learnteach (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
learnteach) wrote2007-04-05 01:31 pm
learnteach) wrote2007-04-05 01:31 pm
Mild Rant relating to Schools
Ya don't need to read it.
But I'm home sick and feel the need to get it out, like the other fluids flowing away.
Got an email from a very well meaning friend, pointing at a charter school that is starting up and looking for teachers. On paper, it sounds ideal. On paper, it sounds very very much like the charter I'm in currently (Leadership Public Schools, for those interested.) But it doesn't have more than a board of directors, all who have children.
Ok, here's the rant. Two parts. Mothers love their children and want the best for them. Mothers are willing to sacrifice everything for their children. When Mothers interact with business or with an avocation (schools in this country exist as one or the other; a government business or a religious avocation) the Mothers automatically assume that everyone is on the same page. That everyone recognizes the special needs of their children. That everyone will take at least recognizable minimum care of that, for gosh's sake, it's the only sane thing to do!
This isn't unreasonable, from Mother's point of view, it's common sense. Don't let the kids eat things bad for them. Try to use teaching styles that will reach them. Be a good public example for them. Apply correct, even, fair, and well mannered discipline.
Holy crap, what a minefield! In any one of my classes I have a mix of: special needs kids, discipline cases, ELD (English Language Disability/aka speak mainly mexican), ADD kids who are not special needs, different religions ranging from Catholic and Evangelical Christian to Buddhist and a lone Muslim (oh, and a lapsed Sikh), drug users, pregnant women, various gangs.
All have to be treated equally, and helped with a very difficult subject. All have to be accommodated, and we can't throw any of them out, really--between "No Child Left Behind" mandates (which are mainly that everyone be tested, therefor everyone is taught to the test) and the fact that the school needs the money, so we really only expel if there's a police case filed (happens about twice a month).
And...so, you need to discipline for classroom behaviour and then teach all of these students. In my case, an advanced science (chemistry) with no aids (no lab, one book set, one set calculators, no worksheets, no computer aided training.)
I can see how it will all go well, but it's not here. If we were audited, we would show that we've passing the California S.T.A.R. standards and the UC standards, but we're teaching to the test, not to the subject.
About a third of the students have missed more than 5 classes a quarter; often, they go back to families in Mexico for a month or so. About 15% have parole officers.
The second part of this rant? This school system was designed by rich people in Washington. Rich compared to the locals, but rich in the sense that their children never had to chose between clothes or calculators, and the possibility of tutoring was available. Rich in the sense of the student's work potential on weekends was not a vital and necessary part of making the rent. Rich in that it was assumed that the children would go onto white collar jobs. So, the system is designed for people who are making it.
Now, this is a rant, so it's not completely balanced, and points can be argued. But when a Mother says "Give my child the best education", she's going to be very angry with what the child gets, as the teachers spend time negotiating the minefield. And she's going to ask why the teacher can't give a little more--isn't that a reasonable assumption, that the professional will do what's necessary to get the job done? Except that this is built in to the budget: the teachers will work to protect the students (because otherwise you're not going to be a teacher) and then the administration, under pressure from the parents who care, will push on the teachers...
I guess the end point of this rant is: If you want to have an educated child, get involved with the school. As involved as you can be. One parent I know runs the playground; another is head of the PTA. One parent actually shows up and sweeps the campus when she's there.
And the second point of the rant is: with education changing so rapidly, look at other resources. Online has great courses. And get into some yourself, if you can.
And finally, well, given this kind of pressure, teachers need the union. Boy howdy. Especially in these startup charter schools, which are burning teachers out at a much higher rate.
End of rant? No, I could go for weeks on this one. But either you've been there, or you really don't understand. Perhaps you understand, but do you "grok" what it's like to have the care of a child placed in your hands, especially an ill mannered or problem child, and know you swore to do your best? Especially 150 of them a day...and I'm lucky, we have smaller class sizes here.
No wonder I'm so run down.
But I'm home sick and feel the need to get it out, like the other fluids flowing away.
Got an email from a very well meaning friend, pointing at a charter school that is starting up and looking for teachers. On paper, it sounds ideal. On paper, it sounds very very much like the charter I'm in currently (Leadership Public Schools, for those interested.) But it doesn't have more than a board of directors, all who have children.
Ok, here's the rant. Two parts. Mothers love their children and want the best for them. Mothers are willing to sacrifice everything for their children. When Mothers interact with business or with an avocation (schools in this country exist as one or the other; a government business or a religious avocation) the Mothers automatically assume that everyone is on the same page. That everyone recognizes the special needs of their children. That everyone will take at least recognizable minimum care of that, for gosh's sake, it's the only sane thing to do!
This isn't unreasonable, from Mother's point of view, it's common sense. Don't let the kids eat things bad for them. Try to use teaching styles that will reach them. Be a good public example for them. Apply correct, even, fair, and well mannered discipline.
Holy crap, what a minefield! In any one of my classes I have a mix of: special needs kids, discipline cases, ELD (English Language Disability/aka speak mainly mexican), ADD kids who are not special needs, different religions ranging from Catholic and Evangelical Christian to Buddhist and a lone Muslim (oh, and a lapsed Sikh), drug users, pregnant women, various gangs.
All have to be treated equally, and helped with a very difficult subject. All have to be accommodated, and we can't throw any of them out, really--between "No Child Left Behind" mandates (which are mainly that everyone be tested, therefor everyone is taught to the test) and the fact that the school needs the money, so we really only expel if there's a police case filed (happens about twice a month).
And...so, you need to discipline for classroom behaviour and then teach all of these students. In my case, an advanced science (chemistry) with no aids (no lab, one book set, one set calculators, no worksheets, no computer aided training.)
I can see how it will all go well, but it's not here. If we were audited, we would show that we've passing the California S.T.A.R. standards and the UC standards, but we're teaching to the test, not to the subject.
About a third of the students have missed more than 5 classes a quarter; often, they go back to families in Mexico for a month or so. About 15% have parole officers.
The second part of this rant? This school system was designed by rich people in Washington. Rich compared to the locals, but rich in the sense that their children never had to chose between clothes or calculators, and the possibility of tutoring was available. Rich in the sense of the student's work potential on weekends was not a vital and necessary part of making the rent. Rich in that it was assumed that the children would go onto white collar jobs. So, the system is designed for people who are making it.
Now, this is a rant, so it's not completely balanced, and points can be argued. But when a Mother says "Give my child the best education", she's going to be very angry with what the child gets, as the teachers spend time negotiating the minefield. And she's going to ask why the teacher can't give a little more--isn't that a reasonable assumption, that the professional will do what's necessary to get the job done? Except that this is built in to the budget: the teachers will work to protect the students (because otherwise you're not going to be a teacher) and then the administration, under pressure from the parents who care, will push on the teachers...
I guess the end point of this rant is: If you want to have an educated child, get involved with the school. As involved as you can be. One parent I know runs the playground; another is head of the PTA. One parent actually shows up and sweeps the campus when she's there.
And the second point of the rant is: with education changing so rapidly, look at other resources. Online has great courses. And get into some yourself, if you can.
And finally, well, given this kind of pressure, teachers need the union. Boy howdy. Especially in these startup charter schools, which are burning teachers out at a much higher rate.
End of rant? No, I could go for weeks on this one. But either you've been there, or you really don't understand. Perhaps you understand, but do you "grok" what it's like to have the care of a child placed in your hands, especially an ill mannered or problem child, and know you swore to do your best? Especially 150 of them a day...and I'm lucky, we have smaller class sizes here.
No wonder I'm so run down.
no subject
And as for burning out teachers at startups, oh, hell yes. I'm getting tired of seeing amazing teachers leave because too much has been asked of them without enough support. I wonder if this is something that the state charter association acknowledges and/or is working on?
no subject
As a Mom, I don't assume any of those things. My experience (being aware as a student, as well as dealing with school for the Monkeys) tells me:
-schools are underfunded and under-appreciated
-teachers are either un-invested, overwhelmed or burnt out
-students are being taught to the tests, and rarely anything outside of that box
I'm particularly lucky that my kids school has extra art and such programs. But the funding for those has just run out, and how they will be kept up will be interesting.
I'm unlucky in that the school we are at is in the middle of one of the most privileged and wealthy neighborhoods here, so other parents and the school don't understand a parent on a budget who has to work.
I won't keep hijacking your thread... but I do with there was some way to keep you as a teacher, and keep encouraging you. Because you are the kind of person I keep waiting to meet at school.
no subject
I'm the parent, the teacher is the teacher, but I've been teaching my kids since they were born. (According to some, the teaching starts even earlier). Ultimately, they are my kids and it's in my best interest to be involved.
I get what you're saying.
no subject
Doesn't change anything, but still, it needs to be said.
no subject
Been there, didn't last.
no subject
(there's a *reason* I never wanted to be a teacher....)
no subject
I think what you are burrowing into is that education is, for the most part, no longer local. And it has to be local, not in terms of district, but in terms of single school. No one in Washington, or Sacramento, or the district office that oversees your school knows what it takes to educate a kid in East(?) San Jose or what kind of educational options that kid needs. You do. Your colleagues do. We, as a society, are trying to educate on an assembly line. That's impossible. When you think about the educational success stories you hear, they are all local, and they all buck the mandates handed down from on high. Education is individual, it's an art, and because if these it's tremendously expensive.
It also sounds like your particular school has over-reached, and however nice the administrators are as people, they are lacking in the ability to run the school effectively. You should have the resources you need (textbooks, photocopies, lab supplies), or your classes shouldn't be held at all. The campus should be safe for students, which doesn't seem to be the case. If they can't fix those two problems, they really ought to shut the place down.
But we know what the reality is and will be. "Nothing changes, nothing ever will."