Education / Teaching thread (1 Viewer)

[Goatman Saint]

I have no idea what normal looks like anymore either, but I do know mine has become program compliance and mandates. Not good teaching but are you on page x with y poster up. Are the kids learning? Irrelevant. Are the kids actually enjoying and doing what is considered quality learning in an engaging atmosphere. Nope. But if put your x amount of time on a couple computer programs and read the script in a couple others you’re the hero.

Blah. I didn’t go to college and continually take classes and reinvent my classroom to be told to follow a script for every child. Forget that.

To top it off as if californias Covid rules aren’t insane enough, my principal and leadership team have added what they think is a good idea. Yeah really appreciate getting yelled at by my principal on the playground when arbitrary rules are changed and not communicated. Which is overly irritating because my wife in her district is responsible for informing, setting policy and compliance with county, state and federal regulations.

 

[bonnjer]

And often, she's the Momma those kids don't have.

Yep, that's part of the problem. We're having to raise these kids because they aren't getting it from home. There are some many programs that we have to do that aren't related to subject content. We've made it easier and easier for parents to not worry about doing their job.

 

[Sun Wukong]

I have no idea what normal looks like anymore either, but I do know mine has become program compliance and mandates. Not good teaching but are you on page x with y poster up. Are the kids learning? Irrelevant. Are the kids actually enjoying and doing what is considered quality learning in an engaging atmosphere. Nope. But if put your x amount of time on a couple computer programs and read the script in a couple others you’re the hero.

Blah. I didn’t go to college and continually take classes and reinvent my classroom to be told to follow a script for every child. Forget that.

To top it off as if californias Covid rules aren’t insane enough, my principal and leadership team have added what they think is a good idea. Yeah really appreciate getting yelled at by my principal on the playground when arbitrary rules are changed and not communicated. Which is overly irritating because my wife in her district is responsible for informing, setting policy and compliance with county, state and federal regulations.

I've got a student teacher this semester. She is horrified that I have to follow a script (a literal script, by the way. It actually has dialogue it tells you to read.) and am not allowed to deviate from it. Actually, I too am horrified that I have to do this. It's terrible.

 

[bonnjer]

I've got a student teacher this semester. She is horrified that I have to follow a script (a literal script, by the way. It actually has dialogue it tells you to read.) and am not allowed to deviate from it. Actually, I too am horrified that I have to do this. It's terrible.

Yeah, fork that. When it comes to that point, you aren't a teacher anymore. You're just reading shirt to them. It's total and utter bullshirt.

 

[SWJJ]

I’m telling you someone isn’t being efficient.
Our teachers work 7:15-2:15 school day…..then stay til 4:00 to complete all meetings, headings, etc.
I require them to leave by 4:00 each day, not make calls to parents after 4:00.
Parents know that and honor it too.
If a teacher wants to check email at night, that’s their choice.
But most use the 2:15-4:00 slot to handle all of that….and it works.

This SCREAMS lack of empathy for educators to me.

That "lack of efficiency" might be being spent altering plans for the dozen or more IEPs and 504s for students, talking to coaches, band directors, club sponsors, ANYONE who may can get thought to a troubled student.


Frankly it sounds like you are pretty well insulated from the realities of most people employed in education.


We have posted articles about teacher overtime, about teachers looking for exits from education.


And you efforts are to de-validate these experiences and say "I’m telling you someone isn’t being efficient."



DO BETTER.

 

[SWJJ]

I’m telling you someone isn’t being efficient.
Our teachers work 7:15-2:15 school day…..then stay til 4:00 to complete all meetings, headings, etc.
I require them to leave by 4:00 each day, not make calls to parents after 4:00.
Parents know that and honor it too.
If a teacher wants to check email at night, that’s their choice.
But most use the 2:15-4:00 slot to handle all of that….and it works.

How do they reach parents that work until 5 pm?

Do you just not call those parents?

 

[SWJJ]

Another HUGE issue is administration that tows the district line, and instead of being real with new hire teachers they paint inaccurate flowery pictures about how you don't have to bring work home after 4 and you will have so much support, and it's all a bunch of hot air.

 

[bonnjer]

Texas teachers burning out after a hellish month. Here’s what a trustee saw in classrooms

Fort Worth and other Texas school districts are fighting a decades-long trend and COVID-19 in order to attract and retain teachers.

www.yahoo.com

 

[BigOdin504]

22 years teaching and coaching here. I just wanted to say, put me in the “I’m burnt out” group too.
I don’t know the answer, but just wanted to be another voice for classroom teachers.
Admin and parents keep shoveling the responsibility on us. Kids are seeing cracks in the system and manipulating it. When you try to discipline the kids, there is no support.
It’s getting overwhelming for sure.
The only reasons I keep going are the kids that I coach and wanting to see them through.

 

[mc4saints]

My Wife is a Unicorn Teacher. I am not saying this because she is my Wife. Former students will tell her. Parents will tell her. She loves her kids as much as any other teacher. She loves teaching kids. She is struggling as much as the rest of you but she loves her kids enough to fight through it but barely. The non-teaching work is more than the teaching work. Add in the extra work required during covid and she is struggling even more. Administrators don't seem to take into account the extra time it takes to make sure the kids that can't come to school due to covid has some work in the portal to get to. Of course, 75% of the kids don't or can't do it while at home anyways.

@Outbackjack is for sure at a Unicorn school. Not sure how your teachers have conferences with parents, get all the papers graded, respond to all the red tape, and tons of other non-teaching things that have to be done in those time frames. I actually don't believe it is truly happening that your teachers are getting it all done during work hours. You probably truly have a great environment that your teachers appreciate, but they ain't only working 190 days a year.

In my opinion, based on what I witness, teachers work the same amount of hours as a typical 9 to 5 job without summers off. The weekend, after-school, and work in the summers adds up quickly.

 

[Sun Wukong]

This SCREAMS lack of empathy for educators to me.

That "lack of efficiency" might be being spent altering plans for the dozen or more IEPs and 504s for students, talking to coaches, band directors, club sponsors, ANYONE who may can get thought to a troubled student.


Frankly it sounds like you are pretty well insulated from the realities of most people employed in education.


We have posted articles about teacher overtime, about teachers looking for exits from education.


And you efforts are to de-validate these experiences and say "I’m telling you someone isn’t being efficient."



DO BETTER.

Yeah, his takes here are pretty bad. Maybe what he's saying is true, but even if it is it's such an extreme outlier to the well documented truth of public education in this country that it doesn't warrant consideration or discussion. Somebody working in the situation he's talking about has no place telling me, who works in a high poverty district, at a Title I school with an urgent intervention designation from the state about "efficiency." Or anything, really. No calling parents after 4pm? Lol. I'm dealing with probation officers, DCFS case workers, CASA advocates, and foster families. I don't have that kind of luxury.

 

[Sailorsaint]

Texas teachers burning out after a hellish month. Here’s what a trustee saw in classrooms

Fort Worth and other Texas school districts are fighting a decades-long trend and COVID-19 in order to attract and retain teachers.

www.yahoo.com

In that article...
Raúl Peña, the chief talent officer for Fort Worth ISD, said last week that the district was continuing to ramp up efforts to hire more teachers, substitutes and staff in order to fill vacancies and help prevent another short-term staffing crisis like the one seen in January.

“We are trying every strategy to hire teachers,” Peña said. “We are seeing a lot higher number of teachers and a lot more professionals just not wanting to come into the profession.”

Hiring efforts have included multiple hiring fairs, including one that was held virtually for teachers in Mexico City. But the shortage in teachers, which some experts call a crisis, did not start amid the pandemic.....

Have they tried a decent wage? Or changing their policies? Or giving more support to the teacher? Just reading some of the posts here from teachers makes me think that this has been building for awhile and is just reaching the boiling point even quicker because of Covid. Wages across the board for "blue collar" jobs have not kept up with the economy or societal stresses. I'm sure there are good policemen/women out there right now that are quitting/retiring early because they just can't justify the related stress with the lack of a decent wage.

 

[Sun Wukong]

In that article...
Raúl Peña, the chief talent officer for Fort Worth ISD, said last week that the district was continuing to ramp up efforts to hire more teachers, substitutes and staff in order to fill vacancies and help prevent another short-term staffing crisis like the one seen in January.

“We are trying every strategy to hire teachers,” Peña said. “We are seeing a lot higher number of teachers and a lot more professionals just not wanting to come into the profession.”

Hiring efforts have included multiple hiring fairs, including one that was held virtually for teachers in Mexico City. But the shortage in teachers, which some experts call a crisis, did not start amid the pandemic.....

Have they tried a decent wage? Or changing their policies? Or giving more support to the teacher? Just reading some of the posts here from teachers makes me think that this has been building for awhile and is just reaching the boiling point even quicker because of Covid. Wages across the board for "blue collar" jobs have not kept up with the economy or societal stresses. I'm sure there are good policemen/women out there right now that are quitting/retiring early because they just can't justify the related stress with the lack of a decent wage.

Every time I see an article like this, there are two obvious answers that are never, ever floated:

1. We will pay you more money.
2. We're going to take some stuff off your plate.

And though it is an oversimplification, those two things would go a long, long way towards helping the situation. My job is maybe 20% actual teaching. It's literally so much other stuff at this point, that it actually bleeds over into my instructional time. My planning periods are frequently lost to meetings. Often my lunches are as well. That's when I'm not having to cover duty for someone else. There are days I do not have an opportunity to go to the bathroom between 7:10 am and 3:15 pm. Things are so geared towards placating students and parents that attempts at accountability are frequently unsupported by administration, students don't care or try because they know they will pass regardless. I'm trying to teach above grade level texts to students with reading levels four and five years below grade level.

Who the hell wants to work at that job? Really? Who looks at that and says "Yeah, that sounds like a great gig!"

Make the career more attractive and you will have people who want to apply. No one is interested because the pay sucks, the work environment is insane, the expectations are unreasonable beyond measure, and you're frequently being asked to do the impossible with no resources and no support.

Yeah, no wonder nobody wants in.

 

[SWJJ]

I know SO MANY teachers who have a Master's degree plus and are working second and in some case third jobs to supplement their income. It's beyond ridiculous. In my district a Master's only pays you about $1200 more a year. Annual raises are less than $1k and we are one of the higher paid districts in NWLA.

I'm also tired of hearing "you know what the job paid when you took it" that attitude is why so many are leaving the profession.


And from my anecdotal experience, the teachers leaving are the highest qualified. They are tired of having to play AV guy, IT guy, Therapist, teach junior teachers how to use the district's software/LMS systems, meetings that should be emails, only to be gaslighted by administration.

 

[gboudx]

...
My planning periods are frequently lost to meetings. Often my lunches are as well. That's when I'm not having to cover duty for someone else. There are days I do not have an opportunity to go to the bathroom between 7:10 am and 3:15 pm.
...
I'm trying to teach above grade level texts to students with reading levels four and five years below grade level.

Highlighting the points above as they stand out and sound exactly like my wife's situation.

As for the "wage" discussions, I don't know how much the school districts can do since funding is provided by the state. Maybe they have discretionary budget funds they can throw at teachers, but will that persist into the following school years to maintain the increased wages? Maybe they can give a retention bonus but would you rather have a non-guaranteed annual bonus, or an increase in annual pay?

I have thought a lot of our experience is because of Texas being Texas, but this certainly appears to be a nationwide problem. Texas just seems to want to increase the pressure with a "parents bill of rights" that will definitely increase the workload on teachers.