Inside Your Schools

My way, let's do it! Inside your schools is a presentation of the Wichita Federation of Teachers. Hello. I'm Terry McGonagall, drama and speech teacher at High Ties School, and your host for the second show in our series, Inside Your Schools. I'm glad to welcome you to look with me at some outstanding teachers and students in our schools. Today we'll look at a math teacher in Wichita, then we'll examine the shortage of math and science teachers. We'll talk with Larry Kubin of the Washington Redskins, and finally we'll talk to some of

Wichita's graduating seniors as they face the future, and we'll see Wichita's elementary kids in their school year with a fun field field day. Professionalism means that students' welfare comes first. Math teacher Cherry Hart of Mayberry Junior High School certainly qualifies as a truly professional teacher. For Mrs. Hart, the development of her students is her first concern, whether they are mastering math concepts or developing computer skills. Let's go to Mayberry Junior High and look at Cherry Hart's approach to teaching math. As a teaching tool, there's lots of different ways you can use computers, mainly in math that would be for drawing practice and in a tutorial sense in which the computer would go step by step through a process with a student interacting with the computer. Another real exciting way I think that computers are being used in the classroom are through simulations. There are some really exciting social study simulations and science simulations that the teachers in the class can do with the computer that they would not ordinarily be able to use.

For example in science, there are some programs and some layup experiments that would be far too costly to perform in the classroom that the computer can do in a simulated fashion or that it might be too dangerous to do an actual lab experiment that the computer can do without having any danger to the students. This is the first year we've had computers here at Mayberry and my primary purpose this year was to get all the kids exposed to what a computer is, what it looks like so that they're not afraid to touch it and that they can learn some of the limitations and some of the uses of the computer. I've given all my students time on the computer, usually working in pairs, they've been able to go through a program for about 30 minutes to help familiarize them with a keyboard and how to turn the computer on, how to load a disk, how to save a program. And with a few of my classes, we've written some of our own original programs and graphics

and they've learned how a little bit about typing, they're not too good at typing at, but they've typed in their own programs and today we're going to put the programs together. They're real enthusiastic. That's one of the neatest things about the computer is that the kids are so involved with it. We're using it in a real limited way right now as far as learning math. We're doing a little bit of drill and practice on the computer, but at Mayberry we don't have a whole lot of math software available yet. We just got the computers this year and next year hopefully we can get some more math software and can do more in the tutorial mode of the computer actually teaching some of the concepts to the students. Today in the classroom we are going to modify some original graphics programs, graphics programs are pictures that the students have drawn and then they have written a program to reproduce that picture on the screen.

And they've written their programs, they've already been typed into the computer. What we're going to do today is to modify each individual program so that we can chain them together so that when we turn the computer on, you'll see one graphics picture and then the other one automatically go from one to another and in doing that they'll learn a little bit more about some programming commands. I think they'll be used a lot more in the schools in the future. They're going to have to be because the technology is here, the jobs are high technology jobs and the students are going to have to become familiar with computers, computers are everywhere in our daily life. And it's kind of exciting because these kids have grown up with computers. I didn't grow up with a computer when I was in school. They weren't around and they are now and they're going to be part of the students every day life and I think it'll just be a part of the classroom like the chalkboard. It'll be that vital to use the computer. I don't see using the computer strictly as a computer class separate from other disciplines.

I think we'll use the computer to help us teach math and science and reading as well as learning how to use the computer and the students will learn how to use the computer as they're learning their math and their science and their history and those sorts of things. But I think it'll be vital it's coming. One of the major problems facing American public education today is they're going shortage of qualified math and science teachers. President Reagan and several members of Congress have proposed a crash program to recruit, train, and retain the math and science teachers this country needs to remain competitive in the world economy. We bring you now a report on this story as it unfolds in the U.S. Congress. In 1980 and 1981, eight percent of public school math and science teachers left education for non-teaching jobs. This loss of teachers is creating a shortage that is rapidly becoming a national crisis. We haven't had a whole lot of new ideas in science curriculum since the great Sputnik

binge on spending on science. I'm not sure the country has the kind of national mission they should on science education and I think it will take some kind of national effort to kind of guidance we had within SF in the 60s to get the most out of the kids. On January 25, President Ronald Reagan addressed this math and science teacher shortage in his 1983 State of the Union message to Congress. We Americans are still, the technological leaders in most fields. We must keep that edge and to do so we need to begin renewing the basics, starting with our educational system. While we grew a complacent others have acted. Japan with a population only about half the size of ours graduates from its universities more engineers than we do. If a child doesn't receive adequate math and science teaching by the age of 16, he or she has lost the chance to be a scientist or an engineer.

We must join together, parents, teachers, grassroots groups, organized labor and the business community to revitalize American education by setting a standard of excellence. In February, the Reagan administration proposed a solution to this problem as part of a 1.5 billion dollar cut in overall federal funds for education. On March 9, in hearing held by the Senate Labor and Human Relations Committee, Secretary of Education Terrence Bell presented the administration's plan, a proposal to take 50 million dollars from education research in order to upgrade math and science instruction in secondary schools. If we can concentrate our efforts on these potential teachers, we will be able to have a quick response to the need. At the conclusion of Secretary Bell's testimony, AFT President Albert Shanker joined Patricia

Graham, Dean of the Harvard School of Education and NEA President Willard McGuire, to present their views of the problem and its solution. If you were to try and put the three or four top priorities in addressing this subject matter in the legislation, what might they be? First, we've got to do something in terms of addressing the current deficits in these areas in the elementary schools, creating summer institutes and facilities where elementary school teachers who feel that they themselves are not able to do an adequate job in these areas are able to get the retraining or training or help that they need so that they can start doing an effective job with their own students. The second half of that retraining is probably the biggest group of math teachers we could get right away is to turn to teachers who are now teaching other subjects in secondary

schools. To look, we have the tuition money for you, we have a stipend over the summer so you don't have to coach or take some job over the summer. The largest number of teachers will likely get into math and science in the short run of people who are already teaching other subjects and who are encouraged to move over so retraining is the first. Second is recruiting and there I think the targeting in terms of loans and scholarships for students who are willing to commit themselves to go into this is the best bet in terms of a short term bet. The third has to do with the emphasis on requirements because that's the long term. What we're doing is we are now by not enforcing curriculum standards in high schools, automatically creating a shortage which no number of incentives will undo, nobody's going to start on a career in mathematics and science and college if they haven't gotten a foundation before that. The question of criteria extends beyond students to teachers themselves revealing a fundamental

difference between NEA and AFT. NEA President Willard McGuire presented his organization's opposition to a professional test to enter teaching. The thing I would object to a single test of the person doing all that was expected of them during the four years and taking a single pencil and paper test at the end but I believe there should be strong entrance requirements. Many tests given during the rigorous coursework and evaluation all the way along so there was a profile to look at rather than a single test at the end that said you're in, you're out. I don't think that's nearly as fair as a strong profile over the entire period. Senator, I would strongly disagree with that. I think that your grades in college are an indication of something. Is there an indication that the college gives easy grades? Everybody in our society takes examinations not because we don't trust somebody but because we don't have a system that absolutely will guarantee that the institutions are making proper certifications.

Now for everyone else in our society can take a test and that test plays not the only role but a very important role in determining whether that person moves into an occupation or a profession. I don't see why we can't provide the same protection for our children that we provide for everybody else. Next to our parents, teachers most greatly influence our lives as we grow up. Each month we ask an individual who has achieved a higher degree of success and recognition to recall the teacher who had the most impact on his life. We talked to Linebacker Larry Kuban shortly after his team, the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl. I have to say that when I was younger I really, it was more or less a dream to be a professional athlete. I think that that was a goal at the end of the rainbow that I'd like to really be a professional baseball player, professional football player. I can think of two former coaches that I had that also, well one of them I was in his history class and one, his name was Gordon Lamatti and he was also my baseball coach, and Jeff

Longile, who was my junior high football coach, and who is one of the ones that stand out in my mind as number one, the most important thing is beyond athletics, they had a special interest in him, which was very important. They really cared about me as a person, me being Larry Kuban, they really cared about what was going to happen to me, any personal problems, anything that might damage me as a person growing up, and that meant a lot to me. I think back on those times that, beyond being a professional in their field, thinking about their teams and their schooling that they really cared about people, and I think that as far as teaching goes, I think that was a tremendous thing that cast a really nice image on me.

Larry Kuban's future may have seen certain high school graduation, but for this year's seniors the future seems to hold less certain opportunities. High school graduation presents one of the most important moments of a young person's life. I'd like you to listen in on a conversation with some of the seniors from Southeast High School, as they graduate into today's world. High school has been very important, education was really stressed in my family. When you went to school you studied, you didn't mess around. I would say school was more of an educational learning system.

It was a fun time, a time for happiness, a time for sadness. It was a time where you could just learn about everything. Graduation was just, well, I should say school was just there really for anyone or any person that wanted an education. Oh, high school has been a very good experience, I had a lot of fun, and I really don't want to get out of school. I really like school a lot. It's really been a great experience. The teachers were great, the students were fun, I just really liked it. I really don't want to leave if I could, I'd do it all over again. Well schools taught me a lot of discipline and how to relate with others, so when I get out in the world, I know how to talk to people and help me on studying. High school has been really important to me. My father's a teacher, so I've had to pretty much keep my grades up.

I've really enjoyed the social aspects of high school, meeting people and making friends. It's been really important to me. Friendship is more important, I thought, than education, I developed more. I met new people and that was important. I thought I grew more inside, and I thought that I think that's more important than the education I got. I've had a lot of rewarding experiences, I've loved school, I made lots of friends that hopefully I'll be able to keep for the rest of my life, I don't know about that. I've just learned a lot at the school, South East, I've had a lot of opportunities, and I've liked it a lot. High school is a very rewarding experience for me. I learned a lot, the main thing I try to do is prepare myself for college, but there's also the social side of high school, meeting friends and involved in athletics and stuff like that. High school has been a lot of fun, as far as school, it's been the highlight as far. The education has been really important, but there's also other really important aspects

too, like the athletics, just the social aspect of getting to know people and getting to share ideas and that sort of thing. Next year I plan on attending Kansas State University, where I'll be majoring in probably some field of business, and I'll be picking up classes at Manhattan Christian College, which is just across the street from there, picking up my religion courses there, and then eventually going into seminarian, into ministry. I'd eventually like to start off with youth ministries, I enjoy working, right now I'm an active counselor over at church where I work with youth, and I'd like to go on that for a little bit then eventually become the regular public minister. Well I'm going in the army, I'm in the delayed entry program right now, and I'm going in for three years to be a radio operator. Well I'm going to go on to which top business college where I'm going to be taking up computer programming, and after that I was thinking about maybe taking up going into being a medical secretary.

I'm planning on going to Washburn to use it to become a lawyer, to help other people, you know. I feel like being a lawyer, I could set a goal for myself, and that goal is to help other people, and to learn about my country more, and how I could associate with my country more, and that's what I really feel like when I decide to become a lawyer after I finish with it. Going to K-State in the fall, and I'm going to major in Pre-Veterinary Medicine, eventually become a veterinarian. Okay, I'm going into photojournalism at WSU next fall, and I hope to get a place on a newspaper or in a national magazine sometime in the future. It's kind of sad for me in a way, but I'm happy this is the beginning. In this age of video, many parents are concerned that their children learn to read and write

well. They know these basic language skills are essential to all learning. Of the two, writing is the more difficult to teach. In this month's segment, Excellence in Public Education, we will look at a new approach to the teaching of language skills, one that has first graders writing and publishing their own books. One day, a caterpillar, one moment. Anybody here? So he began to cry. Look at those great big blue teardrops. And he changed, he changed, I wonder what that means. Does that make you want to turn this page to see what happens? His skin was coming off, his skin was coming off. We know about that, don't we? His was a manner, beautiful, and he had lots of friends.

Isn't that a wonderful story? Do you like about that story? At an age when most children are just learning to read, Donna Huppticks' first graders are not only reading books, they're writing them as well. He was scared. He's trembling, look, his little feet are moving. Donna uses the dreams, the ideas, the experiences of these children to teach them to read and write at a level far beyond their age. We start journals like this because we just want the kids to feel comfortable with writing and that we want them to know that we're not looking for spelling, we're looking for all these wonderful ideas that have appeared that they can put on paper. So their journals are there for them just to use and enjoy. And then we start the writing and we are using all the terminology, rehearsing, editing, by the end of the year, they really are experts, they really think they are and they are. And so we start their stories and they're very simple and basic and some of them will

start on the wrong side and go backwards and they're writing their words up and down and around and that kind of thing. But we're still looking for lots of things and we're making them feel important about themselves. You're going to see how close you can. The approach to writing Donna uses is called personal narrative writing. This program represents a significant change from traditional approaches to the teaching of writing. Three years ago they sent me to New Hampshire to watch the program in action. I was really skeptical because I had been told first graders started writing stories at the beginning in September and I kind of laughed and chuckled that I thought, I'll go. I was ready for something new and I saw it work. It was shocking. It was wonderful and came back really excited and the district has given you know they gave me support and said, hey if you want to try out and we're behind you so here I am. Thank you for sharing.

It's just changed my whole approach to teaching in all these subject areas, not just writing. I guess I'm giving them a lot more of a chance for them to express themselves in everything we're doing here. Donna's success has encouraged parents to become involved. Mrs. Martin types the finished stories. Their parents find the typed pages into books which are then placed in the school library. These parents are here because they have seen a change in their children at home. Well, it has just really brought excitement at home with writing books. It's given them a chance to really express their ideas. They have a lot of good ideas and lots of times it's hard for them to express them. And by writing books they can put it down on paper and have it published into a real library book and it really gives them a thrill and it makes them want to make an effort to read and write and you know properly put it together.

My son began reading better almost instantly and it's noticeable this year. His reading level is very good. He enjoys writing. He enjoys reading. He's continued to sign his own even outside of the classroom. Outside on the school's playground, a measure of this program's success can be made. For Donna's first graders would rather write than play. The love of language they have learned in school is a special gift, one that will remain with them for the rest of their days. For more information about the personal narrative writing program, write the Union Leadership Institute, American Federation of Teachers, 11 Dupont Circle Northwest, Washington, DC, 2036. What kid can really in the school year without a field day? This spring, Benton Elementary School held a Super Kids Day, a field day event in a long tradition where the kids found that physical education can be good recreation too.

Let's look in on Benton's Super Kids Day. Let's look in on Benton's Super Kids Day. Let's look in on Benton's Super Kids Day. Okay, pretty much I have to organize all of this. This is a tradition with all the Wichita schools.

We start the day with a tug of war, with all the grades, usually girls against girls, but sometimes boys against girls. We have an obstacle course over here. We have a soccer dribble that the kids use their skills to dribble around the cones and back in a race. We have a water balloon toss, which is their favorite because everyone tends to get a little bit wet. We have a regular sack race where one person is in the sack and then we have a three-legged race. Over here we have a new event this year. It's the chariot race and this one we have two tires where a kid gets in to the tires and pulls them down around a cone and back. We have a two-man tug of war. The children try to pull each other off of a tire with a rope between them. We have a jelly bean race, which seems to be a favorite today, the children race down with a jelly bean on a spoon and then come back and then they get to eat their jelly bean. We also have a sponge toss where we put one person behind a plastic mat with his head sticking

out and they get through wet sponges at them. They love that one. The point is pretty much to end the school with a very high note for the kids to leave school feeling good about it. We've done a lot of the racing and things in class and we've worked on some of the skills like soccer juggling and they get to use their skills and race us today against kids that are not in their own class. But pretty much it's just to have an extra good end to the school year. Ben's kids and teachers celebrate the end of school this spring as all kids do, but they will be eager to return this fall. My thanks to the teachers, students and administrators for assisting us in bringing this program to you. So until September, this is Terry McGonagall, hoping that you will watch for us in September when we will again take you inside your schools. Inside your schools has been presented by the Wichita Federation of Teachers.

The American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.