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cliche-ish · 4 years

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We made it halfway

Context: What is written here happened in the beginning of July 2020. Yes we are halfway through 2020. Guess what else happened in 2020? COVID-19 and Trump... What a time to be alive! 🙃 A week ago Trump signed an order to suspend all H1B (working) visa processing until at least the end of the year. I have two friends from high school (let’s give them fake names, April and Ann, because Parks and Rec) who are working in Pittsburgh and Boston and applying for their H1B (working) visa this year. We went to high school in Vietnam together, and all went to the US at different schools for college. I was wondering if the order was going to affect them, so I sent them a few messages on Facebook to check how they were handling this. The previous time I sent them a message to them were probably at least 1-2 years ago. They both replied and said the visa suspension did not really affect them. We all caught up with one another through messaging and decided to set up a video call on the night of July 4th (because what else was there to do this year 😅).

Saturday, July 4th, 2020

You know how sometimes it takes a global pandemic to finally have time to catch up with your high school best friends who also live in the US but you never really had the chance to meet in person. 😅 The last time our group of friends did a video call was in 2013 or 2014. There we were again 6 years later, and we just hit if off instantly and talked non-stop for 4 hours. It was like those 6 years never existed and we were just together the day before. We talked so much our throats hurt haha.

We talked about everything. Of course we talked about people we went to school with and how/where they are now. Most of the friends went study abroad like us. Some of them came back to Vietnam. Some of them already got married. Then we talked about how rare it was that all of us were single at the same time and looked into planning a girls’ trip haha. We talked about relationship stuff, like what we want in a partner or a relationship or whether we want to get married or have kids. We talked about the people we dated and what we have learned from our previous relationships. We talked about how our American dreams as well as our perceptions about life in the US had shifted and changed and what we wanted as the purpose of our life. Like real serious adults talk haha.

Ann then brought up about someone from our school who went to Georgia Tech for college and committed suicide last year and how that how we all had some periods of time when we felt so lost and depressed. At that point Ann was very depressed and felt like her life was so meaningless. She said that suicide news was the wake-up call for her. So she asked her boss to give her a month off, and headed back to Vietnam and saw her family earlier this year in February (when COVID-19 was mustering and looming). When she came back to the US, she felt better and started looking for a new job. She landed one with Microsoft. (Yes girl!!) She told us the same stories of a few of our friends from middle school and high school who also had some periods where they felt so lost and depressed during their time living far away from family and friends in a new country and culture. April told us about her “sad period” and how becoming religious helped her find a way out. I talked about the time I lost my Grandma and how I sought out to therapy. (I promise to myself that I’ll normalize talking about mental health issues and therapy from now on, because not talking about them inevitably keeps them a taboo, when they are not.) We all coped differently. Luckily, we all actively found our ways to recover and felt better and was living our lives in the US when we had this conversation. But this path of being an international student that we chose is not always easy and not for everyone. Perhaps it could have helped if we’d known about each other’s difficult experience and shared with our friends who were also going through similar hardship. If there are any people that can understand, it’s them. So my friends and I, we made a pact that whenever one of us feels down and goes through any emotional or mental challenges ever again, we will let the others know.

The clock hit 1:45 am, and I suggested we call if a day. Ann, being Ann, asked if we could take a photo together and posted on Facebook, so we would be reminded years from now about this reunion. So I offered to take the photo, took it, sent it to them right away, and asked if the picture was okay. Ann said it looked good. She made a silly, cute pose with both her hands in a peace sign held high next to her face. April was like, “Yeah, it’s okay! Actually, hehe, can we take it again? I don’t look so good.” And I said, “Of course!”. April replied, “Yayyy hihi, thanks!” or something like that. I took it again, and this time everyone was happy. Then Ann made a comment, “Wow this is just like high school. April is still the awkward, shy baby, and [Me] is still the caring mom of the group.” And Ann is still the silly, hilarious one (you can tell based on her pose). It was just funny and interesting to see how we had changed and matured so much in the past years, and yet we were still the same people in high school.

Plot twist - Monday, July 7th, 2020

Like any day this year now, something shocking just happened today. While I can imagine Ann and April got quite some messages asking if the new order affected their working visa, 3 days later, it was my turn. This evening, a federal order was issued, saying that all students who attend schools decide to conduct 100% online classes in the Fall due to COVID-19 are mandated to leave the US or risk getting deported. I am currently on a student visa, which is affected by this order. My phone was flooded with messages from friends checking on me. Oh how the table has turned LOL.

This order came out right after Harvard announced they were doing entirely virtual classes for the Fall. The government wanted schools to stay open despite the pandemic ravaging the whole country and was afraid schools would follow Harvard’s move. Harvard, you freaked out the government, and played us all. But you sued the gov for this order, so we forgive you. 😂 When this order was released tonight, all hell broke loose for the international student community on social media. I can imagine the administration of all universities in the country are feeling the same shock, confusion, and dread.

My first reaction when I saw this was ironically to laugh. I just laughed. I have been laughing a lot lately at some of all the ridiculous things the President said or some of the bad news coming my way. Remember that time when he said he had been taking hydroxycloroquine for preventing COVID-19. Or when he suggested injecting disinfectants to kill the virus. And we also saw how that statement turned the whole country upside down. The White House, CDC, and all disinfectant companies was racing to issue statement against his advice and deal with the consequences that night and the next morning. I mean I must admit there was a little part of that that was funny, right? All of that can be great materials for a new episode on VEEP lol. So yeah, I laughed. Ironic laughs, but laughs nonetheless. I don’t know why I laughed. Maybe those things I heard were to absurd and ridiculous. Maybe I’ve gone crazy during this strange time. Maybe this is the new resort that my newly updated brain automatically seeks out to when I hear news like this. Aaah what a time to be alive! 😂 (If my life has an emoji, it is definitely this laugh cry emoji. 😂)

I told my friends I don’t know how this was going to play out for my case, but at this point, I honestly just feel fine. It’s not that I don’t care. I just feel fine. I’ve worked hard and tried my best to do all that I can to maximize my chance of getting a job here in the US and fulfill my goals and dreams. Anything else is out of my control. So whatever comes my way, I will cope with it and figure it up. I feel like at this point I have been through enough to know I can deal with anything and everything will be alright. Knowing who and how I am as a person now, I just know I will survive and thrive anywhere life takes me. 😁 So yeah, I laughed and I feel fine. I’d not be surprised if tomorrow I wake up to another one like this. I mean it’s 2020. Why not? 😂

And it truly feels fine. Probably because I know no matter what happens there is always hope and wonderful people in my life and in this world standing with me on my side. 😊

Update on Thursday, July 9th, 2020, 3 days after the issuance of the above order.

My university has been sending out emails every day to assure us international students that the university disagrees with the order and is doing everything they can to protect its international students and create a safe and viable environment for us to continue pursuing our education here in the US. My friends from all over the country reached out and checked on me to see if I would be affected by this order. Many of my American friends and colleagues have been speaking out and taking actions against this order. It’s not their fight, yet they chose to participate anyway and stand by the side of us international students. The amount of support that I have seen and received has been tremendous, and I am beyond grateful. My heart is so full.

All of this is truly a reminder for me to just care about others and choose to fight those battles not for me but for others. This is a fight against us international students, yet we are joined by people who are not affected by this incident at all. I want to remember how empowered and supported this has made me feel during the past few days by recording it here. There are a lot going on right now in the world and this country. A lot of different people are under attack, like Black people and the LGBTQ+ community. I am not one of them. I am not under those attacks. But when I am under one, people who are not affected choose to fight for and with me, because it is the right thing to do. And so I want to choose to fight those battles that are not mine and stand with others when it is the right thing to do.

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succeedly · 6 years

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Teaching isn’t Rocket Science – It’s Way More Complex

Dr. Doug Green on episode 284 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Dr. Doug Green challenges our thinking about school, how we should teach, and the flaws with the testing programs we have in education today.

Sponsor: The STLinATL Conference will be at Woodward Academy in Atlanta July 26-27, 2018. I’ll be speaking with other amazing educators like Suzy Boss, Janet Zadina, Jay McTighe, Dr. Brendan Ozawa de Silva, Scott Sanchez, Dr. Ayanna M Howard and more. For $295, this all-inclusive event (except for hotel and travel) is an amazing opportunity to learn. www.stlinatl.com

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Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

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Enhanced Transcript

Teaching isn’t Rocket Science – It’s Way More Complex

Link to show: Date: April 5, 2018

Vicki: Author Dr. Doug Green @DrDougGreen is with us today, talking about “Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science. It’s Way More Complex.”

Now, Doug, you argue that we’ve kind of gone off track in education.

How have we gone off track?

Doug: Well, there are two problems.

There are two problems with the way we teach today

One is the historical practice of one-size-fits-all teaching that we adopted back in the 1800s sometime.

And even though teachers have tried to differentiate to more personalized instruction, the federal mandated testing has forced teachers to prepare every kid in their cohort for the same tests every year.

So that has led to more one-size-fits-all instruction and testing, and the same target for 99% of the kids, which is really fighting the innovators in our business.

Vicki: So, Doug, you say that we have one-size-fits-all teaching.

But, I mean, isn’t that what standards are about? You think standards have brought us here?

How is standardized teaching different from a one-size-fits-all teaching?

Doug: Well, standards and standardized testing. Who wants to be standard?

If every student learned as fast as they possibly could, they’d all move at different paces, and accomplish things as quickly as they can.

And if that happened, what would happen to the achievement gaps that people are all hot and bothered about is that they’d increase. The only way to close that gaps is just to slow down the fast learners. And that’s what you do when you are preparing every kid for the same test at the same time.

Vicki: And you also argue that there’s really no choice for teachers but to be dishonest?

Doug: No, not at all. What I think teachers and their leaders should do is try to focus on personalizing and self-pacing instruction. And if they still have to give these tests, in May or April or whenever they roll them out. Fine. Give them.

If you provide good, engaging instruction that the students can deal at, at their own pace and their own ability, they’ll probably be doing better on their tests anyway. Even if you don’t do any test prep — which is just usually bad teaching.

Vicki: So what are the solutions?

What do you think? Where do we need to go?

What are the solutions?

Doug: Well, if every kid has their own computer, then they can watch the direct instruction on their own, anytime, anywhere. And then when they’re in class with the teacher, the teacher can work with one student or a group of students or even the whole class — depending upon what they’re trying to get at — to help them better internalize the direct instruction they’ve been watching. You know, go over it from a different direction.

And then, when it comes to testing… students should take tests when they are ready for them.

“I’m ready for the Unit 1Test.”

“Fine. Take it. Did you master it? Great. Go on to Unit 2.

“Did you not master it? Well, let me sit down and see if we can figure out what you need to do to master Unit 1.”

So students can kind of move at their own pace.

It’s a bit like the flipped instruction model…

Vicki: (agrees)

…if you’re familiar with that, or better yet — flipped mastery.

Vicki: So we need to personalize learning.

Doug: Yeah.

Vicki: But you know, everybody in their grade levels.

Doug: Yeah.

Vicki: So, you know, I’ve had people on the show who said, “You know, somebody might need to be in 11th-grade Chemistry and 8th grade reading.”

Doug: Yeah. Fine. Why not?

Vicki: So how do we do that?

Doug: Well get rid of grade levels.

I mean, why do we harvest kids like crops?

Agricultural Model: Why do we harvest kids like crops?

We’re still doing some of the things that we were done originally back in the 1800s just because they were convenient for adults.

In Chemistry, I should be able to finish Chemistry in April or next October, depending on how fast I go through it.

And if I’m slower at one thing, give me more time.

And also, you can take failure out of the system, because nobody ever fails anything that they haven’t finished yet.

Vicki: So, for you…

The essential element is one-to-one computing.

So one-to-one computing is the answer?

Doug: Yeah.

That can free up the teacher to spend more individual time with students in small groups, facilitating the learning at that level. There’s no point in kids listening to lectures. You can get those online.

Vicki: You can. But you know, I found that I create so many of my videos, my curriculum, everything that I have. I have to create it myself. And it just sounds overwhelming.

Doug: Yeah.

Vicki: I mean, I try to personalize as much as I can, but it does sound overwhelming, Doug.

Doug: Well, the people that started this back in about 2007… They just started recording their lessons.

And then the kids who had missed class…. Watched the lessons.

And then an exchange student came in, maybe halfway through the year, and they said, “Oh, Geez…

Let’s start watching the September videos.

And it wasn’t long before they were refining and refining and refining their videos.

And the other thing is

A lot of teachers…

You know, if I taught math, I’d be harvesting videos from the Khan Academy or places like that, rather than creating my own.

I think the kids like it when the teacher does their own. I mean, that’s cool from the kid’s point of view. But they don’t all have to be your own videos.

Vicki: Yeah. I mean, I guess they don’t.

I mean, it’s just so hard to find exactly what is in there that’s you want. There are just so many challenges to this.

So, Doug, have you seen any schools or organizations that are doing this right?

Doug: Yes.

Who is doing this right?

Vicki: Give us some examples.

Doug: Well, the Science Learning Academy in Philadelphia is one where I visited.

Vicki: (agrees)

Doug: Kids walk in there.They hand them a Mac laptop. There’s a great deal of self-paced learning. You know, a lot of one-to-one time with the teachers, lots of peer instruction, and the kids go at their own pace, and they’re not going to fail. Because they have, you know, chances to retake tests if they don’t master a unit.

The other thing I think we need to look at, you know. We want to prepare kids for careers?

Well, who in a career, when they don’t know something, doesn’t just go online and find it out? Who in a career ever does any computations? We need to teach students WHEN to divide, not how to divide. You know, we’re not giving the kids the tools in school along with opportunities to collaborate, that they need on the job, that the companies are asking for.

Vicki: Yeah, unless you’re an engineer like my husband. He computes all the time. But I guess that it depends on the field, huh?

Doug: But not with paper and pencil, he doesn’t.

Vicki: Ohhhhh… well. (laughs)

We won’t talk about that.

He uses Excel, but he does use paper and pencil a lot, depending on what it is…

So, Science Leadership Academy, of course, Chris Lehmann’s…

Doug: Yes, Chris Lehmann…

Vicki: …who was there for a while, and is now superintendent, I believe.

And so are there some other places that you think are exemplars in this?

Doug: There’s a woman called Starr Sackstein. She has a blog on Education Week.

Vicki: (agrees)

Doug: She’s doing some amazing things with her kids in Queens. Where the kids.. Ideally…

You’re familiar with Genius Hour?

Vicki: Of course. Yes.

Doug: I mean, you know, the kids are going to do a lot more profound learning if they’re engaged in something they’re interested in.

While you might not be able to do that all the time, but you should be able to do it some of the time.

If they’re not interested in anything, well, then it’s the teacher’s job to try to expose to stuff that might become interested in.

Vicki: (agrees)

So, teachers, we are talking about the fact that teaching is not rocket science. It’s way more complex. And it is.

And we do have the capability to personalize learning so much more.

There are many great people that we will add to our PLN. We’ll, of course, include this in the Shownotes.

Doug, as we finish up, could you give us a 30-second pep talk about personalizing learning for the students in our classroom today?

So, in summary, why is personalized learning essential?

Doug: Well, letting kids proceed at their own level, and not expecting all at the same place at the same time.

The worst thing you can do is give a kid in the 2-percentile level the same test that everyone else is taking.

You want to make sure that your formative assessments are based on where the student is at, not some kind of standard that every student in your classroom has to jump through.

Instead of raising the bar, we should be giving every student their own bar.

Vicki: Well, this is a challenge for all of us…

Doug: It is…

Vicki: Think about it for Thought Leader Thursday, about how we can personalize learning for our students.

Thanks, Doug!

Doug: Thank you!

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford [email protected]

Bio as submitted

I have been an educator since 1970. After teaching chemistry, physics, and computer science, I became an administrator for the next 30 years with experience at the secondary, central office, and elementary levels. I have also taught a number of leadership courses for The State University of New York at Cortland and Binghamton University and authored over 300 articles in computer magazines and educational journals. In 2006 I gave up my job as an elementary principal to care for my wife who had Lou Gehrig’s disease. After her death in March of 2009 I decided to see how I could use my expertise to help busy educators and parents hone their skills and knowledge.

DrDougGreen.Com is all about Bite-Sized daily Self-Development. It focuses on book summaries that present the main concepts of important books in about 15 paragraphs. I am active on Twitter, and when I find an interesting link or tweet, I post it in my Dr. Doug Mines the Net section. I post things I find myself, which includes free access to New York Times articles thanks to my subscription. On occasion, I post my own work and ideas and look forward to reader comments. Working educators and parents don’t always have time to read a lot, but I do. So this is my gift to our common mission to help all children learn. If you think I can help you or your district in any specific way please contact me so we can discuss the matter.

Blog: http://DrDougGreen.Com

Twitter: @DrDougGreen

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post Teaching isn’t Rocket Science – It’s Way More Complex appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

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strivesy · 6 years