Summer Break

Ahhh....summer vacation.

Now the other real work begins.  I have the messiest basement you could imagine.  And, although it'll take me until I return to school in September, I will work on this project.

First up, go through all the papers and books.  Toss what I don't need; file away the other things.  As a office supply junkie, I have TONS of office supplies.  Pens.  Pencils.  Paper -- note pads, looseleaf and note books.  I have a ton of folders -- and they're brand new!!  Binders?  Check - name the size I have it.  Index cards.  Highlighters.  Well, you get the idea.

In six hours today, I was able to tackle a pair of bookshelves.  And I am tired.  And I have only made a baby dent in the disaster that is my basement.

Ugh.  summer vacation.

Stop the negativity of testing

I had an epiphany this week as I was administering the Math tests to my 8th graders:  the tests do nothing but make everyone feel inadequate.  What good is that??

Principals feel inadequate because their schools don't perform well.

Teachers feel inadequate because their students don't perform well.

Students feel inadequate because they are given scores that in the real world are meaningless carry weight just the same.

If we must test, we need to find a better way to convey the results.

For example, wouldn't it be nice if the results came in and the first word on the report said, "Congratulations!"  Then was followed with information about what gains were made?  Wouldn't it be great if teachers also received information about where they did well and what areas they need to improve?  Even better, wouldn't it be great if while that information was being relayed, a link for educational materials (free, of course) was provided to address those weak areas?  Wouldn't it be great if principals stopped making everyone feel like crap when they don't, despite the high unlikelihood of doing so, score well?

These tests do nothing to further thinking and learning.  They create a culture of cheating.  Then, everyone is shocked to learn that cheating occurred.  Ugh.

Better news please!

Teachers need supplies

I continue to grapple with the nonsense that is present at my school.

Lately I am growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of "stuff" my school gives me (or any teacher).  We have been working diligently to create units which will then be reviewed by the Quality Review team.  While the school hired a consultant to work with us, the teachers do not have any time to work on the units.  Furthermore, we don't have much time to work with the consultant.  Just this week the consultant told us that we needed to place these units in a binder and submit them to the administration.  Who do you think will supply the binder???

In my own classroom, I have spent well over $300 on supplies and materials for students.  Some things don't bother me too much as I can lock the paper and pencils away until I need them (my co-teacher provides nothing and takes everything).  However, when it's a piece of equipment that I need not just for myself but for the other teachers who use my room too, I think the school should provide.
They don't.

I need a dongle for my mac to connect to the projector.  Sorry, I was told, we gave each teacher two last year.  (I wasn't there last year).  Now I need a new serial cable--will the school give me one?  No, but they say, don't worry, it's only about 20 bucks at Staples.

I am sick of shelling out money and getting nothing from the administration.

I have certainly been busy.

Public school teaching is rough, especially in Brooklyn.

I work in a school that spends no money on supplies.  I literally have to buy all my paper.  Even thug the testing pressure is on, the school would NOT purchase new cardboard partitions for my students even though the old ones are full of graffiti!  (Boys like to draw pictures of their boy parts on them.) So, message received loud and clear:  you don't matter.

Much else goes on there that is annoying.

First, it's a "do as I say, not as I do" school.  For example, my boss tells me I talk too much to the students.  Yet, when she holds a 25 minute pep rally, we're there for an hour -- guess who does all the talking?
Second, my boss claims my classroom timing is off.  Yet, when the literacy coach enters the room, she instructs the kids the same way I do.  Timing is VERY difficult to manage when you have students who are so academically challenged.  They can barely get their pencils on the desk in a timely manner.  If I hurry them along, all I get is attitude.  So, yeah, my timing is off.  But read what is listed under first again.
Third, I am told to read the morning announcements.  However, in order for me to read them, I need to be invited to them by an administrator.  When I ask the administrators to invite me in, they pass me to someone else to do it.  Hmmm....you know what I think.
Finally (for today), we use programs at the school that do NOT work.  It's obvious they don't work because if they did, I wouldn't have 7th grade students with a 1st grade reading ability.  You want me to read the data but when I do, I cannot do anything with my findings.

Ugh...off to bed to rest up for another day of crazy.

Careful What You Wish For

I finally have a job and have been officially hired.

I am tired!

Teaching has changed drastically since I first began in 1985.  Then, there was trust that teachers knew what they were doing.  Students sometimes failed because they spent the day doing nothing.  They also spent the evening doing nothing.  These days, I have to keep a mountain of paperwork to prove that a student did not do work.

Also, where I work, I have to decorate my room like everyone else.  How boring!  Though, since the kids are stuck in the same classroom all day, they don't know any better.

But the work load!!  I teach English but have to do a prep for Junior Great Books, Expeditionary Learning, Social Studies, and independent reading using the 100 book challenge.  Further, I need to administer a testing diagnostic to my students once a month (then grade those exams).  I also need to assess reading levels of students on a monthly basis.  Since I haven't yet received the training (and my students' behavior is not conducive to administering such assessments), I am already behind.  I have to write the entire lesson plan (or so it seems) on the board for visitors to see what I'm doing.  I have to put student work up with an explanation of what the assignment was, the rubric used to grade it, and notes on the student work that addresses what was done well and what needs improvement.

I am exhausted.  I have to walk my students to and from the lunch room (four floors).  the partner teacher I work with has a room on the floor above mine.  My other co-workers get to have a partner teacher who is right next door.  I have to walk my students out of the building at dismissal.  Four floors back up.  I don't have a place to make copies.  The copy machine is on the floor, but to use it I need to wheel it down the hall, plug it in, and hope it works.  One day it literally took 40 minutes to make a copy of one piece of paper!

I've not been paid.  I will be observed this week and have no idea what to expect.  I teach the worst students in the school and know my observation is based on their behavior.

So, this is what I wished for.  Now what??

What is illegal hiring practice?

Wow!  This job is so tough!  It's even worse (or there's no light at the end of the tunnel) when you're doing it for free.

So, when a person gets hired, shouldn't that person have to sign papers?  You know, 1099 or something...the W2?  I've signed nothing and was reprimanded for requesting what the hold up was.

Hmmm....now I know what I am up against.  Since I tried to peak behind the curtain, I just about got pushed out the window.

Here's the story.  I was hired outside the pool of candidates within the NYCDOE.  My principal needs permission to hire me.  Frankly, I had no idea that I wasn't actually hired until today.  What I mean is, I do not have a job.  I have not been hired.  I can't be until I get clearance.  But what the hell am I doing at the school every day?  Further, is it even legal for me to be there???

Ugh! What a job.

Finally, I got a job in a NYC public school, and I am totally hating my job.

Well, to be fair, I want to be a teacher and that is what I was hired to do.  Unfortunately, very little instruction actually occurs in these classrooms.  When principals ask about how I handle discipline, and I give the talk about progressive discipline, they are fine with it.  The reality, however, is that these kids have no respect for anyone or anything.  And while their parents are quite literally ready to beat the crap out of the kids, no change in behavior occurs.

So, I try every day to rise above the shit.

Where I work is very unfriendly to teachers.

The students do not travel from one room to the next, it's the teachers who are required to do that.  It's difficult for a variety of reasons.  First, a portion of my evaluation is based on the classroom.  I have no control over my room (because the kids are often fooling about in all their classes) nor do I have control over another teacher's room.  Our stamp is to be present, but I am struggling to figure how to do that.

The discipline is problematic.  It's possible that making these kids sit in the same room all day long only increases their poor behavior.  Kids need to get up and move.  Keeping them in the same room day after day cannot be good for learning.  (Though I suspect it makes the principal look good.  Any visitor to the school would see a nice, quiet building.)  Further, we, the teachers, are told to escort the children from class to lunch.  Imagine, the kids are ready to bust out of the room, but I have to get them to walk in straight lines down four floors to enter the cafeteria quietly.

Then the logistics.  Still no sign of a pay check on the horizon.  If my boss thinks I'll stick around all year with no pay, think again.  This is utterly ridiculous!!!!

And, I have to do these nutty programs with the kids.  for example, I have to do Junior Great Books.  The students listen to a story on CD and then there are a whole load of lessons to go with them.  That's all well and good, but I do not have a CD player, nor do I have enough books for the students.  Nevertheless, I am expected to begin this program.  Hmmm.....how can I pull that off??  In any other situation, I would have made copies of other materials.  Not at this school.  NO Paper is available.  Further, the copier on my floor needs to be wheeled out from where it is, and plugged in to a plug outside someone's classroom.  Further, the copier often doesn't work.  On Monday it literally took me 40 minutes (almost my entire prep period) to make a copy of one sheet of paper.

So, I can tell the IRS that I'm a teacher, but it really feels like I'm just a punching bag.