The Rewards and Frustrations of Education

[Lord Ash]

Okay, big win today...

So, one of my strongest skills is as a story teller/read alouder. My mom is actually a professional story teller, and I am naturally really enthusiastic and a bit of an actor (even though I've never acted in front of anyone.)

We are doing a fantastic story as a read aloud right now, "The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963". Really great book about an African-American family during the days of segregation, which follows mainly a little boy in fourth grade, his older brother (who is a total delinquent) and his little sister. Fantastic characters and voice... you really feel like the characters are real and vibrant and full of strengths and weaknesses... you really connect to them.

So... it is a really great book, and ends up being a pretty heavy duty one, as in the second to last chapter the kids are actually at the 16th Street Baptists Church when it is bombed in Birmingham, and it looks like the little sister dies, and the main character is watching it all... the bodies, the screaming, everything, and he has a little breakdown.

Well... you know you've hit that sweet spot of a read aloud when half the kids in class have tears in their eyes and are looking at each other in shock... especially when they are in sixth grade and worry about being cool

Then the last chapter sees the big tough brother talking to his little brother, who is horribly upset and deeply depressed, and trying to help him through it after an entire book of torturing him, and it is just a heartbreakingly lovely scene... and I had one fantastic girl straight up crying.

Oh it was SO so good They were all taking it so personally, and so wrapped up in it, and comforting each other afterwards... and they were talking about it for the entire day afterwards

[summerwind03]

I enjoyed reading your update!

[sue71, esq]

Just curious how things are going here.

[Lord Ash]

Hey all!

It has been a while since I checked in, but I thought I would give a little update, since we just finished state testing!

What fun it was, too. Starting this year, the "progress" our students make on the state tests is a component of our evaluation.

However, not a SINGLE PERSON HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO ANSWER A SIMPLE QUESTION FOR ME. Ever.

So... the tests test different material and get more difficult each year, appropriately and in a fashion that reflects new material learned and new skills mastered. A 2nd grader takes a different test than, say, a 4th grader.

The tests, which are created by companies that specialize in appropriate test making, reflect the average expected growth from year to year.

However... for some bizarre reason, our STUDENTS are ALL expected to then grow on top of THAT.

So it isn't enough for a kid to get a 250 on the 3rd grade test (showing they are advanced proficient in the skills expected of a 3rd grader) and then get a 250 on the 4th grade test (showing that they are advanced proficient in the skills expected of a 4th grader)... nope, every kid is then expected to outperform the average increase in performance already built into the test!



And yet, for some reason, no one has ever addressed this. No one has ever noticed this glaring and devastating expectation that will, undoubtedly, undermine thousands and thousands of teachers.

But we gave the tests. Oh boy, did we give them. We arranged for breakfast in school before the tests, because half my class doesn't eat at home and are starving by 9 AM, and 166 minutes of testing would be a lot without breakfast. We sent emails home begging parents to get kids to bed early and confiscate their phones, since they all come in falling asleep and admitting that they were up until 1 AM texting and on instagram. And, as you might expect, we still had kids who struggled. One kid who spent an entire time sniffing his fingers instead of working... he is obviously autistic but mom and dad are fighting us, so... there goes THAT teacher's evaluation. One kid didn't finish a single section of math... he is clearly ADHD but, again, mom has fought us non-stop, so... there goes THAT teacher's evaluation. Sure, most of the kids did fine... but I sure as hell bet that 80 percent of the kids did NOT outperform the expected improvements.

So that was fun. So glad that we spent months and months and months prepping for it.

Next up? Our Student Growth Objectives, which basically is the kids writing an essay at the start of the year and again at the end of the year, and 80 percent of your kids have to improve. What, you had two kids who had the start of strep that second day? Oh well. You had a kid who was in tears over a fight she had on Facebook? Oh well. Thankfully, guess who GRADES these essays? We do. So yeah... I bet that everyone will reach that mythical 80 percent number, a number which, at the end of the day, is based on two rather boring 40 minute essays and reflects basically nothing about our teaching, and yet will compose a massive piece of our evaluation and the decision of whether or not we keep tenure.

Teaching is dying. I've already started gathering my letters of recommendation. And its a damn shame, because it is a valuable profession. Just a few weeks ago I got an email from a woman who runs a scholarship for the high school... they ask the high school seniors to write essays about how their education has influenced them, and of the 15 applications they got, eight of the kids wrote specifically about me. It was a lovely email (which ended with that parent saying she'd have to fight to have her kids in my class when they were old enough) and made me really proud. It was also the only piece of positive reinforcement I've gotten THE ENTIRE YEAR... and it had to come from someone whose kids I've never taught.

*sigh*

Teaching is dying, and anyone who sticks with it is a fool.




How's that for some positive news?

[gus]

Sounds like the only teachers with any chance of a raise are the ones in Lake Wobegon.

I know a few people who have already quit teaching because of these issues. It's a shame, and doesn't really portend well for the future.

[Reisen]

Sounds like the only teachers with any chance of a raise are the ones in Lake Wobegon.

I know a few people who have already quit teaching because of these issues. It's a shame, and doesn't really portend well for the future.

I wonder if teaching really has gone downhill, or this is an issue of perspective.

My mother is a retired teacher, and I can remember hearing complaints growing up. I suspect with every profession, from doctors, to lawyers, to engineers, to the service industries, people talk about how things are not as good today as they were x years ago, or new challenges that have arisen in that industry.

Malpractice premiums, outsourcing, government regulation, technology-based obsolescence... I know my profession grapples with a lot of this stuff.

That's not to say these problems are merely perceived, not real. Perhaps workers today really don't have it as good as our parents and grandparents? I don't know. Nor do I think this means we shouldn't address problems in these industries, including teaching, which is an absolute critical field.

I do know that at least in our state (Virginia), there is a massive backlog of applicants for teaching spots that are few and far between. So for every teacher that gets fed up and switches industries, there are many qualified applicants who would love to take over their classroom.

[Lord Ash]

I agree that people always talk about how much better things were.

I think with teaching it is just stunning how just about every single primary educator is about to give up. I don't know a single teacher, not one, who feels that the career is on an upswing. The dropout rate is already 50 percent over the first four years or some insane number like that... I foresee the dropout now stretching well into older teachers who can find a career elsewhere. There might be more waiting in the wings, but I think that will gradually change, and I don't necessarily think it is a positive development for experienced teachers to be leaving and being replaced with waves of newbies who don't know anything about teaching (which you don't, until you are in the classroom.)

But more importantly I am so, so nervous for what education is becoming. I truly believe education needs to be more than just job training... but now the only type of writing instruction we are told to focus on is essay writing, the majority of the reading is now non-fiction informational reading, the arts are basically skipped, and it is just depressing. I've never heard of a writer who said "I knew I wanted to write when I wrote a five paragraph essay about school uniforms." I've never known a kid to stay up late at night, under the covers with a flashlight to read an article about bullying. We are so very intent on creating this new, job-training-focus education for all, based on models created in our most struggling schools and based on our most vulnerable populations, and I am afraid we are losing some of what is beautiful about the classroom.

Teachers now are so weighed down by SGPs and SGOs and PDPs and APRs (all of which are due, for me, in the next few weeks) and our STAR data and our DRAs and our TCs, by ENDLESS paperwork... I think I did ten versions of my SGO earlier this year because my administrators didn't really understand the forms... it makes it impossible to take the time to actually create valuable instruction, and to take the time to evaluate the work you get and reflect it in your teaching.

Teaching is an art. I will always believe that. Like most forms of art, it is very difficult to evaluate, impacted as it is by so many outside influences. I am terrified that we are trying to make teaching a science, and I know in my heart of hearts that any attempt to do so will fail.



BTW, I'd love to know if anyone can explain the "outperforming built-in expectations" bit for me. I've yet to find anyone who can.

[Reisen]

But more importantly I am so, so nervous for what education is becoming. I truly believe education needs to be more than just job training... but now the only type of writing instruction we are told to focus on is essay writing, the majority of the reading is now non-fiction informational reading, the arts are basically skipped, and it is just depressing. I've never heard of a writer who said "I knew I wanted to write when I wrote a five paragraph essay about school uniforms." I've never known a kid to stay up late at night, under the covers with a flashlight to read an article about bullying. We are so very intent on creating this new, job-training-focus education for all, based on models created in our most struggling schools and based on our most vulnerable populations, and I am afraid we are losing some of what is beautiful about the classroom.

Teachers now are so weighed down by SGPs and SGOs and PDPs and APRs (all of which are due, for me, in the next few weeks) and our STAR data and our DRAs and our TCs, by ENDLESS paperwork... I think I did ten versions of my SGO earlier this year because my administrators didn't really understand the forms... it makes it impossible to take the time to actually create valuable instruction, and to take the time to evaluate the work you get and reflect it in your teaching.

Gah, that sounds horrible. Because this is the internet, and it's hard to judge tone, I want to be clear that I say that sincerely, not sarcastically.

I feel lucky to say I thought I got a fantastic education in DODDS (military dependent school system). I don't know if it's that we got top talent because of all the perks (getting to live in other countries, subsidized housing, groceries, and gas, etc.) or what, but I look back on 90% of my teachers very fondly. They weren't perfect, a few were outright bad (one is in prison now for abuse), but most were very, very good. Smart people, doing what they loved, and what they were good at.

I wonder how much of education is extremely local, though? Maybe you're just stuck in a bad district / system? I know here in the DC area, I here the difference between the Prince George's County school system in Maryland, and the Fairfax County school district in VA is night & day. Granted, there are massive differences in demographics, but I met a woman from PG county the other day who commutes all the way to western FFX because she likes teaching here so much better.

Would you think about staying in the profession but trying a change of scenery?

[Lord Ash]

Oh, for sure, some of it is definitely local. My principal (who had been here for 30 years) just left, our superintendent left a few years ago (and was replaced by the coldest woman I've ever met, and one whom I am not sure is as knowledgeable as she should be) and they just hired three supervisors who have now gone to war with the new principal. It is a real mess at the top, which of course rolls downhill. Frankly I don't think any of the people above me are necessarily more educated or smarter or more capable than I am, and that is an issue, you know? I am actually thinking about moving to the middle school level and focusing on an area that is a non-testing area... a lot of the ridiculousness is focused around state tests, so I think if I can avoid those I might enjoy my job more.

It just stinks. I know I am great at my job... really made for it... and I've been a HUGE influence on my kids lives... I have high schoolers and college kids coming back over breaks to visit their old elementary school teacher, and parents who, even years later, smile every time I see them and thank them profusely, and tell me that I am STILL a regular topic of discussion around the dinner table ten years on. But I feel like the beauty of my job is being totally replaced by a robotic adherence to a flawed, underfunded, and misunderstood educational philosophy. I feel like it all started with this concept of "No Child Left Behind," with this obviously ridiculous idea that EVERY SINGLE CHILD IN AMERICA WOULD BE ABLE TO PERFORM TO A RIGOROUS STANDARD. Come on... I can't even get all ADULT Americans to agree that Elvis is dead, or that they WEREN'T rectally probed by aliens, but we think we can get all 8 year olds to fully understand fractions?

Bah.

[cf-62]

Oh, for sure, some of it is definitely local. My principal (who had been here for 30 years) just left, our superintendent left a few years ago (and was replaced by the coldest woman I've ever met, and one whom I am not sure is as knowledgeable as she should be) and they just hired three supervisors who have now gone to war with the new principal. It is a real mess at the top, which of course rolls downhill. Frankly I don't think any of the people above me are necessarily more educated or smarter or more capable than I am, and that is an issue, you know? I am actually thinking about moving to the middle school level and focusing on an area that is a non-testing area... a lot of the ridiculousness is focused around state tests, so I think if I can avoid those I might enjoy my job more.

It just stinks. I know I am great at my job... really made for it... and I've been a HUGE influence on my kids lives... I have high schoolers and college kids coming back over breaks to visit their old elementary school teacher, and parents who, even years later, smile every time I see them and thank them profusely, and tell me that I am STILL a regular topic of discussion around the dinner table ten years on. But I feel like the beauty of my job is being totally replaced by a robotic adherence to a flawed, underfunded, and misunderstood educational philosophy. I feel like it all started with this concept of "No Child Left Behind," with this obviously ridiculous idea that EVERY SINGLE CHILD IN AMERICA WOULD BE ABLE TO PERFORM TO A RIGOROUS STANDARD. Come on... I can't even get all ADULT Americans to agree that Elvis is dead, or that they WEREN'T rectally probed by aliens, but we think we can get all 8 year olds to fully understand fractions?

Bah.

Hang in there Ash.

My mom went through what you are. She had a decent principal who then moved, and she had an awesome principal (one of my favorite teachers became the principal, which made for weird relationships, but she was an incredible teacher and became a phenomenal principal). Then she retired. The next principal decided the first few years of the job were about establishing power. At the end of year 1, everyone that COULD retire DID retire. At the end of year 2, everyone else moved to other schools. In a matter of 20 months, the new principal took an incredible staff and gutted it, essentially replacing one of the best in the county with the youngest since nobody else would actually transfer TO the school.

The problem I have with "merit pay," basing pay on test scores, etc. is that there is a difference between testing students' capabilities and testing what they know. And so much of our testing is about determining capabilities. And, let's face it, the CAPABILITIES of a student are extremely unlikely to change regardless of teaching. So if you get stuck with a class full of BEH kids, well you're screwed.

[Lord Ash]

Well, its been a while.

And I really want to vent, so if you all don't mind...?


So we are going through some insane illness right now. Masks came off two weeks ago, and last week the kids started going down. Out of 78 kids in the grade, about 28 are out sick today with a mix of strep, the flu, a stomach bug, and who knows what else.

So, you know... fresh air would be nice? But it is pretty cold outside, and where my classroom is, when you open the window, the wind comes WHIPPING through... like, paper-can't-stay-on-the-desk sort of stuff.

And since it is now officially spring, they won't start the boilers. Meaning, there is no heat.

So I am sitting here this AM with a few windows open, and my classroom is in the mid 40s with an INSANE wind, and the kids I have left (12 out of 19) are bundled up and shivering and begging to sit in the hall where it is a LITTLE warmer, and my hands hurt and I literally cannot stop shivering, but I'm TRYING to get through non-fiction articles about GMOs and Romeo and Juliet and book recommendations and community time... and finally I just had to close the windows because it is just too much, but of course there is no heat so it isn't getting WARMER, there is just no WIND... meaning now everyone is freezing AND we are getting no fresh air, so all of the flu and strep and everything just gets to HANG OUT.

It is ridiculous. No heat because it is spring. "Open your windows" is the answer to "Illness is RIPPING through the rooms." Shivering at my actual job (which, btw, I have to dress professional at, so no sweatshirts.)

And all I can think about is how I REALLY don't want to bring strep or flu back to my wife, who was diagnosed with leukemia about... what are we at, five weeks ago?

And this is my job. Like, I'm a professional, and this is a professional work environment. Getting paid a crap salary for 20 years of experience, to do THIS.