Sounds like Arlington is right back to where it was when Greenwood was principal -- students fighting in classes, in hallways, running up and down halls like herds of cattle, students turning over huge drink vending machines, parents fighting in the school office right in front of the principals...one hot mess!
There was a big fight last Friday. Arlington is one big hot mess and Dr. White does not like any bad press from what goes on. For the record, it was Prudence Bridgewaters and Jane Kendricks who wanted all of the 2007-2008 faculty members removed. It was a mess then and a big hot ghetto mess now. Thanks "L" mafia.
If a student can't behave in school and interrupt the learning atmosphere they need to be sent home. Many of these students have continued to be behavior problem. Enough is enough. They are losers, losers. losers. Let's work with the students who want to learn.
We're in the second week of the second semester. Seems a bit too late to crack down now, and I'll bet the ones sent home today are just the tip of the iceberg.
The fight was last Friday and it involved at least 30 student stuck in the stairway. The two males fought for about ten minutes without any faculty members. All of the other fights started because students were running and bumping into each other. NO ONE was around. I am going to send a message to the press. It was awful.
Police break up a fight? A couple of years ago I witnessed a hallway fight where a 14 year old girl jumped on the back of an intervening school policeman like she was a flying squirrel. She brought the man to the floor.
No big fight today or Friday. A couple of one to one fights. It is the beginning of semester, some students are returning from alternative school placement...unchanged. Steps are being taken to process the students out of Arlington back to alternative placement asap.
There were not 30 students involved in a fight. Please get your facts straight before you post to the sight. Mrs. Shipp is running the show and is keeping things in line. Some kids want to get out of line and they are being dealt with.
Wow. Sounds like the poster two posts above is a little sensitive. I don't understand why it is such a big deal to admit that there are students who create havoc for our schools. Why don't we just admit the problem and ask for help? Personally, I would pay good money to watch the DOE and/or their designee to try to corral a melee like the one described on this post!!!
The spelling of 'sight' for site' is most likely one of Shipp's spelling errors! She remains extremely defensive because of low self-confidence, and as a result, she actually would post here to tell everyone how she is 'running the show and is keeping things in line'.
This blog is a waste and funny! I hope all that spend their time posting and who every started this blog spend that much energy to save our education system state wide!
From tonight's IndyChannel.com (Channel 6 Local News)
Looks like the fight was not a rumor but a fact! _____________________________________________
Dozens Of Students Suspended For Bad Behavior 1 Arrested In Fight On Campus
POSTED: 5:11 pm EST January 10, 2011 UPDATED: 5:24 pm EST January 10, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS -- One student was arrested and more than two dozen students were suspended from Arlington Community High School on Monday for bad behavior.
Indianapolis Public Schools officials said about 25 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades were suspended after repeated discipline problems.
"(They) were sent home for constantly getting into trouble and disrupting the learning environment," said district spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley. "They had been warned this would be the course of action."
She said the students will return to school Tuesday or Wednesday with their parents or guardians to meet with teachers about the behavioral issues.
There was also a fight on campus Monday that led to the arrest of a high school student on preliminary charges of disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement, Bewley said.
Provided via text from an ACHS student. Names deleted to protect the students:
yea it was... ####### an this dude name p@@@@@ fought an it was crazii.. they went one on one for at least 10 mins with no teahers or nuthin breakin it up... it was at the end of the day.... den everyone started fighting on the stairway trying to get out the school... the whole school was fighting on the stair way.. people was stuck
I really don’t like taking my valuable time reading about issues and situations and situations that doesn’t uplift students and professionals that work hard and long to support the education of our young people. When one of my colleagues notified me about a melee at ACHS on IPS B.S., I felt the need to respond. Working with kids, one can always find negative situations. ACHS is a school where I enjoy working and if I didn’t I would have left. We have no choice in who comes to our schools to be educated, but we can choose where we work.
The above comment sounds exactly like something Jackie Greenwood would have said to faculty and staff about student brawls while she was the Arlington principal. I can hear her now, "You can't say those things. Don't say that." Well we all know how much good that 'head in the sand' approach does for students and the district.
Tech has fights all of the time and Sarah Bogard can´t be bothered. We will see if her being ousted from the job will improve with George Jefferson now in charge.
To the poster who thinks the grammar and spelling in the text is a sign of poor education, that's not necessarily so. It's kind of a trend to use silly spelling and bad grammar in texting. Even the very good students do it, and they do it in the affluent districts as well. It's a long-standing tradition of kids to toy with the rules of spelling and grammar (the grandparents of these kids loved "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "My Love Don't Give Me Presents" and the 80s generation used "cuz" instead of "because" and put "meister" and "age" on the end of every word (as in "The Bradmeister went to get us some grubbage.") IPS certainly has some unique problems, but some of you act like you've never been around kids and don't like kids. That's kind of sad if you are a teacher.
I would agree with you about the grammar and spelling in a text message if these kids weren't also actually speaking in the same manner. Many of them are completely incapable of communicating in a proper manner. I routinely hear staff members butchering the English language. This is a terrible example to set for students and WILL hinder their ability to succeed. Even our illustrious leader seems to have little grasp of speaking properly and professionally. His "street speak" when speaking to the media is often downright embarrassing. I don't claim to have perfect grammar and/or punctuation. However, I at least make an attempt to be proper and professional when it is appropriate to do so.
He may be short, and he may be bald; however, his suits fit properly, his shoes are not red, and his salary is less than an IPS high school principal's. I'll take that 'syndrome' any day.
I agree with you about staff members and unprofessional language, but I don't have as much anger as you do about it. They have the same problem in rural areas. The problem is that kids respond positively to teachers who seem to have the same kind of backgrounds they do (whether that's urban or rural) and talk the way their families talk. And I think that's fine to some extent. But while it's one thing to hear teachers speaking casually occasionally, it should be the exception, not the rule. Kids need way more exposure to adults speaking professionally.
That is so right! Which do you think has a better chance of success? "Excuse me sir, I would like to inquire about any open positions you may have." OR "Hey dude! I be lookin fo me a job!"
That doesn't sound like something a real student would say. It sounds like something a racist would say an IPS student would say. You undermine your own point when you let your prejudices get in the way. (I'm a retired IPS teacher, so I've heard my share of street talk, but what you're posting is the redneck version. )
Well said. And what's funny is that the poster probably thinks it's completely different when white people speak "hillbilly" than when black people speak "street".
Are you people so feeble minded that you immediately play the race card every time a comment is made that even remotely refers to blacks? I'm sorry I am not versed enough in slang to imitate it properly. For the record, it doesn't matter which cultural slang is used. It is all unprofessional in a business or educational environment. Being incapable of communicating in a professional and respectful manner is a detriment to success for anyone.
Agreed. The very idea that the two posters above assumed racism based only on a few words shows they themselves are more guilty of racism than any they may accuse. How could they possibly even know the race of the person they are accusing just from a blog post? Some people just can't seem to cope in the world without being a victim.
If you're not well versed enough in slang to imitate it properly, then don't imitate it. Like I said, you deflected away from your own point because then it sounded like you were just bashing black people (inaccurately). After all, you didn't improperly imitate some other culture, did you?
I call bullshit. The person who pretended to quote black people was intentionally being racist. In a discussion about grammar, he/she wanted to make perfectly clear exactly whose grammar he/she disapproved of most.
"If you're not well versed enough in slang to imitate it properly, then don't imitate it. Like I said, you deflected away from your own point because then it sounded like you were just bashing black people (inaccurately). After all, you didn't improperly imitate some other culture, did you?"
Now you're just making yourself look like an idiot. There was an apology and a clarification. If that's not good enough for you, kiss my ass! Did I use THAT slang properly?
I don't understand why people come to a forum for those involved with IPS, post something provocative about IPS students, and then act surprised when posters are offended. What did you expect the response to be? If you want to post comments like that in an environment where it won't be taken as racist, I would suggest maybe finding (or starting) martinsville b.s. or confederatestates b.s. or something similar.
It was interesting to me to listen to a discussion on race and equity and hear that the term "proper" English is not a preferred term because it implied that there was only one correct grammar. They used the term "standard" English to distinguish it and referred to "code switching" meaning that most people speak differently depending on what group they are associating with at a given time.
wow i would tell you to kiss my ass to. you are just looking for any excuse you can to say someone is a racist. it looks like thats all some people do and thats sad
I agree with the "code switching" and I think it's much more obvious to us when other cultures do it than when we ourselves do it. I do think it's important to model professional language though. I agree that using "standard" is probably better than "proper". After all, our American English is based on our bastardization of "proper" English from Britain, lol.
To "please tell me" I would imagine that the posts that say it wasn't racist are all from the same person. And no, I'm sure it's not from a teacher. A racist teacher would have at least gotten the slang accurate!
IPS will be tore apart, while the bobble headed board just sits in their leather chairs, listening to Dr. White's lies. It's another Enron, except the board members are truly that dumb, does anything know for sure if Dr. Busch is really alive.
You people are funny. Sometimes theres some interesting reading in here. I really don't give a damn if you think I'm a racist or not but I can tell you one thing for sure. As a business owner, Mr. "I be lookin fo me a job" will never be working for me.
This site is dedicated to our right to eat wherever and whenever we want. Society doesn't understand us and we don’t understand dinner tables. We cannot be contained by windows, doors or burned meatloaf. Free Eating is our right. And we will celebrate it openly in public. We are Eat Freely. Hear us roar.
Concerning the "BIG FIGHT at #60" should be students gone wild and allowed to fight and then be returned to the classroom. These 6th grade students were throwing chairs, desk and anything that they could get their hands on! The whole classroom had to be evacuated for safety reasons. The front office was called but the principal was out of the building at a meeting. The incompetent person acting as principal was of no help to the poor teacher in the classroom. The poor classroom teacher had to protect herself as well as the other students from danger of being hurt. I am writing as a concerned parent of a child in this classroom. Dr. White will be receiving a call from me and I want my child removed from this dangerous classroom and school. School #60 is a lawsuit waiting to happening.
IPS(superiors downtown) better do something about improving the poor conditions and the unsafe atmosphere at #60 before parents like me contact the news or better yet Mitch Daniels and Tony Bennett.
I don't know why people blame downtown and not the building-level administrators and teachers who create and perpetuate this hostile culture. The only thing central office can do is create policies that the teachers and administrators won't follow. To the parent of school 60, I highly recommend you enroll your kids in a different school. My kids attend an excellent magnet school, and the whole atmosphere of the school is positive and the academics are far superior than my neighborhood school. Of course, it's the same superiors downtown, but I like our principal, and the teachers are more caring.
It all comes back to the principal. The principal needs to set a tone that foolishness, disrespect and bad behavior will not be tolerated. We used to have a great principal like that, then downtown moved her and now we have principal useless.
The building has gone WAY downhill. The students know nothing will happen to them if they don't follow the expectations, so they don't.
And why will nothing happen to them? Analyze the problem, have the principal and teachers failed to build bridges to the families and community? Are they afraid of "downtown"? Students do not need to be removed from school to have their behavior changed, in fact when they are sent out or removed the teacher or administration is relinquishing what ever power they have, to the child's bad behavior. Kids only do what works for them, figure out how and why it works and make it stop working.
Nothing happens to them because the principal is a wimp and is afraid of parents. BAC is a big party the kids WANT to go there.
I have worked in 14 different schools. I've seen good princpals and bad princpals. But one thing I've learned is that they set the tone for the building. Children need to know they are loved but that bad behavior won't be tolerated. That happened with our former principal.
Unless you work there you don't get to criticize. So butt out.
"Unless you work there you don't get to criticize. So butt out."
BULL SHIT!!! I can criticize you as much as I damn well please. If you know the principal won't do the job and you haven't taken it to the next level yourself, YOU are just as much a part of the problem. If you don't want criticism, get your high and mighty ass in gear and DO SOMETHING!!
Bad principals exist in IPS only because the Superintendent and the School Board allow them to remain. Teachers can't get rid of bad administrators, but Eugene White and the School Board certainly can, if they want to and if they receive enough negative feedback from parents and community members concerning ineffective/incompetent principals.
Plenty of bridges have been built at school 60 between the school and parents. The problem is the parents don't know what to do about it either. They are afraid of their own child. Hopefully, these students will be sent to alternative school so they can be in a small size classroom and get the individualized programs to help them behave better.
Unfortunately, the principal at #60 doesn't believe in sending kids to alternative schools because she wants to "save" kids, not "give up" on them. She also lets anyone in who gets kicked out of their magnet school.
Sounds like the principal at #60 has some serious "mental" issues herself. How in the world did she become a principal? She must have gotten her degree in administration on line.
You say there were no outstanding students who left School 60 over the summer? Maybe they didn't shine there because they were too busy defending themselves against bullies, thieves, and an overly directive curriculum that failed to engage their interest. Maybe they went unnoticed by teachers who were too busy handling discipline issues and xeroxing worksheets. Maybe they just learned to fade into the background after being screamed at repeatedly.
She explained at a faculty meeting that she was a bad kid growing up, and she was paddled many, many times, she punched people out, etc. That's why she has such a soft spot for bad kids. She's really good at loving kids, and building relationships with them, but she just can't be strict with them. Too bad this approach doesn't work with the rough student body at #60. These kids don't understand that their actions have consequences, because they continually break rules and nothing is done about it. In her heart she really believes in saving kids, but in reality, she's doing them a grave injustice by allowing so much misbehavior.
Why the hate for IWU. They have to go through the same accreditation process as any other program. I have no experience with them personally, but I have a graduate degree from IU and a graduate degree from WGU, an online university, and the WGU coursework was much, much more difficult than the IU coursework.
Hey, I have a 'heart' for bad kids, too, but it does not include dismissing their bad behaviors. I call it reality therapy. Every act has a consequence. Good acts usually have good consequences; bad acts usually have bad consequences. Kids, even the bad kids, know this, also.
The student that has made the greatest impression upon me in my 20+ years in education was an IPS male high school student who was on my SpEd Caseload for 3 years. My first encounter with this child was during GQE testing in my resource room when he got up, walked out the door, and told me he was leaving because he had to 'take a sh&!' His GQE was disqualified per my instructions to the Behavior Dean. He was really hot with me after that! Shortly thereafter, he told me and his gen ed teacher during an inclusion class that 'he wanted us to meet him on E. 34th Street cause he was gonna f*@k us up'. I pulled out my cell phone in class and called his mom and repeated his words verbatim. Again, he was really hot with me!
Shortly after that incident, he 'went off' during an inclusion class with loud whining, griping remarks. I called him into the hall and said in a fairly loud voice, "Suck it up soldier. We don't want to hear your whining any more."
Well, lo and behold, the next time a student began 'showing out' in an inclusion class, this male student turned to me and whispered, "Tell 'em to suck it up." I did.
This 'bad kid' turned out to be the 'best kid'. The 2nd time he took the GQE he passed both the ELA and the Math with flying colors. He told me his Senior year, quite by surprise, that he didn't know what he'd have done in high school without me. That was worth a year's paycheck to me, an old White woman who really loved an angry young Black kid.
You bring up a good point. I think tough love works best when the kids know you care. Letting kids get away with bad behavior or low performance because you like them doesn't help them. And neither does being hostile to them because you resent "these kids" from "these families" and all the problems they cause in the world. It seems IPS has way too many teachers and administrators on both extremes -- too much love, not enough tough or too much tough, not enough love. You sound like you have the balance right! :)
It's me again, the old White woman. Yes, tough love works, but you're correct in your observation. If the kid doesn't believe you're sincere and really care for them, all the tough love in the world doesn't work. I think our ghetto (for lack of a better word) kids have an innate sense of distrust of most people who don't live in their neighborhoods. Sadly, some of our kids can never learn to trust a teacher, especially a teacher from another culture. I've had plenty of failures with inner-city kids. Part of it was my fault; part of it was the fault of their parents for talking garbage about teachers.
Occasionally, we all bump into that bad kid who has a certain spark in his/her eye that says 'yes, I'm open to you, but you gotta make the first move and prove you're worth trusting.' Keep on looking for that 'spark' in the eye.
I don't know if "turned Arlington around" is exactly the correct term. She is very young and it was a big undertaking for someone who had just finished her degree MA and Admin. She is a trooper, though.
Mrs. Shipp was hand chosen by Dr. Greenwood to become an administrator. Mrs. Shipp was not ready to be an administrator and might never be ready. Greenwood likes to pick out people that she thinks have the right stuff. Mrs. Shipp could not pass the Praxis exam to be a special ed teacher for years and years and worked on year to year 'limited/emergency contracts'. That alone says a lot about her smarts.
YOU PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THERE WILL BE NO IPS BECAUSE TEACHERS KEEP MORE MESS GOING THEN SUPPORTING STUDENTS AND THE DISTRICT THAT HIRED THEM.
"YOU PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THERE WILL BE NO IPS BECAUSE TEACHERS KEEP MORE MESS GOING THEN SUPPORTING STUDENTS AND THE DISTRICT THAT HIRED THEM."
Dear Poster,
Universally, typists who use all caps do so to cover their lack of knowledge as to the proper usage of capital letters.
Caps should be used at the beginning of sentences and quotations, on the first and important words of a title, on proper nouns such as books, magazines, newspapers, on names of streets, cities, states, counties and countries, and the names of people and their titles. These rules are part of third-grade curriculum.
In computer-speak, all caps are the equivalent of screaming. As with a verbal scream, readers check for the need of assistance, then shake heads and ignore the message, the same way one reacts to a shrieking car alarm.
The caps lock key is located on the left side of your computer's keypad, next to the letter "A". Your keyboard probably has an indicator that is lit when this key is cativated. It can be disabled by pressing the caps lock key again.
The fight at Arlington WAS a melee and there WERE staff helping out. From my understanding there were three of the male teachers trying to break it up and the LONE IPS officer was out helping direct buses. Everyone loves to talk bad about Arlington but many there would agree that a large part of the problem is discipline. When IPS cuts budgets and slashes IPS police, leaving 2 officers to handle Arlington is nothing less than hanging the school out to dry. Both Mrs. Shipp and Mr. Knazze both have been working hard on improving test scores and managing the discipline issues that the blame could not, and should not, be placed solely on them. Arlington needs more IPS police to help create order out of choas and then the teachers will finally be able to teach and the students can begin and continue learning. Not only that, these parents, most of which are in over there heads, need to do a MUCH better job at getting involved and establishing a higher degree of control over thier kids - but that is another thread. These issue aren't just about Arlington but about the culture all of these kids live in that IPS has to deal with. No one else is sincerely up to the task. Ship 'em out and they get kicked out of Southport, Perry, Warren and Lawrence just as fast. They have to go somewhere or else jail or the cemetery is right around the corner and that is unnacceptable. If there is a "dumpig ground" school, as many feel Arlington is, that hosts the "bottom of the barrel" and tries, again, to give them a proper education - please at least make sure security at that place is adequate to supply the demand, Dr. White.
Obviously if she's offending people in the group (like you) then she shouldn't use coarse language. But I disagree that profanity in and of itself is always inappropriate. Often, it's simply a way of expressing oneself familiarly and casually, like the way one might use improper grammar in a close group of friends, or how one might use colloquial expressions.
Any teacher foolish enough to attempt to physically intervene in a fight is looking for a lawsuit or potential serious injury for which he/she will be financially responsible. Educators are not gladiators or prison guards. Get serious. This is a no win situation. Call the police. They are trained for this and it is in their job description!
The real problem is that most students involved in physical altercations tend to have fairly long discipline records. I have written the same student up over twenty times only to have the student returned to class. Those kind of students interfere with the learning of others and the constant unaddressed bad behavior is demoralizing to students who would like to have a positive learning environment.
Once again...it starts with leadership (ie. administration)
I wonder why the DOE doesn't want to take over the school? Is Shipp still running the show?
ReplyDeleteSounds like Arlington is right back to where it was when Greenwood was principal -- students fighting in classes, in hallways, running up and down halls like herds of cattle, students turning over huge drink vending machines, parents fighting in the school office right in front of the principals...one hot mess!
ReplyDeleteLike above, is Shipp still at Arlington?
There was a big fight last Friday. Arlington is one big hot mess and Dr. White does not like any bad press from what goes on. For the record, it was Prudence Bridgewaters and Jane Kendricks who wanted all of the 2007-2008 faculty members removed. It was a mess then and a big hot ghetto mess now. Thanks "L" mafia.
ReplyDeleteIf a student can't behave in school and interrupt the learning atmosphere they need to be sent home. Many of these students have continued to be behavior problem. Enough is enough. They are losers, losers. losers. Let's work with the students who want to learn.
ReplyDeleteWe're in the second week of the second semester. Seems a bit too late to crack down now, and I'll bet the ones sent home today are just the tip of the iceberg.
ReplyDeleteThe fight was last Friday and it involved at least 30 student stuck in the stairway. The two males fought for about ten minutes without any faculty members. All of the other fights started because students were running and bumping into each other. NO ONE was around. I am going to send a message to the press. It was awful.
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't you try to break up the fight? We are told not to attempt to break up a fight and let the police handle the problem.
ReplyDeletePolice break up a fight? A couple of years ago I witnessed a hallway fight where a 14 year old girl jumped on the back of an intervening school policeman like she was a flying squirrel. She brought the man to the floor.
ReplyDeleteNo big fight today or Friday. A couple of one to one fights. It is the beginning of semester, some students are returning from alternative school placement...unchanged. Steps are being taken to process the students out of Arlington back to alternative placement asap.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mrs. Bewley for your "watered down" opinion. As an FYI, the IDOE loves reading this blog for information.
ReplyDeleteThere were not 30 students involved in a fight. Please get your facts straight before you post to the sight. Mrs. Shipp is running the show and is keeping things in line. Some kids want to get out of line and they are being dealt with.
ReplyDeletePost to the site*
ReplyDeleteWow. Sounds like the poster two posts above is a little sensitive. I don't understand why it is such a big deal to admit that there are students who create havoc for our schools. Why don't we just admit the problem and ask for help? Personally, I would pay good money to watch the DOE and/or their designee to try to corral a melee like the one described on this post!!!
ReplyDeleteThe spelling of 'sight' for site' is most likely one of Shipp's spelling errors! She remains extremely defensive because of low self-confidence, and as a result, she actually would post here to tell everyone how she is 'running the show and is keeping things in line'.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is a waste and funny! I hope all that spend their time posting and who every started this blog spend that much energy to save our education system state wide!
ReplyDeleteMr.Knazze is over discipline and Mrs. Shipp is over curriculum.
ReplyDeleteFrom tonight's IndyChannel.com (Channel 6 Local News)
ReplyDeleteLooks like the fight was not a rumor but a fact!
_____________________________________________
Dozens Of Students Suspended For Bad Behavior
1 Arrested In Fight On Campus
POSTED: 5:11 pm EST January 10, 2011
UPDATED: 5:24 pm EST January 10, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS -- One student was arrested and more than two dozen students were suspended from Arlington Community High School on Monday for bad behavior.
Indianapolis Public Schools officials said about 25 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades were suspended after repeated discipline problems.
"(They) were sent home for constantly getting into trouble and disrupting the learning environment," said district spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley. "They had been warned this would be the course of action."
She said the students will return to school Tuesday or Wednesday with their parents or guardians to meet with teachers about the behavioral issues.
There was also a fight on campus Monday that led to the arrest of a high school student on preliminary charges of disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement, Bewley said.
Provided via text from an ACHS student. Names deleted to protect the students:
ReplyDeleteyea it was... ####### an this dude name p@@@@@ fought an it was crazii.. they went one on one for at least 10 mins with no teahers or nuthin breakin it up... it was at the end of the day.... den everyone started fighting on the stairway trying to get out the school... the whole school was fighting on the stair way.. people was stuck
And what a fine example of public education that little narrative is...
ReplyDeleteI really don’t like taking my valuable time reading about issues and situations and situations that doesn’t uplift students and professionals that work hard and long to support the education of our young people.
ReplyDeleteWhen one of my colleagues notified me about a melee at ACHS on IPS B.S., I felt the need to respond. Working with kids, one can always find negative situations. ACHS is a school where I enjoy working and if I didn’t I would have left. We have no choice in who comes to our schools to be educated, but we can choose where we work.
The above comment sounds exactly like something Jackie Greenwood would have said to faculty and staff about student brawls while she was the Arlington principal. I can hear her now, "You can't say those things. Don't say that." Well we all know how much good that 'head in the sand' approach does for students and the district.
ReplyDeleteTech has fights all of the time and Sarah Bogard can´t be bothered. We will see if her being ousted from the job will improve with George Jefferson now in charge.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster who thinks the grammar and spelling in the text is a sign of poor education, that's not necessarily so. It's kind of a trend to use silly spelling and bad grammar in texting. Even the very good students do it, and they do it in the affluent districts as well. It's a long-standing tradition of kids to toy with the rules of spelling and grammar (the grandparents of these kids loved "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "My Love Don't Give Me Presents" and the 80s generation used "cuz" instead of "because" and put "meister" and "age" on the end of every word (as in "The Bradmeister went to get us some grubbage.") IPS certainly has some unique problems, but some of you act like you've never been around kids and don't like kids. That's kind of sad if you are a teacher.
ReplyDelete"As an FYI, the IDOE loves reading this blog for information."
ReplyDeleteI about spit my coffee on the screen laughing when I read this. Information? Maybe. Facts? There are few here.
"I blame the teacher's union and the "bad teachers."
ReplyDelete-Mitch Daniels
We all know that since he spent so many years teaching, Mitch is an expert on good and bad teachers.
ReplyDeleteShort man syndrome.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you about the grammar and spelling in a text message if these kids weren't also actually speaking in the same manner. Many of them are completely incapable of communicating in a proper manner. I routinely hear staff members butchering the English language. This is a terrible example to set for students and WILL hinder their ability to succeed. Even our illustrious leader seems to have little grasp of speaking properly and professionally. His "street speak" when speaking to the media is often downright embarrassing. I don't claim to have perfect grammar and/or punctuation. However, I at least make an attempt to be proper and professional when it is appropriate to do so.
ReplyDeleteThe short bald man syndrome!!
ReplyDeleteHe may be short, and he may be bald; however, his suits fit properly, his shoes are not red, and his salary is less than an IPS high school principal's. I'll take that 'syndrome' any day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about staff members and unprofessional language, but I don't have as much anger as you do about it. They have the same problem in rural areas. The problem is that kids respond positively to teachers who seem to have the same kind of backgrounds they do (whether that's urban or rural) and talk the way their families talk. And I think that's fine to some extent. But while it's one thing to hear teachers speaking casually occasionally, it should be the exception, not the rule. Kids need way more exposure to adults speaking professionally.
ReplyDeleteThat is so right! Which do you think has a better chance of success? "Excuse me sir, I would like to inquire about any open positions you may have." OR "Hey dude! I be lookin fo me a job!"
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound like something a real student would say. It sounds like something a racist would say an IPS student would say. You undermine your own point when you let your prejudices get in the way. (I'm a retired IPS teacher, so I've heard my share of street talk, but what you're posting is the redneck version. )
ReplyDeleteWell said. And what's funny is that the poster probably thinks it's completely different when white people speak "hillbilly" than when black people speak "street".
ReplyDeleteAre you people so feeble minded that you immediately play the race card every time a comment is made that even remotely refers to blacks? I'm sorry I am not versed enough in slang to imitate it properly. For the record, it doesn't matter which cultural slang is used. It is all unprofessional in a business or educational environment. Being incapable of communicating in a professional and respectful manner is a detriment to success for anyone.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The very idea that the two posters above assumed racism based only on a few words shows they themselves are more guilty of racism than any they may accuse. How could they possibly even know the race of the person they are accusing just from a blog post? Some people just can't seem to cope in the world without being a victim.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not well versed enough in slang to imitate it properly, then don't imitate it. Like I said, you deflected away from your own point because then it sounded like you were just bashing black people (inaccurately). After all, you didn't improperly imitate some other culture, did you?
ReplyDeleteI call bullshit. The person who pretended to quote black people was intentionally being racist. In a discussion about grammar, he/she wanted to make perfectly clear exactly whose grammar he/she disapproved of most.
ReplyDelete"If you're not well versed enough in slang to imitate it properly, then don't imitate it. Like I said, you deflected away from your own point because then it sounded like you were just bashing black people (inaccurately). After all, you didn't improperly imitate some other culture, did you?"
ReplyDeleteNow you're just making yourself look like an idiot. There was an apology and a clarification. If that's not good enough for you, kiss my ass! Did I use THAT slang properly?
I don't understand why people come to a forum for those involved with IPS, post something provocative about IPS students, and then act surprised when posters are offended. What did you expect the response to be? If you want to post comments like that in an environment where it won't be taken as racist, I would suggest maybe finding (or starting) martinsville b.s. or confederatestates b.s. or something similar.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to me to listen to a discussion on race and equity and hear that the term "proper" English is not a preferred term because it implied that there was only one correct grammar. They used the term "standard" English to distinguish it and referred to "code switching" meaning that most people speak differently depending on what group they are associating with at a given time.
ReplyDeletewow i would tell you to kiss my ass to. you are just looking for any excuse you can to say someone is a racist. it looks like thats all some people do and thats sad
ReplyDeletePlease tell me those of you don't find that post racist aren't teachers. Seriously, this is scary!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the "code switching" and I think it's much more obvious to us when other cultures do it than when we ourselves do it. I do think it's important to model professional language though. I agree that using "standard" is probably better than "proper". After all, our American English is based on our bastardization of "proper" English from Britain, lol.
ReplyDeleteTo "please tell me" I would imagine that the posts that say it wasn't racist are all from the same person. And no, I'm sure it's not from a teacher. A racist teacher would have at least gotten the slang accurate!
ReplyDeleteIPS will be tore apart, while the bobble headed board just sits in their leather chairs, listening to Dr. White's lies. It's another Enron, except the board members are truly that dumb, does anything know for sure if Dr. Busch is really alive.
ReplyDeleteYou people are funny. Sometimes theres some interesting reading in here. I really don't give a damn if you think I'm a racist or not but I can tell you one thing for sure. As a business owner, Mr. "I be lookin fo me a job" will never be working for me.
ReplyDeleteBig fight at #60 today.
ReplyDeletePoor School 60.
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Concerning the "BIG FIGHT at #60" should be students gone wild and allowed to fight and then be returned to the classroom. These 6th grade students were throwing chairs, desk and anything that they could get their hands on! The whole classroom had to be evacuated for safety reasons. The front office was called but the principal was out of the building at a meeting. The incompetent person acting as principal was of no help to the poor teacher in the classroom. The poor classroom teacher had to protect herself as well as the other students from danger of being hurt. I am writing as a concerned parent of a child in this classroom. Dr. White will be receiving a call from me and I want my child removed from this dangerous classroom and school. School #60 is a lawsuit waiting to happening.
ReplyDeleteMultiple families have fled School 60 for the Project School. Wondering where all the good kids went over the summer? Join us.
ReplyDeleteIPS(superiors downtown) better do something about improving the poor conditions and the unsafe atmosphere at #60 before parents like me contact the news or better yet Mitch Daniels and Tony Bennett.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why people blame downtown and not the building-level administrators and teachers who create and perpetuate this hostile culture. The only thing central office can do is create policies that the teachers and administrators won't follow. To the parent of school 60, I highly recommend you enroll your kids in a different school. My kids attend an excellent magnet school, and the whole atmosphere of the school is positive and the academics are far superior than my neighborhood school. Of course, it's the same superiors downtown, but I like our principal, and the teachers are more caring.
ReplyDeleteIt all comes back to the principal. The principal needs to set a tone that foolishness, disrespect and bad behavior will not be tolerated. We used to have a great principal like that, then downtown moved her and now we have principal useless.
ReplyDeleteThe building has gone WAY downhill. The students know nothing will happen to them if they don't follow the expectations, so they don't.
And why will nothing happen to them? Analyze the problem, have the principal and teachers failed to build bridges to the families and community? Are they afraid of "downtown"? Students do not need to be removed from school to have their behavior changed, in fact when they are sent out or removed the teacher or administration is relinquishing what ever power they have, to the child's bad behavior. Kids only do what works for them, figure out how and why it works and make it stop working.
ReplyDeleteNothing happens to them because the principal is a wimp and is afraid of parents. BAC is a big party the kids WANT to go there.
ReplyDeleteI have worked in 14 different schools. I've seen good princpals and bad princpals. But one thing I've learned is that they set the tone for the building. Children need to know they are loved but that bad behavior won't be tolerated. That happened with our former principal.
Unless you work there you don't get to criticize. So butt out.
"Unless you work there you don't get to criticize. So butt out."
ReplyDeleteBULL SHIT!!! I can criticize you as much as I damn well please. If you know the principal won't do the job and you haven't taken it to the next level yourself, YOU are just as much a part of the problem. If you don't want criticism, get your high and mighty ass in gear and DO SOMETHING!!
Bad principals exist in IPS only because the Superintendent and the School Board allow them to remain. Teachers can't get rid of bad administrators, but Eugene White and the School Board certainly can, if they want to and if they receive enough negative feedback from parents and community members concerning ineffective/incompetent principals.
ReplyDeleteThere were no outstanding students who left #60 for charter schools last summer.
ReplyDeletePlenty of bridges have been built at school 60 between the school and parents. The problem is the parents don't know what to do about it either. They are afraid of their own child. Hopefully, these students will be sent to alternative school so they can be in a small size classroom and get the individualized programs to help them behave better.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the principal at #60 doesn't believe in sending kids to alternative schools because she wants to "save" kids, not "give up" on them. She also lets anyone in who gets kicked out of their magnet school.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the principal at #60 has some serious "mental" issues herself. How in the world did she become a principal? She must have gotten her degree in administration on line.
ReplyDeleteSomebody needs a nap.
ReplyDeleteYou say there were no outstanding students who left School 60 over the summer? Maybe they didn't shine there because they were too busy defending themselves against bullies, thieves, and an overly directive curriculum that failed to engage their interest. Maybe they went unnoticed by teachers who were too busy handling discipline issues and xeroxing worksheets. Maybe they just learned to fade into the background after being screamed at repeatedly.
ReplyDeleteShe explained at a faculty meeting that she was a bad kid growing up, and she was paddled many, many times, she punched people out, etc. That's why she has such a soft spot for bad kids. She's really good at loving kids, and building relationships with them, but she just can't be strict with them. Too bad this approach doesn't work with the rough student body at #60. These kids don't understand that their actions have consequences, because they continually break rules and nothing is done about it. In her heart she really believes in saving kids, but in reality, she's doing them a grave injustice by allowing so much misbehavior.
ReplyDeleteAnd she missed all those ed psych classes where they discuss effective discipline techniques?
ReplyDeleteI think you missed my point.
ReplyDeleteAnother administrative degree from IWU........
ReplyDeleteWhy the hate for IWU. They have to go through the same accreditation process as any other program. I have no experience with them personally, but I have a graduate degree from IU and a graduate degree from WGU, an online university, and the WGU coursework was much, much more difficult than the IU coursework.
ReplyDeleteHey, I have a 'heart' for bad kids, too, but it does not include dismissing their bad behaviors. I call it reality therapy. Every act has a consequence. Good acts usually have good consequences; bad acts usually have bad consequences. Kids, even the bad kids, know this, also.
ReplyDeleteThe student that has made the greatest impression upon me in my 20+ years in education was an IPS male high school student who was on my SpEd Caseload for 3 years. My first encounter with this child was during GQE testing in my resource room when he got up, walked out the door, and told me he was leaving because he had to 'take a sh&!' His GQE was disqualified per my instructions to the Behavior Dean. He was really hot with me after that! Shortly thereafter, he told me and his gen ed teacher during an inclusion class that 'he wanted us to meet him on E. 34th Street cause he was gonna f*@k us up'. I pulled out my cell phone in class and called his mom and repeated his words verbatim. Again, he was really hot with me!
Shortly after that incident, he 'went off' during an inclusion class with loud whining, griping remarks. I called him into the hall and said in a fairly loud voice, "Suck it up soldier. We don't want to hear your whining any more."
Well, lo and behold, the next time a student began 'showing out' in an inclusion class, this male student turned to me and whispered, "Tell 'em to suck it up." I did.
This 'bad kid' turned out to be the 'best kid'. The 2nd time he took the GQE he passed both the ELA and the Math with flying colors. He told me his Senior year, quite by surprise, that he didn't know what he'd have done in high school without me. That was worth a year's paycheck to me, an old White woman who really loved an angry young Black kid.
He's now at IU and studying Sports Management.
You bring up a good point. I think tough love works best when the kids know you care. Letting kids get away with bad behavior or low performance because you like them doesn't help them. And neither does being hostile to them because you resent "these kids" from "these families" and all the problems they cause in the world. It seems IPS has way too many teachers and administrators on both extremes -- too much love, not enough tough or too much tough, not enough love. You sound like you have the balance right! :)
ReplyDelete@You bring up a good point.
ReplyDeleteIt's me again, the old White woman. Yes, tough love works, but you're correct in your observation. If the kid doesn't believe you're sincere and really care for them, all the tough love in the world doesn't work. I think our ghetto (for lack of a better word) kids have an innate sense of distrust of most people who don't live in their neighborhoods. Sadly, some of our kids can never learn to trust a teacher, especially a teacher from another culture. I've had plenty of failures with inner-city kids. Part of it was my fault; part of it was the fault of their parents for talking garbage about teachers.
Occasionally, we all bump into that bad kid who has a certain spark in his/her eye that says 'yes, I'm open to you, but you gotta make the first move and prove you're worth trusting.' Keep on looking for that 'spark' in the eye.
Looks like Mrs. Shipp will be the principal at Coleman Academy. Wow, that sounds like a hard job!
ReplyDeleteBut Cassie Shipp has turned Arlington around! Why aren't they keeping her there?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if "turned Arlington around" is exactly the correct term. She is very young and it was a big undertaking for someone who had just finished her degree MA and Admin. She is a trooper, though.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Shipp was hand chosen by Dr. Greenwood to become an administrator. Mrs. Shipp was not ready to be an administrator and might never be ready. Greenwood likes to pick out people that she thinks have the right stuff. Mrs. Shipp could not pass the Praxis exam to be a special ed teacher for years and years and worked on year to year 'limited/emergency contracts'. That alone says a lot about her smarts.
ReplyDeleteYOU PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THERE WILL BE NO IPS BECAUSE TEACHERS KEEP MORE MESS GOING THEN SUPPORTING STUDENTS AND THE DISTRICT THAT HIRED THEM.
ReplyDelete"YOU PEOPLE ARE HORRIBLE! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THERE WILL BE NO IPS BECAUSE TEACHERS KEEP MORE MESS GOING THEN SUPPORTING STUDENTS AND THE DISTRICT THAT HIRED THEM."
ReplyDeleteDear Poster,
Universally, typists who use all caps do so to cover their lack of knowledge as to the proper usage of capital letters.
Caps should be used at the beginning of sentences and quotations, on the first and important words of a title, on proper nouns such as books, magazines, newspapers, on names of streets, cities, states, counties and countries, and the names of people and their titles. These rules are part of third-grade curriculum.
In computer-speak, all caps are the equivalent of screaming. As with a verbal scream, readers check for the need of assistance, then shake heads and ignore the message, the same way one reacts to a shrieking car alarm.
The caps lock key is located on the left side of your computer's keypad, next to the letter "A". Your keyboard probably has an indicator that is lit when this key is cativated. It can be disabled by pressing the caps lock key again.
Oh-it's "than", not "then".
cativated
ReplyDeleteSorry. activated.
The fight at Arlington WAS a melee and there WERE staff helping out. From my understanding there were three of the male teachers trying to break it up and the LONE IPS officer was out helping direct buses. Everyone loves to talk bad about Arlington but many there would agree that a large part of the problem is discipline. When IPS cuts budgets and slashes IPS police, leaving 2 officers to handle Arlington is nothing less than hanging the school out to dry. Both Mrs. Shipp and Mr. Knazze both have been working hard on improving test scores and managing the discipline issues that the blame could not, and should not, be placed solely on them. Arlington needs more IPS police to help create order out of choas and then the teachers will finally be able to teach and the students can begin and continue learning. Not only that, these parents, most of which are in over there heads, need to do a MUCH better job at getting involved and establishing a higher degree of control over thier kids - but that is another thread. These issue aren't just about Arlington but about the culture all of these kids live in that IPS has to deal with. No one else is sincerely up to the task. Ship 'em out and they get kicked out of Southport, Perry, Warren and Lawrence just as fast. They have to go somewhere or else jail or the cemetery is right around the corner and that is unnacceptable. If there is a "dumpig ground" school, as many feel Arlington is, that hosts the "bottom of the barrel" and tries, again, to give them a proper education - please at least make sure security at that place is adequate to supply the demand, Dr. White.
ReplyDeleteRe: The fight at Arlington WAS a melee and there WERE staff helping out.
ReplyDeleteWere Jackie Greenwood's Security Dads a big help during the fight?
Two posts up...well said.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, profanity is the effort of a feeble mind trying to express itself forcibly.
ReplyDeleteRE: "Likewise, profanity is the effort of a feeble mind trying to express itself forcibly."
ReplyDeleteEveryone is encouraged to remember the above quote whenever listening to Phyllis Barnes talk to a small group.
Obviously if she's offending people in the group (like you) then she shouldn't use coarse language. But I disagree that profanity in and of itself is always inappropriate. Often, it's simply a way of expressing oneself familiarly and casually, like the way one might use improper grammar in a close group of friends, or how one might use colloquial expressions.
ReplyDeleteAny teacher foolish enough to attempt to physically intervene in a fight is looking for a lawsuit or potential serious injury for which he/she will be financially responsible. Educators are not gladiators or prison guards. Get serious. This is a no win situation. Call the police. They are trained for this and it is in their job description!
ReplyDeleteThe real problem is that most students involved in physical altercations tend to have fairly long discipline records. I have written the same student up over twenty times only to have the student returned to class. Those kind of students interfere with the learning of others and the constant unaddressed bad behavior is demoralizing to students who would like to have a positive learning environment.
Once again...it starts with leadership (ie. administration)