CTEL in SF Part III

Posted on July 3, 2009
Filed Under CLAD, CTEL | Leave a Comment

(Ok. I’m lagging. It IS summer after all. But I told myself I’d try to  stay in the groove for the summer, and post (kinda) regularly; there are people who teach on a different schedule, and right now aren’t able to  go camping for a week at beautiful Refugio Beach. And they might like some new material now and then. Though if we don’t stop the Terminator from closing our state parks, nobody will be camping there.)

Anyway, my last post left me holed up at the Holiday Inn in San Francisco, the day after the last day of school, studying for the CTEL. Early Saturday morning, I got to the test site at beautiful Mission High School and snaked a beauty off-street (free) parking spot. I was there an hour before reporting time, so I ate my muffin, drank my green iced tea from my clear plastic jug (no labels; could be used for cheating), and hung out in the cafeteria where they herded all of us after checking for cell phones and “any device with an on/off switch.”

I half-read the misspelled posters touting the nutrition and energy that come from eating vegetables in season, grooved on the courtyard outside and the student-painted diversity (in agriculture) mural on the wall, and listened to the nervous conversations as the place filled up. I would say there were at least three or four hundred people there when they finally sent us to our various rooms. And this was just one overflow site for people who signed up late. There must have been thousands of us taking the test that day all over California. Big payday for Pearson Education.

The talk around me was the best part. By the end, I was feeling lucky to have the gig I have. Not that I wasn’t before, but boy howdy, after listening to snippets like this:

(20 something girl taking the CTEL and the CBEST on consecutive days) “Have you got a job yet?

(20 something guy) “I’m working at an elementary school in the Tenderloin. Some of the kids’ moms…It’s pretty weird…”

“I’m working as an aide until my credential clears, in a SDC class with emotionally disturbed kids. And looking for a job. I swear, I feel like I’m almost begging at every interview; please, please give me a job.”

(62 year old man- I know because they talked about it) “Did you study much, or take any classes?”

(62 year old woman - ditto above) “No, I’ve been too busy with my first(!?) job, and all the BTSA stuff (she used a rather saltier term for an older woman). I barely cracked the book.”

62? BTSA? For those of you not from California, that stands for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment. Beginning! As in first year. 62! You go girl.

I heard a pe teacher complaining about having 5 periods of 60 kids each. 300 kids!

Finally it was 8 o’clock, and they herded us to our various classrooms. More sitting around ensued while our IDs were checked, our thumbprints taken, the directions for using the facilities given (one at a time, leave your stuff behind), and the I-swear-this-is-me-taking-this-test statements written and signed. By the time we were actually allowed to open our booklets, it was 8:50.

The morning session allotted three hours for parts I and III. Combined, they had 90 multiple choice questions, and one essay question each. The key for me is the fact that the MC questions only had four choices. No none-of-the-above. Much easier.

Details in the next post. (No more promising tomorrow.)

CTEL Purgatory (Also: The Homeless as Performance Art)

Posted on June 17, 2009
Filed Under CTEL, Homeless, San Francisco | Leave a Comment

“It’s summertime, and the livin’s easy…” It seems like forever since I’ve had the time and the inclination to post. Nine days! It must be summer. Up until Saturday at 2:00 pm, it was all about CTEL. I finished the kids’ research papers early this year, and actually had time to (mostly) read the book that they say is the best prep for the test. The kids’ last day was Thursday, and I skipped the work day Friday, and left for San Francisco. I had to report for the test at 8 am Saturday. Now remember, the 450+ miles (round trip) I had to drive is more than I drive in  a year. Really. Maybe two. Unless we go to Vegas or something. So not only am I constantly thinking about the test(s - there were three “modules”), now I have to deal with driving too? So I made sure I got there early so I could find the zone.

missionhs

Mission High School (1st building dedicated 1897)

The test was in the Mission District at Mission High School. After I checked in at the Holiday Inn ($29 for parking!), I cruised the route to the school to make sure my Google directions were accurate.  (They were money. I was about 5 minutes away.)  I love old high schools like this one. I know about all the maintenance infrastructure issues associated with old buildings, but the tile floors and groovy architecture… it’s just so Room 222. Anyway, after I scoped it out, and found a suitable parking space — I love how San Francisco does not worship the automobile as the center of society; it’s a pain in the butt to have a car in the city — I went for a skate. I have never seen so many homeless people in my life. That park in the foreground of the pic? Blankies and tarps and tents and piles of “possessions.” And kids playing Frisbee and people chatting on cellphones and a fraternity having an event. Oh and a yard sale and barbeque. On the sidewalk. Where I come from, people complain about the homeless, and while we have far fewer actual homeless people on the streets and in the parks than SF, at home (population 45,000 + 15,000 more when the university is in session) I get asked for money almost every time I walk downtown. In SF? Not once. I didn’t see anyone get panhandled or harrassed. In fact, the homeless were more like some sort of urban performance art. Part of the scenery. An errant Frisbee hits one guy napping amidst his shopping and sleeping bags. He doesn’t react. The thrower runs over and picks up the Frisbee, dodging shopping bag guy’s companion like he’s a rock or a bush. Outside my hotel there was a trio, with maybe seven teeth between them, arguing about who spilled the grape soda they were using to mix with their vodka. The next morning at 6, they were still arguing about it; the can was still on its side with a purple stain on the sidewalk. Back home they would’ve hounded me for money to replace it, and one of them would have thrown the can at me for refusing. Friday night, I holed up in the hotel room, and read the book some more. More tomorrow…(I don’t get results until July 23. Purgatory indeed.)

Rookie Year - 1991 (Part II)

Posted on June 8, 2009
Filed Under First Job, Guest artist, Independent Study | Leave a Comment

Our guest artist continues with his glimpse back at mrC’s first real job - teaching independent study stylie - while mrC (his present self)  studies for Saturday’s CTEL test.

1991 - Rich (continued)

“Do you have your history homework for me… today?”

“I did it. ” It sounds like deed it.

“But do you have it? Here? Now? At this place and time?”

“I left it at my pad, eh.”

Re: His American history homework. He is currently taking (which means he has a copy of the textbook) US History A. The district curriculum guide lists this as a semester-long course. The class is worth 5 credits out of the 225 that are needed to graduate from the high school. The book that he took home a week ago is about 200 pages long, with 44 chapters divided into 8 units, and purports to cover the time period between the pilgrims and the Reconstruction. Each chapter is approximately 3-5 pages long, and is followed by about 2 pages of MC, T/F, and fill-in-the-blank exercises, with some time-line exercises and find-a-word puzzles thrown in for variety.

The time-line ones can often be quite entertaining. To introduce the concept, the book shows an example of a timeline of a student’s life so far. It shows things like “born” (big event), “first movie” (yippee!), and so on. I like how born and first movie are given equal billing in importance.

The printing in the book is large, the vocabulary basic, and the questions even provide you with a number that corresponds to the paragraph in the previously-read (we hope) text where the answer can be found.  When Rich has finished all the “activities” for each unit, there is a 20 question test - true/false and multiple choice of course; it speeds grading - that must be passed at 70% or better. Of course, if he doesn’t pass he has only to take it again and again until he does. When he has finished all the exercises and tests, he will receive his five credits of American history.

The pages of answers to all these learning activities - if he actually had them to turn in to me - are largely ungraded. There are simply too many pages of T’s and F’s and A’s and C’s, and disjointed responses like: “The Indians,” or “To make money.” After all, the 70% plus on the tests proves that he did the homework. Correcting the homework, I was told, should consist of paging through it looking for skipped questions and such, and writing OK on every third page or so. Even this minimal measure was only done at the behest of the state auditor who, last year, had found stacks and stacks of unmarked homework in the students’ work files. So now much of the job consists of trying to bluff the student into actually attempting to write correct responses. If Rich buys my bluff, and actually reads and tries to understand his text, the activities will take about 6 hours. If he BS’s, it’s about 2.

But, of course these hours are billed to the state as a week’s worth of work for Rich. The state thinks Rich has been diligently spending 20 hours during that week, working on his American history. (Actually, it just takes a week to pry it out of him.)

to be continued.

keep looking »
Privacy Policy