WASC Goals

Today, we had a late start. We discussed WASC and how we want our school perceived by others. Everything said was great as long as you nodded your head and smiled. Every school is a great school if you don’t scratch deeper than the surface.
I felt bad because I made a new teacher blush during our table discussion. It was strictly to make a point that we don’t communicate, that we don’t look at data, that we teach on islands where we have to swim pretty far to get to the island next door. I asked her how many students we had at our school. I asked her what our biggest ethnic group was. I asked her what the student codes indicated. She did not know the answer to any, as many teachers (and not just new ones) would not have known either.
Isn’t it important to know your target market? I don’t want to sell beef to vegetarians. If I had a bunch of people coming over for dinner who were allergic to peanuts, I would probably want to know that information beforehand. You know?
One of the WASC goals that always gets to me, though, goes along the lines of what should kids know. What should kids know? Names, dates, places, things? Who wrote this? Who said that? Where does that quote come from? and, Why is it important?
You know Melville wrote Moby Dick, right? The first line is “Call me Ishmael.” Captain Ahab passionately pursues the white whale that took one of his legs. Starbucks got their name from a character in the book. Is any of that important?
One of my students today said “slo-mo,” which made me think of Dredd and the drug called slo-mo featured in the film. I’m listening to Body Count right now–it’s on a huge playlist of music my kid should know–but my students only know Ice-T from the Law and Order series, or that reality show with his wife Coco.
The more you know, the more you can relate to others; the more circles you can be part of. So, I want my kid and my students exposed to everything. They don’t have to love it, but they should know it. Or, we could all just walk around like zombies looking down at our phones.
Come on, Ice-T and Body Count had a song that was so foul that the federal government pulled it from a released album. You shouldn’t like “Cop Killer,” but it’s kind of a big deal.
Or is it?