Arthur Goldstein, veteran English teacher in Queens, New York, is tired of all those meetings and all those consultants, all those well-paid traveling professional developers who waste his time with the latest Big Thing. Until the next Big Thing comes along. He wishes they would leave him alone and let him teach.

Categories NYC, Teachers and Teaching

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Raquel Rios says:

September 14, 2012 at 6:06 pm

Ha, that was me for so many years! We didn’t make that much money (but then again I wasn’t from Harvard). Traveling kicked my ass but I loved working with teachers and schools. But you’re right. A lot of PD sucks. I always hoped to create a forum where teachers can feel that they can “come into their own,” so to speak. Same things we want in the classroom should be happening for teacher professionals in PD: safe space, choice, empowerment, respect and most importantly — joy.

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Diana Senechal says:

September 14, 2012 at 6:19 pm

Arthur’s piece is spot-on. I have attended too many of those PDs (not at my current school, fortunately).

I do wish SchoolBook would allow people to post comments without logging in to Facebook. People who aren’t on Facebook (and don’t want to be on Facebook) can’t post comments. That isn’t right.

I would say that in a comment on SchoolBook, but….

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Bridget says:

September 14, 2012 at 7:18 pm

Oh I thought I was the only one left on the planet who is not on Facebook!!! 🙂

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- Diana Senechal says:
  
  September 14, 2012 at 10:28 pm
  
  There’s two of us!
  
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- "2old2tch" says:
  
  September 14, 2012 at 10:50 pm
  
  Three.
  
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  - ReTiredbutMisstheKids says:
    
    September 15, 2012 at 3:54 am
    
    Four! Also, I wanted to reply to Peter A.K.A. Mr. Teachbad–in his blog–“Mr. Teachbad”–he described a totally LUDICROUS “new idea”
    some lame administrator had come up with–“the handshake.”
    Rather than describe it here (but you can get the picture of how well that would actually work, not to mention how absolutely unsanitary it would be in this day & age–right, MORE sick days for students and teachers!), I’d suggest that you go to Mr. Teachbad’s blog and read it (and all the hilarious comments) for yourself.
    
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  - Linda says:
    
    September 15, 2012 at 7:29 am
    
    Five and not interested! Too busy reading.
    
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  - Duane Swacker says:
    
    September 15, 2012 at 12:34 pm
    
    Mr. Teachbad site is quite fun. I consider myself a certified Mr. Teachbad “difficult teacher”.
    
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- Alan says:
  
  September 15, 2012 at 8:47 am
  
  I’m on there, and freely admit to enjoying it. I constantly post links to articles debunking edu-rheeform and have gotten a few folks thinking. I am alarmed at how many people within in our profession are largely unaware of this stuff.
  
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- Duane Swacker says:
  
  September 15, 2012 at 12:33 pm
  
  I am “on” it mainly because some of my former students were using it and it was a way to stay connected but I found the format to be lacking. So I just put my email up and phone # and said if you have something to say to me email or call me (it’s a land line, I don’t have a cell phone-damn luddite that I am).
  
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  - "2old2tch" says:
    
    September 15, 2012 at 1:44 pm
    
    I finally got one shortly before I got fired. It was a way to get in touch with my husband or call a tow truck (long drive). I just got asked for it for a sub job. I said it’s never on, which it isn’t, so they didn’t take it. My last job wanted a number, so they could call across the building and interrupt my classes. I would have lied if I had had one then. I certainly didn’t tell them when I got it. Can you believe that they expected it would be on during class?! My students all had them. Most of them didn’t have land lines. When you are poor, you may find yourself moving more often.
    
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Alan says:

September 14, 2012 at 8:48 pm

I just had a PD day today. The New Thing d’jour was actually an Old Thing. 2005 called; they want Understanding by Design back.

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Middle school teacher says:

September 14, 2012 at 10:18 pm

Thank you for the link to Mr.Goldstein’s wonderful article. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Everything he wrote was so true.

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mahlness says:

September 14, 2012 at 10:20 pm

Am not missing those de-skilling sessions one bit. They do take a toll.

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Randal Hendee says:

September 14, 2012 at 10:53 pm

That was great. The teacher voice has always been missing, but it’s being suppressed more than ever. Common Core Standards, scripted lessons, standardization of all kinds–they undermine good teaching. There’s something else that always gets short shrift: the student voice! Good teachers listen to it, as you made clear. We could do an even better job of this. For starters, let’s ask the kids how they like high stakes testing?

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WordsMatter says:

September 15, 2012 at 5:12 am

As a retired teacher, I certainly had my share of years of the “new thing.” For a multitude of reasons, those of us who had the opportunity to teach with autonomy, are becoming fewer and fewer. I fear this trend towards removing the experienced is one goal of those in power. The new teachers are being trained to only know scripted teaching, and are being quickly silenced through power, into believing a teacher’s voice doesn’t count. But, I have greater faith in those who teach and know they will find the strength to insist on their voice being heard.
A must read article for all teachers .Bravo, Mr. Goldstein!

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Dinosaur English Teacher says:

September 15, 2012 at 7:30 am

Professional Learning Communities, Step Up to Writing, Consistency Management, POW, Guerrilla Tactics (run my the principal’s best friend), Open Response, Balanced Reading… The list goes on. I have forced myself to forget about most of them. Last year it was that we aren’t supposed to give ZEROs if a student does not hand in work or a student cheats. Three years ago we were told that homework should not be factored into the grade.

I’m reminded of The Music Man. The only good thing about consultants is that they go away. Then, once classes start, everyone goes back to work. I’m lucky that my district administration is full of people who got the job because of connections. They are mediocre at best and once the school year starts, they go back to whatever they do. There is never any follow up.

Ever notice how at the end of their spiel they give a quick chat about how change is difficult?

I also have a shelf of books in my classroom collecting dust on the NECAP, TASS, TAKS, TEKS, MCAST. I have a copy of Who Moved My Cheese.

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- Middle school teacher says:
  
  September 15, 2012 at 12:52 pm
  
  OMG (as my 8th graders would say)! We had a pd on Who Moved My Cheese too. Did you have FISH? I don’t remember all the details, but it had something to do with having a better attitude. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the Cheese presentation, but somehow I think the big issues in education don’t boil down to attitude. Some of my useful pd’s focused on writers’ workshop techniques. Now, of course, it’s all Common Core all the time.
  
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Drew says:

September 15, 2012 at 11:21 am

As a highly cynical 15 year classroom veteran in several states I can relate to this very well. I’ve been that teacher who is labeled as negative because I had valid questions. The odd thing is now I am a consultant traveling to schools. We know what works in teaching and learning and it’s not a new “thing”, it’s something that we need to refine and improve our practice on. Creating a culture where students think critically, collaborate and communicate effectively isn’t about a new plan or product, it’s about effective instructional design and delivery and that does indeed vary from teacher to teacher.

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Kathy1 says:

September 15, 2012 at 11:39 am

Always with the Thing comes new buzz words and more acronyms than you know what to do with and often times finds you forgetting what they mean or get the letters out of order. If you do that, you may find yourself talking about something totally different. God forbid, if that happens.

I loved this article. Reminded me so much of the days when I doodled on my handouts.

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