Reflecting on "Urban" Education.

I attended a function in Roland Park yesterday.  For those not familiar with Baltimore, Roland Park is an old neighborhood consisting of huge homes.  Those that live there come from old money and are considered the highest of society.  Needless to say, it's an all white neighborhood.  It's beautiful.  I could just walk and look at the houses there all day.

I decided to walk by Roland Park Elementary Middle School to take a closer look.  I've noticed it before when driving down Roland Ave. but I never stopped to really look.  It's a historic building with tasteful modern additions.  There are stained glass windows portraying children reading or engaged in other learning activities over all the doors. 

There's a banner showing that the school has an excellent Gifted and Talented program.

One showing that it has an award winning arts education program.

There are gardens devoted to people who worked or volunteered at the school.

There is an iron fence portraying fish and sea creatures and wonderful playgrounds.  There are benches and structures with plaques on them indicating that they were gifted by different classes in the school.   Roland Park Elem. Middle School is next to Gilman--an exclusive all boys K - 12 private school and across the street from Roland Park Day School--another exclusive school.  Roland Park EM School has also been named a National Blue Ribbon School.  

Did I mention that Roland Park is a Baltimore City Public School?

Now I've driven by numbers of Baltimore City public schools in West Baltimore, Fells Point, and other neighborhoods and not one of them had the street appeal of Roland Park.  The ones in West Baltimore--otherwise known as the ghetto--look like dungeons.  Why does this matter?

In the current school reform debate, we constantly hear about the dire condition of urban schools. Anyone who has ever stepped foot in a classroom knows that poverty is the driver behind the dismal results that so many urban schools see.  I teach in a poor school.  The stories I hear from students are gut wrenching.  Education is not high on one's priority list when they are living in a car and trying to find food.  Education is not high on one's priority list when they are dealing with drug addiction and abuse.  I bet if those schools in West Baltimore looked like Roland Park, students would certainly be more motivated about checking out the inside.

School Reformers like to say that it is the teachers who are responsible for the poor achievement levels in the high poverty schools. Their answer to this is to strip teachers of any employment protections, not hire experienced teachers who have committed themselves to the profession and to go with a teaching force consisting of new college graduates with minimal training who only stay 2 years.  To them this makes sense.  I often wonder if they follow this philosophy when using other services.  Do they choose the experienced surgeon who has performed a procedures thousands of times or the one just out of medical school who has never done it?  I have no doubt that they go with the experienced professional.  The same should apply to teachers.

If you think that poverty and wealth among the student population doesn't matter--talk to some teachers.

I have no doubt that the teachers at Roland Park have all they need in the way of resources to perform their jobs well.  Need microscopes?  Musical instruments?  Books?  Contact the PTA or parent group and they will raise the funds or make donations.  

The teachers in West Baltimore aren't so fortunate.  They are spending hundreds of dollars of their own money supplying basic school supplies and personal items --often including shoes, clothing and food-- to their students.  

Students at Roland Park are expected to excel.  Learning is a way of life for them.  They will be expected to attend Ivy League colleges.  These students will also enjoy a wealth of enrichment activities--authors/artists in residence, field trips and other hands on learning experiences.

Students in West Baltimore are expected to pass standardized tests to prove the worth of their teachers.  They will spend months in practice testing and test prep.  Some of the school funding used for basic needs depends on these test results.  While these students are "expected" to graduate high school, college is only a dream for some.  There are no funds for enrichment activities.  They cut into test prep time anyway.

More than likely, teachers at Roland Park are considered to be highly effective.  

More than likely, teachers in West Baltimore are struggling and often considered to need improvement.

If the current crop of school reformers really believe that it is the teachers who are responsible for student achievement, I'd like for once to see them embark on the grand experiment of switching them.  Just switch the teachers in West Baltimore with the ones at Roland Park.  Give them some time to adjust to the culture shock and see if test results are any different.  It will be amazing to watch those ineffective former West Baltimore teachers turn overnight into effective ones.  The fate of the Roland Park teachers won't be so positive though.

I wish more people would understand that adequate funding to educate other people's children is an investment that will ultimately help the entire community and benefit everyone.  

We have a long way to go.

Pattern Review: J.P. Ryan Caraco

This review is posted on patternreview.com.  I've furnished more pics here.

1. What is the inspiration for your design?
My husband and I are 18th century reenactors. I wanted to make something to wear to Mt. Vernon for our July 4 reenactment that was sort of red, white and blue. When I read about this contest, I figured that I could wait to start the outfit on July 1 because the pattern was very basic. I focused on making all my accessories before that date.

2. In what year / decade / era does your design originate? (Estimates are just fine; no need to be scientifically precise!)

Since this was for July 4, I was aiming for the Georgian era--specifically 1776.

3. Why did you choose this design?
I like this type of jacket and didn't want to make a full gown. This is a middle class garment which was the type of person I was portraying. As reenactors, we focus on historical accuracy and I chose a design that was appropriate and fabric that was accurate. The only thing not historically accurate is the machine stitching which cannot be seen as it is encased between the lining and outer fabric and the hook and eye tape which was used for convenience. The fabric is a cotton from a supplier in Williamsburg that was researched from an extant garment of the period. The outer petticoat is 100% linen.

4. Where will this design be worn?
This design will first be worn at Mt. Vernon on July 4.

5. Was this design created for yourself or someone else?

Myself

6. If you used any vintage techniques or fabrics please tell us about them.
The fabrics are not vintage but they are historically accurate.

7. If you started with a pattern, identify the pattern. If you started with a photo of a design, you are encouraged to include the photo.

The caraco is made from J.P. Ryan's caraco pattern and the petticoat was made following the tutorial at this website: http://fashionablefrolick.blogspot.com/2011/04/threaded-bliss-tutorial.html

8. What fabric and trims did you use?

The caraco is made from a cotton chintz from Burnley and Trowbridge and it is based on a historical garment in their collection. It is lined with a 50/50 lightweight cotton/linen blend from Joann Fabrics. The petticoat is made from midweight 100% linen from fabrics-store.com. The sleeve ruffles are made of Italian cotton organdy from Wm. Booth Draper. The petticoat is bound with linen tape and the buttons on the caraco are bone button moulds also from Burnley and Trowbridge.

9. What was the most challenging aspect of your design?

This was an extremely easy pattern to make. Basically the lining and outer fabric are constructed in their entirety then sewn together and turned. The most challenging thing wth 18th century garments is fit. Since this closes with hooks and eyes in the center front, it has to fit exactly right. Fortunately J.P. Ryan patterns are very consistent and I've made others so I flat measured the pattern, made adjustments on the pattern, cut the lining out and constructed it first to try on. It was perfect so I did the same for the outer fabric. This was a 1 day project for the most part. Due to time constraints, I chose to forego making handrolled/stitched hems on the sleeve ruffles and chose to finish them with pinked scallops which was a common treatment at the time. Examples of garments with this type of finish can be seen in many museums.

A word about fitting J.P. Ryan patterns:  measure over your stays.  The patterns are designed for a body that fits the given measurements.  Size 8 is for a 34 inch bust and 26 inch waist.  I measure 34 and 28 but in my stays, my waist is 30.  I find that I have to add 4 inches to the waist for the patterns to fit.  They are very accurate.  The sleeves also run very slim.

Here is the closure of the false stomacher.  I added linen buckram to make it nice and stiff. 

The sleeve ruffles were finished with pinked scallops in lieu of hand rolled hems.

The buttons were made using bone button moulds which is historically accurate.  I actually prefer these to the modern fabric covered buttons.

The petticoat is pleated so that the box pleat is the width of the caraco stomacher front.  It is bound with linen tape.  The side seams were machine stitched, the pocket edges, pleats, binding and hem were all hand stitched.

I made the accessories before the outfit which included this silk lined/trimmed straw hat.  I love these little Georgian hats and I've made several of them.   I'll post a tutorial at some point.

A French style souvenir fan with pictures of Mt. Vernon and George and Martha Washington.

Miniature portrait jewelry.  The larger one is on a red silk bow which is pinned to the front of the jacket.  Both portraits are reductions of period paintings of George Washington.

Here are some pics of the outfit as worn July 4 at Mt. Vernon.

So far this is my favorite 18th century garment.   It's very comfortable, fits perfectly and fits the period I''m portraying very well.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes! Family Edition

Well it's been a long time comin'.  I've let the blog go for soooooo long.  I've decided to revive it as a way of giving details to things --be they events or projects--that I just can't do on Facebook.  I'll be posting things from the past along with current events and projects!

Since my last post, we've experienced a major life event.  We became in-laws!  Jeremy got married on October 5, 2013.  He and new daughter-in-law Denise proved that you can have a classy wedding on a shoestring budget by doing so much of it themselves.  I was really proud of them.   It was definitely a Pinterest wedding!

Denise made all of the table decorations and place cards.    She collects milk glass so she used milk glass containers for the flowers.

The only thing I made were the chocolate covered Oreo table favors and we supplied the expected Pittsburgh cookie trays! 

Denise's cousin, who was also the matron of honor, made red velvet cupcakes decorated like roses and placed in milk glass vases.  

Ems made the bouquet as a wedding gift.  It was made out of sheet music and used a Dr. Who sonic screwdriver as the handle.  Denise is a big Dr. Who fan!

The wedding was at an old estate that is owned by the park service.  Jeremy and Denise hired the caterer, rented the table linens and called in friends to bar tend and dj!  It was beautiful and a lot of fun!  Here are a few more pics!

As much of this space is dedicated to my projects, of course there was sewing involved.  My dress was made using Vogue 8814 view B.  I made a muslin as it had some oddly shaped pieces and I wasn't sure how my usual alterations--enlarging the hips--would work.  As usual, it fit fine.  It's made of silk jacquard from Thai Silks in CA--one of my favorite sources.  I love this dress but it poses some lingerie issues!  I topped it with a shrug from an out-of-print Vogue pattern using some Oscar de la Renta hammered silk charmeuse.  I use the shrug with a lot of other evening wear.  

That's it for now.  I'll catch up on more later!

Wow! I skipped whole year!

Personally 2011 is a year best forgotten in my book anyway.  I'll do better this year, I promise.  I'll post a few highlights of 2011.  Basically, though, I'm glad it's over!

I'm Baaaaaack!

I've been in a blogging funk. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I've gotten sucked into the national sour mood. I'm fortunate to be employed in a job I love, but unless you've been under a rock, you know that education has been a hot topic in the news these days. The message is that public schools are bad, public school teachers are lazy and don't give a shit about kids, charter schools are good and the Teach for America volunteers who agree to teach for 2 years with only 5 weeks training will save America's schools. I read that I my job performance should be evaluated by the gains in test scores of elementary kids who have no incentive to do well on said tests or who face no consequences for not doing well. There are those who feel that my salary should be determined by those same test scores. Given that I teach in a school that is 92% minority, 65% free and reduced lunch, and at least a third who don't speak English, I find the rhetoric to be depressing. Those of us who do what I do understand that this is all about political spin, saving money and ultimately privatizing public education. Hopefully no major changes will occur in my district until I retire in 2016. Our state superintendent, however, has other ideas. Keep in mind that this is a woman who probably hasn't been in a classroom in 40 years. The legislature is keeping her in check however and some major decisions now rely on the governor to make some choices. Hopefully he will use basic common sense and read some research pertaining to the issues he has to decide on.

Enough of my rant! I've been busier than ever at school as I lost a planning period and gained another class which is a new prep. However I have this to look forward to:

Mmmmmm. . . . MadelineTosh!

The green merino light is currently being used for a sweater. The brown on the left will be another sweater. The two singles--blue merino light and red sock will be shawlettes.

Speaking of shawlettes--Here are the two I recently finished:

 The first one is called Fan Dance and it is knit in Sanguine Gryphon Kypria which is a merino/bamboo blend.  It's simply delicious to knit with!  The second one is called Ruffle My Feathers and it is knit in Wollenstudio Sock yarn in Blue Bijou.

Here's another silly little project:

 

I loved the little iron on transfer so I decided to add it to a basic black tee!  

Other news--the kids have moved in together in the first floor apartment in Ems' building.  Her building is a gorgeous large house built around 1900.  They have the whole first floor and they enjoy some neat architectural details like oak paneled walls, ornate fireplaces, stained glass windows, 12 foot ceilings etc.

Kitty news--Samantha was diagnosed with cancer.  She had a little growth between 2 toes which we had removed.  The biopsy revealed it to be a slow growing cancer in the skin so in order to remove enough clean margin, she had to go back in to have half of her hind foot amputated.  She seems completely back to normal and hopefully we've seen the last of that!

Holiday time is fast approaching and I decided that my furry friends outside needed some help so I hung our squirrel feeder on the tree in the front yard.  The squirrels are rather comical to watch.  Sometimes there are 4 or 5 of them out there but only one at a time can get to the feeder.  They sit on a perch and open the top lid to get the food.  When the food gets low, some of them will go inside the feeder and when they hear a noise, the lid pops up as they poke their head out to investigate.  Well, apparently word has gotten out because the other night, a new friend was visiting:

 

DH was bothered by our new visitor and thought we should take the feeder down.  You know me--I thought he was cute and I welcomed him.  He cleaned out the feeder but he hasn't returned.  Perhaps he's found a better feast elsewhere.

This will be the first Thanksgiving without Jeremy.  He has to work Wed. night and Friday morning so he can't make it from the Burgh.  Ems is in the same situation so she may not make it either.  We're still waiting to find out.  I do have a good friend coming.  We hope to go see the new Harry Potter movie after dinner Thursday.

I plan on staying in on Black Friday.  I can think of no sale that would be worth putting myself through that madness.  That's what Ebay and Overstock.com are for!

I hope to be better about keeping up here.  I have a new blog project, however.  I was so depressed after the midterm election that I decided to try my hand at political humor.  You can find my alter ego at The Fake American.   Enjoy and be sure to leave comments!

Kitty Cam: The boys have been throwing hints with the weather getting colder.  They love the fireplace.

 

It's been a long time comin' . . .

to quote Stephen Stills! Things got crazy at school. What can I say. This is not a good year to be a teacher--especially one with a lot of experience. We seem to be the cause of all of the problems facing this country--particularly if we belong to a union. Who knew? But I digress . . .

I've been off for a few days trying to organize all the tasks I have planned for the summer. I'm not taking any classes this summer. I needed a break. I have completed some projects so far:

First I finished DH's Colonial Shirt. This is made out of light weight linen.


Next, I finished Sylvar by Jordana Paige.


Details:
Pattern: Sylvar by Jordana Paige
Yarn: Miss Babs Yowza Watta Skein in Vlad's Red
Needles: Addi Turbo size 6
Modifications: I did raglan increases for the sizie 34 on the sleeve but stopped the increases on the body for the size 32. I also increased every 10 rows on the garter section of the sleeve to bell the sleeve slightly.

Over all, I'm pleased with this sweater. I forgot that superwash wools relax and stretch a bit. Next time I use superwash, I'll make a smaller size!

I loved that yarn so much that I got more at Sheep & Wool:

This is the Roasted Pumpkin colorway. This is being stashed for Wisteria. I have to figure out a different gauge for that one to make it smaller as the smallest tize in the pattern is 37! That will be a winter project!

I have finished a sun dress made from some wild vintage Hawaiian print I found at my Mom's! I'll post those photos when I take them!

I hit the pattern sales for the following patterns:

The cotton Jacquard fabric is from Joann's.






Another fun little sewing project:

This little pincushion was made for a swap. I may have to make more of these as they are fun to do!

That's really all I've been up to so far. I have plans for things to do around the house this summer so I will fill you in on that stuff later!

Kitty Cam: Samantha has discovered that my book bag makes a nice bed!

Necessity is the mother of invention!

In case anyone is wondering, I've been busy. It's NHL playoff season and my beloved Caps are in the playoffs. I've been hooked! I've also been watching the Pens as they are the arch rival of the Caps! Anyway--anyone who knows hockey players or hockey fans knows that we have our silly game day superstitions. Mine is that I MUST wear red on game day. After all our motto is "Rock the Red!" I have 3 red shirts that I alternate, but DH got me a nice Caps T-shirt for Christmas. He had gotten it at one of the stands at Verizon Center when we were at a game.

As luck would have it, the shirt, which was a size S (my normal size), was way too tight. It is a thin cotton knit with absolutely no stretch. I finally decided to do something about it!

I simply split the shirt along the side seam and sleeve seam and inserted a strip of black knit! I'm sorry that I didn't have any navy fabric. There wasn't any at Joann's so this was a make shift job! I was pleased with the result!

I've been slacking with the knitting. I need to do the sleeves on Sylvar. That will go quickly. I tried the body on and it is perfect! I also need to do one sleeve on Birgitte but I'm going to let that one hibernate because I want to start Myrtle which is a nice springy lace cardigan!

Anyway--that's it for now. No kitty cam tonight because the game is on!