ParentsMentoringChildrenInSingapore < Kitchen

25 Jan 2006 - 17:27

slave parents in Singapore

OK, I know I'm supposed to be typing Steve's algebra lessons into Equation Editor so mere mortals like me can read them, and also doing the same for my own Comment for Carolyn's Sticking Points post.

Plus I've probably got a civil servant or two who need bullying this afternoon (where does David Allen say to put 'bully civil servants' on the Master List?)

But all of that can wait!

BECAUSE FIRST I HAVE TO WRITE MY SLAVE PARENTS IN SINGAPORE POST!

don't encourage me

brief pause for Character Analysis

My mom used to always say something funny.

She is stubborn as a mule, and she used to say, 'I can be led, but I can't be pushed.'

That's me to the nth.

I can be led. In fact, I like to be led; I make a good second in command.

But don't push me.

Until last night, I hadn't thought of myself, not consciously, as a person who gets her way by bullying civil servants. Sure, I was willing to raise holy he** if I thought my kid was being hurt. But I hadn't thought of this as bullying civil servants. Given the relative unequalness of the match — me against a small school district — it seemed more like.....um........

hmm. The only image coming to mind is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid deciding to shoot it out with the entire Mexican Army.

Sure, you do it. They're out there shooting at you, you're inside your cave bleeding to death, so what the hell? You go down fighting.

I'm joking.

Anyways, now that ktm guest has put it this way I'm thinking......bullying civil servants.

Bullying civil servants to get my way.

yes

I like it!

I want to get my way!

Until last night, I didn't know I was the bully.

I thought I was the helpless parent-victim getting clobbered by fuzzy math & ZERO teaching to mastery.

If I can be the bully and get my way — THAT IS FANTASTIC NEWS!

YAY, ME!

Now all I need is somebody to tell me who I need to bully to get Direct Instruction, Formative Assessment, and Teaching to Mastery established as the formal educational policy in the Irvington Union Free School District.

speaking of getting my way

This is funny.

We're back at tennis lessons, and I ran into the mom I always see there who has a daughter in Mrs. Roth's class, and who's had the same view of her we had (and knew other parents in our boat as well.)

She said, 'You guys must have really done someting. Mrs. Roth is completely changed. All the girls who didn't like her love her now.'

That's what Christopher's been hearing, too.

His chums are constantly telling him, 'Mrs. Roth's so much nicer now that you're gone. She's so much happier.'

He's been hearing this every day, poor thing.

I finally told him, 'Mrs. Roth's not nicer because you're gone. Mrs. Roth is nicer because the principal told her to be nicer.' Then I told him not to be saying this to all the other kids. It's time for them to go back to beating each other up about who has a crush on who. Either that, or just resume milling around randomly calling each other names like they used to.

This is my cue to say again how much we like our principal, Scott Fried. I think I mentioned that Ed said, after our meeting about Mrs. Roth, 'He handled the situation perfectly.' I quote that because Ed's been an administrator for so long himself.

After the meeting, Scott made the call the next day.

Christopher has been moved to a teacher — Mrs. Kozak — who is lovely, and who seems to be making a special effort to get him perked up and de-traumatized. It's working. Christopher comes home every day and reads his notes from her class out loud to me! Plus Mrs. Kozak is teaching spelling, grammar, and writing-as-a-process; they write drafts under supervision, get comments on their drafts, then revise. She even told Christopher he has to come in for extra help with his handwriting. Glory Hallelujah.

Another thing: from a distance, it appears that Mr. Fried worked well with Mrs. Roth, too. The fact that children who were unhappy in her class now have no complaints at all is very impressive. How often do you see a bad situation turn around on a dime?

Seeing as how Irvington teachers & perhaps administrators may be reading this site, I'll say one thing more.

Other parents have been told, by their children, that Mrs. Roth typically chooses one child to pick on.

A child in Mrs. Roth's class has told Christopher that he has become Mrs. Roth's target now that Christopher is gone.

I don't know whether that's true.

But I imagine Mr. Fried is keeping an eye on the situation.

next up

So that was the story at tennis.

Next thing, I heard from my friend J., who called to chat. We hadn't talked since summer. One thing led to another, and she told me Christopher had been called a 'BOCY' at school. She was aghast.

I already knew Christopher had been called a BOCY, and, frankly, I don't care. The kid who called him a BOCY is one of his best friends, and the two of them are going to have to figure it out for themselves.

I did mention to Scott that he may want to take a look at how much BOCY-calling is going on, if only because Andrew will be there next year, which means IMS is going to have some INTENSE BOCY BEHAVIOR HAPPENING ON A DAILY BASIS.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Anyways, I already knew about the BOCY business, but it turned out J. didn't know that her own son had been called the n-word.

Her son told Christopher about it, which is how I knew, but hadn't told his mom because he figured she'd go ballistic.

He was right.

J. called up the principal, and the conversation went something like this:

J.: My friend Catherine told me so-and-so called my son the n-word.

PRINCIPAL: 'Catherine? Catherine Johnson?'

J.: 'Catherine's a good friend of mine.'

PRINCIPAL: 'Did she call you?'

J.: 'No, I called her because we hadn't talked in a long time. If I hadn't called Catherine, I wouldn't have even known it happened!' [J. is very cool.]

PRINCIPAL: etc.

So the next day the principal called J.'s son, M., into his office to interview him about what had happened:

PRINCIPAL: What happened, exactly?

M.: tells story

PRINCIPAL: Who did you tell?

M.: Chris Berenson

PRINCIPAL: Why did you tell Chris Berenson?

M.: Because he's my friend.

PRINCIPAL: etc.

J. told me, 'You guys must have really shaken things up around there.'

I love it!

We're everywhere!

There's no escaping us!

THERE'S NO ESCAPING US BECAUSE WE LIKE TO GET OUR WAY BY BULLYING CIVIL SERVANTS!

is it still Wednesday? not Friday?

That's hard to believe.

This is the kind of post I write on Fridays, after a week of Maintaining Composure & gobbling up so many frontal lobe resources there's nothing left.

OK, back to business.

That being:

SLAVE PARENTS IN SINGAPORE

Carolyn mentioned the subject of parent mentoring, which reminded me of an LA Times article I read about Singapore way back when, before there was Kitchen Table Math.

So if we were to crib from the valedictorian of nations, what would we find? A school system based on two credos: one very American—competition—and one unimaginable in the U.S.—total government control. For students, this means high-pressure exams at the end of grades four, six, 10 and 12 that help determine not only what classes they take but, ultimately, whether they will wind up as doctors or cabdrivers. For schools, the pressure is to attract the best students—who have their pick of campuses.
Then there is:
A national curriculum. In Singapore, there are road maps for instruction at every level, molding tests, tutoring and teacher training. The documents are amazingly concise—eighth-grade math is covered in 10 pages, listing 19 topics within algebra, geometry, etc. (Students, for example, must be able to calculate the "volume and surface area of sphere, pyramid and cone.") By contrast, American eighth-graders race through 30 or more topics, learning them so superficially that they have to be repeated over and over.
Involved parents. Here, that doesn’t mean just showing up for Back to School Night. Parents get on waiting lists for the best tutors, who charge $300 a month. They buy two sets of books to ensure that one is always available for homework. Hundreds pay $300 to attend 30 hours of weekend training so they can understand changes in math instruction. "As parents, we think of always buying the best computers, giving them the best tutors, to play it safe, you know, so they can score high on their examinations," says Siew Yok as she purchased software so her 12-year-old daughter could cram to qualify for prestigious Raffles Girls School.

So here we have it, the Secret of their Success:

parents get on waiting lists for the best tutors

parents pay $300 to attend 30 hours of weekend training so they can understand changes in math instruction (now there's a potential revenue stream the folks at EVERYDAY MATH haven't thought of)

parents buy 2 sets of books

That pretty much describes me to a 't.'

hiring the best tutors = KUMON

spending $300 on a weekend seminar = writing Kitchen Table Math so I can learn math & how to teach it from Carolyn & the resident KTM Math Brains

buying 2 sets of books = buying 2 sets of books, one set via taxes, one set via American Express payments to Amazon.com

Assuming this article is true, in Singapore the job of seeing to it children actually learn what the teachers are teaching belongs to the parents.

Good thing I live in America.

If I lived in Singapore I'd be getting caned on a regular basis.

Asians in Great Neck

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

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Now all I need is somebody to tell me who I need to bully to get Direct Instruction, Formative Assessment, and Teaching to Mastery established as the formal educational policy for the Irvington Union Free School District.

Hell, I'd settle for these things as options for the parents-in-the-know. Let the clueless masses do what they please. I call it differentiated instruction in its ultimate form. What's up with this one-size-fits-all instructional programs. I'm paying college-level prices, you might as well start running the place like a college and start offering classes that the parents want.

-- KDeRosa - 25 Jan 2006

I was sitting at my desk, eating my lunch, and reading this post. I started to laugh and almost choked on my chicken. Then, when I came to the part about "getting caned on a regular basis," I laughed so hard I got up to shut my office door. I'm laughing because I am so "with you."

-- KarenA - 25 Jan 2006

Karen A

THANK YOU!

I have to say, I was cracking myself up.

I keep thinking BULLYING CIVIL SERVANTS - - - - - - !!!!!

I wish.

Imagine if life were that easy.

Bully a civil servant or two and voila.

I can't even bully a Bullock's clerk and make it work.

I remember years ago, in L.A., I was the victim of some hideous Department Store injustice or other, and when I got tough with the clerk, she just laughed at me.

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

Ken

You said it.

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

Ken

I remember your saying, awhile back, that tax rebellions can develop very quickly.

I couldn't really imagine that here in Irvington, but I think you're right.

People are incredibly upset about the nonstop tax increases, coupled with no obvious improvement in curriculum and instruction.

Ed says colleges are now so expensive parents are acting like customers; they're seeing themselves as customers. Parents are getting way more interventionist.

It's an interesting time.

I wouldn't have foreseen this, but 30 years of the unions crying poverty may have led to parents turning into customers.

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

That would be a good thing.

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

Years ago and fresh out of law school, I was clerking for an intermediate state court appellate judge. By way of rotation, he also happened to be Chief Judge that year. The judge was also very low-key, mild-mannered and soft-spoken.

One day over the lunch hour, he went to the motor vehicle bureau to conduct some sort of personal business. He ended up in a long line and just wanted to confirm with the clerk that he was standing in the correct line. He put his hand up to get her attention, and she said, "no questions." He tried to interject, and she said again, "no questions." Once more he tried, and once again came the reply, although this time she said it in a way that implied he would do well to keep quiet. Of course, he made no mention to her of who he was.

His secretary and I laughed so hard when he told us told the story--bullying civil servants indeed!

Thanks again to you and all of the KTM contributors for this site. It is a godsend.

-- KarenA - 25 Jan 2006

I'm laughing because I am so "with you."

This debacle we call education is such a mess. The whole thing just sticks in the craw.

Never have so many paid so much for so little.

-- KDeRosa - 25 Jan 2006

Once more he tried, and once again came the reply, although this time she said it in a way that implied he would do well to keep quiet. Of course, he made no mention to her of who he was.

His secretary and I laughed so hard when he told us told the story--bullying civil servants indeed!

oh my gosh, I'm guffawing

I'm gonna have to get that up front

BUT FIRST!

I must ~~hi (high?)~~ hie myself to tennis and DEBRIEF some more IRVINGTON PARENTS!

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

Ken

This debacle we call education is such a mess. The whole thing just sticks in the craw.

Well, that's the thing.

You look at it and you think.......there's just no reason for this.

Never have so many paid so much for so little.

Of course, THAT is probably NOT TRUE.

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

sad to say

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

plus which, and this is just perseverative obsessing......here I am, turning somersaults trying to cram some math into my kid's head when I don't know any math, or didn't when I started out, and now I find out I also have to teach structure, organization and good study skills when I don't have structure, organization & good study skills.....

The organization situation - the planners & the schedules & the deadlines & the NO-CLUE-WHAT-THE-CURRICULUM-IS - I'm lost.

I'm trying to jump through hoops I can't even SEE.

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

It's 'hie yourself to tennis.' (This is the sort of question I live for).

I remember years ago, in L.A., I was the victim of some hideous Department Store injustice or other, and when I got tough with the clerk, she just laughed at me.

That's the thing -- bullying civil servants is harder than it sounds. That's why we're hanging on your every bullying word, in hopes we can learn the technique ourselves. ;-)

-- CarolynJohnston - 25 Jan 2006

That's why we're hanging on your every bullying word, in hopes we can learn the technique ourselves. ;-)

Lol! Catherine, you're just our own little canary in the coalmine. We'll just sit back and see how you come out first.

-- SusanS - 25 Jan 2006

wait!

don't go away!

I am going to spell HIE correctly!

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

bullying civil servants is harder than it sounds. That's why we're hanging on your every bullying word, in hopes we can learn the technique ourselves

snort

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

you're just our own little canary in the coalmine. We'll just sit back and see how you come out first

heh

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME I'VE STORED SOME STUFF IN A LOCKER AT LA GUARDIA

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

just so you know

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

I figure you MATH BRAINS will be able to break the code

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

Karen A

Thanks again to you and all of the KTM contributors for this site. It is a godsend.

oh pshaw

I appreciate your saying that, and I'll say 'thank you' in return. I probably wouldn't (still) be writing ktm if we didn't have you guys writing comments.

I think Carolyn probably feels the same way.....

-- CatherineJohnson - 25 Jan 2006

I think Carolyn probably feels the same way.....

Well, I really enjoy Catherine's writing, but even so, a community was what we both wanted.

-- CarolynJohnston - 26 Jan 2006

yeah.....definitely, because otherwise we could have just kept on writing each other emails....

-- CatherineJohnson - 26 Jan 2006

LESSON 70 FINIS!

-- CatherineJohnson - 26 Jan 2006

now, unfortunately, I'm going to have to start hopscotching all over the place just to try to do the lessons Christopher's doing in Prentice-Hall

this chapter's on Area and Volume Formulas

it includes a Lesson Pick's Formula

i've never heard of Pick's Formula

how I loathe that book

-- CatherineJohnson - 26 Jan 2006

"OK, I know I'm supposed to be typing Steve's algebra lessons into Equation Editor so mere mortals like me can read them, and also doing the same for my own Comment for Carolyn's Sticking Points post."

Never commit to do something until its done. Now I am feeling very guilty. The only useful comments I think I have made (that aren't in any good algebra book) are the ones I learned the hard way, like circling the terms and factors and knowing how the basic rules apply to non-trivial expressions.

-- SteveH - 26 Jan 2006

Never commit to do something until its done

LOL!

boy, that's for sure

-- CatherineJohnson - 26 Jan 2006

I mentioned on another page that parent involvement in our district seems to mean "secret admirers" buying teacher gifts, buying cookie dough at Market Day, etc.

As part of the KTM "bullying civil servants" agenda, possibly teachers/administrators could be forced to buy us cookie dough to go along with the life-extending red wine, of course.

I could have used both when trying to teach Megan long division last night.

-- KathyIggy - 26 Jan 2006

As part of the KTM "bullying civil servants" agenda, possibly teachers/administrators could be forced to buy us cookie dough to go along with the life-extending red wine, of course.

I should start a list.

-- CatherineJohnson - 26 Jan 2006

WebLogForm
Title:	slave parents in Singapore
TopicType:	WebLog
SubjectArea:	CognitiveScience, EducationResearch, IrvingtonMath, IrvingtonSchools, ParentsTeachingKids, SingaporeMath
LogDate:	200601251216

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slave parents in Singapore

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