Perhaps some policy or procedure, or maybe a certain way a supervisor wants something done, or some fad the district wants you to follow? How do you deal with it? I haven't experienced this, but I'm just curious.
In general I hate having to learn and embrace a brand new program/concept each year before giving the previous year's idea time to prove itself (or not). Just silly. But if you don't jump on you're board you're "difficult".
I can agree with that. Also, our district has a required 45-minute intervention/enrichment time for math, where each grade level has to switch students (within that grade level). I strongly believe that students should stay with their classroom teacher and receive differentiation through small groups within their own classrooms. This allows for consistency of vocabulary/terminology (especially for struggling students). We do not have the professional development and collaboration time to effectively communicate between teachers and run this I/E block in a way that benefits all students. When I send my students off to another classroom, I have no idea what they are doing. Therefor, I cannot reinforce those concepts in my classroom. And how can I reinforce the vocabulary and terminology taught by 5 different teachers?! We are not allowed the time to collaborate and be on the same page. I can differentiate just fine for my students in literacy during guided reading groups and Daily 5. I wish I was allowed to do Math Daily 5 and guided math groups. It's so frustrating.
I wish we did not have to do so much data collecting/record keeping. It it overkill with the students, and so time consuming for the teachers. I much prefer to spend my time actually teaching....
Because we take our standardized testing the 1st week of December, we are required to teach all the curriculum covered in that test. The data is supposed to be used to identify GT kids, so we have a baseline-however, we are told to "teach to the test" for 5-year olds. When it's brought up every August that we need to plan that way-I raise my objections professionally-we only have 3 1/2 months with them by that time, it's not the purpose of the test, the kids can't be expected to learn a whole year's curriculum in that short time. The response is that some schools can get really high scores-we need to be one of them. That we need to do weekly multiple choice assessments to get them used to bubbling, introducing everything at once doesn't hurt, you can go back and reteach later. Then we suck it up and teach the way we are being asked to. That's the only thing that really bothers me because I know it's not an effective way to teach.
It's not effective at all - you're absolutely right. Please read John Taylor Gatto's "Weapons of Mass Instruction." You'll appreciate it. Look, I have 4 daughters, three of them born back to back to back, and THEY are all their own different people in terms of personality, interests, etc. They're almost triplets, and they couldn't be more different. So why are we supposed to teach a class of 20-30 individual human beings the same way with the same material and the same test, a test that was formulated by unknown people in unknown places? You nailed it - it makes no sense what so ever.
KinderCowGirl, I don't know how you are able to keep your vigor with all the inanity being forced upon you. You must be a really special teacher because I probably would have departed long ago. hmy:
I really really don't agree with having to "reward" students for expected behavior- like being quiet when necessary and doing their work- when all of the other kids do these same things and don't get the same reward. A couple years ago my P wanted me to use a behavior chart and sign it every hour dizzy for one particular child who has made bad choices repeatedly EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. When the child would have a "good" day, he would be rewarded with computer time the next morning. Eventually he gave me a suggestion that worked better: The child started with no recess and had to EARN it with good choices :thumb:. He almost always earned at least 10 minutes back. I also really don't agree with the way they want us to run small groups for Reading. We are supposed to have all the children but one whisper read while the one child reads a little louder so we can help that child. I have found it so much better when we vary the reading with different approaches- one time the kids will take turns reading and we stop and discuss good strategies they use or I suggest ones they might try when having difficulty with decoding or comprehension. Another time we might do partner reading or choral reading. I just can't see the value in 4 kids reading something independently and one getting guidance when they could all be learning something from the experience. I am fortunate that I haven't felt "forced" to use their methods- just encouraged to do so.
There's nothing specifically in my building or from my principal that bothers me, but at the district level, they make us administer "campus common assessments" and district "benchmark assessments" at regular intervals throughout the year (every 6 weeks). Well, the tests are horribly written and not at all reflective of what is happening in the classroom. Plus, the electronic tool for scoring them is known for being wildly inaccurate! So teachers are having to give tests at times that don't work for their kids, don't measure what's been learned, and getting score reports that are flawed. It's ridiculous. So last year, the English department chairs began a quiet revolution. It started with a four point letter, delivered to every secondary principal, listing the 4 reasons we are opposed to these tests. We asked each principal to take our concerns to their district level principal's meeting. From there it went to each of our campus improvement committees and then our district level committee. From what I understand, we were able to affect some changes. The official testing calendar hasn't been released, but the unofficial word is that the changes we requested were made! It was really cool to be a part of the process. I kind of felt like Norma Rae! I'm very lucky to have a principal that supports us to the best of her ability. If we feel we have to do something that is counterproductive, she will fight a battle for us. She doesn't always win, but she will always stand up and speak for us.
My school spent what I'm sure is a ridiculous amount of money on this company who gives us the formative assessments to give each week. And they give us practice tests for the end of the year tests. The formative assessments are so badly written that for half the questions there could be more than one answer. Some of them are flat-out wrong. One of them had an excerpt from The Metamorphosis and one of the questions asked what the main character transformed into. Unfortunately, the excerpt didn't address that so unless the student had read the story before, there was no way to answer it. I took my concerns to admin and was told that test scores were good so obviously this program works. So it's another year of using these assessments weekly, recording results and tutoring kids who can't pass them.
I don't like our department's late work policy. I hate taking off points for lateness but it's the rule.
We offer a free breakfast program that ALL of our students have to participate in. About 80% of our students are eating breakfast twice now and they are allowed to go back for more until everything is gone. Serving sizes are not taken into account and although we are supposed to be following a district wide nutritional program, the cook doesn't (one morning the students had a salad made with cool whip, mini-marshmallows and fruit cocktail). I told my principal that I will never be in agreement with a program that encourages students to over eat. My students are not allowed to eat unless I get a note or phone call from their family (except when fruit and vegetables are served) -- yes, I'm a rebel. :lol:
I strongly disagree with the dreaded and hated mandatory state testing. It seems the entire years curriculum is geared towards the students takinging those blasted tests. Wait a minute. It does not seem, it is geared towards the state testing.
At the last school I worked at, there were quite a few things that I disagreed with because we were forced to teach material that was too difficult for the kids because they hadn't even mastered the previous material yet. Also, there was way too much teaching to the test. At my current school, I like all the policies so there are no major issues. I agree with my department head and the other teachers on pretty much everything, so it works well.
Two of many 1st--that we have to set aside time once a week during class for students to complete makeup work--regardless of why they missed the work to begin with--so, in other words, if they slept in class, and didn't do the work, they get to do it on my time. 2nd - citywide tests--they're riddled with errors that are never corrected, and they have not been changed in seven years. And they ask unimportant questions that one particular teacher found important, and since they wrote the test, it stays--even when many of the other teachers have provided alternate assessments and questions.
The emphasis on Testing. We aren't as crazy as I've heard other places are.... But we are getting there, and I think it is horrible.
One of the biggest ones for me the last couple of years teaching 4th grade was being told that I should not teach science or social studies because they are not tested subjects. When I pointed out that the kids are tested in science in 5th grade, my principal told me that it wasn't our problem. The science teachers would just need to teach the kids what they didn't know.
Over assessing our kids. We are an RtI school, and we use AIMSweb (math CAP, math COMP, fluency, and MAZE), Reading 3D, Math 3D, and DIBELS Next to assess our kids BOY, MOY, and EOY. Holy assessments! Add that to our tier III kiddos that have to be benchmarked twice a week in each area. I wish we focused on their biggest weakness. Instead, I can have a kid in RtI for 5 categories- which is ridiculous. They are never in the classroom, and just get further behind. If they can't read, then how do you expect them to do well in math?
Are 5th graders in the same school? As a 5th grade teacher (and for the last few years, the ONLY teacher who taught science), this angers me. No one teaches science at my school. I am also the Science Fair Coordinator, and I had a third grade parent complain to me about her child not getting any science.
I'm not allowed to give a kid a snack if they forgot their lunch and the cafeteria won't give them anything to eat. Our cafeteria is run by a vendor. If they don't have food, they don't have food. I'm supposed to make them call home for a parent. But many parents work and can't bring their kid lunch. Or get off to bring them something to eat. I give the kid a snack anyway. It's not right to let a child go hungry.
queenie~I agree with you on the rewarding students for expected behavior. band~my daughter's district does the commom assessments every 6 weeks and the tests are horribly written. We went through and took them when I was an aide at the middle school, and it was silly the amount of errors we found and how much information was not taught. Not because the teachers weren't teaching it, but because it wasn't on the scope and sequence! Not at the district level, but I don't agree with the amount of testing our students are subjected to from 3rd-12th grade. In TX, by the time a student graduates, they would have taken 31 state standardized tests.
My current school is a utopia for teachers--we are treated as professionals and told to do what works for our students, period. In my previous district, I disagreed with pretty much every philosophy (which is why I left), but I did value my job, so I followed the policies even though they were ridiculous.
At the past few schools I've been in, I haven't really had any complaints. The first school I did my student teaching in however, I disagreed with their policy of having a district-wide strict pacing guide in which everyone did the same exact thing, which was always worksheets, no labs (in science), and just bookwork, etc. My master teacher ENCOURAGED students to cheat on district tests by giving them the answers to write down on a notecard, and the students just seemed beat-down and uninterested in learning daily.
OUCH! I've heard this before. This is not education. It is preparation. It makes no sense at all. I'm glad my kids are now all graduated from HS, but I worry for my grandkids. My granddaughter will be going to private school - or at least that is her parents' plan - and I support it whole heartedly. Sad.
