An English teacher in Rhode Island writes:
I’m a great teacher. I’m waiting for the opportunity, at the ripe old age of 49, to switch careers. My heart is broken. I am deluged with PLC’s, SLO’s, dog and pony lesson plans that go nowhere, and impossible observations that require me to make my students lie through their teeth. I’m tired of the “idiocracy” that states things like “the SAT is an achievement test” and that “all children can learn” without providing qualifiers and quantifiers. I am waiting for the hammer to fall when I get caught not teaching the new Common Core Curriculum because I’m ignoring it and teaching to the curriculum I created that works VERY well. If I have to learn one new acronym I’m going to eat a bullet. Rhode Island is being run into the ground by a Broad Academy robot. Teachers in my district are running scared, the administrators are capos, the union has been neutered, and the school board couldn’t find it’s hiney with a flashlight. All of this “educational reform” is just making us chase our tails; it’s not letting us teach.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
You are not alone, but it’s what they hope for. If they can break us, it will usher in the cheap, poorly supported schools for the masses, with the fabulous free market “choices” for those who should get the education they can afford (as opposed to those just expecting to be given one…?).
SAT scores do not show how successful you will be: They are intended to predict first year college grades.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/class-struggle/2010/07/your_sat_score_has_little_to_d.html#edchat
More on how your high school grades and class rank are better predictor than an SAT score according to the test developer.
http://www.fairtest.org/satvalidity.html
We won’t let our educational policy be dictated by fact checkers.
TeacherRhodeIsland,
Ditto, down here in Texas, just horrendous. I am also a career changer. I’ve seen Army Grunts treated better than teachers. I sometimes still can’t believe my eyes. In the Navy, as a division commander, we gave more respect to our brand new recruits than the zero respect given to teachers.
I just don’t know how much more I can take, but I try to find ways to “fake it” in order to teach. They will never, as Dan states, BREAK me. I will curse them out all the way up to the Superintendents Office as I call ABC, CBS, and CNN news. Someone once tweeted, “Being a teacher is like being part of a crime family. You feel dirty. You feel like you should turn state’s evidence.” Tell me that isn’t true.
PLC’s, what a joke! The intention behind them is insidious, and we all know it. Every day, we have to MEET during my conference period. I can barely breathe for my one hour a day conference. Not including travel time to the meeting place, they gobble up 30 precious minutes each day. Minutes that I could be using to grade, to call a parent, to input those grades, to give feedback, to talk with a student, to write a recommendation letter for a student, to brainstorm on a lesson, to gather resources for my lesson, to speak with a colleague, to share an activity with a colleague, to take a Xanax (lol…just joking), to review resources, or to simply just breathe after trying to corral 45 students who just left my classroom, a space only meant to hold 30…You know what I’m talking about. Oh, and not to mention writing referrals for the 10 to 15% of students that dare to call me a dumb A$$ H*. You know the one’s, the one’s that are stopping the learning of the 85 to 90%
When I first entered the field seven years ago, we had one meeting a week, the rest was handled by email. There were many nights I stayed til 9 or even 10, knowing my schedule, working my life around my work. Well, as you know, those days are over. Some braniac, who had to find a way to “control” teachers, came up with the buzz word “collaboration.” Woo Hoo Collaboration. Instead of nurturing the concept, showing its benefits, leading (leading means leadership) those teachers who are loners to take another view…what do they do, they DRIVE a SWEEPING mandate down our throats. Why? When I was happy and loving my working conditions, I collaborated in the hallway during passing period (3 minutes a day times 187 days is MASSIVE collaboration), I collaborated during and after school, but now…NOW, with MANDATED–FORCED Collaboration (oxxxxymorrrrron), I stand in the halls during passing periods unable to speak with colleagues because I am so flipping exhausted. When the bell rings, I ESCAPE. Hon-ey, I run out of there. The other teachers giggle. They are following me OUT, lol. Sweetheart, I beat the buses out of the parking lot with NO apologies.
And, yes, like you, if I must admit it myself, I am an awesome English teacher. My kids hop up and down to get into my classroom. When I had to take two days off in a row because I NEEDED a break, they cried out, “We missed you. Don’t do that again.” Awwww (smile). Yes, I, like many of my colleagues, am quite good. My classroom is my ART. As a matter of fact, President Obama would want me to teach his daughters. President Bush would want me to teach his grandchildren. Yes, like many (not all) of our colleagues, I rock and roll.
But, it’s a shame, it’s a shame that for my own well being I have to escape the cancer that I work in. If I didn’t, I would weigh 400 pounds and surely die of diabetes. I would be Koo Koo for Cocoa Puffs. No, I refuse! Do you hear me!? I refuse to let this field of education kill me or make me bitter. I prefer to be pissed off. When they MANDATE that I attend a Saturday training, lol, I dare them to say anything to me when I simply reply, “unable, prior confirmed commitments.” How dare they! I am an URBAN school teacher. I have 200 students! When I first started, I had 90. Three years later: 115. A couple years ago: 135. Last year: 170. This year 200. You see, they say they block because it’s better for the kids, but we both know that it means they can hire FEWER teachers. I see my kids every other day. One hundred one day, and one hundred the next day. Oh yeah, it’s all about the kids. It’s all about consistency. No, it’s all about the money you bastards (forgive me…I am livid).
A mentor teacher of mine (she was awesome) once told me, “They will kill you and then simply fill your room. Go home.” I kindly ignored her at first, but now, I see the LIGHT, the TRUTH. She retired at the age of 55. What is that? Still a young woman, a master teacher, retired at 55!!! What a loss for education. What a loss for the kids. A loss for the kids they say they care about. “It’s all about the kids. No excuses.”
Oh, TRI, find ways to circumnavigate the sewers we work in. Find a way to keep your kids and yourself above it all. I tell my kids, “Is it about the grades!?” They reply, “NO, it’s about the learning.”
Hence, If they work for me, they don’t disrupt learning, I do something called Auto Fill on Gradespeed. Then I simply tweak it up. I do a lot of formative assessment, making sure I leave no child behind. I make them create. I do not make them bubble, underline, or circle. Prepositional phrases? “No, no circling here, you write me a sentence with a vivid verb that starts with a prepositional phrase. Go.” They look crazy at first, but you should she the beauty they eventually CREATE with a picture or a movie clip or even the mind movie in their own mind! Amazing.
OH, and those lesson plans that they FREAK out over. Don’t worry, you are not crazy. I can’t script myself. I am a creator, not a robot. I sketch it out, LIKE I USED TO, and for them…it’s called internet…google…search engine….copy and PASTE!!!
I better go now. Stay STRONG!! FIGHT!
@teacherstweeet
One more thing. Think about this. What if I told you, “Ma’m, I think about your kid 2 minutes a week. I think about your child as an individual, keeping in my his/her individual needs (smile).” You’d look at me like I was crazy. Well, think about it? I have 200 STUDENTS. 200 X 2minutes = 400 minutes (nearly 7 hours). Can you imagine grading and giving feedback to 2 essays a week, spending 5 minutes on each? That does not even include the 30 seconds each for then INPUTTING the grade in the system. What about having to call parents for that 10 to 15% What about having to write the referrals for the students that stop learning…
WHAAAT? Have they lost their minds in this country? Why are teachers not ANGRY!!!! How dare they treat this profession of “women” like we are BEASTS of BURDEN. Did you watch Dr. Steve Perry on CNBC yesterday: the contempt in his voice, in his face. How dare he twist his face and lips to speak of our profession as if we are money grubbing floozies that need to teach and shut up and not complain and not advocate for our kids. How dare he demand a longer work day to do the same things (test prep and bubbles) that aren’t working. We are the United States of America. We sent men to the moon. We educated ex-slaves and the ancestors of slaves,, AMERICAN BLACKS to eventually rise, creating speakers and writers and thinkers….All WITHOUT standardized testing…
To now, to today, we sink into an abyss of massive poverty and use the same testing that was used after slavery against American Blacks and American poor to now become a profitable cancer that is affecting ALL AMERICAN children, from the suburbs to the ghetto. A proficient school in the burbs with a 100% pass rate does not equate to a school of “growth.” Some of our schools are high growth and proficient in testing. Some are proficient in testing and no growth. Some are Not proficient and low growth…and yes, some are actually not proficient but do show growth, just not growth on tests….
A bit militant, but a friend of mine once said, “Those in power, those in money, they will stop teaching their own before they teach my people.” Her statement reminded me of the chapter “Poor White Man–Rich White Man Bargain.,” written by American white author Lillian Smith in “Killers of the Dream.”
oops.. “keeping in mind..”
Do we get rid of the department of education? Let us know! I’ve heard it’s the source of our problems! I’m not a teacher and have grown children but someday i will have grandkids and I’m concerned now.
I could have sworn you were writing about Florida. It’s the same dog and pony show here. Dan is right- teachers have to stand together on these issues.
Overall, teachers are too passive. I hope that changes soon. It’s not about the pay. I would give back $100 a month to be left alone to teach.
As an English teacher, I could have written this myself, though I am blessed with a supportive school board member and fantastic principal. They are keeping my in my class. If those support systems fail, I’m not sure what I’ll do…
I had it good for four years. Just hope they don’t move on or move up.
Bravo! ………….. continue to be brave of Heart! ………. continue to fight the fight against “Idiocracy” ……. for if we fail to recapture control of curriculum from sadly inexperienced, sychophantic, and clueless admnistrators and their co-conspirators in the corporate world, the movie by that name will become a documentary. Carpe Diem
John Keating
Crikey Moses! And we thought it was tough in the UK! Similar sentiments here: http://learningspy.co.uk/2011/11/28/why-arent-we-supposed-to-teach-anymore/
My colleagues and I were recently told to go through each of our exams and numerically rate each individual question’s level of thinking according to Bloom’s taxonomy. This is supposed to increase the amount of “critical thinking” in our exams. We already include “critical thinking” in our exams because that is the pedagogically appropriate way to do things.
Why are we assumed to be inept? Why are we not trusted to do our jobs like other professionals? I feel like I am enduring potty training as an adult.
I’d recommend more formative assessments. And, reference the summative assessments, make them short! Formative are the best indicators of learning….On formative, I use slashes and exes and dots… sometimes I use different color slashes, keeping my grading sheets on a clip board. Red means on the edge. Green means good to go. Orange means a lazy 70… Yellow means ok, but kid could kick it up a notch.
We have to work smarter not harder. You don’t have time to code every exam. Are they crazy? Wow.
Try this song…
Please pass it on.
English Teacher in Rhode Island,
Your post should be made into a POSTER and put up for sale!
I love it! 🙂
Hang Tough!
I too teach English in RI. I remember Peter McWalters. Multiple measures used to mean multiple measures. http://www.bigpicture.org/2008/06/rhode-island-authentic-assessment-and-personalization-initiative/
The State idiocracy does not have the power of Federal IDEA law. If we are to maintain a vibrant democracy shouldn’t every classroom be the least restrictive environment?
Stay in the professsion.You have been in the profession long enough to know the unmitigated joy you receive from your students.You can survive the capos. If you leave, they have succeeded.At age 49, you will see at least five more reforms before you reach retirement age. You will make a.difference in the lives of those you teach.
It would be too easy to let us actually teach. We might, heaven forbid, accomplish something, thereby destroying the narrative currently in vogue. Instead, we must be made to jump through flaming hoops until we are too distracted to teach or just give up and move on.
I’m a first year English teacher in Washington DC.
Every lesson is scripted, Common Core aligned and I cannot stray. The expectation is that all teachers are doing the same thing in all classes. I think about the teachers who inspired me, who *taught* me and they never taught like this.
It’s frustrating. Even more frustrating is that, being a new teacher, I’m not particularly good at it.
Most frustrating is that I’m too new at this to offer a viable alternative.
And so, the class stumbles on with neither students nor the teacher feeling particularly inspired.