From a reader:
The new Code of Conduct is a total joke - its all talk and talk is cheap. Ask any student what the result of a referral was and they'll say "nothing." They don't say they got a stern warning - they say "nothing." And there right. Thats why suspensions are down.
Disruptive students will stop when they get a consequence and talk is not a consequence. So if I have to write a student up 4 times before they get a consequence then it just makes more work for everybody, especially the teacher. I have to document multiple interventions: conference with student (talk), conference with parent (talk), then the first referral involves a conference between teacher, dean and student (talk), second referral is conference with teacher, dean, and parent (talk). I really don't have hours to devote to one student's misbehavior. That's enough to make the teacher not write a referral, but instead throw all the students who came to learn under the bus. Meanwhile, nothing has happened to the student. The only consequence is for the adults in time spent and admins lecturing teachers about classroom management or worse, noting it on eval. Well, I guess that poor kid had the bad luck of getting 20 teachers who all lack classroom management skills. I have a student who had teachers comment on lack of respect and not following rules since 1st grade. But in 7th grade the problem is me?
A student took my keys off of my desk and was putting them in her pocket. I wrote her up and she got........talk. But if she does it again, she'll get ISP. And she may do it again, since there was no consequence. I put my keys away now. I've changed my behavior because she probably won't change hers. I learned my lesson! She learned that she'll get a warning for seriously bad behavior. If I hadn't caught her in the act, it would have ruined my entire evening. Thank God I saw her! Shouldn't her next REFERRAL be ISP? No, she has to do THAT again.
The animals are running the zoo at my school. A 2nd year teacher at my school told me that last year she wrote 2 referrals and both times an administrator talked to her and told her why she shouldn't have written them. Pretty intimidating when you are on an annual contract. So this year, she hasn't written any though she complains that some students destroy her class every day.
At my school, we are told we can't send disruptive students from class. We're supposed to write them up at the end of the day. Really? Let them disrupt a 90-minute class? Its a violation of the contract, of course, but does DTU give a rat's ass? They say, "We don't do discipline." Why not? It's in the contract and it's one of the toughest parts of my job. And WHY is class disruption a 1.01 (interfering with a teacher's ability to communicate with the class)? It implies that it's no big deal and I think it's the worst thing you can do. I'm talking about students who do nothing but take a giant crap on whatever I'm trying to do on a daily basis, not students who disrupt class for 5 minutes. There only reason for coming to school is being rude and disrupting class.
Vitti acts like "Deans of Discipline" makes a difference. It sounds good, doesn't it? But what the public should know is that the D of D replaced 3 AP's who used to handle discipline. So one person does for a school with an enrollment of 1500 what 3 used to do. And they each had a secretary, because its such a huge job. So teachers are strongly encouraged not to write referrals. I'm sorry if the dean is busy, but so am I. I'm trying to teach a class of 35 kids and 2 are constantly out of there seat. Why should it take 3 hours of my time before any thing happens to the kid?
Suspensions are down because we give kids too many opportunites and they take them. Wouldn't you? Kids will meet behavioral expectations. We have none
The new Code of Conduct is a total joke - its all talk and talk is cheap. Ask any student what the result of a referral was and they'll say "nothing." They don't say they got a stern warning - they say "nothing." And there right. Thats why suspensions are down.
Disruptive students will stop when they get a consequence and talk is not a consequence. So if I have to write a student up 4 times before they get a consequence then it just makes more work for everybody, especially the teacher. I have to document multiple interventions: conference with student (talk), conference with parent (talk), then the first referral involves a conference between teacher, dean and student (talk), second referral is conference with teacher, dean, and parent (talk). I really don't have hours to devote to one student's misbehavior. That's enough to make the teacher not write a referral, but instead throw all the students who came to learn under the bus. Meanwhile, nothing has happened to the student. The only consequence is for the adults in time spent and admins lecturing teachers about classroom management or worse, noting it on eval. Well, I guess that poor kid had the bad luck of getting 20 teachers who all lack classroom management skills. I have a student who had teachers comment on lack of respect and not following rules since 1st grade. But in 7th grade the problem is me?
A student took my keys off of my desk and was putting them in her pocket. I wrote her up and she got........talk. But if she does it again, she'll get ISP. And she may do it again, since there was no consequence. I put my keys away now. I've changed my behavior because she probably won't change hers. I learned my lesson! She learned that she'll get a warning for seriously bad behavior. If I hadn't caught her in the act, it would have ruined my entire evening. Thank God I saw her! Shouldn't her next REFERRAL be ISP? No, she has to do THAT again.
The animals are running the zoo at my school. A 2nd year teacher at my school told me that last year she wrote 2 referrals and both times an administrator talked to her and told her why she shouldn't have written them. Pretty intimidating when you are on an annual contract. So this year, she hasn't written any though she complains that some students destroy her class every day.
At my school, we are told we can't send disruptive students from class. We're supposed to write them up at the end of the day. Really? Let them disrupt a 90-minute class? Its a violation of the contract, of course, but does DTU give a rat's ass? They say, "We don't do discipline." Why not? It's in the contract and it's one of the toughest parts of my job. And WHY is class disruption a 1.01 (interfering with a teacher's ability to communicate with the class)? It implies that it's no big deal and I think it's the worst thing you can do. I'm talking about students who do nothing but take a giant crap on whatever I'm trying to do on a daily basis, not students who disrupt class for 5 minutes. There only reason for coming to school is being rude and disrupting class.
Vitti acts like "Deans of Discipline" makes a difference. It sounds good, doesn't it? But what the public should know is that the D of D replaced 3 AP's who used to handle discipline. So one person does for a school with an enrollment of 1500 what 3 used to do. And they each had a secretary, because its such a huge job. So teachers are strongly encouraged not to write referrals. I'm sorry if the dean is busy, but so am I. I'm trying to teach a class of 35 kids and 2 are constantly out of there seat. Why should it take 3 hours of my time before any thing happens to the kid?
Suspensions are down because we give kids too many opportunites and they take them. Wouldn't you? Kids will meet behavioral expectations. We have none
And people wonder why teachers "snap" or get burned out?
ReplyDeleteThe mission statement should be changed. No where can a young adult consistently arrive late, do nothing, cause disruptions, and a multitude of other issues and still expect to be employed. Why is it that the State of Florida believes 15 and older are responsible enough to obey the crimes and motor vehicle codes of Florida and to propel 3 tons of metal at 70 miles per hour on a highway and yet isn't responsible enough to follow the code of student conduct, to arrive on time with a book, paper, homework, and a pencil, sit attentively quietly, and constructively participate.
ReplyDeleteYes, our mission statement should say "to make all youth in Duval County unemployable" because that's exactly what we do.
ReplyDelete