Incentive Schools: ''Marva Collins' Teacher Training Session, Mitchell and Rightsell Incentive Schools,'' Martin Luther King Interdistrict Magnet School

MARVA COLLINS TEACHER TRAINING SESSION I MITCHELL AND RIGHTSELL INCENTIVE SCHOOLS RECEIVED SEP 0 1994 Office of Desegregation Monitoring 1 MARTIN LUTHER KING INTERDISTRICT MAGNET SCHOOL 905 MARTIN LUTHER KING DRIVE LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72202 1 I AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 1, 1994 I MARVA COLLINS TEACHER TRAINING SESSION MITCHELL AND RIGHTSELL INCENTIVE SCHOOLS I Ii II MARTIN LUTHER KING INTERDISTRICT MAGNET SCHOOL 905 MARTIN LUTHER KING DRIVE LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72202 M H AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 1, 1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 - All Children Are Born Achievers 2 - Self Esteem Units 3 4 - Ten Steps Towards Better Disciplined Classrooms - Beginning With The End In Mind Changing Me First How Do I Praise Thee...200 Ways HOW-TO SESSION 5 - The Creed - Westside Preparatory School 6 - Phonics Drill 7 - Poetry Selections From Westside Preparatory School 8 - The Marva Collins' Method 9 - Teaching Shakespeare's MacBeth 10 - Teaching The Song of Roland 11 - Westside Preparatory School Teaching Units 12 - Thinking Exercises 13 - On The Pulse Of Morning 14 - Tigers In The Street 15 - The Three Questions 16 - Momotaro The Peach Boy Reading List For Ages 4, 5, & 6 Song Of The Shirt a 17 - The Punny Jester 18 - Reactive Education vs. Proactive Education 19 - Teaching The Epic a a a I MARVA COLLINS' TEACHER TRAINING SESSION I agenda August 30, 1994 9:00 11:00 Introduction Session - Beginning with The End in Mind (empowering teachers, changing attitudes, etc.) 11:30 12:00 Question and Answer Session 12:00 1:00 Lunch i 1:00 3:00 3:00 4:00 Handling Discipline Problems Empowering Children "How-To's" Role playing with teachers (teachers will "become discipline problems" I MARVA COLLINS' TEACHER TRAINING SESSION AGENDA August 31. 1994 9:00 12:00 Teaching Phonic Teaching Reading Comprehension Teaching Every Child to Read (How-To's) 12:00 1:00 Lunch 1:00 3:30 Teaching Poetry Teaching Spelling Complete any material from this morning iI 3:30 4:00 Question and Answer Session SP I MARVA COLLINS' TEACHER TRAINING SESSION AGENDA September 1, 1994 9:00 12:00 Reading Lessons (How-To's) Shifting Paradigms (Changing attitudes as to how we teach and how children learn) Building a New Belief System Teaching Reading, Writing and Spelling Simultaneously 12:00 1:00 Lunch 1:00 3:00 Teaching Parallel Thinking vs. Forward Thinking Teaching Children to Read Analytically Teaching Thinking Skills 3:00 4:00 Question and Answer Session Evaluation of the Program ^^11 I II h I I I ALL CHILDREN ARE BORN ACHIEVERS 1. i ii i' I, 1 i I i Iq ____THOUGHTS ON THE ABOVE AVERAGE TEACHER BY MARVA N. COLLINS Beginning With The End In Mind I If we were about to erect a house on a certain site, we would see beyond the tangled branches, debris, and other barriers. Otherwise, we would begin With the end in mind. We would begin by picturing in our mind how the picture of the house we have in mind will look Meanwhile, think if you Ocb-Azi _____ItTTTI. - 1 J . uuuu win looK. Meanwmie, uiiiik u you were asked this question
"What is your greatest success story?" Wouldn't it be with a sense of chagrin if you had to answer, "I worked miracles with the Jright children". What about the child that everyone else has written off! What about the child that everyone else predicted would not make it? These are the children that truly means to begin with the end in mind. The TOy we see the problem is the problem. Our belief system plays a great role in the kind of teachers we become. Become A Be Rather Than A Have Examples of the "BE teacher is
I will be a great teacher. I will be a great example. I will BE a proactive person. I will BE what I ask my students to be. I will BE an excellent teacher every moment every second. I will BE a circle of influence. I will BE a producer. I will BE a paradigm shifter when needed. There can BE no friendship without confidence. There can be no confidence without integrity. Examples of the HAVE teacher. I will become a better teacher when I HAVE BRIGHTER STUDENTS. If only I HAD better students If only I HAD more materialsB B If only I HAD more obedient student If only.LHAD more motivated students If only I HAD more motivated, caring parents IF only I HAD a better principal and better co-workers Are you a BE or a HAVE? Picking Up Both Ends Of The Stick i When picking up a stick, we pick up both ends. When teaching children, we must deal with the total child
the bright student, and the not so bright student. The excellent teacher will make the poor student good and the good student superior. This means dealing with BOTH ENDS OF THE SUCK. J Effective Discipline L L L Create an image and reinforce that image. First of all, are you a kind, caring, consistent teacher? Do you lecture about your own childhood? Do you present a curriculum that includes making choices, consequences, being a creator versus a second-hander? Children are what they learn. What images do we teach? Have children tell why they are too bright to exhibit certain behavior Have children tell you why they made the wrong choice Are you proactive or reactive? Do you react negatively to bad behavior? Have you examined your SET OF BELIEFS? Have you recorded a NEW LIFE TAPE RECENTLY, or you still playing your teaching tape of decades ago? We all live with many scripts given us by our parents, teachers, and others. These scripts may be totally wrong or in conflict with society and our students. Make your own list of TO BE NOT TO BE A Bad Teacher iI Post a list in your classroom classroom and celebrate a ROBERT IS Do you daily utilize creativity and conscience? MAKE A LIST OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES YOU AN ABOVE AVERAGE TEACHER r II I, I S' I 3 I I I I I I I J I ! 1 ' 1 I , I: I i I I' i i 7teir-esteem unit SelfEsteem#4 WhoAml? Child will begin with the alphabet and continue through Z. A, I am adorable, h.I am beautiful. Clamchanning DI am delightful I am uger and enthusiastic FI am fantastic Glam gorgeous HI am highly motivated I lam never indolent JI am just fantastic Klamkind , LI am loveable M1 am motivated to readi the zenith of success NI am never, never a Second-Bander, I am a Creator 01 am oh so wonderful PI am pleasing, pleasant, and proud QI am quite audacious RI am really, really great SI am so, so sanguine T1 am never, never timorous Ulam unique VI am very, very valiant WI am wonderful XI am extra special YI am youn to mold successfully Z1 am zooming to success and happiness. I i This session may be used to teadi not only positive reafiirmation, but alto to teach the alphabet and vocabulary words at the tame time. The more a child identifies with bis or her qiedal tdves, the less they will have time to create havoc in the dimnnm Bwnwnber, we orate in image and ranfome that image. What image wouldwe like OUT Students to have? We must then create that image and rcinforceit daily. I WILL NOT LET YOUR PROBLEM BE MY PROBLEM Did your friend ever call you names or ay things to hurt you? ( Did you feel badly? Remember if your friend calls you a name, your friend feels badly at that moment You must not let that friend give you their bad feelings. You will say, "1 love you very much, and I am sorry you feel badly, but I cannot take your bad feelings for you". You are then a CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE RATHER THAN A CIRCLE OF CONCbKN. Have students draw CSrdes of Concern (What ate you concerned about, worried about, think about?) Now draw Circles of Influena (How do you solve these problems, what do you make right? Display drawings titled
MRS. ' JONES' CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE OR MRS. JONES' 1CIRCLES OF CONCERN Children may be concerned about crime, drugs, the homeless, the environment. They may also become circles of influence by not using drugs, by protecting the environment the way they can, etc.. To solve a probTembFto work towards a solution makes us CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE To see a problem and not work towards a solution is to become a CIRCLE OF CONCERN. Eave a Circle of Influence Party Where eadi child tells bow they have become Circles of Concern. Serve circle candy (lifesavers), or dougnuts (bole in the middle), etc., or vegetables with a hole carved in the middle, etc.. Tie in the story, THE LITTLE ENGINE TEAT COULD as being a Circle of Influence. At lint, be was a Circle of Concern (concerned as to how be would teach the top of the hill until he realised that be was the solution to the problem he thought could be sol ved by the older and larger trains.) Create the Little Engine that Could award. Develop a Circle oflnfluena Award.. Develop a Creator's Award, etc.
Create a Be and Have Award Talk about the Be's and the Have's. 1 will be great I will be the best in my class I will be the best creator in the world rather than: If only I bad a better family If only I had a sharper pencil If only 1 had a nicer home If only I had less homework If only I had a better teacher If only 1 bad a shorter story to read If only I had less math problems to do, etc.. Create a Be and Have dialogue where some of the children ate Be's and some are Eave's Then discipline the class by saying, John is bong a Have.. Jet's be a Be bright boy, CREATE AN IMAGE AND REINFORCE IT. Create a Be Qassroom SHARPEN THE SAW ESTEEM UNIT Say to duldren, What happens when we attempt to cut with a dull A dull knife? A dull grass cutter? It will not cut. right? Children, likewise, with our skills, we must always sharpen the saw by sharpening our skills. What happens if we get an answer for three plus four equals fifteen? We need to sharpen the saw, right? What happens when our skills saw: becomes dull? How do we sharpen our skills? How do we sharpen our personal saws? Develop bulletin board that says: Sharpening our Saws.What do others say to the person that others think you are? What do people say to the person that you really are? Write a Poem titled: "The Real Me", or the Inside Me (Draw a square and have the child write inside the square who they really are). Then under the square, write about the Outside Me (How others see me) Self-Esteem #2 On the Day I Was Born On the day I was born, the world shouted, "Welcome to the earth (child will say their name)** You are wonderful, you are splendid, you are momentous, you are terrific, you are great, you are destined to make the world a wonderful place. We are so glad that you are here. On the day I,_______________ was bom, my parents said, "We love you (childs name_) _________________________________(childs name), and we are go glad that you came to live with us. Welcome to our family. We love you so very much. Self Esteeem goal # 3I A, I am adorable. B., I am bold and brave. C., I am cuddly and courteous. D. I am delightful. E., I am eager. F., I am fantastic. G., I am glorious. H. I am Heavenly, I, I am idolized. J., I am just right. K., I am kind. L, I am loveable. M., I am magnificient, N, I am nice, noble, and neat. 0, I am au courant (say oh kuh rahn which means well informed), P, I am pleasant and pleasing. Q, I am quite sensational, R., I am really, really great., S, I am simply wonderful, T., I am timely, U, I am unique, V, I am very, very bright, W, I am a winner, X, I am extra-luminous, Y, I am yours to mold fantastically, Z, I am heading for the zenith of success. Ten Steps Towards Better Disciplined Classrooms By Marva N. Collins 1. Always make friends with each student before there is a discipline problem. 2. Find something positive to say to each student everyday. Example: Tvly what nice gym shoes, or I missed you yesterday Cathy.' d '* 3. Give extra teaching time after school or before school to the slower student. This student is usually the one that causes havoc in the classroom. '* 4. Rather than eating with fellow teachers or staff, instead sit with a different child, or the entire class each day. 5. When a student misbehaves instruct the entire class that they are to repeat the "T following, when asked why the will not misbehave. Your question
"Why aren t you going to misbehave in class?" Their repose to you should be: "Because I am too bright to waste my time." I 1 6. When younger students misbehave in class, do not have them write punitive lines
1 will not chew gum in class." Instead, have them write a composition on the etymology of gum, where gmn came from or "A composition entitled I am too Brigh tto Waste My Time * in School. You may also choose to have them deliver a three minute speech detailing Why I am too Bright to Waste Time in School. 7. Write positive notes on your students papers such as
Lef s work on this paper together I or I know that together we can do better. 8. Offer help to slower students with their schoolwork. It is usually these students that prevent teachers from accomplishing what they could with other students. I , 9. Never forget that you are a professional. Never resort to becoming a student. For example, when a student writes a note that says: "I hate you Mr. Jones. Read the note < I and say, "I like you too," and then call on that student to recite, etc. Reduce ridicule and laughter in the classroom by telling the student that speaks out. 10. JU* 10. Reducendicuie ana laugnier in ------------------r------- that he or she is very courageous, and it took courage to be wrong, but they who stood * silent or laughed took the easy path, the child that speaks out is to be praised not mocked. Encourage students to clap for the other students
create a spirit of group effort in the classroom. 1989 Marva N. CollinsI I I Changing Me First I I will provide a positive environment for my students I will make every child a star. I I will not allow any child to fail. I will begin with the end in mind. I I will be a Circle of Influence for my students I I will agree that I must pick up 'Both ends of the stick"
The good end and the bad end. I will professionally better myself each day. I will never arrive in the Land of the Done. I I I will provide a first-rate academic program for my students. I I will become a universally good teacher. I I will praise the good that my students do, and give options for the bad behavior. I I will not let the kind of home, background, or ambience that my students come from determine my belief system. I I will internalize the fact that the way I see the problem is the problem. I I will love and believe in each child unconditionally. I B II I I I I will not point fingers at the person I feel is to blame for my students' failures. Meanwhile, I shall see each child as a "lump of coal" with the potentials of becoming my diamonds". I I I will make every "Poor" student good, and every good student, "Superior". I will never use excuses. As a teacher, I will either declare that I am "Responsible" or I must declare myself, "Irresponsible". I I will be willing to bridge the gap with which my students come. I I will always believe that my influence with each student will become the beginning of a new life for each child. I I will love, respect and honor my students so that they too, may honor, respect and love me. I I I will have my students make life deposits each day by having each child write 200 Reasons Why They Are Fantastic or Wonderful I When a child misbehaves, I will have the child red circle the reason he or she has written that indicates that the behavior is inappropriate at that time. I I will never again write on a child's paper: "You can do better". I will monitor each child's work so that his "better becomes his or her best". I I will mediate errors before those errors become permanent ones. I will respect each child unconditionally. I I - - Society will draw a circle that shuts me out, but my superior thoughts will draw me In. I was bom to win if I do not spend too much time trying to fail. I can become a citizen of the world if I do not spend too many energies attempting to be local. I will ignore the tags and names given me by society since only I know what I have the ability to become. I will continue to let others predict, but only I can determine what I will, can or cannot do. Failure is just as easy to combat as success is to obtain. Education Is painful and not gained with ploying games or being average. I have seen failure destroy millions with promised hopes and broken dreams. While I hove the opportunity, I shall not sit on the sidelines bitter with despair and wishing later that I had become a literate lifter of the world instead of a failing leaner. I will use each day to the fullest. I promise that each day shall be gained, not lost - used, not thrown away. Yet, it is my privilege to destroy myself If that Is what I choose to do. I hove the right to fail, but I do not have the right to take my teacher and other people with me. God made me the captain of one life - my own. Therefore, if I decide to become a failure, that is my right. We were all promised a pursuit of happiness and that is what I must do: pursue happiness and success for myself. No one will give It to me on a proverbial platter, and no one will care as much about me as I must care for myself. I must be willing to accept the consequences for my own failure, and I must never think that those who hove chosen to work while I played, rested and slept will share their bounties with me. I will wave proudly my flag signifying that I am a failure by choice, but I will never envy those who have selected to wove their unfurled banners announcing their success. My success and my education can become a life-time companion which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate. No names can hurt me. Education and success can become a lifetime solace. It guides goodness. It gives at once grace and genius to governments, communities, cities, townships, villages, homes and palaces. I I I I I I V II Without education, what is a man or woman? Splendid savages, a slave, a beast wandering from here to there believing whatever they are told. I I God is not some cosmic bellboy that comes at my beck and call. If I want to achieve, the first step must be my own undertaking, rime and chance comes to us all. Whether I decide to take that time and chance is indeed my own decision. I can either be hesitant or courageous - lite does indeed maroon the hesitant, but inspires the brave. I I will swiftly stand up and shout: "This is my time and my place. I will accept the challenge, or I will let others make my decisions for meP' I Westside Preparatory School THIS CREED IS MEMORIZED BY ALL STUDENTS AT WESTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL AND IS RECITED DAILY. EVEN THE THREE AND FOUR YEAR OLD CHILDREN MUST MEMORIZE THIS CREED. CREED COPYRIGHT. 1980 BY MRS. MARVA N COLLINS. THE WESTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL H I i Cry and Crystal Th^ ^"ted^ practice the many sounds for letter comblnaUons. These sheets should be used These sheets are not designed to teach phonics, as reinforcement only after the spellings and sounds have been taught. Add your own words to continue the driU. a I I Cry and crystal (repeat) The y in cry now says The Y In crystal now says 1 Machine and scream (repeat) The I In machine now says e The ELA In scream now says e Nancy and tyrant (repeat) The Y In Nancy now says e" The Y In tyrant now says 1~ Steak and wealth (repeat) The EA In steak now says a The EA In wealth now says e 1 Therapy and try (repeat) The Y in therapy now says e" The y In try now says T" Lead and led (repeat) The EA In lead now says e The e In led now says e Physician and baby (repeat) The y In physician now says 1 The Y In baby now says e" Physical and adjustment (repeat) The E In adjustment now says IT The Y In physical now says T Break and beak (repeat) The ELA In break now says a The ELA In beak now says e Ski and read (repeat) The I In ski now says e The EA In read now says e Phone and enough (repeat) The PH In phone now says f The GH In enough now says f Though and rough (repeat) The OUGH In though now says o The OUGH In rough now says fI I I I a Christmas and chagrin (repeat) The CH In Christmas now says cr The CH In chagrin now says sh Piece and peace (repeat) Piece and peace are homonyms. They sound alike, but have different meanings. Homonyms change with the Inside vowel Arachne and chap (repeat) The CH In Arachne now says k The CH in chap now says ch Ache and cake (repeat) The CH in ache now says k The C in cake says k Neighbor and straight (repeat) The EIGH In neighbor now says a The AIGH In straight now says a E before I usually says a Receipt and size (repeat) The vowel signal E changes c" to s" The S in size says s Note: you may want to add other sounds to the list that has been prepared for you. This is a good way to practice word attack skills so that reading the basal reader becomes easier for children. Leisure and zoom (repeat) The S In leisure now says z The Z in zoom says z Sell and peace (repeat) The S In sell now says s The CE in peace now says s because the vowel signal E changes c" to an s". I Session and patient (repeat) The TI In patient now says sh The SI In session too. says sh The vowel signal I changes s" to sh". I Curl and pearl (repeat) The R In pearl controls the vowel EA and it neither says EH nor EA, the R in curl controls the vowel Uand it neither says UH norU.Toe-try Sefectivns Trom Ti^estside Treparatory ScfiooC 'These poems have been selected and memorized hy the children of 'Westside VreparatorySchool. Jrom the boolilOl famous Toems. TVe fiope you will ftave as mut/i tiyoyment rcang them as the children have had memorizing them in their entirety.s s (Dropout by Codtns I i J J- i lichen as a child Id always dream of the things I would Become someday. Somewhere there would Be people who would care. (People who would share the dreams, aspirations andgoals that I had. Little did I realize that I would Be laBeled, Bad". As time went By I was a statistic that was all too sad. I went to class doing the Best I could, never learning the things that I should. *2^ BTigftte.T students fiad ad tHe chances. Soon I [earned to sunhve hy acting out in class. I [earned to Be tfie c[ass c[own. This is fiau> I drozi/ned my sorroufs and my pain, ^y making others [augh, while I cried inside with so much hurt and shame. I never learned to read, never learned to tvrite, I only learned how to fight. And hating and fighting I did zvith all my might. Soon I decided to take to the streets to learn to Be mean, db Be seen, to yell and scream...to hate ondfight... I was a desperate soul inflight. I dropped out cf school. I was tired of Being the class fool. I was never taught the learning tool. And now I try to Be so cool. Someday soon I hope someone wdl tahe my hand. And care, really care. And show me another way. I do want to learn to read and zvrite. (Please help me in my plight. I, too, want to see the Gght. 1 I t I 1d( p r t p 1 r I t o r y schoolH (Be Strong ly MUUk Saon^pon Sa<c<ic< Strong! TVc are not fiere to p[ay, to dream to drift
we have hard worh^to do, [oads to [ift
shun not the struggCeface it
tis Qods gift. Be Strong! Say not, VTie days are evil. T^ho s to blame? and fold the hands of aeguiesce-Oh shame! Stand up, speafout, and bravely in Qods name. Be strong! It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong, (Kow hard the hattie goes, the day how long
(Taint not-fght on! (Tomorrow comes the song. - w H I I d e preparatory achool 2!}-lelp me 'Teacher, I am Scared I am in danger teacher, you rescue me. I say things when I am angry teacher, and you forgive me, for you hnow that I hurt inside. I am in the darhiteacher, and you show me the light. I am chubtfii[ and you give me faitfi. - I am neglected, and you teac/i me. ignore the tags, labels and the former statistics that have signified that I am a failure...... Qbu show me success. I am a child, and you show me the way. Qbu hnow that I still have to grow, to learn, to become, you hnow that I can be more than what I am, and you are patient enough to never give up on me. Everybody else says that I am "bad, but you teacher, always see the "good" in me, and for you I become good. i I am lost and you give me directions. I waste time and you sfivw me fiow to use my time wisely. you do not nag....you forgive....andyou show me that you care not just by the things you say to me, 'But I see the love for me in your eyes and I dare not let you down. I succeed teacher for you, and before you hnow it, I have learned to love success.I I see only today, but you show me tfU vision of tficfiturc. ~Qi>u mahie me fihe what I su in the future and therefore, I am motivated to use today more wisely. ,3 'When I attempt to go backwards, you push me forward. I am sometimes stunted by thefaibures of my past, and you mab/ me see the gbory of the future. (fou have unbboched my fetid channebs through which now creativity and sebf rebiance conf bow. 'fou see today as my beginning, and you do not remember the decadent past. E ^hen I am afraid, you give me courage..... 'When I am 9darooned by the problems cf bife, you encourage me to stee[ the wid in pleasure or in pain to go forth. I want to [earn...I want to achieve... and you teach me to do both. V 'Ihanl^you teacher. "lOww what? I (ove you. I [ove you because you are so forgiving. I [ove you because when the worbdsaw faibure, you, teacher saw success. 'Because of you my [ight shad never fbicber, and now I am motivated to [ight the dying embers cf others who too, have been tagged and [abebed. I sfiaff never forget you teacfier......I (ove you. kJ IOpportunity tg Jai* J**at InftCll (KfastcT of kuman dcstiniij am I. Jame, Cove, aruffortune on my footsteps wait, Cities aneffieUs I waf^ I penetrate ^Deserts and seas remote, and passing by ^veb, and mart, andpabace, soon or bate I b
iwcl^unbidden, once at every gate! Ifs be eping, wa^c-iffeasting, rise before I turn away. It is tfie fiour of fate, Sbid they who foblaw me reach, every state 9dortcds desire, and conquer every foe Save death
but those who doubt or hesitate. Condemned to faibure, penury and woe, Seebime in vain and lisebess^ impbore- I answer not. Sind I return no more.9 Ihnt lime of year Shakfspun 'That time year tfiou may 'st in me Sefiofd 'Wfien yeffoTi) feaves, or none, orfeto, do fiang Upon tfiose fougfis rofiieh sfia^ against tfie cofd, Bare ruin'd cfioirs, where fate the sweet birds sang: In me thou see 'st the tzoilight of such day As after sunset fadeth in the west, 'Which by and by bfacf^night doth ta^ away, (Death's second seff, that seab up alf the rest: In me thou see st the gfowing of sueh fire 'Ihat on the ashes of his youth doth fie, J4s the death-bed whereon it must e^ire, Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by: I 1 QJiis tfiau pcrccivst wfiicfi ma^ tfiy [ove more strong, Qb [ove tfot wett wfiicfi tfiou must Uave are (ong. a. e I I I 1 d preparatory ackoolJI f I 9{ouse by the Side of Tdie Walter ffiu fl TJiere. are hermit soids that [ive ufithdraiim In the place of their self content
There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths 'Where highways never ran- 'But let me live by the side cf the road lind be a friend to man. fl fl Let live in a house by the side of the road, 'Where the race of men go by- The men who are good and the men who are bad, As good or bad as I. I would not sit in the scomer's seat, Or hurl the cynic's ban- Let me live in a house by the side of the road And be a friend to man. I see from my house by the side of the road, 'By the side cf the highway cf life, 'The men who press with the ardor cf hope, 'The men who are faint with strife. (But I turn not away from their smiles nor their and tears, 'Both parts of the infinite plan- Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man. I hnaw there are brooh^baddened meadows ahead And mountains of wearisome height
Tt .c.____r______ ~ tC.And stretches away to the night. (But stid I rejoice when the travelers rejoice And weep with the strangers that moan, 9^ hve in my house by the side of the road Lif^ a man who dweds alone. Let me doe in a house by the side of the road- It's here the race cf men go by. Lhey are good, they are bad, they are wecd^j, they are strong, wisefoolish-so am I! dhen why should I sit in the scomer's seat. Or hurl the cynic's ban? n Let me. Cive in my fioiise Sy tfie side of the road and be a friend to man. [I El Ia SoUtudc t^VI* WUxrMaxJi. i 9 1 1 Laugh, and the. wortd laughs -uhth gou
iVeep and you weep alone. IL or the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, (But has trouble enough of its own. Sir^, and the hills answer
Sigh, and it is lost on the air. The echoes bound to ajcryful sound, (But shrinhjrom voicing care. 1 I a (Rejoice, and men will seeh.you
grieve, and they turn andgo. 'They want full measure of all your pleasure, 'But they do not need your woe. (Be glad, and your friends are many
'Be sad, and you lose them all. 'There are none to decline your nectared wine, 'But alone you must drinh,life sgall. UFeast, and your halls are crowded
Last, and the woHdgoes by. Succeed andgive, and it helps you live, 'But no man can help you die. 'There is room in the halls cf pleasure Lor a long and lordly train, But one by one we must ad file on through the narrow aisles of pain. oL I turned myself into myself and was Jesus, 9den intone my lozhn^ name praises all praises I am the one who would save I sowed diamonds in my hachyard my howels deliver uranium The filings from my fingernails are semi-precious jewels On a trip north I caught a cold and blew my nose giving oil to the Arab world. I am so flip, even my errors are correct I saifed west to reac/i east and fiad to round off tfie earth as I went The hairffom my head thinned andgofd was [aid across three continents I am so perfect, so divine, so ethereal, so surreal I cannot he comprehended e^^cept hy my permission. I mean I canf[y a bird in tfie s^.I T,go Tripping hf Qiffvanm V I was bom in the Congo I waited the fertile crescent and built the Sphiwc I designed a pyramid so that a star that only glows Dvery one hundred years fall into the center giving divine and pc feet light. I am bad. ' ' 8 I I sat on the throne drinking nectar zvith Allah I got hot and sent an ice age to Durope to cool my thirst (My oldest daughter is (fefertiti The tears from my birth pains created the (h^ I am a beautiful woman. . 1 '*fi- I /gazed on the forest and burned out the Sahara with a paciiet cf goat's meat and a change of cdothes I crossed it in two hours I am agazeiie so swift, so szvift you can't catch me. I ' 1 ,'t i yor a Sirtfiday present when he was three I gave my son ^Hannihai an eiephant gave me ^^snnefor (Mother's (Day (My strength fiows ever on. 1 I i i (My son (fpah built a new arl^and I stood proudly at the helm as we sailed on a seft summer day 1 1Q(ccp-a-(foin ynw^Z. Suwn K . If you strike a thorn or rose, l^eep a-poin'! If it ftails or it snows, J(eep a-oin'! V^aint no use to sit and 'whine "When your fish ain't on your Une
'Bait your lwok.and ktep a tryin %eep a-oin'! 'When the weather kfihs your crop, TQeep a-goin ! OBough 'tis work.to reach the top, !l(eep a-goin'! 5pose you re out o'eo'ry dime, ^ittin' broke ain't any crime
001 the world you 're feelin 'prime Qkeep a-goin'! fien it looks like all is up, 7(eep a-goin'! I T>rain tfie sweetness from tfie cup, westelde ereparatery aehoo) 12 'Keep a-poin 7 See tfie ziHid birefs on tfie zoing, f^Uar the beUs that sweetfy ring, 'i^^hen you feeb bihe surginsing Keep a-goin'! I IL: n II 1 3'5 ft* t i i i 9 prtptxaXOTy chool 13 <?Tlic 9v(eTchant of Venice hf WB^Skai^tpten 1 'IfU quality of mercy is not strained
It droppetfi as tfie gentfe rain from fieavc Upon the place Seneath: it is twice hfest,- It blesseth him that gives and him that tah^: 'tis mightiest in the mightiest
it Secomes ndie throned monarch better than his crozvn: ^hs scepter shows the force of temporabpower, TTu attribute to awe and nuyesty, 'H^herein doth sit the dread and fear of hivgs
(But mercy is above this scepteredsway,- It is enthroned in the hearts of hivgs. It is an attribute to Qod himsebf
.^nd earthly power doth then show li^t (jod s, When mercy seasons jiestice. 39docni[igfit swut the moanfight sleeps upon this han^ iHiere toU[ we sit, and [et tfie sound music Creep in our ears: Soft stiffness, and the night, (Become the touches cf sweet harmony. Sit Scssica: foo^ how the ffoor of heaven is thic^infaid with patines cf frightgofd: (There's not the smaffest orb which thou behofdst (But in his motion fi^ an angef sings. Stiff quiring to young-ey d cherubims. 9 1 W t 1 d e 15 pitftrttety ic h o o I t C1 asi 'A ITrees fy 9^hiter H I thinks that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the Tarth's sweet flozving hreast. tree tfiat looks at Qod all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray
1 1 A tree that may in summer wear A nest of rohins in her hair
Upon whose hosom snow has lain
who intimate^ lives with rain. f I a Toems are made ByfooCs me, Tut only Qod can mal^e a tree. '*<a(atdc preparatory acheol U ifB C^DDSin^g A MANUAL FOR EDUCATING ANO MOTIVATING YOUR CHILO I 1 i I I i: r Introduction The rest of the nation seemingly is just beginning to ask why Johnny and Mary are so bored in school. I posed this question fourteen years ago when I left the public school system in dismay. When others were busy takiiig about fixing the students. I knew that it was the system and the teachers that needed fixing. I knew that Johnny and Mary America did rot need more labels, staining, inkblotting and measuring. I knew that Johnny and Mary America did not need more federal funds, grants, and gimmicks and things. They just needed more teachers who believed that all children are achievers, until they are taught too thoroughly that they are worthless. I also remembered nostalgically the lessons of history and thought of Abraham Lincoln, who at fourteen years of age had not learned to read. I also thought that if Abe had been a student in todays schools, he emphatically never would have become president of the United States. Poor Abe would have been put into one of our Zeitgeists learning disabled rooms. Thousands of visitors visit our school each year to see what they call a miracle. I call it common-sense, dedication, and the efforts of bright, energetic teachers who take personally the failure of just one child. While the rest of the nation is busy telling us to tell our children to just say No" to dmgs. we. here at Westside Preparatory School are giving our children options. In other words, we have given them a multitude of things to say. Yes* to. In my opinion, it is easier to just say. No" when we have choices of things to say. Yes" to. Our children learn not from the banalities of seeing Jimmy and Sue mnning through the pages of a watered-down, easy-to-read-easy-to-leam basal reader, but the lessons of sticktoivness. perseverance, determination, courage, and our responsibility to give something back to the world. I personalty feel that dnjg addiction arises when people fail to take responsibility fortheir own lives. I feel that our children have failed to take responsibility lor their lives because we have failed to teach them these lessons in school. Any normless society is bound for real trouble. The lessons of history tell us this. The lessons in this book are simple, and consist of the kind of common sense that Ralph Waldo Emerson told us astounds people, but the lessons in this workbook do work. Try them and see a child's eyes holding wonder Ike a cup. Try them and see your classroom metamorphose into a miracle right before your eyes. Try them, and become the great teacher that you can be. .Z'7O 'v_ Marva N. illins Director/Founder ot Westside Preparatory School I i I I I i 1. I p Copyrighl 1989 by Mrs. Marva N. Collins A 501 (c)3 Non-Profit Organization 4146 West Chicago Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60651 (312) 227-5995 No parts of this publication may be duplicated without the permission of Marva Collins Cover art: M. Sanders TABLE OF CONTENTS Phonics Drill 1 Caring the Marva Collins Way 7 A Proposal for American Schools 12 Listening and Teaching from Nursery Rhymes 17 Greek Mythology 21 Thinking and Listening Skills for Math 23 Miscellaneous Ideas 26 Excellence the Marva Collins Way 27 The Worst Mistakes Made in the Classroom 34 Monitoring Teacher Success in the Classroom 35 Developirig Effective Reading Materials 36 Proverbs 38 Why I Teach 42 PHONICSDRILL 2 ni-a Hl I I HI I I INTRODUCTION This phonics drill is designed to help students practice the many sounds for letter combinations. The drill is done with handclapping to create a rhythm that is fun and exciting for children. Learning phonics does not have to be tedious. These sheets are not designed to teach phonics. These sheets should be used as reinforcement only aft^r the spellings and sounds have been taught. Add your own words to continue the drill. Cry and crystal (repeat) _ The Y in cry now says i The Y in crystal rraw says i Nancy and tyrant (repeat) The Y in Nancy rxjw say^ e The Y in tyrant now says i Therapy arxt try (repeat) The Y in therapy now s^ e The Y in try now says i Physician and baby (repeat) The Y in physidan rxwr says i The Y in baby now says e Physical and adjustment (repea^ The E in adjustment now s^ i The Y in physical now says i Ski and read (repeat) The l in ski now says "e _ The EA in read now says e Machiira and scream (repeat) The 1 in machine now says e The EA in scream now says e Steak and wealth (repeat) _ The EA in steak now says a The EA in wealth now says e Lead and led (repeat) The EA in lead now says? The E in led now says e Break and beak (repeat) The EA in break now says a "Nobody will do your work for you. You have to trust yourself, act for yourself, speak for yourself, and be yourself. Crystal Marshall Age 6 B I d t e P s c h 0 0 I w e s t s I e P PHONICS DRILL The EA in beak now says e can I go out pwth the big boats? I By having Sttif-motivation, pftlf-determination, land self-confidence." Phone and enough (repeat) The PH in phone now says f The GH in enough now says ( Though and rough (repeat) The OUGH in though now says o The OUGH in rough now says f yinde Jean-Baptiste Age 6 t 1 a Christmas and chagrin (repeat) The CH in Christmas now says cr The CH in chagrin now says sh Arachne and chap (repeat) The CH in Arachne now says k The CH in chap now says ch Neighbor and straight (repeat) The HIGH in neighbor now says a The AIGH in straight now says a e before i usually says a* Receipt and size (repeat) The vowel signal E changes c to s' The s in size says s Leisure and zoom (repeat) The S in leisure now says z The Z in zoom says z Sell and peace (repeat) The S in sell now says s The CE in peace now says s because the vowel signal E changes c* to an "s' Session and patient (repeat) TheTI in patient now says sh The SI in session too, says sh The vowel signal i changes *s to sh Curl and pearl (repeat) The R in peari controls the vowel ea and it neither says oh nor 53, the r in controls the vowel u and it neither says uh nor u Piece and peace (repeat) Piece and peace are homonyms__ They sound alike, but have different meanings. Homonyms change with the inside voweL Ache and cake (repeat) The CH in ache now says k The C in cake says k I e s t s 1 d e P r e p s c h o o I fl PHONICS DRILL-Beg and Beige Beg and Beige The G in Beg now says G The G in Beige now says J "I will determine what I can do." Rug and Rouge Rug and Rouge Marcus Patton Ago 7 a The G in Rug now says G The G in Rouge now says J Mag and Magellan Mag and Magellan The G in Mag now says G The G in Magellan now says J Keg and Cage Keg and Cage V The G in Keg now says G The G in Cage now says J I Rag and Rage Rag and Rage The G in Rag now says G The G in Rage now says J Sag and Sage Sag and Sage I The G in Sag now says G The G in Sage now says J I Ache and Chap Ache and Chap 3 Ache says K and Chap says CH Trachea and Chin Trachea and Chin a Trachea says K and Chin says CH* Chip and Bronchitis. Chip and Bronchitis Chip says CH* and Bronchitis says K Charles and Children Charles and Children w e s t S I d G P r e p s c h 0 0 I L PHONICS DRILL a "God gave me a mind of my own, and I know how to use it." Charles says 'CH" and Children says "CH" Beg and Beige Beg and Beige Adrianna Glanton Ago 7 The vowel signal e changes g to j, and hits the vowel before it arxf makes it say its itame. Supper and Super Supper and Super The vowel signal e hits the vowel before it and makes it say its name. (Wo double the consonant in super and wo now have supper because the vowel signal is rww too far away to act). Dinner and Diner Dinner and Diner The vowel signal e hits the vowel before it and makes it say its name. (Wo double the consonant and we now have dinner). Fat and Fate Fat and Fate 9a The vowel signal e hits the vowel before it and makes it say its Less and Lesion Less and Lesion The vowel signal I changes s to z The vowel signal i changes s to z Read and Measure Read arxl Measure The ea in read now says e The ea in measure now says? Real and Steak Real and Steak The ea in real now says e The ea in steak now says's See arxJ read See and read They both say e They both say e Candy and Bread Candy and Bread The y'm candy now says e The ea in bread also says? name. w e s t s I d e P r P s c h o o I PHONICS DRILL Fly and High Fly and High The y in Fly now says i _ The igh in high now says i Charles and Andromache Charles and Andromache Charles says CH* and Andromache says K Chevrolet and Ache Chevrolet and Ache Chevrolet says "SH" and Ache says K Trachea and Chagrin Trachea and Chagrin Trachea says K and Chagrin says 'SH* Bronchitis and Champagne Bronchitis arxf Champagne Bronchitis says K and Champagne says *SH' Chalice arxf Charlotte Chalice and Charlotte Chalice says *CH* arxi Charlotte says *SH' Chord and Chain Chord and Chain Chord says K and Chain says *CH' Tp arxf Type T<3 and Type _ The vowel signal E hits the vowel y and makes it say long L Pan and Pane Pan and Pane The vowel signal E hits the vowel before it and makes it say its name artd makes it say its name. Rob arxf Robe Rob arxf Robe The vowel signal E hits the vowel before it and makes it say its name.... and makes it say its name. Sam arxi Same Sam and Same "1 am on the road I want to be on. I am on the road to brightness. Tia Hudson Ago 7 I ' * w e s t s 1 d e P r e p s c h o 0 I PHONICS DRILL The vowel signal E hits the vowel before it and makes it say its name.... and makes it say its name. nt is my right to Sjcceed." Ran and Reign Ran and Reign dith Jones le 6 The a in ran now says A. _ The ei in reign now says A, now says A. Rub and Ruby Rub and Ruby The vowel signal Y hits the vowel before it and makes it say its name.... and makes it say its name. Sing and Singe Sing and Singe The G in Sing now says G The G in Singe now says J Cry arxf Dandy Cry and Dandy The Y in cry now saysT, and the Y in dandy now says E 1 Yet and Handy Yet and Handy The Y in Yet now says Y, and the Y in handy now says E 1 Machine and Bee Machine and Bee The I in machine now says^ Double ee in bee too says E 1 Read and Ski Read and Ski The I in ski now says E _ The ea in read, too says E Cat and Ice Cat and Ice t The C in Ice now says S (Because the vowel signal E changes C to S). The C in cat now says C Can and Nice Can and Nice The C in can now says C The C in nice now says S (Because the vowel signal E changesC to S) d r e p s c h o o I w e s t s I e P I a CARING THE MARVA COLLINS WAY ' r/ '1 Prologue Often teachers develop belief systems about students and that is alright if those systems don't become rigid and inflexible, not albwing new evidence to come in and change them. Belief systems alter the way students are treated. If teachers believe that children cannot learn
those students, of course, will not learn. If teachers believe that the kind of home a student comes from has anything to do with what that child can achieve, then, of course, the curriculum becomes watered down and it becomes an impossible feat for the child to learn. I take the position that the more fetid a home environment might be. the harder a teacher must work to break that self-perpetuating cycle. When I worked in Chicago's public schools, I often heard teachers say, "I am so sick of these children." When one takes this kind of attitude, it of course, rubs off on the children. If we are not excited about what we do. then children can sense this. Can we imagine a doctor saying. "I do not believe this patient will ever gel well?" When wo create a positive environment for our students, wo can see some miraculous things happen. When we expose children to the great world masterpieces in literature, we always ask them: "Why are wo reading this?' We let them know that groat works are for great minds, and wo do consider their minds great. When we use a vocabulary book for the younger children entitled. "VOCABULARY FOR THE COLLEGE BOUND STUDENT." we tell the students. "YOU ARE COLLEGE BOUND." We give our students the idea that each of them are winners. When a child misbehaves in school, we have "brainwashed" them to respond to us when questioned about their behavior that they are just too bright to misbehave. This, of course, cannot be just a one day endeavor, it must be our consistent reply to them whenever a problem arises. Just as children respond to the "brainwashing* around them before they come to school, we, too, at school must wash out the negative "brainwashing" and replace it with positive reinforcement. Just as the children have learned meanness, decadence, fetidness, and other negative attitudes, we must reteach them the positive forces npeded to win in life. I care a great deal about our children, and they know this. How do we convey this attitude? Consistently, we tell our children .that they are of royal blood, that they are born to win. We tell our children each day that they are special, unique, and this becomes a daily routine for our children. When we are constantly told that we are bright, we become bright. Of course, rhetoric is never a replacement for skills, and first we attempt to tell our children that they are bright, and then we use the positive attitudes that we have taught our children to encourage academic skills. We find that once we take care of the basic child, teaching then becomes an easier endeavor. Thousands of visitors come to visit Westside Preparatory School each year to see what they can a miracle. We call it dedication, common-sense, determination, and a love for our students. We hope that the following information will help you see some of the miracles others come here to see, and hopefully, too, your dassroom win become a beacon of hope tor our children.the children that will one day lead us. "When we create a positive environment for our students, we can see somie miraculous things happen II "I don't want anyone telling me what to do. I am the captain of m^ own life." Meghan Coleman Age 7 w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I a - } CARING THE MARVA COLLINS WAY I "Nobody can tell me what I cannot do." Helena Hopkins Me 6 * is Why arent you going to continue talking to your friend? Child responds: "Because I am too bright to waste my time." Turn arourxf sweetheart, your life is in front of you
not behind you. When one child calls another child a name or uses a racial slur then say. Perhaps you would like to make an appointment with God and say, "God you made something ugly and I am angry about that" When a student passes a negative note written about the teacher say, I love you too." Thon continue teaching. When a student insist on arguing a point, simply say in a soft and loving tone: "I love you very much and I will not let you fail." When a student insist on talking more than they listen. Say, If God had meant for us to talk more than we listen, he would have given us two mouths and one oar, would you like to go arxf ask God for another mouth?" Reinforce what has be^n learned in class. If a vocabulary word learned is in order, say to a child, I am chagrined at your behavior right now." Chagrin would bo one of our vocabulary words, or we often use the lines learned from Brownings sonnet, "Lot mo count the ways I am going to punish you if you do not get in your seat." Or a child will write a composition as to why they are too bright to waste their time in school. We never use punitive lines to punish a child such as: I will rxjt chew gum." etc., or a child will stand an give an impromptu speech as to why they are too bright to waste their time in school, or they will find the etymology of gum if they insist on chewing gum. a To get a rather rowdy and noisy group from the bathroom, say, Out out little spots, you should have taken care of that foolishness at home.* This, of course, is from Shakespeares Macbeth. When a child makes a mistake, say, *# you cannot make a mistake, you cannot make anything.* Create an ambience of positivenass in the classroom where children learn that it takes more courage to be wrong than to play it safe without ever resporxling to questions. a As simplistic as it may sound, love moves the world. Children respond to love, positive feedback rather than negative programming. Remember, you must be different, they have heard the negative comments all their Bfe. 8 Do not be afraid to be wrong atvf to admit that you are wrong. None of us have all of the answers alt of the time. Have children proofread the blackboard for errors, remember, children cannot create havoc and find your errors too. Make children a part of the learning environment Write encouraging notes to chitdren
not just when they are in trouble. One troubled child got a note from me each dajt that said, "Charles was very .very, very, good today.* and I signed it He looked forward to taking this note home each day to a very negative parent Soon the parent too. became positive, and the parent looked forward to receiving this note each day. When the child did not behave, I would say, *What do you have to do to get your rrote today?* This was all I needed to curb this child's behavior. Never resort to becoming child-Ike with your students. H a child persists in calling you names, consistently say, "I love you, and whatever you may call mo or say, I still love you very much.' w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I CARING THE MARVA COLLINS WAY Some students are not easy to I3<e, but never pick on a student If you firxl a student with undesirable behavior, go out of your way to like this student and you will find that one day you will like the student. Never place problem students in the corners or in the back of the dassroom. Keep them near you, remember, we need to reach the troubled child quickly. Say to the class down, * I realize how tough it must be to go home each day and try to figure out a new act, and so I &m going to help you with your work so that your friends will think that you got smart all by yourself.* I shall not complain all day because I did something wrong, but I will keep trying until I get it right, Touch students as you pass their desks, ask. 'Are you okay?* Never let students say. "I cant*, say to them. We remove the T from cant and we have can.* Regina Marshall Age 7 Daily have the students repeat. * I am great, there is nothing that I cannot do. I am smart. I was born to win. I am royal. I am the greatest..! will not fail. This is a school where we learn to succeed...etc.* Do this each day. 1 Write positive notes on the childrens papers. When a child gets something wrong, do not redmark the paper, take the child alone and help them get the errors right Remember if they had known how to do the paper correctly in the first place, they would have done so. With child abuse being what it is today, avoid telling parents negative things about their children. You and the child attempt to solve the problems that arise in your classroom. You earn the respect and trust of your students, and you become a more effective teacher. Stay out of the teachers lounge where you will hear negative things that will make you less of an effedive teacher. Believe in your students
let m one break this trust Do not send students to the office. Remember, you, the teacher must be able to handle your own family and your own household.* Your household in this case, being your classroom. 1 Do rxjt become a two-by-four teacher bound by the four walls of your classroom and the two covers of a book. Dare to bring in extra materials. Never assign students what you have not read or do rwt know yourself. Never teach so long that you feel that you have aG the answers
you will never arrive in the Land of the Done. Do not become a slave to teaching aids. You must become the master of your classroom. Do not assign reading groups. AH children loam better when they are alltaught together. Read orally, not silently. i r Invite parents into the classroom rwf just when there is a problem. Have children write invitatwns to their parents that welcome them each day into the dassroom. Do rot talk to parents in academic vernacular which puts them out of touch with being able to communicate with you as a teacher. Be willing to bridge the gap with which your children come to you. Do not use statistics or the kind of home your children came from to determine what they can become. Remember Abraham Lincoln did not learn to read until he was fourteen years old. What possble chance would he have in our classrooms today? Do not predetermine that certain children will not learn certain things. All children will learn if wo w e s t s I d e P r e p s c h o o I 9 CARING THE MARVA COLLINS WAY I plan to succeed y doing my part, bother to teach
they will not learn if wo feel that they are too inferior to learn. Positive statements
there is no turning ack now." Brandon Collins 10 7 ...You can make your life anything you want it to be. ...Every person has free will and can choose to make their life better or worse. ...School can give you the tools to lead a better life. Wo all come to make life better. ...Tho knowledge you put in your head is going to save you. ...You are so clever and so bright. ...You can do it. ...There are no excuses for not learning. ...Today will decide whether you succeed or fail tomorrow. ...We shall work together. I am always hero to help you. Fl ...I don't know everything children. I am learning all of the time myself. I am just another human being whos lived longer than you. I am not smarter. I am rt greater than any of you. ...Let us do well and speak well. ...If you want to be a leader you must learn to lead yourself first ...You are what you learn. ...The world is rtot looking lor average people. ...Where there is no order there is disorder. Where there are ordered minds there is an ordered sodety. When a child is misbehaving say, *You knew how to do that when you came to school Doing that (name the behavior) is a good way to get a job isn't it? Someone is actually going to pay you (or doing that?* When reading and students are not paying attention say, *1 am not here to entertain you. There is a lesson here. We had all better start paying attention to these lessons or this world is surely headed (or trouble. I love you all the time even though I may correct you or disagree with you some o( the time.* , To a misbehaving child say. That is not how the brightest child in Km world behaves. You were bom to win, so don't make yourself a loser.' To a child who is worried about lunch time or dismissal say, 'Are you worried about getting one hour's worth of food when Tm trying to teach you how to get food for a lifetime?' When a child gave an incorrect answer say, "Very good try but rx3t quite.* a 1 1 1 II w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I CARING THE MARVA COLLINS WAY a When a child is not paying attention say, Pay attention. Why? Because you are too bright not to. - 3' Statement to develop trust "I love you and I am rxjt going to go home or to the teacher's lounge to talk about you behind your back. I am going to tell you the way it is to your face. Look at your (name a condition or a behavior: dirty face, tom shirt). Without a good education you will always have that (name the condition). I expect you to act like someone who is getting an education starting right now.' Concentrate and you will radiate. Hold your head up high so that I can see your bright eyes. "Opportunity knocks only once, and if you don't heed it, you will regret it." Excellence is not an act but a habit The more you do something the betteryou will become. Both statements can be used to inspire practice when practice becomes tedious. Tasha Griffin Age 7 Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act yourself. Be yourself. Imhalion is suicide. A statement reinforcing the importance of individuarity. Can you act like a bright child? H you know it. then show it? If you can do it, then prove it. State to the class that you have a room filled with mentally gifted minors. ADD YOUR OWN IDEAS. < "You can make your life anything you want it to be v 11 w e s t s I d e P r e p s c h o o I V IA PROPOSAL FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION I Will pursue fcpiness." America will no longer be labeled A NATION AT RISK when the following changes occur in all . school systems: minah Darby St , f: b '5 S' El 12 1. Fewer studies done and loss rhetorizing about our problems and work harder at the problems. Rather than getting it written let's get it right. 2, When wo cease blaming the students in America for the failure federal dollars created. 3. When we learn to teach earth science, chemistry, and other sciences beginning in grade four. When we hire the brightest of the crop to teach rather than hiring the dullest graduates who cannot find employment in other fields. 4. When educators stop spending so much lime writing what children cannot do on their evaluation sheets and begin to spend that time teaching and planning. 5. When we remove the audio-visual aids from the classroom and use the innate tools given manthe brain, curiosity, and a determination from educators that they will not let children fail. 6. Science and math teachers must be specially trained to teach these subjects, and not thrown into a classroom to teach a subject they are not prepared to teach. 7. Teach geography classes beginning in grammar school. Geography is rarely taught in most American classrooms. 8. Extend the school day from 8:00 until 4:00 with Saturday classes for poor achievers. 9. Prevent drop-out by providing poorer students or high-risk students with better teachers who are paid for performance. 10. Students usually drop out of school rx3t because they want to but because elementary teachers deprived them of the needed foundation to succeed in school. Students should be tracked for non-failure from the time they begin school. The first three teachers should be held responsible for those children reading below grade level by the end of third grade. It is too late to worry about failure in our students when they have already failed. 11. Teachers who prevent drop-outs through high motivation should benefit from higher pay. These monies are cheaper than building more and more incarceration centers. 12. This same program will also improve the rate of competent college graduates. They lack basic skills that should have been offered in grammar school. 13. inspire children and students with good literature so that they will become fife-time learners and will continue to read serous books and master new bodies of language. Usually with a graduate degree American students cease learning. 14. Children must return to writing a daily precis and compendium so that they are not forced to go through fife thinking by the mile and writing by the inch. Writing should begin in kindergarten, and children should be taught to follow the guidelines for writing, as well as creative forms. One w e s t s 1 d e p r e P s c h o o I A PROPOSAL FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION fl cannot master creative writing until you have the basics. 15. Eliminate extracurricular activities until students are achieving at least one grade level above their present level. Why participate in extra activities until we have mastered the necessary ones. Competitive sports and other activities can stunt a student's intellectual growth if over emphasized. 16. We could prevent incarcerations and psychologically depressed citizens by making certain that each student learns to feel good about themselves beginning in kindergarten. The good teacher will always make the poor student good and the good student superior. 11. There must be more uniformity in the American curriculum rather than each state doing its own thing. There should be a compulsory education act that would require all students remain in school until they master the ninth grade curriculumnot according to age but according to ability. This would lower the dropout rate arxf decrease the nation's deficit fortaking care of failing dependent citizens. "Our ancestors have come too far in this bloody mess. As Dr. King has said: "Kee[ the Dream alive." Jason Swan Age? 1 8. There should be a wider scope of educational television utilized in America. 19. We must begin to use standardized tests not just to measure acquired knowledge. Realize that success depends not on innate ability, IQ, or general aptitude, but on the capacity to use innate ability for disciplined study. If an American child scores well on a test, we declare them acceptable,* but can they think well enough to use the knowledge they possess? 20. Memory work must return to the American curriculum. To knowfactsforaday is not teaching, it is performing for a day. 21. American students and teachers should be required to pass the same test. We would be astonished at the large proportion of teachers who would fail an eighth grade examination. 22. We should motivate students to realize that success or failure in school reflects on us as a nation collectively and also on our families. We should compete with each other to become lifters not leaners. 23. A spedal ceremony should be held for all teachers in this country who have made certain that all their students excel in class. 24. There must be more competition among schools to turn out the best students. This to me is acting collectively for the country. 25. Once a student enters an academic institution, they should not have to worry about being terminated for academic failure. This allows the student to develop a feeling of belonging in a mutually supportive group environment When a student does enter a university or the work world the student will have learned to consistently internalize attitudes about hard work. 26. Our grammar schools must become places which begin to teach children language. English, social studies, arithmetic, science, music, health, physical education, industrial arts, sociology. Great Books, foreign language, and geography. They must not be day-care centers and play centers. 13 h d I c t s 0 p r P o e e e s I w sh "Before kingdoms can change, men must change. That Is what I will try to do with my life, bring about change." Kenneth Simmons Age 12 1 9 [9 ^1' 14 A PROPOSAL FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION 27. Rather than school superintendents sitting behind desks laden with paper, enunciating hopes and expressing principles, they should get into the classrooms and make certain that all teachers are motivating, teaching, and producing litters for the world and not leaners on society. 28. The curriculum for American schools should be prepared by excellent classroom teachers and not the experts who have never taught a day in their lives. 29. Oral presentations should return to the classroom. Children should be encouraged to speak standard English, in complete grammatically correct sentences. They must do more writing and less marking of true or false on prepackaged lesson plans or sheets run off on a mimeographed machine. This is one reason for the decline of handwriting in our country. 30. Textbooks must bo well-written, theeasy-to-read, oasy-to-teach method must bo eliminated. The text must cease the banalities of: "See Jane and see Spot." Our books must bo filled with scholarly information that will teach children to think rather than guess at an answer that requires not one lofty thought. 31. Daily compositions should follow each reading to make certain comprehension of reading material has taken place. In America there are thousands of inferior publishers of textbooks for children. Only the best publishers should be selected and a high standard must be set as a criterion for these publishers so that inferior materials will never reach the hands of our children. 32. There are no national standards for writing textbooks which are used in American schools. Yet there are standards for success orfailure in our society. Wo then have boon very hypocritical. Real textbooks should be used in a real world. 33. Every parent must be assured that his child win be presented the knowledge and well considered ideas of tho best educators. Tho best education for some is tho best education for all, in terms of national security and national longevity. 34. Teachers should be retrained or retested every two years. This would keep teachers learning rather than settling for complacency. 35. Discipline will cease to be a problem when the academic situation in schools begins to challenge the children rather than boring them. When one learns how to tick, they ultimately want to learn to tick better. 36. As well as giving standardized tests, oral tests should also be administered to students in America. Special attention should bo given to pronunciation, emphasis, inflecton, and pause. Tho students should road both intoingontly and intelligibly. Twenty linos, at least, should be read byeach candidate. We will then realize that poor reading instruction or no instruction has been given our students. ORAL roading is all but extinct in American schools. 37. Standardized national graduation requirements should be established for every American state. 38. There should be an opportunity for new teachersto conference with olderteachors who have w e s t s 1 d e P r e P s c h o o I A PROPOSAL FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION-demonstrated success with their students. These meetings should occur after school atxf on weekends. 39. There should be a definite criterion for each teacher to follow rather than a, Do your own thing* kind of ambience in the American dassroom. 40. Less experimentation and innovation. These things should be kept to a minimum until all children have mastered basic skills. "I am a leader. I work hard, and I care how my work looks. I have pride in myself, and everything I do." fl ia I I 1I B1 LI a 41. Each local school should be tested by an outside testing source. Many of the funds presently used for studies and other such nonsense could be used to have objective testers test each school district. This would automatically point out the good and bad teachers. 42. A federal agency should set standards to define what students at a given age must know. No national data is presently used to determine how well schools are doing or how poorly they are doing. 43. American schools are so prepared to accept that some students are unteachable that they give up on difficult students. We as educators must see to it that every student in every classroom has achieved grade level by the end of the school year. Students must not only be given an opportunity to learn, but we must make certain that they do learn. 44. American schrxjis spend far too many tax dollars for cleaning personnel ratherthan teaching students the responsibility for their own cleaning. Teachers and students could share the cleaning responsibility. 45. Discipline can be taught through ethics, morality, and philosophy. These courses are extinct in today's schools. An exemplary way would be to read about great men and great deeds in reading class. Students must be erxxiuraged to talk about their inadequacies. When discipline problems occur, a visit should be made to the homes of the students to remind parents that a black mark* on a students record can mar the child's future success. 46. What children learn in real He is out of step with our present curriculums. Standardization of curriculum makes for special mobility of pupils a less serious problem. 47. No student should not be passed along until all requirements for universal citizenship have been met Passing students along only creates disgruntled and angry people that end upon relief rolls or incarceration centers. These students will never compete in the marketplace until we have a standardized curriculum for all children and untS good dedicated teachers refuse to let students fail 48. If we attempt to educate the entire population in America rather than meeting the needs of some, we will find the failure rate in the country rapidly decreasing. 49. We must provide standardized opportunities for aO groups of people in America so that we may dare to have a universal bench mark to gauge performance. The burden of performance will fall upon the individual student if we as educators have supported them in every way possble to ensure that no child fails. Aisha Jean-Baptiste Age 12 I w e s t s I d P r e P s c h o o I 1 w I APTOPOSAL FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION ^hat you do day, reflects lupon tomorrow." hl lahil Liddell Age 12 h 3 16 50. Work organizations cannot demand high standards from workers until those standards have been taught in schools, in a society that will except nothing less than excellence from every student. This would automatically boost our sagging economy. 51. For students with special needs, educational television courses could be utilized. Data would be collected by a national federal agent in order to gauge the success of the televised courses. The agent would also be required to see to it that those skills in which the students lack most would appear on educational television. These programs cannot bo based on popularity, but on the basis of meeting educational needs and conveying informative content. 52. Students that achieve in high schools should meet with their respective teachers in a national yearly forum to bo honored and to discuss how they can collectively help poorer students roach their potential. This also helps to teach national unity. 53. Teachers should teach their peers al least once a month. The teacher should then bo critiqued by his colleagues. 54. Students should evaluate their teachers and give them report cards too. These evaluations should be examined in a group session attended by teachers and students. This would encourage teachers to become responsible for their performance, and to give them an opportunity to explain their deficiencies. Presently it is only one hand clapping, and that is the hand of the teacher. 55. Every student should have his work posted, even if the papers contain errors. This encourages students to continue trying. Instead of posting commercial bulletins use the work of the students to decorate your school. 56. Schools should become more supportive of children. We must teach the total child. Rather than dwell on what the student has not accomplished, we must concentrate on what they can do. The average child hates school and this indicates that educators have failed. Our books must be filled with scholarly information that will teach children to think rather than guess at an answer that requires not one lofty thought." I i d h I 1 P e P r e s I c s s o e oLISTENING AND TEACHING FROM NURSERY RHYMES Grades Kindergarten-Second Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down artd broke his crown. And Jill came tumbling after. "Hope alone is not enough. One must work to make drea come true." 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. How many people went up the hill? 2 What were their names? Jack and Jill What word means to get or obtain? Islsdl Do we use the word fetch today? In what did they put the water? ajlsS. How do you know? The ooem tells me so on line 2. Who fell down first? j/acfl What word means rolling? tumbling Spelling and Seat work Jack water Jill tumbling hill after letch Complete the sentences: 1. Jack and went the fell and broke his to fetch a____ of and came after. Thomas Lewis Age 13 I Teaching punctuation and proofreading from blackboard until children learn the skill. I 1. jack end jille wente Upe teh heal 2. jack felle downe 3. fill caem tumelin aeftr 1 STEP THE WORDS Turn Iblii rI Play blackboard game, "Give Me a Vowel" Child must say, *ni take an a . m take an 4 an eforwent, a ufor up. They continue untit they finish all the sentences from Jack and Jitt. Have children write letters to Jack and JiH and illustrate letters. Put a sample letter on the blackboard. You have now given them enough exercises to avoid spelling errors. w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I p I LISTENING AND TEACHING FROM NURSERY RHYMES A leader always Listening and Comprehension Skills cognizes what important. A flower always ^ognizes the rlvial." 3' <gG 12 ha Vaughn 9 1 Z I el L1 9 9 18 Little Boy Blue Come blow your hora The sheep are in the meadow. The cows are in the corn. Where's the little boy. Who looks after the sheep? He's under the haystack. Fast asleep. 1. What is the boy's name? Little Bov Blue 2. Why do we use a capital T.'. capital "B' and capital "B" in the first line? They are someone's name. 3. What doos Blue blow? A horn. 4. How do you know? Line two tells me so. 5. Where are tho cows? In the com. 6. Why aren't the sheep in the corn? Sheep do not eat com. 7. Whore are tho sheep? In the meadow. 8. How many sheep are there? How do you know? Here vou can develoo the concept of singular 9. Is Blue dependable? Why or why rtot? 10. Whore is Blue? Blue is under the havstack. 11. What is Blue doing? Blue is fast asleeo. 12. Do we sleep while we work? Talk about good work habits. 13. Why do you think the boy is called Blue? 14. Discuss homonyms, blew-blue Use orally h sentences. Spelling and Seat Work from Little Boy Blue Little Boy Blue com asleep cows meadow sheep haystack II I Complete the Senterx^es: 1.______________________ 2. The sheep are_______ 3. The cows are in______ 4. Littla Boy Blue_______ come blow your horn. fast asleep. Teach Punctuation and Proofreading from the Blackboard 1. little boy blew come bowl your hone 2. the cows is in teh cone 3. wheres leh lell buoy who kxMcs aeftr teh shep e s t s I d e P r e p s c h o o I f s LISTENING AND TEACHING FROM NURSERY RHYMES I Step the Words fit ~~LlLe hi stack mea Idow aJ sleei Have one child interview Blue as to why he was not watching the sheep. Have an anchor person do the news of the day's events of the sheep and the cows and Farmer Jones' loss over Boy Blue's laziness. "I want to get a good education, in order to teach those that are considered unteachable. Fannie Hopkins Age 13 Directions for Listening and Thinking Skills Farh child is given the figures above on a xeroxed sheet. The teacher reads the directions, the children listen and follow the directions. 3 1. K Boy Blue's name was Boy Red. write the sum ot two plus one in the first figure, which is a triangle on line two. If Boy Blue wore blue, write yes in figure one on line one. 2. If Boy Blue fell asleep, write your name three times under the third figure on line three. If Boy Blue did not fall asleep, write the other word that also says blue, but is not a color, under the third figure on line three. 19 e s t s I d e P r e p s c h o o I w 1 LISTENING AND TEACHING FROM NURSERY RHYMES "A leader does not limit his options." 3. If the cows are in the meadow, write the boys last name in the first figure, which is a square on line 3. If the cows are not in the meadow, write the sum of one plus two over the last figure on line three, which is a triangle. Kortez Eaton Ago 13 *As with any exercise, cons'tstency and dose teacher observation is a must at first until students perceive the idea. The geometric figures can be used with math, algebra, science, literature or any subject Here, the entire group must listen. This alleviates discipline problems, and creates thinkers. It does however require an active not a passive teacher. TEACHING MORAL AND THINKING SKILLS WITH THE FAIRY TALES a Jack and The Bean Stair 1. First of all, wo cant plant a seed overnight, and have it grow overnighL 2. Was it right to kill the giant because it was evil? 3. Do we commit wrong against someone who has wronged us? 1 Developing Characterization: Jack was: courageous', determined The Giant was: evil, a thief, large, obese, had a voracious appetite, loved money and things. I I i Goldikxks and the Three Bears LI 1. Why wa have three* in stories El a Ei 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. a. the Id b. the ego c. the super-ego Why was Goldilocks allowed to travel away from home alone? Where were her parents? Did the parents search for Goldilocks? Why did the bears leave the door open? Do we just walk into people's homes arxl eat their food? What kind of little girl was Goldilocks? What do you think her parents said to her (Goldilocks) when she returned home. Recreate a conversation between the three bears after Goldilocks escaped bears regarding Goldilock's destruction. 11. Have the children dramatize Goldilocks and the Three Sears where the story line is changed to Goldilocks going for a walk alone and meets the three bears. Mother Boar b^ins to ask in a motherly voice, "Child, why are you out hero aloner Baby Bear says, 'Please Mom, can she come home and play with me?* Develop dialogue from this point varying the traditional story. E I w e s t s I d e P r P s c h o o I 2j H GREEK MYTHOLOGY S Read Prometheus and Epimetheus. Pandora. Compare the Greek version with Genesis. Compare Pandora to Eve. Make a written list of famous couples: "To have no goals in one's life is a sin. I I *I Adam and Eve, Prometheus and Pandora, Napoleon and Josephine, Prometheus and Pandora, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Baucis and Philemon, Samson and Delilah, Anthony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, Medea and Jason, Troilus and Cressida, Joseph and Mary, Jack and Jill, etc. Have students write letters to their favorite couple. Assign homework research on other famous couples. Why are they famous? Assign famous couples' names for spelling. Read Orpheus ar^ Eurydice. Compare Lot and his wife (Bible). Have one person interview Orpheus after his departure from Hades. Rhonda Carroll Aga 13 ETYMOLOGY il Have children find Greek words that are still used today. Learn from where/whom they originated. ifi I Siren - from the Greek Sirens, who are very loud. Echo - from the Greek Goddess, Echo. Hectorian - from Hector of the Iliad. Cereal - from Ceres, Goddess of grain. Bacchanalian - intoxicated or drunk from the Greek god Bacchus, god of wine. Terpsichorean - a fine performer or dancer from Terpsichora. r Muse - from the nine Muses meaning to think, study or as in museum meaning study ol mankind. Have the students memorize the nine muses: 3 1. Terpsichore - Muse of dance. 2. Erato - Muse of love and poetry. 3. Calliope - Muse of heroic poetry. 4. Melpomene - Muse of tragedy. 5. Clio - Musa of History. 6. Urania - Muse of astronomy. 7. Polyhymnia - muse of sacred song. 8. Thalia - muse of comedy. 9. Euteipe - Muse of lyric poetry. (symbol: laurel wreath). (symbol: the lyre). (symbol: the magic harp). (symbol: the magic mask) (symbol: laurel wreath). (symbol: the compass). (symbol: the veil). (symbol: a staff). (symbol: the flute). Have your students write their own myths. Dictate to sentences, daily, trom readings. Then diagram on the blackboard. Proofreading sessions... 1. jason sot the goldun flees 2. hector was a bully 3. pandora was two qurious 4. Orpheus sad do knot luk bake 5. eurtdice did Knot obeye d e P r e p s c h o o 1 w e s t s I a GREEKJVIYTHOLOG Y AM lleeaadaeerr rh as ^iomething he or she works joward. A follower lias something he or she works ligainst." Have a Greek Myth contest. (Divide the class into groups). The teacher begins a statement, students finish it or guess characters from the clues given, e.g: 1. In Greek mythology, I was tho first woman. (I am Pandora ) 2. I could have escaped Hades, but I looked back. (I am Eurydice.) 3. I fought in the Trojan War. I am known as a bully. (I am Hector.) 4. I helped Jason find the Golden Fleece. (I am M^ea.) VOCABULARY David Lyons Ige to Oevebp 20 words from each myth. Have students dramatize Orpheus and Eurydice. Invite another class. Have one child do research on Ovid, who wrote The Metamorphoses. Have that child pretend to be Ovid, and come in to speak to the class. Students should take notes and ask questions. TEACHING THE EPICS Sortg of Roland (French Epic) Nibelungenlied' (German Epic) say knoe-buh-lung-en-let "El Cid (Spanish Epic) The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian Epic) 3,000 years old An epic is a long narrative tale of some heroic deed and it begins when the action has already begun. All epics begin in Madias Res in the middle of things, say mee-de-yuhs race (a Latin term) America does not have an epic because we are not an ok) enough country. 1: 22 I w e s t s I d e P r G p s c h o o I THINKING AND LISTENING SKILLS FORMATK A r 1 a/ "Followers don't think about what they are saying, they just say an^hing." Preston Collins Age 12 El -V.c,I B AA A aa n 0 19 I Each child is given the figures above on a xeroxed sheet The teacher reads the directions, the students fisten and follow directions. 1, H one-fourth plus three-fourths equals two and one-haH. then write the author of Macbeth in the first figure on fine one. If seven-fourths plus three-fourths equals two and one-half, then write the product of 9 x 9 over the third figure on line two. which is a triangle. ? H the square root of 81 is seven, then write the sum of eight plus seventeen, minus one in the first figure on line three. If seven is not the square root of 81. write the sum of seven-eights plus w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I THINKING AND LISTENING SKILLS FOR MATH two-fourths inside the last triangle on line three. *'l am a leader H because of my talent to manage crisis situations." 3. If 8 times 8 plus 5 equals 67. write the product of 7 times 7 beside the second figure on line two. If 8 times 8 plus 5 does not equal sixty-seven, write the nine Muses inside the second figure on line three. Pierre Rachal Age 13 4. Add the numerals 78.69,128,212. Write the sum, minus 17, over the first figure on line one which is a square. 5. Add six and two-eights plus eight and two-fourths. Write the sum underneath figure 2 on line one, which is a triangle. 6. Divide 795 by 3. Write the answer underneath the second figure on line two, which is a square. 7. If seven times eight equals 59, write your first name, five times in front of figure two on line two which is a circle. 'NOTE: For younger children, use the same geometric figures, but use appropriate Math problems. 1 Try Rapid Ouesfnns Ask child one: *7 plus 8* Ask child two: "Plus 2*' (15 plus 2-17) Ask child three: "Minus 8* (7) Ask child four "Plus 18" (25) Ask child five: "Minus 4" (21) Do this quickly. If a student is not fast enough, continue the rapidity. This promotes agile thinkers and promotes good discipline, for correct answers depend on rapid thinkers and good discipline. This same approach can ba used for any subject. Ask child one: "What are the seven continents?" Ask child two: "Can you repeat the confinents in the same order. Then include the five Groat Lakes." Ask child throe: "Repeat the order of the continents, Groat Lakes and name five steles in our country." A lack of memory work is why students do so poorly on tests and on general tasks. Have a student repeat a Rtany of numbers such as: 7. 8, 9, 12. 18. 24 Ask student number two to repeat the same numbers backwards. If wo want woll-disciplinod classrooms we must give children a reason to Rston rather than bo authoritative. "Bo quiof usually falls on deaf ears. w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I THINKING AND LISTENING SKILLS FOR MATH _ -fj -i
"I will lead myself. I will discard the wishes and whims of others." Continue the pattern
1) 2) 3) 4) 6,12,18.24, 7,14,21.28, 2. 4, 6, 7. 9, 10, 12, 14, 15. 17. 4. 2. 8. 3.2.6. 7.2.14 Tiffany Owens Age 12 I 5) 6) 9x9. 8x8. 7x7. 6x6. 3x3. 2 + 7. + 2. S 25 t s I d e P r e p s c h o o I w e s MISCELLANEOUS IDEAS 'No one can ake my mind away from me." Poems Keeping His Word by Henry W. Longfellow House by the Side of the Road by Sam Walter Foss eidah Ashshaheed Age 13 Stories The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde Damon and Pythias Book Silas Marner *No greater love has he than he who would give up love for a friend." The Bible SYMBOUSM These stories represent kindness arxf friendship. Teach the poem Somebody's Mother (learn from memory) Composition-Oiscuss friendship. Each student participates. Write a class contributed sample on the blackboard. Have children copy in rxatebooks, then assign compositions. Have two students interview each other regarding some unusual friendship happening. Use a TV interviewer and subject Dictate sections of a good paragraph from one of the previous books read. Take spelling words from books read. Diagram ten sentences daily from books read. Teach the eight parts of speech from books read. Cross out the one that does not belong: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Hades, Orpheus, Eurydice, dark. Cavern, blood, stygian Dante, Divine Comedy, Inferno, Alighieri, Mitton, purgatory Charles Dickens, Worst of Times, England, Irelarid, Little Dorritt Between Good and Evil, Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Fredrick, German Ydor Happy Prince, par excellence, emeralds, ruby, diamonds, bird, good heart, Oscar Wilde Nectar, Athena, Hera, Cupid, Lady Macbeth, Narcissus, Terpsichore, Erato Telemachus, Ulysses, Circe, No-Man, sirens, shipwreck. Pandora London Bridge, Little Miss Muffet, Jack Sprat, Prometheus, Jack and Jill bete noir, denouement, chagrin, creme de la creme, potpourri, fabulous, bon vivant to. Rome, Copenhagen. Venice, Paris, Bonn, Austria 11. final, finish, begin, complete, end, thats all I w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I EXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINS WAY The Habit of Winning by Manra N. Collins Winning is not a sometime thing. You don't win once in a while. You don't do things right onca-in-a-whib. You do them right all the time. Excellence and winning must become a lifetime pursuit There is no pbce in the worb for second-best pursuits. The seoorid-best in life is for losers, ft is and must always be your zeal to do all that you can to ensure that you will be first. "Without leaders followers are afra to do anything." Frank Borom Age 14 < 1 The objective in life is to win by carrying your own load. This does mean that you walk over the excuses made by others for not succeeding. Those who win always refuse to have others lift their bads for them. Winners in life refuse to become leaners
they prefer to lift the bads of life. Winners in life do not bemoan the diffbulties of life as problems. They see what others call a problem to be a challenge for them. Things will often go wrong in life as they often do. The road will often seem difficult and many will tell us in life, It can't be done.' Never however, give up and shout budly and bng, I will be the one to do what others sab coub not be done.* Don't give up a task with a sigh , but stick it out until you have captured the victor's cup knowing that on the day of victory none of us are tired. The goal is often nearer just when we decide to quit trying. Success is usually failure in disguise. The silver tint of the cbuds may only be doubt, and we will never know how cbse we were to winning until we dedde to give up. Even when we are hardest hit in life, never quit The person who wins in life is the person who realizes that they are bom with all the qualities needed to win in life. We have two hands, two eyes, a brain, and the equipment that we all have in which to win in life. Aint Got Time by Marva N. Collins I ain't got time to shed rw tears I will be gone in a few years. And the time I spend with our chibren of today. Hopefully will make their worb better in every way. There are just too many chibren to save before I die. So every moment must be used to teach our chibren to fly. I must teach them to be unprogrammabb They must be in command, Every black boy must bam to b e a real man and bad others to a free land. So. I ain't got time to talk back to you to answer your criticism w e s t s I d e p r e P s c h o o I EXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINS WAY gi believe that a Hl an really achieves success when he is Ijolng something he wally wants to do in life." There is just too much for me to do. Success for our children is all too few. And saying what our children cannot do is not now. Too many of my people are poor and blue And, so you see, I aint got time to talk back to you. Thore is just too much to do. eeb Thomas Age 12 I am Excellence by Marva N. Collins I bear the flame that enlightens the world. I fire the imagination. I give might to dreams and wings to the aspirations of man. fl J 28 I create all that is good, stalwart and long-lasting. I build for the future by making my every effort superior today. I do not believe in can",, might-have-been, or maybe. I will find a way or make my own way. When society draws a circle that will shut me out, I will design my own circle that will draw mo in. I am the parent of progress, the creator of creativity, the designer of opportunity, arxf the molder of human destiny. Because of me, man holds dominion over himself, his home, his community, and his world. I leash the lightening and plumb the ether. From out of the shadows of the past I come wearing the scars of mistakes made by others. Yet I wear the wisdom and contrbutions of all ages. I dispel yesterday's myths and find today's facts. I am ageless and timeless. I have no time for vice, crime and destruction. I banish mediocrity and discourage being average. I can function in pleasure or in pain. I can steel the will to do what must be done. Fortunate are the individuals, communities, and nations that know me. Men and the world are my workshops. Here I stir ambition, forge ideas, and create the keys that open the doors to worlds never dreamed. Earth awakes unfolding to me. Life is always calling me. My greatest success is yet to be discovered. I am the source of craat'ion. the outlet of inspiration, the dream of aspiration. I am excellence! Won't you too light my candle? Please don't let me flicker away. w e s t s I d e p r e P s c h o o I EXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINSWAY-The Creed by Marva N. Collins Society will draw a circle that shuts me out, but my superior thoughts will draw me in. I was bom to win if I'do not spend too much time trying to fail. "My definition of success is when all black children are literate and have good jobs." I can become a citizen of the world if I do rwt spend to many energies attempting to become local. Oan*iel Kendricks Age 13 I will ignore the tags and names given me by society since only I know what I have the ability to become. 1 I will continue to let society predict, but only I can determine what I will, can, or cannot do. Failure is just as easy to combat as success is to obtain. Education is painful and not gained by playing games, but I have seen failure too destroy millions with promised hopes and broken dreams. a While I have the opportunity, I shall not sit on the sideline bitter with despair and wish later that I had become a literate lifter of this world instead of a failing leaner. H I will use each day to the fullest. I promise that each day shall be gained, not lost, used, not thrown away. Yet it is my privilege to destroy myself if that is what I choose to do. I have the right to fail, but I do not have the right to take my teacher and other people with me. I God made me the captain of only one life, my own. Therefore if I decide to become a failure, it is my right Ia We were all promised a pursuit of happiness, and that is what I must do, pursue happiness and success for myself. No one will give it to me on a proverbial platter, and no one will care as much about me as I must care about myself. But I must be wilting to accept the consequences forthat failure arxf I must neverthink that those who have chosen to work while I played, rested, and slept, will share their bounties with me. u I will wave proudly my flag signifying that I am a failure by choice. But I will never envy those who have selected to wave their unfurled banners announcing their success. My success and my education can be a companion. Which no misfortune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienate, no envy or names can hurt me. a Education and success can be a lifetime solace. It guides goodness, it gives at once grace and genius to governments, communities, cities, townships, villages, homes, and palaces. Without education, what is a man? A splendid slave, a savage, a beast, wandering from here to there believing whatever they are told. God is not some cosmic bellboy who comes at my beckon and call. If I want to achieve, the first step must be my own undertaking. Lkewise. if I want to fail, that too is my choice. Time and chance comes to us all. Whether I decide to take that time and chance is indeed my own choice. w e s t s I d e p r e P s c h o 0 I 4 EXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINS WAY "My definition of success would be to graduate from Harvard University." I can either be hesitant or courageous. Life does indeed maroon the hesitant arxf inspire the brave. a I can swiftly stand up and shout, 'This is my time and my place. I will accept the challenge, or I will lot others make my decisions for mo.' a Seidah Ashshaheed Ago 13 I Am Teacher by Marva N. Collins I am teacher, I am ancient as Jesus himself or Socrates. I am more than ancient, I am eternal. I mold my students for the future by making today different, my dassroom is a workshop where all children find the opportunity to give might to their brains. Hero they can plumb the ether arxJ shackle the lightning. When the first trees, flowers, and grasses appeared I was here... I was the teacherthat taught the universe the beauty of the trees... The fragrance of the flowers... It was my student's words that recorded the first history of mankind. When men and women struggled to find the good nhem,* I influenced them to never let the "bad" conquer the good, thus enabling them with the powerto go through lilerwith dear and unfettered channels. I am all ages and times I have inspired men and women with lofty thoughts, determination, and perseverance. I make my students excited about the voyage of life, I refuse to have any of my students sit on the side lines catching the crumbs of the mainstream. I hurt when my students hurt, I am sad when they are sad. I understand their private pain and I help them succeed despite their denial that they need my help. I do not believe in stanining. inkblotting, and measuring my students. I believe that all of them can achieve if they are rat taught too thoroughly that they cannot achieve. What Shall I Tell My Students Who Are Poor by Marva N. Collins What shall I tell my children who are poor? Of what it means to bo judged by where one lives? What shall I ten my students who are the day, sculptured by my humble hands? 30 What shall I tell my students who did not grow under my heart, but whom I have allowed to enter my heart? How can I tell my students how bright they are when everywhere they turn they see failure, fetidness, decadence, and statistics of how miserably they have failed? How can I teach my students that hope does rat have to be yesterday's scattered ashes or a dingy yellow sheet flapping over a dismal alley? 8 1Ia e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I EXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINS WAY I a The poor cannot travel, the poor never have enough of anything, not even dreams. The poor cannot make decisions. The poor are isolated into forgotten regions where conditions become more and more decadent that makes way for those more verbal than they to speak for them. a What shall I tell my dear students raised in a world where everything that is good is given to the heirs of the rich? How can I tell my dear students that they must begin to be the generic heirs that will make tomorrow different because together, we dared to dream today? a a I "i will know I am successful when I have helped the needy and the BlacI Africans of America What can I say to give my students strength, fortitude, perseverance, and the determination to rise above today's poverty and to reach out and touch another man who may have lost his way? What shall I tell my students who are poor when the teacher's guide not once alludes to the hurt that is inside of them? What shall I tell my students who are poor how to ignore the injustices of an imperfect and callous world and to learn despite the many wrongs of society? What can I say that will make my students grow strong and make such gigantic contributions that even the most apathetic person will feel shame at having ignored their inalienable right to become first class citizens. Rhonda Carroll Age 13 I What can I tell my students who are poor of how much they are needed to discover a cure for cancer. Or to chart the course for others who trod the same fetid ways that he once knew? How can I teach my students to survive for the good of all humanity? How can I teach my students that to hate and to get revenge with our adversaries is to keep our own wounds green? I 1 What shall I say about the truths that have often been obscured arxl omitted. I now find that I have much to say to my students who are poor. I will demonstrate by example that to be number one is to never look back at number two lest we trip and fall. I will tell my students the illustrious stories of the poor children of old and how with perseverance, sticktoiveness, and yes with a good teacher somewhere in between, these same poor men grew up to make some of the greatest contributions ever made in America. I will take my students to the once upon a time era, when men, because of their poverty burned the midnight oil while their fellow men slept in order to make sure that the setting sun in which they were bom would one day rise and give off and illuminating light. This light would announce to the world that difficult does not mean impossible. 1 I will say to my students who are poor that if their lives are ever to be better, then they are the ones who will have to do it. Yes, I will tell my students that if the ghetto is ever to become a part of history, that it is they, my students today, who must envision rebuilding tomorrow using the toil of their own backs, the might of their brains, and the vision of a dream that they did not allow to die. None will do it for them. So this I will do for my students because I love them. My children who are poor must find the truth for themselves and pass that truth on to their children arid to their children's children. In years to come, I believe that I have armed my children with the ability to fish rather than having a fish given to them, that their children's children will venerate them. Then of course, my love and guidance will not have been in vain. For my students who are pdor, it is education arxJ the ability to lead themselves that will set them free. 3.1 h f d s c o o p e r 1 P e I s w e sEXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINS WAY 1 i dont want success ------ ..Mori ltthe money, I want It for my own piece of f^ind." Fannie Hopkins \ge 12 1 I I 32 INTO MY HEART by Marva N. Collins I give might to the brain, determination to those that feel they could never have made it without my help. I build all that is stalwart, longlasting and good. I discourage being average. I believe that all students can learn if they are not taught to thoroughly that they cannot learn. I do not believe in maybe, might-have-been, or we will see. I do not believe in tagging, labeling, stanining, inkblotting, and measuring my students until they are left feeling illusive and low in self-esteem. I do not believe that the kind of home a student comes from has anything to do with what that child can become. I do not make prior predictions without allowing my students to determine their own capabilities. I refuse to let my students fail for they are yet to young to realize what is best for them. They are still in the twilight of their years and therefore, failure has not left its whips and scorns on them. Because I love them, I shall protect them from the hydra-headed monster called failure, knowing that their solace in the years to come will truly be the skills they have learned. These skills will never rust, tarnish, or go out of style. Knowledge is forever. I shall make my students comfortable with their locals. Yet with equal comfortability they too can function as universal citizens of the world. I will teach them to think for themselves so that they will not be girdled about in gusty winds like leaves bbwn from here to there believing whatever they are told. I will learn to listen to their thoughts as well as get them to try to understand my own. I will earn their love so that they will respect me when it is time to chastise them. Then they will understand that I love them all of the time, but I disagree with them some of the time. They too have the same opportunity to disagree with me, arxf to let me know that they too can teach me lessons of life. I'will not enunciate my hopes and express my principles for my students. I will not get more and more studies written rather than spend my time getting their lives right. I will love them as I do my own children. I did not carry these children under my heart, but I will allow them to grow into my heart. I cannot build enough bridges for all of them, but I will teach them to have the fortitude to build w e s t s I d e p r e P s c h o o I B EXCELLENCE THE MARVA COLLINS WAY their own bridges. To take paths never taken and always leave a path for those who may wish to follow. I will attempt to teach them to be courageous enough not to run away from everything that is difficult, but to face unflinchingly the problems of fife and rot see them as problems, but as challenges of living. "Failure is just as easy to combat as success is to obtain." I shall encourage themnot to rest on their past laurels. That good today does not mean forever. And to know that they wifi ne ver be out of the stress of doing, achieving, pursuing. That excellence is a non-ending pn^cess, and they will never arrive in the land of the done. Tiesha Vaughn Age 12 I will attempt to make my students curious and discontent, for without the two. there is no progress. I want always to say with pride. "Those are my students, of them I am proud, when cometh more?" Like Romeo's Juliet, I would like to feel that when I am no longer on earth, that my students will light the world with excellence, with self-determination, and with pride. They too will say, "Come with me. I will show you the way." I would like for them to say. "Your problems are my problems, you are my brother and you are rot heavy." My work is ageless and timeless. My influence never dies, never ends. Because youmystudents carry on what I have begun. I HAD WE BEEN, WE TOO by Man/a N. Collins Had we been a dishonest people, we never could have been fooled away from our native land, for dishonesty never sleeps. Had we been a violent people, you never could have caught us and today we would be free. Had we been liars, we could have fooled you. We are a tired, proud people. Oh so disgusted. Artd so tired of living with a carpet of glass instead of a carpet ol grass. Cant you understand? We too want dignity in this land. Just a chance to prove that we can be a man. We are tired of being stuck in worthless sarxi, while you lule the land. Proving more and more that I am rot a man. All we ask is justice as a demand. To prove too that wo are tired of your plan. I. too, want to be a man. w e s t s I d e P r e p s c h o o I H IHE TEN WORST MISTAKES MADE IN THE CLASSROOM "The best way to uccess is to pursue a goal, follow through n this ooal. ar 1. Tolling ourselves Ihat things will improve, instead of taking prompt adion when we susped a child has problems in school, whether its academic or behavioral problems. win!" this goal, and 2. Testing without teaching. 'avid Lyons Age to 3. Assuming that children will know certain skills. 4. Failure to encourage students rather than telling them all of the things that they do wrong. First deal on the things that they do right Example: "Mary, I like the way you wrote your name, but let's look at this.' 5. Assuming that the kind of background a child comes from is indicative of what a child can, or will become. I 6. Not dearly defining a task to be accompTished. 7. Not taking the time to establish communication with a student before the child is in trouble. t 8. Attempting to put a band-aid on a hemorrhage. If a child has a personal problem, that problem must be taken care at before academics. 9. Taking it for granted that a child's interests and abilities match._.or should match those of his/ her parents. a 10. Assuming that our views as teachers are always right, and that the views of our students are always wrong. Students have rights and views too. w e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I MONITORING TEACHER SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM Are the same methods used (or each child? Children are not nuts and bolts. Are students excited about the learning process? Ooes the teacher tend to focus only on the brightest students? Ooes the material Used include the slower student? Is seat work a reinforcement of what has been taught in the classroom? fl na Fl II o a StI Is seatwork simply busy work? Are all the students involved in the classroom process? How do children utilize their time when the teacher is transcending from one subject to another? Does the teacher check papers before errors are made rather than grading papers AFTER the children have already made the errors. Ooes the teacher walk from student to student remediating errors before these errors become permanent errors? Are the teachers good disdplinarians? Oo they resort to punitive measures ratherthan positive reinforcement as to why a child is too bright for certain behaviors? Eg., when a child acts out in class, do you have the child write a given number of lines as to why this behavior should not exist, or do you have the child write a composition entitled, *1 am too bright to waste my time in school?' Are the teachers knowledgeable in their field? Are they able to add to what the textbook gives? Oo children like to come to this classroom? Oo more children succeed than fail? Is the teacher excited about her or his students? Are the teachers professional enough to handle their own discipline problems or do they resort to having the office solve all of their problems? Ooes the teacher solve the problems in her dassroom, or does she repeatedly send for parents? "In spite of the difficulties and fru^rations of our times, I still believe in the American Dream Quinton Bryant Age 12 w G s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I P^ELOPING EFFECTIVE READING MATERIALS L^reedom is not FUpmething that can be bought th money. It is mething we must work tor." <L nus Miller Age 12 I II II I HI IS EH DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE READING MATERIALS THAT PROMOTE HIGH INTEREST FOR ALL STUDENTS by Marva N. Collins Reading can be compared to tho porlormance of a symphony orchestra. This analogy illustrates throe points. First, like the performance of a symphony, roading is a holistic act In other words, while reading can be analyzed into subskills such as discriminating letters and identifying words, performing the subskills one at a time does not constitute reading. Reading can bo said to take place only when tho parts are put together in a smooth, integrated performance. Second, success in reading comes from practice over long periods of time, like skill in playing musical instruments. Indeed, it is a life time endeavor. Third, as with a secure musical score, there may be more than one interpretation of a text. The interpretation depends upon the background of the reader, the purpose for reading, the amount of vocabulary tho reader brings to the task, and the context in which reading occurs, (reference
What is Reading?
The Report on Making a Nation of Readers Department of Education) First, we need to disband our traditional three reading groups. We need to teach beginning reading skills as a total group. Teach phonics first before the whole word approach. When teaching children the sound of letter A, why not teach them all of the spellings for the sound simultaneously. The spellings for long A are
*a-e', "ey". ea", aigh", "eigh", ay", af. Why teach them only some of tho sounds and then later say. These too, boys and girls are the sounds for "a". By teaching all sounds together, I have found that we prevent confusion of the spellings. The way wo traditionally teach reading in American schools actually impedes tho lifelong process of becoming a good reader. ViZhon teaching the sound for the letter C, one should also teach that tho spellings for C are: "ck as in tack, single "c" as in cat, "ch" as in ache, trachea, bronchitis, Achilles, and Andromache. Single "k" makes the same sound as single C. Single k" as in king, kilt, kill, etc. This way the children will learn all of tho spellings for C at the same time. With daily dictation, patience and practice, tho spelTings become easy for tho children. Also tell them tho rule for using ck"
tho vowel before the "ck" is always short. Before reading any story in a basal textbook, have the students preroad tho words in the selection. Have oa^ student fake a turn and say. Tho vowel is "a" and tho word is bat Tho vowel is "o" and tho word is lot. The vowel is T and the word is hit." Develop a roading list and copy it. using the words from the story. Sot aside a time during tho day when each child individually reads the list by following tho examples given above. Each day tho students should road as an entire group rather than the traditional approach of throe reading groups. Usually while tho Rod Birds are reading the Blue Birds are causing dtsc^Hno problems. When the entire group roads at tho same time, this causes each child to pay Mention especially when tho "Stop-Go" reading approach bused. It abo helps wjth word recognition. oxatpple. if one child calb a word "angle" instead of "anger, the other students hearthe correction and they loam a now word. By having all students road orally, tho teacher encourages comprehension, and can immediately correct errors before they become permanent sitent errors never detected oxcopt,on tho standardized test and by this time it b usually too late. When students read orally the teacher can ask for synonyms, antonyms, or homonyms for words read rather than attempting to teach these in an bolatod unit Reading tends to be taught as an isolated subject. I believe that tho most effective roading program becomes most valuable when roading is intograted with all subjects. After ah. if a child cannot read, they cannot do anything. e s t s I d e P r e P s c h o o I DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE READING MATERIALS I 1 1 I I F I I I JI Whan teaching arithmetic, tell them that the word arithmetic is a Greek word meaning skilled in numbers." This begins the word etymology process. If children can read, write and understand the meaning ot such words as:quadrilateral, volume, capacity, hypotenuse, etc., they will not only understand better the processes involved in finding solutions, but they will have a better grasp of what solution they are seeking. For example, if students are learning the Pythagorean theorem, have the students do a report on Pythagoras, and discuss further his influence on Greek culture. Compare Pythagoras as a philosopher with Aristophanes' work. Plato, Socrates, arxf Marcus Aurelius. This could be done in a literature session aside from the math class. But think how the parallel in reading class would make the math class on Pythagorean theorem come alive. When teaching Greek mythology, teachers must know what connects. After teaching the elementary "Jason and the Golden Fleece", one should go right into "Medea" by Euripides. "Medea* is simply another version of the basic Greek myth. Our fourth graders give their own theatrical production of "Medea" each school year. Invitations are written to the classes and parents. The children also love to memprize the Greek alphabet and each child does a comprehensive study of ancient Greek culture and literature. In other words, we combine literature, social studies, art, science, and all subjects into reading, comprehension, and spelling. We do not pull out another book to teach spelling from. We teach spelling words straight from our math, reading, social studies, etc. The words may be hypotenuse, obtuse, Aristophanes, Plato, etc. Writing likewise, should be a part of the total reading program. After our students read orally each day, we have them write letters to the characters in the story. We have them conduct interviews with the characters. For example, children interviewOdysseus, or they conduct mock interviews with Homer the author of The Iliad". Every student must learn the etymology of words such as: sandwich came from the Earl of Sandwich, boycott came from John Boycott of Ireland, kangaroo from Captain John Cook, the state of Delaware from Lord De La Ware. The best education is the education ol constant inquiry. We want our students to continue to ask why and to develop an insatiable curiosity. We realize that we can never satisfy inquiring minds that constantly probe arxf seek information. To teach a student to read but not love reading is not, in my opinion a good education. We must eradicate the opinnn that inner-city children will not understand excellent literature. These children should receive a first-rate education if they are ever going to break the unending cycle of poverty and degradation. These students do not need more remedial classes, they need to be mainstreamed into society where they will be able to furxztion in the national arxf international marketplace. "By having ail students read orally, the teacher encourages comprehension, and can immediately correct errors before they become permanent silent errors never detected except on the standardized test and by this time It is usually too late." "I am glad that we can vote, and that blacks and whites, can talk, work, play, and struggle together.' Paul Orange Age 10 37 h I d s c o o p e P r t e I s s w efl fl PROVERBS HIntellegence ne better the serves than talk." omas Hamilton e9 At Westside Preparatory School proverbs are used to motivate and inspire children into discovering the tnith about themselves and the world around them. The children use a proverb list for memory work and during writing and discussion times. Proverbs can also be found posted throughout the school as visual reminders of the lifestyle the children are called to live. This section is a collection of those proverbs. A man of words and not of deeds, is like a garden full of weeds. Nursery Rhymes n 38 Mediocrity does rrot inspire men to greatness. Zarlenga Better to hear the scorn of the wise than the song of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:11 He who conquers others is strong
He who conquers himself is mighty. Tao Te Ching I'd rather die on my feet than beg on my knees. Life maroons the hesitant and inspires the brave. Marva N. Collins Dr. Thomas Dooley Thinking well is wise
planning well, wiser
doing well wisest best of all. Persian Proverb All things great and small, the good Lord lovefh them all. Samuel Coolrldge from The Ancient Mariner Here Lord is my life. Place it on the alter today. Use it as you will. Albert Schweitzer We must all live together as brothers or perish alone as fools. Dr. Martin Luther King If you live with a lame man, you will learn to limp. The mass of men lead Fives of quiet desperation. Plutarch Henry David Thoreau Great rpen are those that know that the spiritual force is greater than material force and that thoughts mle the world. Concentrate and you will radiate. Ralph Waldo Emerson .1. d h I H w e s t $ I e P r e P $ c o o I PROVERBS 1I I fl nn nnn a a .4>- Zarlenga A great flame follows a little spark. Dante The beautiful is that which gives pleasure upon being seen. Thomas Aquinas Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant only taste of death but once. From Shakespeares Julius Caesar Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it. From Shakespeare's Macbeth Education was not meant for all people
it was meant to take only a few people to great arxl lasting heights. Nietzsche With a good conscierK:e our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the larxl we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing here on earth God's work must truly be our own. John F. Kennedy Some people see things and say
'Why? I see things arxl say 'Why not?" Robert F. Kennedy Learning is never an easy enterprise
rtor is truth an easy master. The Great Books Hope is wishing for a thing to come true
faith is believing that it will come true
work is making it come true. Norman Vincent Peale If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you, but none too much
if you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds' worth of distance run, yours is the Earth and everything that is in it, and-which is more- you'll be a man my son! From Rudyard Kipling's It Have patience for the small things of life, courage for the great sorrows, and when you have done your work, go to sleep krxiwing that God is awake. From Victor Hugo's Les MIserables We canrxit put a noose around amther man's neck without first hanging ourselves. Henry David Thoreau I can never go too far wrong, for I have the best guide in the worldGod guides me. Marva N Collins w e s 1 s I d e P r e P s c h o o I "Your enemies are the people who make life easy." Sharquita Holmes Former student I a I' I PROVERBS 1
How is anyone become wise ithout reading )out the past." Ammon Johnson Me 12 I 40 Fortune favors the bold. Virgil To be intimate with a fool is like going to bed with a razor. Benjamin Franklin The real fault is to have faults and rwt try to mend them. Confucius Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong. Abraham Lincoln Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the dead calm ot ignorance and faith. Ingersoll Belter to be a nettle in the side of your friend than his echo. Emerson If your neighbor's team is stuck in the mud, it is not quite enough to advise him to ,Hitch his wagon to a star." Hubbard Every day that is bom into the world comes like a burst of music, arxf rings itself all the day through
and thou shall make of it a dance, a dirge, or a life march, as thou will Carlyle God never closed one gap but he opened another. Irish Proverb Thoughts are things, and their airy wings are swifter than carrier doves, they follow the law of the universe and they spe^ o'er the track to bring you back whatever went out from your mind. Ella Wheeler Wilcox Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. Thomas Paine Go put your creed into your deed. Ralph Waldo Emerson All service ranks the same with God, there is no last rwr first. Robert Browning No virtue is higher than love, and there is no loftier aim in life than to do good to all men. Confucius d h I t e P s P r e c s s I e o o wPROVERBS The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. John Locke One single sunbeam is enough to chase away many shadows. St. Francis of Assisi "You should not follow everyone' mind. If you are a conformist, th: is what you are doing." Kenya Kimball Age 12 41 I h o o c $ p d e r P G t I S s e wI WHY I TEACH "If you don't plan your future now, all you are really doing is planning to fail." Often I am in the company of people who run billion-dollar corporations, and have amassed fortunes through the expertise of selling one product or one service or arwther. Those people seem to have all of the,material things that are inherent of our idea of the American Dream. It is during these moments that I reflect again and again as to why I teach. Shelisa Washington Former student When 1 return to the classroom and see childrens eyes holding wonder like a cup, then I know why I teach. I hoar a child say, I love you Mrs. Collins, and I am the recipient of many gifts such as rings that tarnish, candy that is sti^y from being in a sweaty palm and I must courageously eat that piece of candy given to me by a benevolent child, or when a child says to mo, You smell good
I love you'....I then know why I teach. When I see a precis written by my students filled with ideas germinated in my classroom, arxJ when I hoar ideas that I have given expanded upon with tofty thoughts of their own
I know why I leach. I then too think that most human beings are as good as they are because some unknown teacher cared enough to continue polishing until a shiny luster came shining through
because some teacher cared enough to remove the previous tetid tags and labels of failure from their psyches. I then think of how many times visitors from all over the world have come to Westside Preparatory School and replied, 'It's amazing, what you do here with children. I then think how many times wo have called the profits of a billion dollar corporation a miracle
wo expect profits
wo expect success. Why then cant wo expect the same success from our children? That is why I teach. a Thon there is Tiffany, a child considered autistic who had not spoken, who had been tokJ by the experts that sho was an unlovable and unteachable child. Then one day after much patience, prayers, love and determination Tiffany's first words to mo were, I love you Mrs. Ollins," The consonant *C was left off
but I realized that the tears that flowed from Tiffany's declaration made me the wealthiest woman in the world. Today to see Tiffany writing her numerals, beginning to road single words, talking, and most of all to seo that glee in her eyes that says, I loo, am special, I too, can learn, this to me is worth all of the gold in Fort Knox. a I dont know much about tax-shelters, balance sheets and takeovers mentionod in big business, but the biggest business on earth to mo is to see a child whose eyes proclaim you his or her heroine. Another reason I teach is Durville. Durville is a student from the Cabrini- Green Housing Project This is an area whore one keeps score of the murders, rapes, and crimes that prevail in the area every minute. Yet, this lad came to our school in September with a fourth grade level in reading and now in April ho has scored at a twelfth grade reading level. Durville squints, because ho has difficulty seeing, yet despite the odds, he is the brightest lad wo have over had at our school. Durville confuses the stat ist icians and the people who do all of the baleful studios as to what one can become when one is a resident of a fetid area. Right on, Durvillel Ono day you will show the world that all you need is an opportunity. Despite the fact that you are rwt a paying pupil at Westside Preparatory School, and we are always financially strapped, it is worth all of my sleepless nights wondering how I am going to balance our doficils to see the glow in your eyes that will one day light the world. There is Takiesha. a three-year old that is roading, knows her alphabets, and can compute with two-digit numerals and takes pride in her knowledge, proving again that young children can do more than take naps, drink milk, and go homo at the end of an average school day. w e s t s I d e p r e p s c h o o I WHY I TEACH These are the real reasons why I loach. To seo people grow right in front of my eyes b Iru^ s work on Earth, if is my miracle. 11 is the kind of mirado that one cannot see from totals on a balaiw sheet, from profits and take-overs. I may not bo mentioned in Fortune magazine u one ot the wealthiest women in America, but my wealth cannot be measured on a balance sheet I do ria have financial power, but I have the power to mob. to nu
This project was supported in part by a Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives project grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Council on Library and Information Resoources.