WHEW.
Okay, so.
Today the acting 8th grade Asst. Principal decided that 5 of the eighth graders were acting so terrible that they were going to be put back into 7th grade. Go ahead and re-read that sentence so it's full meaning can take effect.
And can you believe I had the nerve to be upset about this? And not only did she decide this, she didn't even TELL us. This kid shows up in my room yelling something about how he "got a paper to be here, ya heard?" Um...what? He then says, "it don't matter cause I'm suspended anyways but when I get back I'm this class." And he left.
I step into the hallway as this Asst. Principal is walking by. "Ms. Belton, can I talk to you for just a second?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Are you seriously putting 8th graders back into 7th grade?"
"Yes we are."
"Ms. Belton. First off, it's March. And it's not fair to me or my students to h---"
(She holds her hand up to me and does the "shut your mouth" motion with it")"No. No. No. No. You don't know what unfair is!"
"You can't keep screwing these kids over like---"
"NO! If anybody gets screwed over in this building, it's ME and you don't know what you're talking about!"
"Ms. Belton? Can I spea---"
"No You CANNOT SPEAK. NO."
"Maybe we can have this conversation when you realize I'm an adult and not a child?"
At this point, another administrator came up and told me that she would take care of the situation and we can talk about it later. I thanked her for helping me out and understanding my point.
After school, the 8th grade team went to Principal and bitched and moaned because now they can't get rid of these kids. Principal was actually reasonable for once in her life and told them it was too late in the year for such a move. They left all huffy.
Ms. Belton was in the office. It was around 4pm, about 3 hours after our little altercation. I went to her and said,
"Ms. Belton, I know we disagree, but I don't want to have any ill feelings toward you and I want us to be okay. I'm sorry for what happened earlier and I hope we can talk about this without---"
She turns to me, looks me in the face and says, "The NEXT time I tell you to shut-up, you better SHUT. UP."
"You know what Ms. Belton? I'm going to give you some time. I'll come back to you tomorrow and see how you're doing."
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Small Talk
Yesterday, do you know what I did instead of teaching? I sat in the corner of my room with Raekwon and talked with him about his weekend.
I've talked about Raekwon before (and one day I'll learn to link to previous posts...) He's the one who's two different people.
He was super mega crazy off yesterday. He got suspended, but again, they couldn't get in touch with a parent, so he was sent back to class. Actually, he was pushed into my room by an administrator who then slammed the door in his face. Awesome.
He then proceeds to attempt to fly around my room (arms stretched out and running) all the while shouting at no one "Suck my dick!" "Fuck this shit!" "Sonofabitch!" "Fart Fart Fart Fart" I finally corral him into a seat but he's still spazzing out. I step back into the hallway and say, Uhhhhhh administrator? Looney Tunes over there is really not working out. Since he's already suspended, do you think you could do something with him so I can teach my kids?
"Just ignore him. That's why he's doing it...he wants attention."
I'm sorry, but my couple of sweet, wonderful kids really shouldn't have to try to work through his craziness. They deserve to be in a room without profanity and insanity.
So, my only option was to give him what he wanted--attention. I put the kids to group work and sat down with him. "How was your weekend?" "What'd you do?" "What's your favorite TV show?" And he was calm and collected and talked to me the whole time. He didn't say another curse word or do anything inappropriate. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?
I've talked about Raekwon before (and one day I'll learn to link to previous posts...) He's the one who's two different people.
He was super mega crazy off yesterday. He got suspended, but again, they couldn't get in touch with a parent, so he was sent back to class. Actually, he was pushed into my room by an administrator who then slammed the door in his face. Awesome.
He then proceeds to attempt to fly around my room (arms stretched out and running) all the while shouting at no one "Suck my dick!" "Fuck this shit!" "Sonofabitch!" "Fart Fart Fart Fart" I finally corral him into a seat but he's still spazzing out. I step back into the hallway and say, Uhhhhhh administrator? Looney Tunes over there is really not working out. Since he's already suspended, do you think you could do something with him so I can teach my kids?
"Just ignore him. That's why he's doing it...he wants attention."
I'm sorry, but my couple of sweet, wonderful kids really shouldn't have to try to work through his craziness. They deserve to be in a room without profanity and insanity.
So, my only option was to give him what he wanted--attention. I put the kids to group work and sat down with him. "How was your weekend?" "What'd you do?" "What's your favorite TV show?" And he was calm and collected and talked to me the whole time. He didn't say another curse word or do anything inappropriate. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?
Oh, Well, If He SAID So...
So there's the big mystery/drama going down at the school. Someone has paintball pellets, and they are throwing them at people/walls/anything. This person threw one during class change time and hit one of my students in the leg and splattered paint everywhere. I took the evidence to the office and reported the situation.
Principal came around to all the 7th grade classes and bitched them out ("WHEN we find this person, not IF, you will be EXPELLED. If you know who it is, tell them and you can get a reward.etc.,etc.) Nobody said anything. We weren't even 100% sure it was a 7th grader.
Until lunch when somebody threw some more, and only 7th graders were in there. So, we've narrowed it down. During 3rd period, three boys came to me and said, "Ms. Vinson, we don't want the reward or anything, but Quamonta is the one with the paintballs. Don't tell anyone we told you."
So, I go to Principal, tell her what the kids told me.
She calls Quamonta to the office and soon afterward he goes back to class.
I see her in the office this afternoon:
"Well, he said he didn't do it so it wasn't him."
Wow. This detective stuff is way easier than I thought.
Principal came around to all the 7th grade classes and bitched them out ("WHEN we find this person, not IF, you will be EXPELLED. If you know who it is, tell them and you can get a reward.etc.,etc.) Nobody said anything. We weren't even 100% sure it was a 7th grader.
Until lunch when somebody threw some more, and only 7th graders were in there. So, we've narrowed it down. During 3rd period, three boys came to me and said, "Ms. Vinson, we don't want the reward or anything, but Quamonta is the one with the paintballs. Don't tell anyone we told you."
So, I go to Principal, tell her what the kids told me.
She calls Quamonta to the office and soon afterward he goes back to class.
I see her in the office this afternoon:
"Well, he said he didn't do it so it wasn't him."
Wow. This detective stuff is way easier than I thought.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Help Wanted
I talked about Eric in another post. He's the kid with the ridiculous Behavior Intervention Plan. He brought a knife to his previous school and got kicked out. The school before that, he threatened to kill his principal.
Two weeks ago he put bruises on my arm trying to get his hat out of my hands. He then tried to steal my computer ("You have something I like, I'm going to take something you like.") He also took things off my desk and threw them on the floor and ran over and pulled down books off my shelves. It was the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. I could go into great detail about what happened (I had to retell the story 3 separate times already anyway: once for the office referral, once for the long-term suspension forms and once for the police report) but that's not really the point. He went crazy. That's the gist. At one point, me and the entire class were just standing there in shock as he's screaming and yelling and running around saying gibberish.
Want to know what Principal said when I told her he had hurt me? "Good. You are our ticket to get him out of here." Thanks for your concern. (On a side note, this has happened before. Once I was breaking up a fight and one of the girls accidentally hit me with a book. The second she did it, she stopped fighting and said, "Ohmygod, I am SO sorry!" The administration tried to force me to press charges on her so she could be removed from school. When I refused because I knew she didn't mean to, they were very upset with me.)
Anyway, here is my problem. Clearly, this child has issues. He and I get along fine. He came in late and was already agitated about something and I was just the person standing in his way. I don't hold any ill will towards him. HE HAS A PROBLEM. And I feel like it's my job as an educator to find a way to get him help. The administration just wants to push him off on somebody else and make him their problem (just like all the other schools before us.) and THAT'S NOT FAIR. He's a child. He deserves to be helped. (Oh, another side note: When his mother came in for the meeting, she brought his sister. His sister is two years old, still wears a diaper, sucks a bottle and called her mother a bitch...yeah.)
We had to have a manifestation meeting two days after the incident. Eric has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) because of his diagnosed disability, which is ADHD. The Special Education Team had to have this meeting to determine if the incident with me was a manifestation of his disability (if it is, then he can't be suspended.) Well, clearly physically assaulting your teacher is not a manifestation of ADHD. Even so, it took us a good hour to get through this meeting. But in the end, and after several go-rounds of arguments, the social worker and I got a request in to have him tested for Emotionally Disturbed (ED) which means he would get the help he needs. So, hopefully this kid will get some kind of assistance and be able to become a productive member of society. Who knows though, I'll never see him again.
Two weeks ago he put bruises on my arm trying to get his hat out of my hands. He then tried to steal my computer ("You have something I like, I'm going to take something you like.") He also took things off my desk and threw them on the floor and ran over and pulled down books off my shelves. It was the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. I could go into great detail about what happened (I had to retell the story 3 separate times already anyway: once for the office referral, once for the long-term suspension forms and once for the police report) but that's not really the point. He went crazy. That's the gist. At one point, me and the entire class were just standing there in shock as he's screaming and yelling and running around saying gibberish.
Want to know what Principal said when I told her he had hurt me? "Good. You are our ticket to get him out of here." Thanks for your concern. (On a side note, this has happened before. Once I was breaking up a fight and one of the girls accidentally hit me with a book. The second she did it, she stopped fighting and said, "Ohmygod, I am SO sorry!" The administration tried to force me to press charges on her so she could be removed from school. When I refused because I knew she didn't mean to, they were very upset with me.)
Anyway, here is my problem. Clearly, this child has issues. He and I get along fine. He came in late and was already agitated about something and I was just the person standing in his way. I don't hold any ill will towards him. HE HAS A PROBLEM. And I feel like it's my job as an educator to find a way to get him help. The administration just wants to push him off on somebody else and make him their problem (just like all the other schools before us.) and THAT'S NOT FAIR. He's a child. He deserves to be helped. (Oh, another side note: When his mother came in for the meeting, she brought his sister. His sister is two years old, still wears a diaper, sucks a bottle and called her mother a bitch...yeah.)
We had to have a manifestation meeting two days after the incident. Eric has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) because of his diagnosed disability, which is ADHD. The Special Education Team had to have this meeting to determine if the incident with me was a manifestation of his disability (if it is, then he can't be suspended.) Well, clearly physically assaulting your teacher is not a manifestation of ADHD. Even so, it took us a good hour to get through this meeting. But in the end, and after several go-rounds of arguments, the social worker and I got a request in to have him tested for Emotionally Disturbed (ED) which means he would get the help he needs. So, hopefully this kid will get some kind of assistance and be able to become a productive member of society. Who knows though, I'll never see him again.
Johns Hopkins Is An Asshole
So this is a Heather's Career Update for those of you who are interested.
First of all, I got an email ASKING me to be in the Counseling Fellows Program. I emailed back and forth with my advisor (who is also the person in charge of the Fellowship) about 10 times regarding said fellowship. Should I join/Could I join/What about the 4 classes I've already taken/blah blah/blah blah.
I still was on the fence about the whole thing, but leaning toward quitting my job and getting it all over with.
Then I get an email (not from advisor lady) saying that I can only transfer two of the classes I've already taken over to the fellowship. This means I would have to take two of these classes over. EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE SAME SCHOOL. I think to myself, "that is stupid." I email these people back and they say I can get a waiver from my advisor. Well, since we had already talked about this, I figured she would be okay with it.
Friday, I get an email from the registrar. Since I have already taken 4 classes, I am not eligible for the Fellowship THAT THEY INVITED ME TO JOIN. I copy this email into an email to advisor lady. It goes something like, "Hey, you know how we've been talking about this back and forth for 3 weeks now? Well what is this crap from the registrar?"
She emails me back and says that I will "disrupt" the other students and the schedule since I've already taken 4 classes (there are 16 classes needed, plus a year long internship). WHAT THE FUCK. I highly doubt the other students will be affected if I'm not around all the time. (Also, one of the big bonuses to this program was that all the classes were scheduled for the Homewood campus, which is 15 minutes from my house. Whereas, many of the other counseling classes are scheduled at "satellite" campuses...one of which is a 2 hour drive one way. Advisor lady: can I take the cohort classes but not be in the cohort??)
So I have to go meet with her sometime soon to talk this out and figure out how to get this counseling stuff DONE and also to explain to her what a moron she is.
Stay tuned.
First of all, I got an email ASKING me to be in the Counseling Fellows Program. I emailed back and forth with my advisor (who is also the person in charge of the Fellowship) about 10 times regarding said fellowship. Should I join/Could I join/What about the 4 classes I've already taken/blah blah/blah blah.
I still was on the fence about the whole thing, but leaning toward quitting my job and getting it all over with.
Then I get an email (not from advisor lady) saying that I can only transfer two of the classes I've already taken over to the fellowship. This means I would have to take two of these classes over. EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE SAME SCHOOL. I think to myself, "that is stupid." I email these people back and they say I can get a waiver from my advisor. Well, since we had already talked about this, I figured she would be okay with it.
Friday, I get an email from the registrar. Since I have already taken 4 classes, I am not eligible for the Fellowship THAT THEY INVITED ME TO JOIN. I copy this email into an email to advisor lady. It goes something like, "Hey, you know how we've been talking about this back and forth for 3 weeks now? Well what is this crap from the registrar?"
She emails me back and says that I will "disrupt" the other students and the schedule since I've already taken 4 classes (there are 16 classes needed, plus a year long internship). WHAT THE FUCK. I highly doubt the other students will be affected if I'm not around all the time. (Also, one of the big bonuses to this program was that all the classes were scheduled for the Homewood campus, which is 15 minutes from my house. Whereas, many of the other counseling classes are scheduled at "satellite" campuses...one of which is a 2 hour drive one way. Advisor lady: can I take the cohort classes but not be in the cohort??)
So I have to go meet with her sometime soon to talk this out and figure out how to get this counseling stuff DONE and also to explain to her what a moron she is.
Stay tuned.
Alex, I Believe I'll Take "Things That Are Stupid" For $1000 Please
Lots of craziness in the past few weeks. None of it is good and it usually takes me awhile to get around to writing about the bad stuff. So here it is.
We had a meeting last week about the state of our school. As we all know, my principal got fired at the beginning of this school year because of our low performance on standardized tests. She was replaced by a milder version of herself. We haven't even taken this year's standardized tests yet, and The Powers That Be have already decided firing old principal wasn't good enough.
We were told at this meeting, in not so many words, that we're all fired from our jobs as teachers at this school. In April, whoever the principal for next year is going to be and whoever they appoint to be their administrative team will begin interviews for next year. If I (or anybody) want to keep working at this school, I have to interview again. If I want to go to another school, the voluntary transfer fair is April 14.
I think I mentioned this before, but we're also being paired with an "outside partner" to assist us in not sucking.
My question is, when are we going to find out about this new principal and administration and outside partner? I would like some sort of information about the school before I decide to stay there or move on. What if they partner with a company or program that I disagree with? What if they partner with a company or program that is my perfect ideal of how a school should be run? This is information I could use to make my decision.
I'm not going to focus on the fact that I find it incredibly insulting that I have to interview for a job I already have (which I do), but I'm going to focus on the fact that somebody I don't know is going to decide in a 30 minute interview whether I deserve to keep the job that has a body of work that spans five years is beyond ridiculous. Why wouldn't you consult the people within the building? We KNOW who works and who doesn't. Oh, right. Nobody cares what I think.
If I don't sign up for voluntary transfer and then I don't get invited back to my school, I will be assigned to any random ol' hell hole in the city that has an opening. So, do you preemptively take a job at another school so you don't run the risk of being assigned somewhere terrible, or do you wait it out and hope for the best--that you can keep your current job? Now, we all know that said current job isn't all rainbows and butterflies, but it's the devil I know. And with the possibility of a new, less sucky principal and an outside partner (i.e. $$$$$$), things could be looking up for this school.
I just don't understand why the whole process has to be so shady and secretive. Are we so worthless that we don't deserve to know what's going on?
Oh, and P.S. they had a "community forum" to let the parents know about what is going on with the shut-down. We've got 500 students...less than 30 parents showed up. Can a girl get some parental involvement?
We had a meeting last week about the state of our school. As we all know, my principal got fired at the beginning of this school year because of our low performance on standardized tests. She was replaced by a milder version of herself. We haven't even taken this year's standardized tests yet, and The Powers That Be have already decided firing old principal wasn't good enough.
We were told at this meeting, in not so many words, that we're all fired from our jobs as teachers at this school. In April, whoever the principal for next year is going to be and whoever they appoint to be their administrative team will begin interviews for next year. If I (or anybody) want to keep working at this school, I have to interview again. If I want to go to another school, the voluntary transfer fair is April 14.
I think I mentioned this before, but we're also being paired with an "outside partner" to assist us in not sucking.
My question is, when are we going to find out about this new principal and administration and outside partner? I would like some sort of information about the school before I decide to stay there or move on. What if they partner with a company or program that I disagree with? What if they partner with a company or program that is my perfect ideal of how a school should be run? This is information I could use to make my decision.
I'm not going to focus on the fact that I find it incredibly insulting that I have to interview for a job I already have (which I do), but I'm going to focus on the fact that somebody I don't know is going to decide in a 30 minute interview whether I deserve to keep the job that has a body of work that spans five years is beyond ridiculous. Why wouldn't you consult the people within the building? We KNOW who works and who doesn't. Oh, right. Nobody cares what I think.
If I don't sign up for voluntary transfer and then I don't get invited back to my school, I will be assigned to any random ol' hell hole in the city that has an opening. So, do you preemptively take a job at another school so you don't run the risk of being assigned somewhere terrible, or do you wait it out and hope for the best--that you can keep your current job? Now, we all know that said current job isn't all rainbows and butterflies, but it's the devil I know. And with the possibility of a new, less sucky principal and an outside partner (i.e. $$$$$$), things could be looking up for this school.
I just don't understand why the whole process has to be so shady and secretive. Are we so worthless that we don't deserve to know what's going on?
Oh, and P.S. they had a "community forum" to let the parents know about what is going on with the shut-down. We've got 500 students...less than 30 parents showed up. Can a girl get some parental involvement?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Jimmy
I had forgotten about this one until I told my brother the other day.
I taught Jimmy starting 4 years ago when he was in 6th grade. He was just good enough and just bad enough to be one of my favorites then. When he was in 7th grade, I no longer taught him. He turned into the bully of the school. Kids were scared of him; he was the leader of one of the kid gangs. He never went to class, just wandered around the building giving people dirty looks and fighting. It was really bad. I would still always talk to him and he was still always great to me, but it's hard to convince a child something different than what their father is telling them to do.
Jimmy was the kind of kid I always found interesting. He was really into the gang stuff, but he never seemed to take it as seriously as everyone else. I think it was a game to him, to see how many kids he could get to follow him or be scared of him. Being successful didn't make him feel better about himself, it made him feel worse about everybody else. I think he was disappointed that everyone fell so easily in line with his bullying.
He has also told me more than once that if anyone ever threatened me or hurt me, he would kill them.
Jimmy got put out at the end of 7th grade. He was in and out of alternative schools, but I still occasionally saw him hanging out outside the building after school.
Earlier this year, I was at one of Taurus' football games. It was an away game across town. I see this kid, who looks just like Jimmy. Except he can't be Jimmy, because he has on a school uniform with his shirt tucked in. He's leaving school at 3:30 and he has...a backpack. With books in it.
He sees me and comes up. He gives me a hug and tells me he just got out of detention...for chewing gum in class. "You stayed for detention? You have on a uniform? Who ARE you?"
He laughed and told me his mother had been in a car accident a few years before. She got a large settlement. Her and Jimmy got a nice house in the county. He got away from all those kids, that nasty environment around my school.
"Screw that gangster shi--stuff. I'm getting my education now. I don't have time for those clowns and their dumb games. I know it's time to grow up now."
I taught Jimmy starting 4 years ago when he was in 6th grade. He was just good enough and just bad enough to be one of my favorites then. When he was in 7th grade, I no longer taught him. He turned into the bully of the school. Kids were scared of him; he was the leader of one of the kid gangs. He never went to class, just wandered around the building giving people dirty looks and fighting. It was really bad. I would still always talk to him and he was still always great to me, but it's hard to convince a child something different than what their father is telling them to do.
Jimmy was the kind of kid I always found interesting. He was really into the gang stuff, but he never seemed to take it as seriously as everyone else. I think it was a game to him, to see how many kids he could get to follow him or be scared of him. Being successful didn't make him feel better about himself, it made him feel worse about everybody else. I think he was disappointed that everyone fell so easily in line with his bullying.
He has also told me more than once that if anyone ever threatened me or hurt me, he would kill them.
Jimmy got put out at the end of 7th grade. He was in and out of alternative schools, but I still occasionally saw him hanging out outside the building after school.
Earlier this year, I was at one of Taurus' football games. It was an away game across town. I see this kid, who looks just like Jimmy. Except he can't be Jimmy, because he has on a school uniform with his shirt tucked in. He's leaving school at 3:30 and he has...a backpack. With books in it.
He sees me and comes up. He gives me a hug and tells me he just got out of detention...for chewing gum in class. "You stayed for detention? You have on a uniform? Who ARE you?"
He laughed and told me his mother had been in a car accident a few years before. She got a large settlement. Her and Jimmy got a nice house in the county. He got away from all those kids, that nasty environment around my school.
"Screw that gangster shi--stuff. I'm getting my education now. I don't have time for those clowns and their dumb games. I know it's time to grow up now."
Monday, February 15, 2010
I Will Also Drive Below the Speed Limit In the Left Lane
What I've learned about myself is this: I am more than likely going to be one of those "YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!!!" old people. I kindof rant for no apparent reason and I find joy in pointing out absurdities. I also haven't been in school since February 5th, and I've had a lot of time on my hands to think about things that get on my nerves (much like if I were a retired old person who spent my days thinking about how those damn kids were going to ruin my begonias).
This is something that gets on my nerves:
I do a lot of field trip planning at school. I like it. It's fun to go on trips, I enjoy organizing stuff like that. Nobody else wants to do it, and I like it so I do it.
I had originally planned to do the work for the 7th grade and 8th grade end of the year trips to Six Flags. If you get the ball rolling now, things are a lot less stressful April-ish.
I go to principal for her take on the trips (can we use school money for buses, what day is best to go, which Six Flags should we go to, etc.) She acts all hesitant and whatnot and says that the 8th graders don't "deserve" to go anywhere. They did this last year with the prom and the Lion King and Six Flags and every other trip I've ever planned. At the beginning they act like they are not going to let it happen and then by their good graces they bestow a gift upon these undeserving minions. So then we can all be grateful to Principal for how nice and wonderful and giving she is. Or whatever.
But the problem is, I NEED TO PLAN THE TRIP NOW. I don't have time for you to hem and haw and make sure it looks like the whole trip is your idea. I mean damn, I'll announce it to the kids and put it on the permission slip. THIS ONE WAS PRINCIPAL'S IDEA. SAY THANK YOU. if it means I can get the go-ahead today instead of next month. WHATEVER.
Secondly, not a single kid deserves to go? I find that hard to believe. Just because you don't discipline the 20 hanging out in the stairwell doesn't mean there aren't 100 in the classroom at least attempting to learn something.
Thirdly, what kind of punishment is it to take away something that never existed? That's like telling me I can't go on a cruise tomorrow. Well, duh. Of course I can't go on a cruise tomorrow. Now, if I had my suitcases packed and tickets in my hand and THEN you told me I couldn't go, that might mean something. Or if all my friends were going and I couldn't. THEN I might try to fix my behavior. But to just randomly tell me I can't do things I wasn't going to do anyway? What kind of sense does that make?
This is something that gets on my nerves:
I do a lot of field trip planning at school. I like it. It's fun to go on trips, I enjoy organizing stuff like that. Nobody else wants to do it, and I like it so I do it.
I had originally planned to do the work for the 7th grade and 8th grade end of the year trips to Six Flags. If you get the ball rolling now, things are a lot less stressful April-ish.
I go to principal for her take on the trips (can we use school money for buses, what day is best to go, which Six Flags should we go to, etc.) She acts all hesitant and whatnot and says that the 8th graders don't "deserve" to go anywhere. They did this last year with the prom and the Lion King and Six Flags and every other trip I've ever planned. At the beginning they act like they are not going to let it happen and then by their good graces they bestow a gift upon these undeserving minions. So then we can all be grateful to Principal for how nice and wonderful and giving she is. Or whatever.
But the problem is, I NEED TO PLAN THE TRIP NOW. I don't have time for you to hem and haw and make sure it looks like the whole trip is your idea. I mean damn, I'll announce it to the kids and put it on the permission slip. THIS ONE WAS PRINCIPAL'S IDEA. SAY THANK YOU. if it means I can get the go-ahead today instead of next month. WHATEVER.
Secondly, not a single kid deserves to go? I find that hard to believe. Just because you don't discipline the 20 hanging out in the stairwell doesn't mean there aren't 100 in the classroom at least attempting to learn something.
Thirdly, what kind of punishment is it to take away something that never existed? That's like telling me I can't go on a cruise tomorrow. Well, duh. Of course I can't go on a cruise tomorrow. Now, if I had my suitcases packed and tickets in my hand and THEN you told me I couldn't go, that might mean something. Or if all my friends were going and I couldn't. THEN I might try to fix my behavior. But to just randomly tell me I can't do things I wasn't going to do anyway? What kind of sense does that make?
I Should Just Probably Swing By Their House and Pick Them Up
I have always been aware that my job involves more than just teaching. In fact, that's the part I like. Making lessons and activities and figuring out how to make them listen has always seemed pretty annoying and tedious to me. I like getting to know kids and helping them through problems. I like teaching them social skills and basically mothering them. At the beginning of each school year I spend about $200 buying basic school supplies for the kids who can't or won't get any. I always have paper and pencils on hand. I usually pay for about 5 kids to go on whatever field trip is scheduled at the time. I keep food in my cabinet to give to kids who are hungry. I am always updating my first aid kit because our school nurse is overworked and sometimes kids just need a band-aid and a pat on the head.
I'm not writing this to talk about how great I am. I'm saying I realize this is an unspoken part of my job and I am okay with it.
I'm also saying it so I'll sound like less of a brat when I complain about what I'm about to complain about.
We got an email yesterday from our CEO asking teachers to go clear the sidewalks at our schools of snow and ice so the kids can walk. around the school and "the area surrounding the school" and "the routes children who walk take" so I can "carve out a safe path." So I just spent 3 days shoveling out my car, and my driveway and my STREET for that matter (4 days since last snowfall...not a plow to be found in my neighborhood) and now I need to go down to my school's neighborhood and shovel them out too?
I get it. "We're all in this together" and blah blah. It just seems like the only time "we're all in this together" comes up is when somebody wants me to do something extra.
My sensible self knows this isn't really THAT big of a deal. But its just SOMETHING ELSE and it really pisses me off. I'm tired of being taken advantage of because I love my kids and they know I love my kids. They give me a shitty schedule because they know I won't just give up because that wouldn't be fair to the kids. They toss me around and treat me bad and make me jump through hoops because they know I'll do it for the kids. AND NOW I'M SUPPOSED TO SHOVEL SOMEBODY ELSE'S NEIGHBORHOOD!
I'm not writing this to talk about how great I am. I'm saying I realize this is an unspoken part of my job and I am okay with it.
I'm also saying it so I'll sound like less of a brat when I complain about what I'm about to complain about.
We got an email yesterday from our CEO asking teachers to go clear the sidewalks at our schools of snow and ice so the kids can walk. around the school and "the area surrounding the school" and "the routes children who walk take" so I can "carve out a safe path." So I just spent 3 days shoveling out my car, and my driveway and my STREET for that matter (4 days since last snowfall...not a plow to be found in my neighborhood) and now I need to go down to my school's neighborhood and shovel them out too?
I get it. "We're all in this together" and blah blah. It just seems like the only time "we're all in this together" comes up is when somebody wants me to do something extra.
My sensible self knows this isn't really THAT big of a deal. But its just SOMETHING ELSE and it really pisses me off. I'm tired of being taken advantage of because I love my kids and they know I love my kids. They give me a shitty schedule because they know I won't just give up because that wouldn't be fair to the kids. They toss me around and treat me bad and make me jump through hoops because they know I'll do it for the kids. AND NOW I'M SUPPOSED TO SHOVEL SOMEBODY ELSE'S NEIGHBORHOOD!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Thoughts On Merit Pay
So the new trend in education is for politicians, etc. to demand that teachers get "merit pay". i.e. a teacher's salary would depend on how well his or her students do on standardized testing. Which, I guess, if you have no idea what you're talking about, makes perfect sense.
I get that there are crap teachers out there and we've all had one or two or five. I get that there should be some way to get those teachers out of schools. I'm just not sure merit pay is where it's at.
Most detractors will say that merit pay would keep the good teachers out of the bad schools. Schools like mine wouldn't have any decent teachers because they could get paid better at a school where the scores were more likely to be high. The argument against that is that teachers would be judged on a how a student's scores improved from year to year, not necessarily a good score, just better than before.
Well, that makes sense. However, these are my issues with that whole scenario:
1. I got a new kid two weeks ago. We take state tests at the beginning of March. To which teacher are his tests attributed to? I've barely taught him, yet he will take the test in my room. I've gained and lost almost 50 kids this year. What happens to their scores? What about a kid who I got 2 months ago? 3?
2. I teach Social Studies, which is not a tested subject. What am I "graded" on? Reading scores? What about the gym teacher? What's he graded on?
3. What if the Reading teacher quits half-way through the year? Or the kids always have a long-term substitute in that room? What if my principal doesn't like me and puts me on a team with a whole bunch of crappy teachers? I only get them 1/4 of the school day, how can you judge me based on what happens the rest of the time?
4. What if the teachers from the year before somehow inflated test scores? (This happens a lot when we see 5th grade scores and then we actually teach those kids...how can you read on a first grade level but get Advanced in both reading and math?) Can I petition someone before those kids take the test to let it be known I think their previous scores are inaccurate?
5. What about teachers who teach Advanced kids? Are they going to be punished if their students, who were previously reading 3 grade levels ahead, aren't now reading 5 grade levels ahead? If they already got advanced on the state tests, there's really no where else to go.
I think there's this whole idea that if you've been in a classroom (which everyone has) then you know what it means to be a teacher. And there's clear ways to measure how good or bad a teacher is. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. If it were simple, it would have been in place a long time ago.
Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to make more money when my kids do a good job. I just have my doubts as to how it would be possible for that to happen.
I get that there are crap teachers out there and we've all had one or two or five. I get that there should be some way to get those teachers out of schools. I'm just not sure merit pay is where it's at.
Most detractors will say that merit pay would keep the good teachers out of the bad schools. Schools like mine wouldn't have any decent teachers because they could get paid better at a school where the scores were more likely to be high. The argument against that is that teachers would be judged on a how a student's scores improved from year to year, not necessarily a good score, just better than before.
Well, that makes sense. However, these are my issues with that whole scenario:
1. I got a new kid two weeks ago. We take state tests at the beginning of March. To which teacher are his tests attributed to? I've barely taught him, yet he will take the test in my room. I've gained and lost almost 50 kids this year. What happens to their scores? What about a kid who I got 2 months ago? 3?
2. I teach Social Studies, which is not a tested subject. What am I "graded" on? Reading scores? What about the gym teacher? What's he graded on?
3. What if the Reading teacher quits half-way through the year? Or the kids always have a long-term substitute in that room? What if my principal doesn't like me and puts me on a team with a whole bunch of crappy teachers? I only get them 1/4 of the school day, how can you judge me based on what happens the rest of the time?
4. What if the teachers from the year before somehow inflated test scores? (This happens a lot when we see 5th grade scores and then we actually teach those kids...how can you read on a first grade level but get Advanced in both reading and math?) Can I petition someone before those kids take the test to let it be known I think their previous scores are inaccurate?
5. What about teachers who teach Advanced kids? Are they going to be punished if their students, who were previously reading 3 grade levels ahead, aren't now reading 5 grade levels ahead? If they already got advanced on the state tests, there's really no where else to go.
I think there's this whole idea that if you've been in a classroom (which everyone has) then you know what it means to be a teacher. And there's clear ways to measure how good or bad a teacher is. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. If it were simple, it would have been in place a long time ago.
Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to make more money when my kids do a good job. I just have my doubts as to how it would be possible for that to happen.
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