For teachers--your administration? - Page 2

[Maggie05]

Re: The official motto of our school

Originally posted by donimomof3
I feel like I work at McDonalds or something. Kids treat you with disrespect and the admin asks "Are you giving them 5 star service?"

I can't even respond to this. It makes me want to vomit. I am so sorry you work in a place like that, AND I am sorry for the kids. They deserve a better deal, too.

[Charles Baudelaire]

Ha!!! We had the Fish thing too! We didn't have the "five star service" motto shoved down our throat -- hell, it sounds like the next step for teachers will be that we have to wear "flair" -- but we have Renaissance, which is irritating enough. It's a great deal of rah-rah self-congratulation (This helps to "keep 'em happy!") without a lot of merit. We recently got a newsletter congratulating ourselves on all the students we had who took the SAT and the AP exams...but not what they *got on them.* See what I mean? It's all about show, baby, all about show...

[donimomof3]

"Flair"

Originally posted by Charles Baudelaire
Ha!!! We had the Fish thing too! We didn't have the "five star service" motto shoved down our throat -- hell, it sounds like the next step for teachers will be that we have to wear "flair" -- but

LOL I love that movie! I was telling my husband that it was really sad that Office Space should speak to me since I am a teacher and don't work in cubby-space hell. But the movie did speak to me, because our school is run more like a business than a learning environment.

We have a new program to honor employees in our system. I looked it up yesterday, because I wanted to nominate my teammate. Guess what - you can nominate secretaries, parapros, counselors, media specialists, cafeteria workers, janitors, and bus drivers, but teachers are not elligible for the recognition. Figures! They said that schools have teacher of the month awards for teachers (popularity contests - the same teachers win each month always those who teach all students - art, music, PE, gifted, special ed, and the media specialist). This new award is different, you have to write an essay telling of something extraordinary an employee did to help a child or parent. Never mind that every school has "Employee of the Month" too, which honors the same people the new award honors. Also, never mind our media specialist is eligible for the new award and teacher of the month - heck she was our school's teacher of the year last year (even though the kids hate her).

Anyway, I'll brag about my teammate here -you guys don't know her, but she's terrific. She teaches the EIP (Early Intervention Class). She was supposed to (by law) only have 12 students, she has 20. She is supposed to have a co-teacher, but the co-teacher does nothing. On her own, she has turned these kids around. These children are ones with the lowest test scores. They have always failed every subject. She has many who have been retaineed twice (the legal limit in elementary school in our state). This year these kids are LEARNING. They are making a's, B's, and C's. Three of them have made the Beta Club. She has only had to send one child to the office all year, and her only discipline plan is to treat the kids with respect, model respect, and expect them to treat her with respect - it works! Yesterday we went on a science fieldtrip. My class was HORRIBLE. Her class took their interactive notebooks and took notes, and drew pictures of everything they learned (without her telling them to do it). At the beginning of the year, 1 child in her class said he planned on going to college. Yesterday when the science coordinator asked her class who planned on going to college, her whole class raised their hands. She has changed these kids lives. She'll never get any recognition at our school. She's way too avant gard for that. She's succeeding with these kids where all the other teachers have failed. I wanted to recongize her for being a loving, caring person who has invested herr life in the lives of these kids.

[Artisan]

OMG! We watched that fish movie as well! Sure did motivate me. :

Our district (which has over 115,000 students -- way too big) has recently revised its grading policy. One of the changes that is set to be implemented in two years is the "lowest possible grade". If a student doesn't come to class, turn in work, etc., instead of giving them a 0 on the assignment, the lowest possible grade would be a 5/10. (Failing, but still worth points.) So, they would be given points for doing NOTHING. Most HS teachers use some form of a point system, where a student's grade is a reflection of the accumulation of points. So, theoretically, they could complete 3/10 assignments, get Ds on them, and pass the class. For the other 7 assignments, they would get 50% credit, even though they weren't completed.

My school, fortunately, is protesting this grading policy, but this is the trend in education. We don't want failing students -- that looks bad -- so, we do what we have to do.

[Maggie05]

When these policies get passed by school boards and superintendents, they are beyond the control of the teachers. Then, teachers are blamed because students are graduated with out having the proper skills. Who is really to blame if a teacher is forced to give a fifty percent for NOTHING????? This is beyond logical......

[Charles Baudelaire]

One of the changes that is set to be implemented in two years is the "lowest possible grade". If a student doesn't come to class, turn in work, etc., instead of giving them a 0 on the assignment, the lowest possible grade would be a 5/10. (Failing, but still worth points.) So, they would be given points for doing NOTHING.

SSSHHHH!!! Not so loud, my principal will hear you and implement this!!!

Seriously, though, I can't say I'm surprised. This is the attitude nowadays. I don't know if it's that parents have the administrators so wussed-out that they can't implement a simple policy that might (oh, eek!) hurt a student's feelings, or what? Really, MOST parents I know want their kid's grade to be a *fair and accurate* representation of their knowledge and effort, not some inflated balloon of a grade that's essentially worthless.

(Parenthetically, can you imagine holding a basketball game by the same rules? Someone *misses* a three-point shot -- but they get awarded 1.5 points!!:LOL )

The thing is, you can't have inflated grades AND high student achievement on the proficiency tests. Sooner or later, incompetence tends to reveal itself. Unfortunately, it's the teachers who will be blamed for it, not the principals, not the districts, not even the students, but the teachers.

[donimomof3]

OMG That's also now policy at my school

Originally posted by sharonal
OMG! We watched that fish movie as well! Sure did motivate me. :

Our district (which has over 115,000 students -- way too big) has recently revised its grading policy. One of the changes that is set to be implemented in two years is the "lowest possible grade". If a student doesn't come to class, turn in work, etc., instead of giving them a 0 on the assignment, the lowest possible grade would be a 5/10. (Failing, but still worth points.) So, they would be given points for doing NOTHING.

Our principal started this policy this year as well. We cannot give zeros for not doing work - we have to give them a 50. But what about the kids that do their work and make somewhere between 1-49? Well, the principal's solution to this is to give them at least a 55, so they get more points than the kid who doesn't do ANYTHING. UGH! Drives me nuts. Talk about grade inflation!

Also, I had a parent call and complain about her kid's low grades. Principal basically told me that his grades were too low. I.E. give him higher grades. Sure the kid can't read, won't even attempt half the math, but now I need to pass him to keep mommy happy. right, whatever.

[donimomof3]

Raising the bar or lowering expectations

Originally posted by Charles Baudelaire


The thing is, you can't have inflated grades AND high student achievement on the proficiency tests. Sooner or later, incompetence tends to reveal itself. Unfortunately, it's the teachers who will be blamed for it, not the principals, not the districts, not even the students, but the teachers.

EXACTLY! Our district and state are telling us to "Raise the Bar." We are implementing MUCH tougher standards state wide (never mind the kids can't meet the current standards). Superintendant for curriculum said there must be no more "bless their hearts" grade inflation, yet principals are doing away with homework, because too many kids don't do it and it hurts their grades, and now they are doing away with zeros. We get told when kids do poorly that it must be our fault for making the material too hard or we simply did not teach it well enough. In may class last week I gave a test on WWII. 17 kids out of 21 made A's and B's on the test, the remaining 4 scored below 30 (one kid made a 10). Kid that made a 10 told mom the test was too hard and had stuff on it he had never heard of. I borrowed one of the kid's interactive notebooks to make the test. Every single question came from notes I had given the kids. But because mom complained, I either have to modify this kid's grade or give him the test over again (a different easier test). I was told in college that if you have no C's or D's and most students pass but some fail miserably, it means you taught the subject well, but some children were not paying attention or did not study at all.

I grade the interactive notebooks and they count as a test grade. This kid was missing 90% of the notes I gave in class, and he was missing ALL of the drawings and graphic organizers he was supposed to do on his own to learn the material. (for those who do not know about interactive notebooks, on one page you give them notes, and on the opposite page they draw a picture or do a graphic organizer to interpret the notes into their own language). Mom told the principal that when her son doesn't understand something, he shuts down. Fine, why not tell me this at the beginning of the year???? Also, this kid answered that Hitler was the President of the US during WWII. He answered that we were at war with England, and he said that France bombed Pearl Harbor. No joke! He thought concentration camps were camps where Americans put Jews (never mind in addition to social studies I read aloud a novel about the Holocaust - The Devil's Arithmetic - during reading). This kid NEVER pays attention in class - EVER. I am constantly having to tell him to turn around, quit talking, and I am constantly having to wake him up. But mom says he's always made A's and B's.

I talked to his teacher from last year. She said mom did the same thing, and so principal told her to change his grades. Last year's teacher just made up grades for this kid - A's and B's to get mom to shut up. Guess that's what the principal wants me to do as well, but I am not going to do it.

[Maggie05]

This is the exact reason that tenure was created. I try to stand my ground in cases like this (if I have the energy, because with a toddler at home, these battles are becoming harder and harder to fight), and while I stand my ground, I thank god I have tenure so that some crazy parent can't call for my dismissal. Untenured teachers often have to give in to these unethical demands because they fear for their jobs.

[Charles Baudelaire]

Ah, but bend over. Here's where you're gonna need your industrial-sized tube of K-Y even *if* you're tenured: teacher evaluations.

Last year, I was not given the evaluation I deserved in several key areas, areas for which I protested and provided documentation and explanation (with examples of curricula and dates, et cetera) to substantiate my claim.

My super's reason? Failure rate. In essence, she had to (she said) give me lower ratings because *her* supervisor would wonder why she was giving me high ratings with a failure rate that was so high. Never mind that 81% of those failures were due to -- you guessed it -- absences.

They can't fire me, no, but they can smear my record. This year, I've decided that it would be stupid to give them another arrow for their quiver to use against me, so...A's and B's for everyone except for the really, really outrageously failing failures (and sometimes not even then).

[EFmom]

DH's high school had a meeting w/ the jr high science teachers last week. It appears that the jr high administration is now also doing that nonsense where nobody gets lower than 50%. They also are insisting on 100% promotion, no matter how bad the student. Sigh. Then dh gets them in 9th grade, and is expected to miraculously be able to get them through the state regents exam, no matter how bad their science, math and reading skills.

Charles, you are right about the evaluations. Dh got a pretty mediocre one from the vp who hates him last year. Her comments were just stupid and showed that she didn't understand the lesson he was teaching herself. He's going to see if he can get the principal to do his this year, but who knows if the admin will go for that.

[Maggie05]

Originally posted by Charles Baudelaire
Ah, but bend over. Here's where you're gonna need your industrial-sized tube of K-Y even *if* you're tenured: teacher evaluations.

I am laughing at the KY comment, but crying at the rest of your post. What a sad state of affairs. I completely understand the reluctance to "fight" about it.

This year I broke up a verbal fight between two teenage boys in the hallway. The argument was very heated, and it was soon to turn physical. One of the boys "turned" on me...screaming at me, pointing in my face that i didn't know what the f#ck I was talking about, get the F#ck away from him. He began to smack his hands together very close to my face, implying that he could/would smack me.

He was disciplined for his behavior, thank god, but I was shaking like a leaf from the experience. The next day, the secretary calls me to the office because the boy's mother was there and wished to speak to me. I figured she wanted to apoligize for her son. (ha).

She began defending his behavior saying that I didn't know what had caused the fight, and shouldn't judge her son. In other words, his threatening me was understandable, and I should be more understanding. Of course I told her that I had been doing my job, protecting the students, trying to even protect her son from engaging in a fist fight, and really there was no excuse for him to become physically threatening to me. (I am five feet tall...do you have any idea how scary a teenage boy can be to a small woman?) all to no avail. She began to yell at me too. I was attacked two days in a row.

Guess what? The other day, I was walking down the hall, and saw a verbal fight begining to escalate between two kids. I turned around and walked the other way. I feel bad about it, but my safety comes first. (I'm sure many people here will think that is just attrocious what I did.)

[Charles Baudelaire]

Guess what? The other day, I was walking down the hall, and saw a verbal fight begining to escalate betwwen two kids. I turned around and walked the other way. I feel bad about it, but my safety comes first. (I'm sure many people here will think that is just attrocious what I did.)

Don't count me in that number. I understand exactly why youy did what you did. You try to help them and they (or their parents) attack you? Fageddaboudit. If I were in your shoes and saw two of them fighting, the only thing that would occur to me is the phrase "self-cleaning oven."