kids scored at 3 or higher in math (considerably higher than their previous year's scores of 1s and 2s for most of them). I am one of those teachers you say would be "rewarded" by this bill, I am sure of it. But if it passes, I will have to quit teaching and find a job that will pay my bills. I cannot afford to live on half my salary until it's known whether my students passed. I already work two jobs because my salary is so low (and I have a Master's, which I'm still paying for, that is now totally worthless).

If I stayed in the classroom, I wouldn't be able to afford to put in the extra time, energy, and money that I do right now. I would be forced to teach to the test to make sure I had a job. I would always be worried that any low child's test scores could make me lose my job. Any parent complaint could oust me as well. Why would I bother to chance my future and my life in that way? Many other wonderful teachers I speak with feel the same way. Those with no other options than teaching wonder how they will keep their houses and feed their families.


This bill will take money out of local schools and send it to private test companies. It will do it on the backs of our most important natural resource: our children. If this passes, I don't know how those in the Florida Legislature will live with themselves knowing they destroyed the chance for poor children to have access to quality education.


I have an out; I can find a new job. The underprivileged students in my class (and thousands of others) will be stuck with more drills, more tests, and much less real education.
Please don't let this bill pass.

Want to share your thoughts? Here's his info:

Tallahassee office: 850 488 1450
District office 352 873 6564

Please pass this to anyone you know who cares about public education in the state of Florida. This bill has been fast-tracked and could even be voted on tomorrow (Friday).

31 January 2010

what's missing from RTTT

While reading up on everything there is to know about Race To The Top (and you know there's a ton we don't know about RTTT), I feel there is something very important missing. I would call it the core problem with most major national legislation: actual input from real, in-the-classroom-right-this-moment teachers.

This is my first year dealing with serious, interrupting-my-teaching-on-a-regular-basis standardized testing. And by standardized testing, I mean online statewide FAIR testing, district reading benchmark tests, and math unit tests given on district-mandated dates regardless of whether my students have had time to master the curriculum. I've taught FCAT testing grades for the last 6 years, so I'm not new to the testing game. The problem is the data all these tests are accumulating is not an accurate measure of most of my students' abilities according to my personal observations.

I have one student, let's call him Science Boy, who loves reading non-fiction and comes up with super high-level questions regarding anything we are studying. For example, we play a great game about once a week where I put a long word on the board and the kids come up with words made from the letters all day. Any words five letters or longer get a point toward our class behavior goal, so there's an incentive to come up with great words. Science Boy lives for this game. Once he sees it on the board in the morning, he grabs a think pad and starts brainstorming during any free moment. He is a constant annoyance on these days ("Miss Lynn, how do you spell 'curious'?" "Will 'mentor' work?" After pointing him toward a dictionary several weeks in a row to answer his questions, he now saves me the trouble and gets one to start the day). He's got some ADHD issues and sits right next to me to help him focus, but he's very bright. According to FAIR data, however, he has a 10%-18% chance of passing FCAT. His weekly reading and periodic benchmark tests are above average, and his Accelerated Reader level is right where he needs to be for this time in 4th grade. He constantly needs to be reminded to slow down, which is where I suspect the problem lies in regards to his FAIR test scores. But according to the genius that is the FAIR report, I need to be small-grouping Science Boy to death.

Before all of this standardized-test-before-THE-standardized-test nonsense, I would not have worried much about Science Boy. I would have worked on his focus, encouraged him to read higher non-fiction books and some historical or math-related fiction, and then focused my extra energy on those students not performing as well. Honestly, that IS what I'm doing anyway. And thankfully my administration is encouraging us to use this new data only as another piece of the puzzle instead of the end-all, be-all of what students can accomplish. But I know there will come a point where I will have to prove I'm fixing Science Boy's "problems" instead of focusing on my real strugglers that FAIR, ironically enough, predicts will pass the FCAT with no problems. I'm also worried that new teachers will come to trust this data more than their own observations and opinions.

So I'm looking for the portion of RTTT that focuses on observations from classroom teachers. You know, those people actually trained to notice students' problems. I'll guess my chances of doing so are less than 10%.

18 January 2010

tenth amendment, anyone?

I'm sure many of you have at least heard of Obama's new Race To the Top (RTTT) initiative to help the nation's public schools improve. It's been in state news a lot due to last week's deadline for districts (and teacher's unions) to sign on for a chance at some big $$$. Only five districts' unions signed on.

Why? Well mainly because RTTT is still an idea, not a completed framework. School boards would be required to scrap current (mostly working) programs for unknown but surely "research-based" ones that would require even more standardized testing (and I've already given six standards tests this year with three more coming up in the next three weeks). Here's the kicker: the money given to the states would not cover the costs of implimenting the new programs. "What?" you may be asking yourself. "How does that make sense?" Well, it doesn't. And since unions seem to have better memories than their school board counterparts, they are asking that very obvious question too and refusing to sign on. It's the simple "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" philosophy. Because we've done this before with the feds: NCLB anyone? Title I funding? All fed money comes with thick ropes attached.

But this is where it gets interesting. Florida's mostly Republican legislature has been really excited about RTTT and publicly browbeat the FEA for refusing to sign on without more information. It's been funny to watch such staunch conservatives grab for these Obama dollars. Why would they want Obama money anyhow? Think carefully (*cough* Florida Lottery money ringing any bells? *cough*) and I bet you can figure it out.

Well, someone finally called them on it. Florida's Tenth Amendment Center (yes, it is as conservative as you imagine) wrote an article condemning the lawmakers' "picking and choosing what it considers to be intrusive federal law based on monetary return." I've never been one to agree with crazy state sovereignty supporters, but come on. When even Texas refuses to sign on, you know something is wrong.