I just read a quote on Pinterest (yeah, there’s lots of great stuff on there) that says, “My ability to remember song lyrics from the 80s far exceeds my ability to remember why I walked into the kitchen.” Too funny—and true at times! Why do I mention it? No reason…just made me laugh:)
Seriously, though, I’ve debated about whether or not to describe my shocking experiences in the schools. While I realize all schools are not the same, I can give what I encountered. When I subbed in several schools, if there were plans—and often there weren’t—the plans were insufficient for the amount of class time. These were middle and high schools—where classroom management goes hand in hand with valid learning, not a sheet to keep them busy, or worse, a reliance on the class to inform where they are in the text.
When I decided to accept a position in a school, these were the situations that played out over the course of 3 months, ending the second day of school:
1.No textbooks—kept being promised them throughout the summer, but were never produced ( I hear they received them 3 weeks after school started).
2. Salary agreement changed repeatedly—ended up accepting less because school was starting, and there were bigger things to worry about.
3. Tests can be taken several times, requiring reteaching in between each test. Who tests students before they’re ready to take a test? What would be the motivation to do well on the first test? Or the second or third?
4. Homework, classwork, and class participation didn’t count towards students’ grades. For those of you who’ve taught, I don’t even need to explain. I’m sure all students would be motivated to participate in these because it’s good for them.
5. The school is data driven, so there would be an hour class each day for students to be pulled out for extra concentration in math and English. What about the rest of the kids? Oh, just teach them your subject again, or take turns with your level teachers to vary subjects! Or, they can read quietly. Hmmmm…. Oh, by the way, we won’t start testing for three weeks or more.
6. There will be AR (Accelerated Reader) testing as well, but we have no library or books for your classroom.
7. We will test students approximately 10 times over the course of the year—that doesn’t count your subject tests.
8. Students must keep their belongings with them; there are no lockers.
9. You must escort your middle school classes to the bathroom three times a day. Fit it into your schedule.
10. Rosters aren’t ready yet for your classes, but just use the ones from parent night. If someone is on the roster but not present, call the parents and ask them if they plan on coming. We don’t have our numbers yet.
I could go on with examples of a poor school environment, but the one that demanded my exit was being undermined by the principal with the school’s own behavior policy. We were given the policy and were executing it, and the principal would tell the students they didn’t have to follow it.
I loved teaching, and it pains me to realize that this is sometimes the best our kids have. I know there are good schools here. I just know there are quite a few that aren’t.
Designs on Life 