One of My Students is Killed

As I begin to review my lesson before my first period class today, I learned that one of my Economics students had been killed over the summer. It really took me "down" as the last conversation I had with Juan before spring break consisted of me telling him I was happy to help prepare for testing when we returned from Spring Break -- however I did not feel comfortable meeting students outside of the school due to how close I was to their age. He really seemed like he was ready to buckle down and work .....


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/04/27/2009-04-27_shows_off_gun_pal_shot_dead.html
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Bronx man shot dead by accident as friend shows off gun

BY Phil Molnar and Jonathan Lemire
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Monday, April 27th 2009, 4:00 AM

Investigators believe a 19-year-old Bronx man was accidentally shot to death Sunday by a friend who was showing off his handgun, police sources said.

Juan Acevedo took a bullet to the chest as he was hanging out with pals in an apartment just two blocks from the new Yankee Stadium, police said.

Paramedics reached the mortally wounded teenager at the E. 164th St. home just after 1:30 a.m. and took him to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, but Acevedo died an hour later, police said.

A tipster told investigators that Acevedo had been drinking with friends when one man decided to show off his gun, a police source said.

The man fumbled with the weapon and inadvertently let loose a round that felled Acevedo.

Foster Care Webinar (Tune In)

http://aacte.org/index.php?/component/option,com_events/Itemid,28/agid,31/catids,9|35/day,31/month,12/task,view_detail/year,1969/

Closing the Educational Achievement Gap for Children in Foster Care
AACTE FREE Webinar
April 23, 2009

Tutor Connection has provided 1,240 student teachers from California State San Marcos to work directly with children in foster care to improve academic performance. Hear about the results for over 1,500 foster care youth who have participated in this program and learn more about the roles that Departments of Education can play in positively impacting this unique and often invisible population.

Presenters include:

* John Halcón, Ph.D
Professor, College of Education
California State University, San Marcos



* Michelle Lustig, MSW, Ed.D
Coordinator, Foster Youth Services
San Diego County Office of Education



* Mark Baldwin, Ed.D
Dean, College of Education
California State University, San Marcos



Register today

Special Audio Commentary by Victoria Rowell, former foster child, and national spokesperson for the Annie Casey Foundation.

Click Here to listen.

For information and to Register visit www.aacte.org or click here

Slang Terms

I will be providing detailed updates very soon, as to my current "status." However, I wanted to provide you with this word list that was compiled by one of my colleagues. These are words that are used in most sentences uttered by students in my school. Please note a lot of time in the beginning of the semester is spent developing an appropriate language contract ... it is give an take sometimes

Google Group Classes

Update:

I have been charged with teaching two Saturday classes. Since students are required to interact with the course outside of class, I decided to create google groups to facilitate this exchange. While this has never been done with a class at our school I encourage you to watch it from your home. The sites are:

http://groups.google.com/group/bhlcs-spring-2009-ushistory-saturday-school?hl=en

http://groups.google.com/group/bhlcs-spring-2009-globalstudies-saturday-school

Ice Skating

Today I had the opportunity to go with a group of students and colleagues to Rockefeller Center to ice-skate. It was an amazing trip. I really do love my kids .... They were hilarious as they begin to attempt to make me fall ..... I had to let you guys know I went so you could be JEALOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updates

Parent Seminar
A few days ago my school hosted a parent seminar targeting 9th and 10th grade student's parents'. Each public school has a support organization -- my school's organization is New Visions. They presented the information on our behalf while teachers and administrators circulated to answer questions and pose critical questions on behalf of the parents and students. It was indeed a success notwithstanding a hidden audience advertising campaign that I will not address at the present time (Remind me in June:)).

Bowling
Thursday myself and a 3 other teachers took a group of students bowling to reward their participation in our school-wide inquiry team. This team is essentially a loose focus group where we practice research -- traditionally conducted in non-urban schools in our extremely urban school.

Saturday School/ PM School
This Saturday, I began teaching the first of several extra history courses that I will teach for the remainder of the school year. These classes are designed to give students the opportunity to recover previously failed course credits. Though it seems that the students are use to doing nothing as they were not happy when I greeted them at the door with a diagnostic test and their paper requirements for their first 4 page typed paper due April 30, 2009.

Research
I have begin an intense literature review into the academic achievement of foster-care youth.


Congrats
Congratulations to all my friends who have received job offers and graduate school admission acceptance. I look forward to hearing about other opportunities my friends receive in the near future. See You All SOON!

Updates

It has been a little while since I last wrote ..... my badness :)

First, Welcome to March Madness .... the school year is almost over {:) :(}

In this post I just want to say two things

1) Last Monday 3/2/2009 NYC Public Schools were canceled due to a "blizzard" for the first time in five years (yayayayyayayayyayay)

2) Last week one of my economics students observed I was not wearing my college ring ... he said "Mr. Cooper dang I knew times were hard but damn you selling your jewelry" {FYI I did not sell my ring}

Few Notes on Wednesday and Thursday

As many of you know I LOVE SOCIOLOGY! Yesterday, I had the opportunity to express my affection for sociology to my students as we finished our discussion of the progressive movement. They were really excited about the discipline considering many of the issues addressed are directly related to them.

We also hit on Marx .... and while a few students expressed they agreed with his basic tenets ... many disagreed on the grounds of fairness .... we will re-address this idea again next week for clarity.

The students hated SOCIAL DARWINISM ..... (I should record some of my class discussions and post them) .... kids are really funny when they get "frazzled"

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Today my student requested I bake cookies for our next Research Symposium .... I have to decided if I want to put my cooking skills on display :)

A LESSON LEARNED ... A LESSON TO BE TAUGHT

I have learned that as we walk during the paths of life, we must keep our eyes on the prize. In the midst of reflecting upon our experiences, we must keep our eyes on the prize. In the midst of searching for ways to give back, we must keep our eyes on the prize. Last year, as I begin to reflect upon the mountains I had climbed -- strangely I begin to feel guilty -- I became distracted. I begin to think of how far I had come and contemplate my debt to society and the urgency to make a payment. However, today I'm glad to report I am re-focused -- and mine eyes are again on the same prize that has brought me thus far. I now know I must keep moving and give back simultaneously.

I teach this lesson to my students daily. They must decide to be better -- even when it hurts or they are forced to lose friends. I'm reminded of one of my students, 6V, he explained to me that each time he steps into the "streets" -- people are trying to kill him -- because of the poor decisions he made in life. I pleaded with 6V to make a decision. But 6V said any decision would include running -- and "we" don't run from our problems like punks.

Yet, this same lesson ... I just learned. Few understand the concept of having "guilt for making it" --

SUMMARY: YOU CAN'T FEEL GUILTY FOR MAKING IT!

** EXCUSE GRAMMAR AND SPELLING AS IM SLEEEEEEEEEEEEPY

Foster Care Data

The below chart begs for additional research. I can not wait to return to graduate school to write on this topic among others. It is baffling to look at the data -- my life -- then my current students.







Source: http://www.fostercarealumni.org/userfiles/file/FCM07_Fact_Sheet_(national).pdf