"Teaching the Levees" a free resource...

I just learned today that the, Teachers College at Columbia University through the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation is developing a curriculum that will help teachers teach issues of race and class in America. The curriculum will be directly tied to the Spike Lee movie, When the Levees Broke.

As I have written before in a prior post about the significant injustice that I have witnessed in New Orleans. This curriculum well help remind us of this disaster and the amount of work that still needs to be done, but also make the situation a teachable moment. I recommend that every teacher and administrator sign up for this free resource.

Here is the web link to the official site Teaching The Levees

Living the Dream!
Anibal
www.anibalsoler.com

New Orleans, "The Big Easy" still recovering.

My trip to Louisiana has come to an end. I was fortunate enough to spend a week down in the "big easy." The teacher recruitment trip was a great eye opening experience for myself. I was able to see a vast array of school districts and network with other school administrators and personnel.

The biggest highlight of my trip was the visit I took down to the "ground zero" area of New Orleans also known as the lower 9th Ward. I decided to take the trip along with one of my colleagues from Rochester and another recruiter who was a school Principal from California.

It has been 19 months since Hurricane Katrina has hit and 18 months since Hurricane Rita followed. My initial reaction to what I seen was very grim. I couldn't believe that I was in a once vibrant neighborhood. I stood near the newly repaired levee and I could see loads of empty fields that were once occupied by houses.

I walked around the area in amazement. I was baffled that something so tragic could occur nearly 2 years ago and yet there was very little improvement in the status of the area.

I drove by school buildings that were damaged and still closed. I began to think as an educator the significant implications on the development of children in the New Orleans area. It will take generations to recover from this natural disaster. The amount of student disabilities and classifications I am sure will increase exponentially. I was amazed but not surprised to find out that there student enrollment had dropped by almost 75%. I hope that the city officials really look at rebuilding up the schools first so that they could be hubs for the community. New Orleans public schools were already classified as one worst in the nation. This would be the right opportunity to change that classification.

I recommend that everyone who has not seen New Orleans first hand to see the movie/ documentary by Spike Lee, When the Levees Broke. This movie is a four hour documentary on what occurred with eyewitness accounts and images. Like many movies I enjoy it makes you think against the norm on what occurred and the actions taking by those in power.

I could go on and on, on what I have seen in New Orleans and my thoughts in regards to it. Let me end it with this. Since my visit I have a deeper appreciation on the luxuries of life that I have. I have a deeper understanding on what life is really about, living.

Living life to its fullest, remembering that what matters most is living a life that matters for all physical and material belongs can be taken away at a moments notice and what will be remembered is what you have done with your life.

Please look at the photos and videos I have posted from my visit.

Thank you New Orleans!!
Anibal Soler, Jr.
www.anibalsoler.com

New Orleans Mar.30, 2007

Teacher Recruitment in Louisiana

I arrived yesterday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for a four day teacher job fair. The job fairs are occurring at LSU, ULL and Southern University. Later in the week we head to New Orleans for the final job fair. I am looking forward to seeing with my own eyes what the current rebuilding state is in New Orleans. I think we often forget how much damage was caused by the storm and the number of students, families and schools that have been affected.

In the past two days we have been fortunate enough to interview some highly qualified diverse candidates. What was initially surprising to me was the amount of other school districts who are also looking for the same type of highly qualified diverse teacher. Many of the Louisiana school districts face the same issues we in New York and other urban districts face, the lack of teachers who reflect the population we serve. I strongly believe that the minority population is only going to grow exponentially in this country and all school districts urban, suburban and rural. All school districts will begin to face the issue of finding teachers who reflect their students' ethnicity and culture.

One new thing that I have learned so far during my current trip is that school districts in Louisiana are called Parish's. This is directly related to the community having roots based from the French Government. When I hear "parish" I immediately go back to my Catholic roots.

I wonder how students back in New York would feel if their districts where now called parishes. Rochester City School Parish... hmm I don't know, I think it sounds a bit more sophisticated than district.

I look forward to the rest of the week. The food so far has been very enjoyable, especially if you enjoy seafood and Cajun. I will continue to post throughout the week please feel free to comment or email me.

Living the Dream!!
Anibal
http://www.anibalsoler.com