Stick a Fork in This Week

The week started in the mountains, which was great. Kids got to see a truckload of snow in Sequoia, which was a first for many. Only a few were injured (all bodyparts were intact), but they all came back with us. Yay, for APN and a good night’s sleep.
Late starts? Whatever.
On the same day of the late start, though, we had another local scholarship meeting. Mind you, we were told at our late start meeting that we’ve come SOOOOO far on PLCs than where we were last year. This is true, to an extent–we have divided the school into those who are in and those who are out. If you haven’t guessed, I am out. I get it. I’m tall, have an opinion, and am really old so I couldn’t possibly understand the greatness of our PLC community. When someone wants something done well, then I am in, but those moments are few and far between these days.
But back to the local scholarship meeting. The last meeting featured few people. This time, surely the departments would step up and send more people to represent our beloved students. Nope. A second-year teacher at North came for the first time, being the representative for math. I was there again, as was the AP English Lit teacher, as was Gillian Hart, who repped social studies. Three of the four counselors were there, though I don’t think it was the same ones. You get the picture.
On the positive, my students jump through hoops. I’m sure some of them want to see me under the wheels of a large automobile, but, for the most part, many of my students and I are fine with each other. My sophomores jumped through the hoop of PLCs and Common Core and State Standards today by writing a paragraph. They had to argue a point. In a paragraph. The rubric had them making a claim, giving evidence, and seeing the other side of the argument but proving that their side was better. That’s what I get to read this weekend so I can bring back data to our late start group on Tuesday, where it starts all over again.
I am skeptical that writing a paragraph in 20 minutes is a positive step in the direction of building a Professional Learning Community. I play along because, despite being really old, I want to see education work for kids. I don’t even have to drink the Kool-Aid to write such things.