In the transition from home-schooling to the classroom, it proved elusive.
When we last left the story of Brandon Hogan, the home-schooled child of Pastor Susan and Fred Hogan, who has this year entered the fifth grade at Amistad Academy, he was coming close to achieving his “blue shirt.” (The Independent is following the Hogans and two other families this school year for an up-close look at parental involvement in education.)
At Amistad, to receive the blue shirt means not only academic excellence but following Amistad’s demanding code of conduct and decorum. Brandon was getting As and Bs in his academics. But the adjustment from home schooling has been more difficult than Brandon’s parents expected. This morning Susan Hogan was visiting his class, where reading teacher Josh Sloat introduced Brandon to historical fiction, to see if Brandon’s latest efforts might result in the coveted blue shirt.
“Actually,” she said, “we’ve tried to take his focus off the shirt, because once he achieves that, then what? And also because he’s been missing it just by a point or two, so it gets difficult with too much focus. So we talk about learning behaviors important to life as what’s key, and then the shirt will come.”
Hogan said she has been visiting the school two to three times a week. She said administrators such as lower school dean Teron McFadden (pictured with Brandons parents) and the director Matt Taylor (not pictured) have been 100 percent true to their word that no amount of parent involvement is too much.
“Everybody in school knows us by now,” said Susan Hogan. “I’ve underestimated the difficulty he’s had in adjusting to school with so many kids. He’s so happy to see them, he want to be friends with everybody, and that’s resulted in some of the behavior issues, like the SLANT.”
At Amistad, SLANT refers to a code of behavior in the classroom, especially when there is discussion. The acronym stands for Sit up, Listen, Ask and respond to questions, Nod when you receive the info you requested, and Track the speaker with your eyes
According to McFadden, Brandon has the A and the N down cold, but he’s still got issue with the S,L, and T. “But it’s just a bump on the road. He’ll get there. “Fred Hogan said that occasionally Brandon leaves some homework or a belt at home — and that when he comes to return it, he takes a look in on his son. Susan Hogan does the same thing. “I have an intuitive feeling about Brandon, that sometimes he needs me to check up, and so I come by, and it’s no problem for the school whatsoever.”
She recently came and sat in on a science class of Brandon’s taught by seven year Amistad vet Kim Mowery. “I was so impressed,” said Susan Hogan. “We sat down in the back of the room, and Ms. Mowery taught, wasn’t upset at all by our presence, and the interest in that classroom was terrific on behalf of the students. They were teaching measurement.”
“Actually it was a lab,” said Mowery, “in preparation for the science CMTs [Connecticut Mastery Test]. We were studying human reaction time, brain-eye interaction. How fast the kids could catch a soccer ball dropped at them, for example. And then a ruler.”
“And they knew all that terminology,” said Susan Hogan, “about optic nerves.”
“Yes, it was pretty good,” said Mowery. “Thank you for coming to class.”
There have been two big changes, according to Brandon’s parents, in his school life. “On December 4th,” said Hogan, “Brandon had only what I can call a spiritual experience. You know we pray together briefly in the morning before school and of course in church. On this particular day he told us, ‘Momma, I understand what I have to do better, and I will, it will come.’ Well, that day he brought home a note from Ms. Lopez saying how terrific Brandon’s behavior was, and that she appreciates all that we’re doing.”
The other big change in Brandon’s school life is that a few days later, on Brandon’s birthday, December 7th, Ms. Lopez had her baby, and is out of school for weeks to come.
Whereas you might think that Brandon’s path to the blue shirt and the whole status of the classroom would change with a substitute, that does not happen at Amistad. They don’t hire outsiders at Amistad; in order to maintain the SLANT and the whole culture, Amistad’s teachers support each other and do the subbing themselves by and large. So Ms. Mowery will come in and cover class time other than science. In Brandon’s case, fifth-grade reading teacher Josh Sloat (pictured at the top of the story) is also covering until Ms. Lopez’s return.
He’s just given Brandon a copy of The Watsons Go to Birmingham in 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. He’s explaining to Brandon that it’s historical fiction — real civil rights events mixed up with a fictional family. Brandon recognized that Coretta Scott King, the writer of the intro, was the wife of Martin Luther King.
A reporter, speaking briefly to Brandon during this, his I.R. (independent reading) period, learned his perspective: “Things are going good and not so good. The good is that I’m learning things. The not so good is that in the afternoon I sometimes have these problems with my behavior.”
Amistad’s day is long, confided Susan Hoga, with a sigh,” and that’s when, yes, he can be too talky. They sweat the small stuff at Amistad, but it’s important, and we feel very right about his being here still.”
So did Brandon get the blue shirt? To get a blue shirt you need to receive a 70 on your “paycheck,” that is your score for the week, and remain at 70 or above for two weeks. Points are deducted from 100 for behavior infractions, not turned in homework, etc.
Alas, Brandon and his parents learned, that this week’s paycheck was under 70.
“But that’s OK,” said Susan Hogan. “I told Brandon he would eventually get it and not to worry about it but do the things that are right and that’s what’s important. And his teacher told me he was taking this all in, because he was having a good day anyway, despite no shirt. That’s when he hugged me.”
And that’s probably far more important than a shirt, of any color.
For previous installments in the Independent’s series on parental involvement in local schools, click on:
Night-Shift Waitress Hangs Up Apron
Dad Meets The Teachers. All Of ‘Em
Ms. Lopez Moves Brandon’s Seat
Night-Shift Waitress Gets Xena To Class On Time
Fifth-Graders Get “Amistadized”
Board of Ed To Parents: Get Involved!
Task Force Hones Plan for Kids
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