An Oxymoron

Sunday, December 9, 2018

An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.  I have a few examples that I pulled off the internet after doing a Google search: jumbo shrimp, deafening silence, government intelligence, and rap music.  Sadly, the Google listing is not up to date as I discovered one during a fourth grade beginning geometry lesson on angles.  For those of you that are of my generation, you know the type, gray in the hair, long in the tooth, a product of old school discipline, and math where you borrowed instead of regrouping, I'm going to do an angle refresher course: right angle, acute angle, and obtuse angle.  Okay, now I'll bring you up to date as apparently some pointed headed intellectual with a PhD, who needs to inflate his/her ego, while working at a prominent university research center, has decided that we need a new angle, so he/she came up with one and called it's the straight angle.

I was sitting in the back of the classroom where I have a really swell view of what goes on in the front of the room.  On this day, our student teacher was in charge of the classroom, T4 was outside the room, and the lesson was on angles.  With the student teacher up front my instructions from T4 was to limit my time and involvement in the classroom as the student teacher needed to have complete control of the classroom as a learning experience so I was sitting quietly observing.  First up was the right angle.  That was followed by the acute angle.  Finally, the obtuse angle and I'm thinking to myself the student teacher did a nice job.  Then the student teacher told the scholars that there was one more angle to draw and that got my immediate attention.  What?  There are three angles: right, acute, and obtuse so what is the student teacher talking about?  I found out real quick, the straight angle.  The student teacher, using the document camera drew a straight angle and projected it onto the big screen so everyone could see it.  As soon as the student teacher was finished drawing the angle I thought to myself, "that is not an angle, that is a line."

Straight is defined as extending or moving uniformly in one direction only; without a curve or bend.  Angle is defined as the amount of turn between two lines around their common point.  Two completely different meanings so how can you have a straight angle?  Truly a dilemma for me so I guess I'll defer to one of the Marys' for some guidance.  So which of my Mary friends do I ask.  I know the Immaculate Mary, Bad Mary, St. Mary, and Minar Mary.  Maybe Minar Mary can help me out with this oxymoron.  Should you like to offer an opinion there is a picture of a line and a straight angle on the ride side of the blog.  Feel free to state your case.

T4 is one of the shining lights in my school and you are about to find out why.  The lesson is geometry with an emphasis on lines: point, line, line segment, ray, parallel, perpendicular, and intersecting.  T4 is in the front of the room, "stand up, do as I do, say as I say," and the scholars are mirroring her actions and words.  "Parallel lines," her hands go straight up and the scholars mirror her.  "Line," and her hands are pointing straight out to her sides with palms open and facing down and the scholars mirror her.  "Line segment," her hands stay straight out to her sides but her hands make a fist and the scholars mirror her.  "Ray," both arms are straight out to the side.  One hand is opened with palm down and the other hand is in a fist and the scholars mirror her. "Perpendicular," and her arms cross in front of her making a plus sign and the scholars mirror her.  "Intersecting," and she drops her arms down in front of her and crosses them and the scholars mirror her.  Now that the scholars have the general idea T4 starts again.  This time, however, she doubles her pace.  T4 is doing geometry with an emphasis on lines and the scholars are mirroring her every word and arm movement and best of all, they are having fun.  

T4 is one of the shining lights in our school and you are about to find out why, round two.  The lesson is lines of symmetry and in order to do this assignment T4 had to take a profile picture of everyone of the scholars and then print them out in black and white.  "Schultz, I have a project for you.  Take some white card stock with you and all of these pictures.  Cut the pictures, as close as you can, right down the middle of the scholars faces.  After you do that glue on half of the scholar's picture on the left side of the card stock and then bring everything back to me."  "Aye, aye, Captain," and off I go,

The line of symmetry lesson began with a definition of the word symmetry.  From their T4 held up a couple of objects to show the lines of symmetry.  The first was a heart folded in half and there was the single line of symmetry.  Next, if my memory is correct, was the rectangle and when folded in half a couple different ways you could see the two lines of symmetry.  Then, to throw the scholars a bit of a curve ball, T4 held up a circle and asked the scholars how many lines of symmetry were in circle.  The responses were not even close.  As the guesses were coming forth I was sitting next to T4-M, a peanut of a scholar who is also a minimalist when it comes to doing work.  All of a sudden I hear him say, "infinite."  Half stunned that T4-M knew the correct answer I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "that's the right answer, raise you hand and tell T4," and he did.

Now comes the fun part.  T4 is at her document camera with one of the half pictures that is on the card stock.  The picture is then projected onto the big screen in the front of the classroom so all the scholars can see what she is doing.  Next, T4 takes this plastic device, sadly I can't recall what she said it was, and placed it on the cut line of the picture on the card stock.  Once she did this you could see the half picture that is on the left side of the card stock and some how it flipped the picture onto the blank side of the card stock.  Then, using a pencil, all the scholars had to do was trace the image on the right side of the card stock to complete the picture of their face.

I know, my explanation is pretty poor but hopefully this will help.  On the right hand side of the blog is my half picture.  T4 placed that plastic object on the cut line of my picture and then trace out the other side of my face.  Pretty impressive and best of all, the scholars were having fun doing lines of symmetry, and all their completed lines of symmetry faces on are the bulletin board in the hallway.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 11th, as the school that I have enjoyed working at for almost six and a half years now is in the crosshairs and I have to believe that every member of the staff is on edge.  For the past three school years my school was given an F grade by the state of Indiana.  When any school reaches this point concerned individuals, primarily bureaucrats who have never, ever, entered this school to see what the challenges are, get involved.  These concerned individuals will be in the school on Tuesday, December 11th to conduct a School Quality Review.  Their plan is to visit every classroom, talk to each member of the school staff, and I believe that includes volunteers, take their collective notes, gather in a room somewhere and then make their decision.  Keep in mind, during the time it takes these concerned individuals to make a decision, every member of the staff has to wait for the results that will directly impact their job.

So what are the options that these concerned individuals have following the School Quality Review?  I'm not an expert on the matter but here is my best guess.  One, do nothing as they feel comfortable that the school is properly functioning.  Two, offer recommendations to improve the school's practices and schedule another School Quality Review in a couple years.  Three, make a change in leadership.  Four, remove every teacher and administrator from the school, restart the school as either an innovation school or charter school, and essentially start over with an entire new team and an entirely new direction.

My anxiety level is rising as we approach Tuesday and I'm just a volunteer.  Imagine the anxiety level of my teaching colleagues, some who have been in this school for years as Tuesday approaches.  Imagine how my teaching colleagues will feel at around 4:00pm on Tuesday when these concerned individuals, who will spend maybe an hour in each teachers classroom, will decide if a collective group of teachers that has been successful in this school for years, if not decades, can remain at this school.  Welcome to the teaching profession.  



   





             


School Quality Review