I is for Invitation

Dear Your Honorable...(that is how we're supposed to address our Representatives)

I have written previously, but I would also like to add an invitation. I would love it if you could find the time to visit our classrooms. I invite you to pop in anytime, unannounced, for as long as you can stay. You could pull up a chair and read with a child, help with math, or even do a science experiment. We would love the opportunity to show you what a real, Title 1 classroom is like. You'll see firsthand, the children we teach, the hours of planning we've put in, and the great opportunities we offer. You can see the kinds of teachers that make a difference every day and what great students we produce. You will also see that running schools like a business is not the way to support the children who will become our future. Thank you for your time!


I hope on the day they visit...(chuckle)...they hear Mr. TV yell something like this:

HEY! I GET TO ADD THE STICKERS BECAUSE I AM LINE LEADER! I GET TO ADD THEM AND THAT'S THAT!
(When Coach did not let him add the stickers to the P.E. chart for the day)

Or

I'M A PERSON TOO!
(When he realized the 100th something day of school that his desk is in a "special spot" where he has less distractions.)

S is for Soapbox

Warning: This post is not meant to be funny. I am being serious. Do not be fooled by the sarcasm.

Okay, this is going to be me on my soapbox. I am not a political person. A shocker, I know, for those of you who know how opinionated I can be. Starting a Monday morning with a meeting is never fun, but when the meeting is about politics, I have to get up on my soapbox.

It seems that some geniuses (who don’t or have NEVER worked with children) somewhere out in Utopia Land want to pass something called Senate Bill 6. Aka,  they want to base teachers’ salaries on student achievement.

It means this: Each teacher will be given a classroom full of capable, motivated, well-supported children. Teachers will then have all the time in the world to teach them grade-level content (which they will all easily comprehend), receive homework back everyday from all of these students, and have ABSOLUTLEY no behavior problems to deal with. Oh, and all of the kids will be fantastic tests takers and will be in wonderful/relaxed moods on testing day.

Oh. No. Wait. I’m sorry! That only works for the teachers and students who also live in Utopia Land. Hello Dudes! We have REAL KIDS! We are NOT MIRACLE WORKERS. This is NOT a business in which we crank out little perfect people and we can’t throw out the ones that don’t meet the inspector’s criteria.

The reality is more like this: We are given a classroom full of students who come to us from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Some deal with abuse, hunger, fear, depression, and learning disabilities. They may come from families where they are the best readers. We have to teach them no matter what they need…on, beyond, and below grade levels. We sometimes get no support from home and fear that students backslide over the summer. We have a certain amount of time each day to teach each subject (with accommodations/modifications) and we deal with behavior problems that cause severe distractions. We even teach some kids to speak the English language!

As educators we are also babysitters, counselors, food providers, police officers, referees, and sometimes a parent to the kids we are given. What if we were paid for doing all of those jobs too? Where’s the pay for those “performances”?

If teachers’ paychecks depend on their students’ performance, we will have really big problems. Will it be the poorest of us in Title 1 schools with the kids with learning difficulties? Will we turn into pressured, burned out people in our first years? Why would anybody want to pay for years of college to never be called a professional?

I understand we have some not so great teachers. But, you know what? We also have some really crappy legislators. People who make decisions for us, but have no idea how it will affect us. Maybe if these brainiacs were paid based on the success of their decisions, they’d start to think more about the pros and cons. Yeah, and maybe they would have to take a few achievement tests, too.

I’m just saying that us teachers do our jobs because we LOVE the students we teach. In a world where we can make loads more money in other jobs, we CHOOSE to do the one that CHANGES LIVES. Please explain the seriousness of Senate Bill 6 to your friends and family. We need to show these decision makers the real world.

The end. (Stepping off the soapbox until the next ridiculous political issue. )



I have seen this comic in several places. We need to make a billboard or a commercial of it.

D is for Data

Data is what we collect on our students all the time. ALL THE TIME. Raise your hand if you think data is about as useful as lips on a chicken.

Yes, data is needed to drive instruction, but taking away instruction time to do all the testing is just plain silly. I'd like to say that all of my students make some sort of progress, but maybe just not enough to reach those highest targets.

So, it has been bothering me that after (and because of) all this data collecting, I don't have time  to just sit down will all the kids and just read a book. For fun. What happened to the time for a good ol' read aloud?! So yesterday I thought "What the hay! We need a break" and pulled out the farm-themed books (at least it went along with this week's theme)  and chose one of my favorites: "The Perfect Nest". This book requires many voices.

The chicken says things like "Hola, Mama!" and "¡Caramba!". The duck says, "Bonjour, Maman!" and"Sacre Bleu!". And best of all, the goose says, "Howdy, Ma!" and "Great balls of fire". And, of course I give them all the proper accents. Well apparently, this book was the talk of the lunch table, because the little darlings who were out of the room during my infamous reading asked if I could possibly read it again. So what did I do? I gathered them on the carpet and did all the theatrics again. They were rolling on the floor laughing. Hopefully, they got a little of the culture/language education and moral that was intended. If anything, we got a break to just enjoy school.

I'm just saying that in a perfect world, school would make us all feel like we did in those ten little minutes today and we could find more time to "just have fun". The data can wait. It's just numbers anyway...

Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations.

H is for Helping

Helping is what we all need to do right now. Being in a Title 1 school for my five years of teaching, I have seen so many families that need help. Children are our business (and futures) and helping them and their families is just one more part of the job.

I know that when I was a child, my house burned completely to the ground. If it wasn't for the loving, selfless people that helped us, I would have had a much different childhood. I can't even begin to imagine the childhoods of those kids in Haiti.

Children are children no matter where they are. Here in our schools or down in Haiti, they depend on us. I'm doing what little I can by donating to some charities that help those children. Don't forget to also send up your prayers.

http://www.haitichildren.com/

http://www.savethechildren.org/

http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf