Tag: #Teachers

  • Helping My Kid with Math Homework

    I don’t know about you, but when I found out that I was going to become a father, I had visions of all kinds of stuff I would do with my kid – like teaching them how to drive, or tucking them into bed, or dropping them off at college. But never in a million years did I ever contemplate in those early days how much time I would spend helping my kid with math homework.

    And to set the record straight from the beginning, my kid is really good at math. Like, it just makes sense to her, and she finds it fun. I am very proud of her.

    Me? I suck at math. I mean, I’m not awful at it, but there is a point where I am very proficient at all things math, and then there is this line, usually involving fractions, that I no longer have a mastery of mathematics, and start getting nervous that I don’t know what I am doing. I first encountered this feeling in 5th grade when everyone in my class seemed to understand how to multiply fractions, and… I didn’t. And it’s not that I felt dumb, it’s that I felt lost, like I didn’t know which way to go to find a solution. It’s a very unsettling feeling.

    I was able to dance around math in junior high, and high school, kept a B average but I had to work at it. Never took a calculus class, though now I wish I would have. I did the very unwise thing in college that I was warned not to do, which was save my final math class for final senior semester. Luckily, my university had a math class for arts majors – it was “Intro to Statistics.” I got a B.

    So, when the kid comes to me for help, there is a little wave of panic that wiggles through me, but I know I am just having a flashback to 5th grade. I am lucky that 4th grade math is completely in my wheelhouse, so in front of my kid, I still appear that I have a mastery on the subject. Though I might not be the best at explaining everything, I do at least come up with the correct answer.

    I know to enjoy this 4th grade year, because when she gets to 5th grade, I will be closing in on that line.

  • Covid Test Results, And Thinking About Schools

    I got my results yesterday afternoon, and I am negative for Covid. Turns out that I just have a cold. I won’t even get into the fact that I somehow have a cold. How did I get a cold when I am social distanced, wear a mask, and wash my hands all the time? But, whatever.

    With all of this going on, the wife and I started talking about the shit situation we are all in due to Covid. And we are again started talking about sending our kid to school. I agree 100% that remote school is not what is best for the education of children. The kid would be better served in a classroom, with other students and teachers. We are lucky that I can be the dedicated parent to make sure the kid stays on top of her lessons, and also gets an opportunity to explore new subjects. I know that not every family has the luxury that we have.

    Now, I also understand where teachers are coming from. I wouldn’t be comfortable with teaching children without a vaccine, and until I got one, I think I would like to remote teach as well. A teacher’s health is just an important as their students’ wellbeing. There must be some balance.

    I wish the vaccine rollout had been handled better, and I do hope the Biden people do a better job of it. All teachers need to be vaccinated as soon as possible. I also think, and truly hope, that everyone will hold teachers in a higher appreciation, and pay them what they are worth.

    I know we are a long way from being over this disease, but I think we are getting closer to being able to believe that a light in this tunnel may exist.

  • First Day of School

    Here we are t the first day of school in New York City!

    Look, I know that this is not ideal for anyone, and the teachers at our school are doing their best, and from what I have seen today, they are taking it seriously, and, from my kid’s reaction, they are making it fun.

    We have opted to do the remote learning from home, and supporting the kid in all of this, is one of my primary jobs as “stay at home dad.” I was hoping that we would get a schedule today, so I could at least start planning what our days are going to be like. Sadly, schedules are still being created, being made available later today, and that is disappointing. But I keep trying to remind myself that these teachers are doing their best with a really bad hand. They showed up, and are committed to make the best out of this.

    I like our school, staff and teachers, and for all of this to work, I know I have to be more involved, and be supportive of the school. This issues I am have are policy really, which is coming from the DOE, mayor, and the governor, and not the teachers and staff that I am interacting with. I have to remind myself of that.

    When I walk about NYC, it seems like every neighborhood has one old school that between built between 1890 to 1920. These schools are red bricked, some built in a Dutch Revival style, detailed, and dominating the block they are on. To me, they look like temples to public education, which says to me says that there was a time in this City when public education was taken seriously; something to be shown off, and honored.

    I have many friends that are teachers, all of this country, and for something that is so vital for a strong and equatable nation, why do we scorn public education? How did we get to a place where paying for something that has a benefit for everyone become a bad thing?

    I will go on the record and say, raise my taxes to pay teachers, staff and administrators what they are worth. And I will also go on the record to say that we, the public, have to get involved, vote in school board elections, show up to events, and push for policies that improve our communities.

    If we don’t, then no one’s education will be guaranteed.