NEA Report #8 -- Philly Food

I don't want to give the impression that the NEA RA (Representative Assembly) was all work and no play. And I certainly don't want you to think that we survived on bread and water! Finding good food in Philly was part of the fun of the week!


The Reading Terminal Market across the street from the Convention Center is like our North Market...only on steroids! It has been open since 1893 and is home to more than 80 merchants, two of whom are descendants of the original standholders from a century before. This market has Thai, Mexican, Amish, gourmet, and local foods (just to name a few). There are fresh flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, crafts, wines, and cookbooks (just to name a few more). What a great asset to the thriving downtown of Philadelphia!













Yes, we ate the requisite Philly Cheesesteak. The governor of PA visited the convention and he told us what makes the Philly Cheesesteak the Philly Cheesesteak. (He had been mayor of Philly before becoming governor.) 1. Stringy, fatty meat. Many people try to improve on the Philly Cheesesteak by using good meat, but that nullifies the authenticity. 2. Cheese Whiz. Again, don't bother with real cheese, because it won't melt right and get down in the cracks of the stringy meat. 3. Don't drain the fat off the onions. Yup, to be a REAL Philly Cheesesteak, it needs to be greasy. The ones we ate were authentic in every way. And I'm sorry, Philly, but I like the fake version I get at Cap City Diner!














Even though we worked really hard for the 5 days of the Representative Assembly, we somehow found the time to make it over to the Reading Market in the mid-afternoon for a still-warm cookie, or some to-die-for candy!


The best meal of the week was at La Fontana Della Citta. I had the best arugula salad ever, and great creme brulle. The Eggplant Parmesan was good, but not the best ever.

On the first day we were in Philadelphia, the day we did all our sight-seeing, we had lunch at Soho Pizza. I had a typical slice of pepperoni, along with an experimental slice of broccoli/spinach. YUM! Whoda thunk? But it worked. I may try to replicate it here at home!

One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II

I just found this powerful new picture book at Cover to Cover. ONE THOUSAND TRACINGS by Lita Judge is based on a family story. Following World War II, this American family helped families in Germany who were suffering after the war. Many families sent tracings of their feet with letters asking for help finding shoes for family members. They organized others to help too and were able to help hundreds of families during this difficult time.

The illustrations are amazing--beautiful paintings with actual artifacts from the author/illustrator's grandparents' attic. Real photos, letters asking for help, tracings of feet on a variety of paper are all part of the illustrations and end pages. The author's note adds a bit more information.

Although this book is powerful, I think it can be read to young children too. Often, books like this are too much for young children. But this book focuses on the good that one family did and how their help made such an impact on others. It is told from a child's voice which also makes it appropriate for children of all ages. I am adding it to my stack of books about people who have made a difference in the world.

NEA Report #7--The rest of the candidates

NEA invited ALL of the presidential candidates to speak at the Representative Assembly. NEA always invites all of the candidates. (1/3 of NEA members are Republicans.) This year, for the first time in NEA history, a Republican candidate accepted that invitation, and he received the same enthusiastic Team NEA welcome as the other candidates:

Mike Huckabee was a great storyteller, and he made us laugh with the one about the Harvard student who got the only A+ in Harvard history for his one sentence essay utilizing the concepts of Religion, Royalty, Sex and Mystery.* He also told us about growing up in a patriotic home.** When he spoke about education, though, he was very serious. He equated education with national security, and talked about the importance of health care for children. One of his passions is to make sure that art and music are mandatory parts of the curriculum, and he illustrated this point with a story from his childhood about the importance to him of the guitar he received one Christmas.

Barack Obama spoke about the "these kids" syndrome -- in which the more we talk about the kids who are failing in our educational system (or who are being failed by it) are spoken about, the more they increasingly become someone else's problem. He would have us remember that they are OUR KIDS and we need to do whatever it takes to help them succeed. "Our Kids" was then one of his catch-phrases throughout his speech. He called No Child Left Behind "one of the emptiest slogans in American politics," pointing out that what we really left behind was the money to fund it, along with common sense.

Joe Biden didn't claim that he'd be The Education Parent, he pointed out that his family is the Education Family -- his wife is a teacher, and he teaches a law course every Saturday. He scoffed at an earlier candidate's promise to select a teacher as Secretary of Education (Who? I can't remember now...). He said, "How about a teacher living in the White House and sleeping with the president?!?" He spoke on all of the main issues: education is more than just the teachers, it is also the Education Support Professionals (ESPs), keep art and music, drop out rate/access to college, importance of preschool, and teacher pay/retention.



*"My God," said the Queen. "I'm pregnant! I wonder who did it?"
**"My father laid on the stripes, and I saw stars!!"

Great Music for Kids from Shannon Tanner

We are vacationing in Hilton Head this week. We are having a nice time--very relaxing with just the right amount of things to do. Last night, we went to the Shannon Tanner show. For people who go to Hilton Head yearly, Shannon Tanner is a family tradition. He does concerts nightly in the Shelter Cove area. We have been to Hilton Head once before but skipped this event. This year, we decided to go.

I am not often a fan of these family concerts but I must say that Shannon Tanner was quite fun. I can see why families make it a tradition. His music is fun and he has just the right amount of adult humor to create a fun time for every member of the families. He has an amazing way with kids and our kids had a ball. He is quite popular here and I can see why. He puts on a really fun show and he seems like a genuine nice guy.

The other bit of good news is that he has some fun music to take with you after the show (and for sale on his website)--I purchased on to share between my daughter and my classroom. I imagine we'll buy more on his website. The music is fun, and great for elementary age kids. At the end of this school year, I realized that we had no music that we played in the classroom and I need some. It is tricky to find music for kids that are 8-10--they want it to be "cool" but they also want to be little kids. I think Shannon Tanner's music will meet their expectations when we need a burst of music in the classroom. I purchased one of his concert CDs. He also has DVDs of his show, etc. I highly recommend these for classroom use... I imagine lots of you already know about this but for those of us who don't go to Hilton Head regularly, I wanted to pass along the info and let you know that this would be good fun music for the classroom! (His website says he does school visits too:-)

NEA Report #6 -- Day 3

Today has been a mixture of business, voting, and special recognitions.

We had to get through debate (sometimes ad nauseum) on ALL 4 of the proposed bylaw amendments because tomorrow morning we will begin voting on them at 9:00 a.m., before the RA is actually scheduled to convene. So that business needed to be completed.

We voted on 5 candidates for Educational Support Professionals to become at-large members of the NEA Board of Directors. I am happy to report that there were no hanging chads in this election, and it was completed very efficiently!!

The members of the AFT who are present at the RA were recognized, as were the 13 international educators who are guests of various state delegations to the RA. There was a very inspirational recognition of the Little Rock Nine on the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

And we heard from two more presidential candidates.

Dennis Kucinich was at his idealistic best. He spoke on his anti-war platform, in terms of the money that could be saved for/diverted to education. He used the image of a statue over the front steps of the House of Representatives at his metaphor: the statue is of a woman standing with one arm straight out. Below her outstretched arm and protected by it is a child with a stack of books. The title of the statue is "Peace Protecting Genius." Kucinich believes that both education and health care should be civil rights for all Americans, especially our children.

Bill Richardson is the first Latino to run for president. He is bi-cultural and bilingual. He brought back collective bargaining for public employees in New Mexico when he was elected governor, and his stand on NCLB can be summed up thus: "School reform has made our schools look like reform schools." Richardson has done amazing work for teachers in NM, raising both teacher salaries and teacher quality. He promises to institute a nationwide base salary of $40,000 for all teachers if he is elected for president.

NEA Report #5 -- Meet the Candidates

All of the presidential candidates were invited to address the delegates of the Representative Assembly. Today we heard from Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Christopher Dodd.

Hillary Clinton was an amazingly dynamic speaker. She focused almost exclusively on the importance of public education. In the question and answer session following her speech (just two questions for each candidate) she clarified her stand on charter schools -- making clear that she supports public charter schools, but not (NOT.in.any.way.shape.or.form.) vouchers.




John Edwards embedded his comments about the importance of public education within his campaign focus on ending poverty and eradicating the "two America's" and the "two public school systems" about which he often speaks. The look on Edwards' face was priceless when he was asked how NCLB can close the poverty gap. He simply couldn't answer that question! (Who could?!?!)





Christopher Dodd doesn't just "talk the talk" on education issues, he "walks the walk." He pointed out to us that in his 30 year career in the senate and congress, he has a 100% voting record with NEA. His belief in organized labor drives his candidacy, and his answer to the question, "What's the number one problem in America?" has been, for 26 years, "The education of America's children."

NEA Report #4--Day One: The Representative Assembly

I took pictures as the meeting hall was filling up with the 15,839 people who are attending the NEA RA.

I took pictures of the signs the Communications Committee members carry up and down the aisles of ever delegation to remind the members what the recommended vote of the caucus is for each issue (red C and arrow up or down), or, in the case of an issue that comes up on the floor, the on-the-spot recommendation of the leadership team on an issue (green L and arrow up or down).










And I took pictures during the opening speech of NEA President, Reg Weaver.


But it's a bit like taking pictures of the Grand Canyon. If you aren't here, you simply can't completely imagine the enormity of the room, the noise of the cheering, the vision of the confetti fountains in the lights, and the feeling that you're a part of something huge.

NEA was started 150 years ago in Philadelphia by 43 teachers. There are now 3.2 million (MILLION) members. NEA is one of the largest democratically elected representative bodies in the world. NEA's history is entwined with the history of civil rights and women's rights in our country. NEA elected a woman president before women had the right to vote in our country.

As President Weaver said, "You didn't join because we fight, you joined because we fight for what is right."

NEA Report #3 -- The State Caucus Meeting

Every morning from 7:00 to 9:00, before we leave for the Representative Assembly at the convention center, we attend the state caucus meeting. At this meeting, we receive the recommendations of the state's leadership team, aka the resolutions committee. They have studied the new business items, and the amendments (to bylaws, standing rules and the constitution) and they make recommendations about how our state should vote on each issue. After they make each recommendation, there is lots of debate amongst the membership. (All strictly following Robert's Rules of Order!) Ultimately, each member decides how he/she will vote, regardless of the recommendation.

Lest you think this is all work and no play, I submit the following photos of our state association president, sporting topical headgear. A hat from Sunday on the theme of "When Pigs Fly," and a hat from today, Monday, that recognizes the 15oth anniversary of the formation of the National Education Association here in Philadelphia:

No Talking by Andrew Clements

I was excited to see this new book, NO TALKING out by Andrew Clements. Since I teach a multiage class of 3rd and 4th graders, Andrew Clements' books are usually perfect choices for read aloud. I love the school issues that his books address and the issues are always so well handled for this age group.

In this new book, the 5th graders have always been a chatty group. The teachers have even named them "The Unshushables". Another issue with this class is that the boys and girls don't get along. So, these two issues become the anchor for a no talking contest between the boys and the girls.

One of the things I enjoyed was reading about various teachers' reactions to the contest that caused a bit of unpredictability to their days and lessons. It was so interesting to read about the ways the adults in the building handled the problems. Andrew Clements seems to really have teachers figured out. The diversity of reactions was interesting and very realistic.

I am not sure I will read this one aloud. It is a good one but some of his others may be better for read aloud. I liked it because I thought the talking issue was a really good one that would be interesting to talk to kids about early in the year. But, I didn't feel like I got to know the main characters as well as I knew the main character in some of his other books. It is definitely one I'll add to my classroom library. The whole fun and challenge of not talking makes for a pretty quick, fun read. Since it is boys against girls, it will easily be enjoyed by both genders. I'm not sure which of the two issues (talking at school or gender issues) would be more of a focus for 3/4 graders but both would make for interesting talk.

Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel

I just picked up a copy of ELLIE MCDOODLE: HAVE PEN, WILL TRAVEL by Ruth Barshaw. I had it on my list of books I wanted to read and saw it at the bookstore yesterday. So glad I picked it up!

I have always been drawn to books that were like journals. Much of this book is Ellie McDoodle's sketch book. Ellie McDoodle is a great character. She is fun and honest.

The plot is one that lots of kids (and adults:-) can probably relate to--Ellie is forced to go camping with relatives that she does not always enjoy. She "observes" these relatives on their trip, and she lets us know (quite often) how very annoying they all are. The trip continues and Ellie learns that she actually enjoys time with her family and they aren't really that annoying.

Fans of the AMELIA'S NOTEBOOK series by Marissa Moss will enjoy Ellie. Ellie's sketchbook is fun and detailed. So much thinking goes into her sketches and notes. The book is chapter book length and seems perfect for kids in grades 3-5ish. It seems like it can span the upper elementary grades pretty easily. Lots to love for many ages.

I remember reading about this book on the Class of 2K7 website. So many great books are coming out of that group of authors!

The author, Ruth McNally Barshaw, has some great websites for readers. Her author website is full of great info. She also has a great blog about the process of creating the books--what a fun read! I am always on the lookout for great books to serve as models for kids' own writers' notebooks. This is one I'll add to my collection.

Sounds like Ellie McDoodle might be a series--I couldn't find information on any future books about Ellie, but it seems like the perfect book to be the first in a great new series.