Here are three recent comments I have received from veteran teachers.
It seems the only teachers who can do what they know to be best for their students are the ones who can walk away from their job at the end of the year. Otherwise, their hands are cuffed and we have to do the will of the government of Florida, and a school board that is all about the bottom line. Neither of these parties seem to care what happens to the kids as long as their personal agenda and bottom line is achieved.
They are trying to eliminate teachers with these stupid (reading) programs. They want teachers to surprivise students on the computers while they're working with a small group while another group is working on a project. Nothing gets done. Kids run their mouth the whole time while the teacher is being drawn and quartered. Group work and web based programs are great but they should only be used to supplement good old fashioned teacher led instruction. Am I the only one?
I was on leave for part of this year, and came back to find my students' reading grades suffering because we are expecting first graders to master third grade sight words! Oh and the dropping down of curriculum was not a state thing, it's a district thing. They seem to think that increasing rigor is increasing the level and that is not the case. I received a highly effective evaluation last year, but am not trusted to know what is developmentally appropriate for my students. Duval county will have even bigger gaps than they already do if teachers only follow these ridiculous expectations.
It seems the only teachers who can do what they know to be best for their students are the ones who can walk away from their job at the end of the year. Otherwise, their hands are cuffed and we have to do the will of the government of Florida, and a school board that is all about the bottom line. Neither of these parties seem to care what happens to the kids as long as their personal agenda and bottom line is achieved.
They are trying to eliminate teachers with these stupid (reading) programs. They want teachers to surprivise students on the computers while they're working with a small group while another group is working on a project. Nothing gets done. Kids run their mouth the whole time while the teacher is being drawn and quartered. Group work and web based programs are great but they should only be used to supplement good old fashioned teacher led instruction. Am I the only one?
I was on leave for part of this year, and came back to find my students' reading grades suffering because we are expecting first graders to master third grade sight words! Oh and the dropping down of curriculum was not a state thing, it's a district thing. They seem to think that increasing rigor is increasing the level and that is not the case. I received a highly effective evaluation last year, but am not trusted to know what is developmentally appropriate for my students. Duval county will have even bigger gaps than they already do if teachers only follow these ridiculous expectations.
Most of these administrators view teachers as being disposable. What has Vitti done to help teachers? If you dont feed the teachers they will eat the kids. Teacher are tired of cast, tired of being under-resoursed, tired of the behavior problems that admin ignores via their policies, tired of being underpaid and see no end in sight. I love education and I love the students, that's why I teach, but my emotional paycheck doesn't pay any bills.
ReplyDeleteI found it disgusting when my math coach talked to us about Mr Hall requiring increasing rigor in math, whereas my Algebra 2 Honors students couldn't convert mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa, or add and subtract fractions, and a few still added by counting with fingers.
ReplyDeleteAt my past and current school, you can't send a disruptive student out of class. According to the contract you can, but does DTU enforce the contract? NO!
ReplyDeleteIts because of the changing demographics; black people are easier to exploit! Rich white people have been doing this since the inception of slavery. But now actually, most of the tax-dollars in public education come from most hard-working white middle-class people. And rich white people are siphoning it off into their own pockets.
ReplyDeleteTeachers are the most abused professionals in America!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for seeing teachers respected and paid well. Nice blog!
ReplyDelete