New Digs

To Sick to be Anywhere but. . .
My Room
But Which One?
About to MOVE!
Sick, but I Went to the Doctor, so therefore,
I'm on MANY medications
About to go meet with my Grad Class Prof
Straight Ill
1:01 pm
Wednesday, February 16, 2005

New Digs

Whew. It feels like my world has taken many significant shifts -- significant in the way my research for EOSI uses the terms. Shifts that are statistically significant, but just bearly. They offer something that doesn't look necessarily very dramatic on a graph, but when ccoupled with several other factors, ultimately effectg more then you think

To be less verbous: I am about to go meet with my Grad Prof., Dr. Bidwell, Professor Emeritus. This paper will not only determine the course in which my next weeks wander, but will solidify my fate in this class; this is my only grade.

I think I have a great paper topic, I think. Let me expound for practice, and pleasure. And read it actually. I get the feelings that sometimes I lecture to the General Public, not only here but in real life. Problem with that is, that sometimes, I'm almost positive the GP's eye's glaze over, as is the plight of any teacher. Mostly , I don't mind, but this one is cool. Just go with me, people.

Okay, so the name of my class is Educational Organizations and Social Inequalities. Here we have been doing many, many, many readings about the structures of bureaucracies, and varying theories about what's wrong with public school. It's no about being right so much as looking at the same question, "What' s wrong with education, namely public schools in America, how can we prove this as a Social Science, and possibly, what can me do to fix it. Not so much on the third question. The key to writtin these papers, which breaks down to, what's key in formulating sociological questions and executing field work well is "How can I address this question as specifically as possible? What new angle can I take, new perspective through which I'll be able to ask a new question and hard, scientific data, to build models, usually calculius/derivities/boo to prove it. (Can you tell my eyes glaze over and I skim those parts. It goes something like "We toook the math, and math math math. Math math math mathy math math. derivitive variable math math math."

We touched on many things. Differing organizations, the idea of a Common School Effect, social capital, the Catholic School Effect, nested heirarchies, ad infinitum. What caught my eye was reading groups.

Fast forward. I decided to write my paper on something to do with reading groups so that I could go and sit in on Paula's (boss at work) class, and talk to her, and her student teacher, fellow STRIVE employee, Josh. Only Paula had her beautiful baby, Lauren Michelle.

So, I stat emailing other teachers at another local, closer, elementary School. Assistant Principle says yes, I talk to a teacher who says yes, and all I have to do is nail down dates with her once I talk to Dr. Bidwell.

So, what am I going to ask exactly? I'm going to re-read the research on reading groups. What I've read so far is telling me that this can be the way to go, while also directing research to look at resource allocation (text books, children, aptitude, supplies, teacher time) at this level, in a reading group and between reading groups. So, I'm going to go watch a couple of clases, plus paired with teacher interviews to draw some conclusions, clarifications, and tie it in with things we're read. I'd write it like a journal article: theoretically overview, methodology discussion, presentation of evidence, analysis of evidence, conclusion. Thank you very much.

Enter Josh. I start talking to him, and he tells me a program in Texas (Woot!) that he taught under for two years, called the Success for All Program. Here, they test kids' reading level at a school wide level, then classify them according to reading lever and age as opposed to within a grade and a classroom. Neato huh? When implemented in Texas, Josh's school had phemomenal results. Huge jumps in state administered test scores on reading level and comprehension. Even if it it isn't all due to the program directly -- maybe it effected the teacher/student relationship, as I'm sure it did, persay, the jump is so significant that SFA has to mean something.

I am going to do all this, only add this too. I'm going to talk about reading groups, observe, and talk to the teacher. Then go into Josh's tesitmony, and argue that not only is reading groups a great direction for research, but this program specifically.

Now, I have to go say all this to Dr. Bidwell, Professor Emeritus, brillant sociological educational researcher. Rather elderly, quite in fact.

That's at 3:00. It'll be the first thing I do today besides go to the doctor and buying myself a getwell present, or two. I went to the bookstore and bought "Vanity Fair by Willlilam Makepeace Thacker. Oh how so I love well written, torid epic love affairs, that are actually stunning social commentary. Yummy. And I also "I am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe, who also wrote "Electric Koolaid Acid Test." This book is supposed to be the book people will read to learn about the era in time in which we're in school. It's his first book in a long time and I get the impression, from review and reading a snippet of him that he may resemble Flannery O'Connor. At least in the way I love O'Connor: he pays special, poignant attention to the little details that make the characters vividly understood, and give the book a sparkling soul. I can't wait.

OH! I'm moving into Emmy's Room! Hooray! It's bigger and gets better sunlight, plus it'll give me a chance to reorganize, take stock, and purge my life. I'm going to do it in stages over the next few days. It should be lovely.

See what I mean? Neither of these two things seems all that life changing, but when you put them together, and add the effects on which their combined total will impact my life, there's quite a lot to be garned.

And on that note, I'm off to read my glorious books, which were brought to me by Jaynie, curtisy of the pointless holiday that was Monday.

"Getting so lonely inside this bed
don't know if I should like my wounds
or say woah is me instead
There's an aching insdie my head
it's telling me you better run furlong
but after midnight the morning will come
and the day will see if you will get some

they say that girl, ya know she acts
so tough tough tough
until you turn out the light
turn out the lights
that girl, ya know she acts
so rough rough rough
instead I turn out the light
turn out the lights
I said follow me follow me follow me
down down down
till you see all my dreams
see all my dreams
not everything in this magical world
is quite what it seems

yea, I looked above the other day
because i think i'm good and ready for a change
i live my life my the moon
if it's half lay low
it it's havest go slow
if it's full then go

wnd I'm searching for things that I just cannot see
well don't cha don't cha don't cha come be with me
now Pretend to be cool with me me
wanna to beleive
I can do it on my own
without my heart on a sleeve
I'm running I'm running
catch up with me life
where is the love that I'm looking to find
It's all in me
can't you see
why can't you
why can't you see
it's all in me

where is your legend?
who do you need?

Nelly Furtado -- I know, everyone has their moments of insight, right?

where is your legend?
who do you need?