The Problem with “Fixing” Education

I met a woman while I was volunteering at an Animal Shelter here in Colorado and I realized that we cannot fix our educational system without parents. This woman is able to raise 7 kids that are doing great in school and it all has to do with how they are raised by their parents. Really part of our problem today is thinking that we can send out kids to school and they will get everything they need in life. We are expecting our teachers to accept roles that we are meant to fill as parents. The woman I met had seven children ranging from 15 to 21 and all of them are on the honor roll, attend school everyday, win academic awards and are in college or college bound. I think to myself how is it that this woman is able to raise children who are able to achieve so much while others are floundering in the system?

Admittedly a lot has to do with the socioeconomic status of the family. This family is well off and she is able to stay home and not work.Now this makes it easier but no matter your socioeconomic status raising well rounded kids is hard and most are not willing to put in the work anymore.  Now I’m not saying that they have it easy, the opposite in fact. They have  to do without new clothes, new cars, new gaming systems but they are fortunate enough to be able to have a parent stay at home. I still believe that others could accomplish the feat of raising children without money. Many single mothers do. I guess what I am trying to say is that we have to fix the way we look at children and their upbringing. It is not a politically correct thing to say but some parents suck as parents and in reality the generation that is currently molding out future is a selfish one. They look to make things easier for themselves not necessarily what is best for their kids. Hell, we don’t even do that in the education system today, but that is a topic for another day 🙂 If you need any other evidence of our selfishness as a culture look at our divorce rate! Selfish people are not willing to put in the effort for the long haul. How this translates into the educational system is that we expect our teachers to be parents, teachers, coaches, motivators, caregivers and everything to our kids. This is a very unrealistic idea even for the most dedicated and passionate teacher.

In the elementary schools you will have anywhere from 25-40 kids in a class. This number jumps to 100+ in a secondary environment   Now these teachers have these kids everyday for maybe 5-6 hours straight. This is great contact time for them but the problem is that in our homes we might have 1-3 kids that we are responsible for. These teachers are responsible for so many more! Now we are not only expecting them to teach our kids things we could not but also raise them! This is the unrealistic expectation  Add the idea that when a teacher does end up calling home they are blamed for the students reaction and are to blame for the achievement of the individual student and you have a horrible situation. The new legislation passed by President Obama likes the idea of basing a teachers salary on how well their students perform on shotty standardized tests…anyone see the problem in that. Now this is not only an idea from the President and our government but there are quite a few districts in the United States are already do this!  How do you take into account bad parenting and the lack of student motivation? Not all student motivation can be corrected by the teacher! The reality is that this legislation will not cure our education system. If anything, it will make is worse…what quality of teacher do you think a low income school will truly be able to attract and retain?

Now I love to teach, don’t get me wrong,  but I cannot raise someone else’s kid. I am only one person and when I see upwards of 120 kids a day there is no logical way that I can possibly raise all of them. When I was teaching I spent countless hours on lesson plans researching new ways to use technology or ways to approach topics. Then I would spend countless more grading papers and essays. On top of the lesson planning, grading and creating materials I would also be expected to attend meetings for students with parents, special education, professional development and Professional Learning Committees. Now how I ask is a person able to accomplish all of these things as well as raise 120+ kids a year? Honestly it is a unfair expectation to place on our teachers. Again this is not the politically correct thing to say, if our system is failing our students it has to be the teacher, right?  There are so many veteran teachers that are not counting the years to retirement because of the unrealistic expectations we are placing on teachers. Ask any veteran teacher what schools were like when they started teaching to get a real view on how our system has changed. It is not the educational system that we need to focus on right now, it’s the daily lives of our kids.

I see in the news how some new piece of legislation or bill will help the educational system improve… I cannot help but be disgusted by this lack of knowledge of how the educational system really works. Most teachers would feel the same way but most are unable to say anything because it is not politically correct. You risk putting your voice out there because it would put your job in jeopardy and make it difficult to find a job. I believe that the only way we are going to fix our educational system is by fixing how we  look at parenting today. Like anything worth fixing you have to start from the inside and begin the painful process of trying to change. Change is hard and it hurts but if we truly want what is best for our next generation we have to look within.

I send my congratulations to all parents who sacrifice for their kids so they can do better in school, teachers who spend most of their days trying to attempt the impossible and students who look within to make themselves better.

Another week of Standardized Testing in Colorado

So schools around here are completing the final days of TCAP testing. It truly is amazing the amount of time we spend on tests that are assessments of what students do not know rather than what they do. Most students can be conditioned to perform well on multiple choice tests, which is typical for current state assessments. Heck, if I were to take a test without any background knowledge of the content I would stand a very good chance of passing the assessment. Most of what students perfect is how to pass a test. Anyway, I stumbled across this picture on facebook and typical with the internet it is difficult to find the original source. I do however agree with the message whether faked or real.

Sad but True assessment of what happens during state testing.

The problem with parents

So when I was subbing this past week there was an incident with a computer and a student shredding some keys off the keyboard. I had checkout procedures in place that I checked the computer when it was checked out and when it was checked in. Seems logical right? Apparently not, when I turned in that the computer had keys broken and the name of the student, according to my log, that had done it I suddenly became a racist bitch.
    Let me explain, the student claimed to have not done it.  When their parent was called the story that they ended up going with was that since the little boy was black I must be racist and purposely pulled the keys off to make him and his parents pay for it. You have to love parents…I was asked to write a statement about what happened and turn it into the office. The day after I did this the parent came storming into school, completely bypassing the office, to “talk” to me. Now this is never good especially where there is no one around to witness the exchange. Plus I might add that I am a substitute and was only going to be there for a week! So the parent expresses her opinion on who and what she thinks I am and all I could do was feel sorry for her. She storms into the building to confront a person she has never met but going on the word of her kid, who is in trouble a lot at the school, yelling at me. She wanted me to change the statement I gave and she wanted a rise out of me to validate that I was a racist bitch. It was evident in the phone that she had recording the exchange.
     So in short I really cannot stand some parents. When I was a kid if the teacher said I did anything whether I did or not would not have mattered to my parents! I would have been in some deep  trouble. Sometimes I think we need to bring the paddle back to schools. I remember when I was in elementary, before they got rid of it, that it was heck of a deterrentt. Kids did not break the rules more than once, twice if they were slow learners. There was a true consequence that affected you. Oh well, I just hope we somehow find a way to make sure that kids have real consequences.

A warning from a high school teacher

It is truly sad how our education system is turning out. We only have ourselves to blame.

History Tech

The Washington Post recently reprinted an article by Kenneth Bernstein, an award-winning high school teacher who just retired who writes to warn college professors what they are up against. Bernstein, who lives near Washington, D.C. serves as a peer reviewer for educational journals and publishers, and he is nationally known as the blogger “teacherken.” The article first appeared in Academe, the journal of the American Association of University Professors.

I won’t put the entire article here – the Washington Post needs your business – but I love what Ken has to say so you’re getting a few excerpts:

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What we need to be teaching in schools!

I received a Masters Degree in Computer Technology and I truly believe that technology is what is missing in our schools. I am a social studies teacher by trade and the hardest question for me to answer is why do I have to remember this. In the past I would say that the things we learn in here will teach you about the human condition and prepare you for experiences in your life you have yet to imagine. The people we study in history have achieved and accomplished so many different challenges that there is so much we can take from their experiences. The stories behind the memorizeable events are what we need to be studying in schools. I mean, let’s be honest…Google will tell them anything they need to know about history quicker than I could explain it. It cannot be about the facts, it has to be about the experience of the people involved and your journey to know them. Technology should enrich the lives of our students instead of holding them back. Schools are ages behind the technology curve. Yes we have computers, yes some schools have ipads but really none of these are used correctly in a classroom. The reason behind this is because we as teachers, parents and lawmakers are scared of technology. How do we know when they are learning, how do you measure it, and how do you control a class. Now, I have to admit that I have days that I am terrified of what students will do with technology in my room…it is a natural reaction. The students that I currently have, that are driving me crazy, WILL BE better at some things than I am. This is what is scary. Giving up control and allowing students to expand their own horizons. Did you know that there are students who can program private rooms into XBox games online for their friends that Xbox tries to find and fix? Did you know that there are students who are programming their own apps for their phones, we probably even buy some of them!? Did you know that some of our students are able to hack into any computer at school? Now how is a traditional textbook and paper education going to challenge these students if we do not value their abilities? With the standardization of school curriculum we are crippling students, teachers and the education system. Using the word fun in education is such a no no any more. I can’t help but think that is part of the problem.

I saw this video the other day and could not help but agree with how true it is! The best jobs in the country and world right now deal with computers but we handicap our kids by taking them away.

Another Day in Paradise

Students working on computers sounds like a wonderful idea. They are supposed to be doing research on a topic of their choice. Now I have to not only deal with making sure no one hurts others but I also have to worry about them shredding computers, which this class has done before! My day has so far been in a constant state of being in the eye of the storm. Inside I feel calm and empty but around me the tornado it tearing up and destroying everything in its path. Now today not only will I work in my own personal hell but I also have another job to go to tonight. I can not make a living by subbing or by waitressing alone so I do both. This makes my day a total of about 14-15 hours of work in a day. Welcome to my paradise…

Being a Sub

Now substitutes are necessary in a school system. In the current system that I am in there is a pool of 800 substitutes with only 300 of them currently active taking at least one sub job a week. The disparity in those two numbers might be staggering but paints a perfect picture of what are school systems are like. There is not a person alive that truly strives to feel like they are nothing and get treated worse than trash by both students and administration. Every school that I have been in so far this year as a sub there has not been much support from the office. As an administrator you should be expecting some issues from classes where there is a sub and make accommodations to stop by and check on them. This is after all your school not mine. To be disrespected, cussed at and made to suffer by students and administration it is a wonder that anyone can get a substitute. If a teacher ever fall sick or needs to go to a conference how in the world do you expect another adult to want to come into your room to help you out by covering it!? I mean the money is ok but it is still not great. Currently I get paid 90 dollars for an 8 hour day or 11.25 an hour. While that is above minimum wage that does not account for the verbal accosting and abuse that a substitute suffers every day. $11.25 and hour to ensure the safety of over 150 kids, ensure they get whatever work done they are supposed to and maintain some semblance of order. Trust me it is not an easy task, you don’t know the kids names, they lie to you about their names, will refuse to Narc on their classmates, you can’t touch them, you can’t cuss at them and there is no support from other teachers OR the office! It is truly a near impossible task…

Synonym for TCAP Testing week…Hell Week

I am currently a substitute in a Middle School in the Denver Metro Area and we are currently mid stride in the state/federal mandated standardized testing. I am substituting in an elective class in the most disruptive week imaginable. Now not only are students testing for three and a half hours every morning but all the rest of their classes are at different times on different days. Needless to say I had expected some balking at the new substitute  It is typical for students of any age to test and needle a substitute we don’t know their names or how the class is run when you are not there. What I have experienced in the past two days is nothing less but traumatic  I have had my rough classes before but nothing compares to the days I have had. There is constant talking, refusal to acknowledge your existence, throwing things at you, cussing out you and other students and absolutely no work getting done.

Now you are probably thinking at this point that I must be incompetent because I am not able to control 35+ students for and hour and a half. Let me give you some perspective on the class that I was in. Since January this class has been through one contracted teacher, two long term subs and various daily substitutes that all refuse to come back (of which I will now be one of them). The students know that they have run off the last teachers and are in no mood to change their plans. Now these students do not have any grades in the gradebook because of the amount of substitutes they have had. I was expected to come in for a week and get them to work when the previous teachers have not been able to because they need some kind of grade for grade cards that are coming out soon. Now not only did I not know the teacher had just quit when I was asked to sub for this class but I was also unaware that there is no curriculum for the class, there are no books, and they have no discipline experience. These students have literally been allowed to do whatever they want in class for close to three months. I was able to speak to another teacher in the building who had retired the previous year from the same school. This teacher told me that she subbed for this class and that they were not bad. When I asked what did they got done….her reply “Nothing” they sat in their chairs and did whatever they wanted all period while she walked around picking up their trash! Now tell me how I am expected, short of a miracle and beating them, am I supposed to get them to write an essay!? They must think that I graduated from the school of Voldemort and am able to use the imperious curse to get them to do whatever I wanted!

Now today I was more than prepared to tell the school to fuck off and find another sub for the rest of the week but since I was raised where your word is your bond I have decided to stick it out. The only way that I am going to be able to make it through the week is going to be by venting on here. Thus the creation of the blog…

I was approached at the end of the day yesterday and today that I needed to call their parents because it was a great deterrent in the classroom. Well, Well I wish I had though about that! You see as a substitute, I do not get access, rightfully so, to students records or contact information. So while calling parents is a great idea in theory it just cannot happen for a substitute. I can imagine the conversation “Hello, this is Mrs. Jones from Blank Middle School I am Johnny’s elective teacher for today and this is what he did…” yeah that would go over really well! So the next option is to call the office to remove a student that you have had to repeatedly speak to. I attempted this today, there were two students who were in each other’s face and cussing each other out. I raised my voice and told them to knock it off. When this did not work I called the office for someone to come get them. By this time both students have stormed out. Now there is no way for me to physically stop them or intervene if a fight were to break out because if I touch them in any way I could be arrested for child abuse or molestation. There would be 30 witnesses to say that I did. Fantastic Right? So when the kids do finally return and the Campus Monitors do show up the students get “spoken to” by the monitor then sent right back to class to continue to disrupt. This happens at least 3 times in one period. Lesson taught to kids, do whatever you want because the worst that can happen to you is a stern talking to. WTF!!! So now only am I a liar but I also learn the students have more power in the classroom than I do. When you tell students that they will get three warnings then the office will be called…what is the point of calling the office!!!

All I can do is stick by my word and stay the week, then never go back! Now I am not sure if you can imagine what the other classes must be like…if there is no support for removing disruptive students from classes how much learning can really get done? When a student was eventually taken out the parent came in, in a huff, wanting to know what their perfect child did to get them suspended for a day. Seriously??!!! Had that been my mother, it would not have mattered what the teacher said I did I would be going home and given a red ass, lost all privileges, and been forced to clean the entire house on my “day off.” 

So Wednesday will be the first day that I will have all students and no TCAP testing. I think I will have to take a pill to make it through the commitment that I made…No wonder veteran teachers are retiring early and we are stuck with young teachers, some just looking for a pay check. Who would want to work under those conditions and for  less pay than a bank teller makes in a year.