As I enter my last year before 40, I find myself dwelling a lot on life and death. Some days I feel like half of my life is over (half!) and I wonder where time has went? What have I accomplished in these 40 years? What will people remember when I am gone? Other days, I swear I don't feel over 21....at least mentally. (Physically is another story as my body aches and groans at the start of each day!) I know this is something I will struggle with over the next 364 days as I come to terms with turning 40. After all, you can't consider yourself "young" any longer after the big 4-0...
Sunday, May 20, 2012
A Pirate Looks @ 40...
So, I'm not 40 (yet!) and I'm not a pirate either (yet!), though the first is inevitable and the latter is something I can always aspire to. With no disrespect to the great Jimmy Buffet, I have always felt born out of my time and always a step too late....or some might say too early, in the scheme of things. Is there such a thing as fate? I'm not sure, but many things seem out of our hands in life, so Jimmy might have been on to something.I also find it ironic that I find great peace in the ocean since I don't swim and you would be hard pressed to get me on a boat of any kind. I look out over the waves, breathe in the salty air and imagine all the great (and not so great) travelers of the past who rode the high seas. Living in the islands somewhere would be so peaceful.
As I enter my last year before 40, I find myself dwelling a lot on life and death. Some days I feel like half of my life is over (half!) and I wonder where time has went? What have I accomplished in these 40 years? What will people remember when I am gone? Other days, I swear I don't feel over 21....at least mentally. (Physically is another story as my body aches and groans at the start of each day!) I know this is something I will struggle with over the next 364 days as I come to terms with turning 40. After all, you can't consider yourself "young" any longer after the big 4-0...
As I enter my last year before 40, I find myself dwelling a lot on life and death. Some days I feel like half of my life is over (half!) and I wonder where time has went? What have I accomplished in these 40 years? What will people remember when I am gone? Other days, I swear I don't feel over 21....at least mentally. (Physically is another story as my body aches and groans at the start of each day!) I know this is something I will struggle with over the next 364 days as I come to terms with turning 40. After all, you can't consider yourself "young" any longer after the big 4-0...
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Wow....almost a year to date.....
....since my last post!
All in all my year has not been a great one. I went back in the classroom teaching American History and propmtly remembered why I had left 4 years ago to teach gifted! Much as the rest of the education world in Florida, these kids could care less about history. We have hammered into their brains for so long now that the only important measurement of their learning takes place in the Spring with FCAT and since history isn't on the "TEST", it is not important. Politicians in Tallahassee are moving to make history a non core subject so that class caps don't have to be met in those classes in the fall, so all I can say is grrrr. Of course, a society ignorant of the past and unable to think historically is a good thing for politicians. That way they can feed them any line and it will be taken hook, line, and sinker. This is all thanks to a new governor who, through his actions and words, must depise education.
Oh and I can't forget that my pay will soon be tied to the little darlings test taking skills in subjects I am not totally responsible for teaching them....when they come to school and manage to actually bring supplies like pencil and paper that is. I also can't leave out the fact that all protections I might have had in the classroom from overbearing and abusive administration has been removed. And lastly, it is always great for my emotional well-being to hear and read the venom spewed out by the public against education and teachers. Some mornings I look closely in the mirror to make sure I didn't sprout horns overnight because I certainly feel like that is how I am being treated. Yet, I go to work each day and smile, hand out paper and pencil, stay after "quitting time" to grade papers and plan lessons, and then come home and do it some more. Somewhere in there I also provide support for the girl cutting herself and the boy beating his mom, the kid facing major and life-altering surgery, and my peers new to the profession. It's easy to say to yourself "If I had known then, what I know now....". I feel like we are under fire from all sides and there's no place to take cover to catch our balance. How long will the "perks" of teaching continue to keep the bad stuff at bay?
The reaction we mostly get even though we work hard to provide interactive and meaningful lessons......
All in all my year has not been a great one. I went back in the classroom teaching American History and propmtly remembered why I had left 4 years ago to teach gifted! Much as the rest of the education world in Florida, these kids could care less about history. We have hammered into their brains for so long now that the only important measurement of their learning takes place in the Spring with FCAT and since history isn't on the "TEST", it is not important. Politicians in Tallahassee are moving to make history a non core subject so that class caps don't have to be met in those classes in the fall, so all I can say is grrrr. Of course, a society ignorant of the past and unable to think historically is a good thing for politicians. That way they can feed them any line and it will be taken hook, line, and sinker. This is all thanks to a new governor who, through his actions and words, must depise education.
Oh and I can't forget that my pay will soon be tied to the little darlings test taking skills in subjects I am not totally responsible for teaching them....when they come to school and manage to actually bring supplies like pencil and paper that is. I also can't leave out the fact that all protections I might have had in the classroom from overbearing and abusive administration has been removed. And lastly, it is always great for my emotional well-being to hear and read the venom spewed out by the public against education and teachers. Some mornings I look closely in the mirror to make sure I didn't sprout horns overnight because I certainly feel like that is how I am being treated. Yet, I go to work each day and smile, hand out paper and pencil, stay after "quitting time" to grade papers and plan lessons, and then come home and do it some more. Somewhere in there I also provide support for the girl cutting herself and the boy beating his mom, the kid facing major and life-altering surgery, and my peers new to the profession. It's easy to say to yourself "If I had known then, what I know now....". I feel like we are under fire from all sides and there's no place to take cover to catch our balance. How long will the "perks" of teaching continue to keep the bad stuff at bay?
The reaction we mostly get even though we work hard to provide interactive and meaningful lessons......
Saturday, April 10, 2010
blah, blah, blah...
So the legislature passed SB6/HB 7189 (knew they would) by only a 10 vote margin. I stayed up until 2:30 am watching them "debate" before voting. What an eye opener! The debate was farcical ...is that even a word?!?... politicians laughing, wandering around chambers, and more interested in whatever was on their laptop screens the vast majority of the time. Maybe they were facebooking it or something....I don't know. LOL
To watch and listen to many of them get up and admit the bill was flawed, yet still needed passing was amazing. To watch and listen as many trashed the teaching profession was hurtful to say the least. To punish all of us for a few bad apples is wrong. Though the whole merit pay thing concerns me because it is ill-defined and unfunded, the biggest kick to the gut is the removal of all protection for a teacher in the classroom. Heaven forbid if you should disagree with your administration in the future as they will now be able to fire you at will. Heaven forbid if you should tick one too many parents off who thinks their little Johnny or Susie is the angel and you are the big bad wolf. Heaven forbid if you should complain over working conditions such as no bathroom breaks or being jipped out of your lunch period. If you make too many waves, you are now opening yourself up to being fired at will. You are opened up to being fired at will for things that have no direct bearing on the classroom or so-called student performance. This is the largest insult that our legislature poured on us with this bill. Make no mistake, these things happen far more often than the general public knows or wants to admit.
Now the bill goes to the governor who can veto it and send it back to the House. Will Charlie Crist have the decency to take into consideration the hundreds of thousand of phone calls and emails that have bombarded his office? Will Charlie Crist pay attention to the hundreds of protests that have been staged around the state? Will Charlie Crist have the political backbone to stand against his party and stand up for teachers? I'm not holding my breath.
To watch and listen to many of them get up and admit the bill was flawed, yet still needed passing was amazing. To watch and listen as many trashed the teaching profession was hurtful to say the least. To punish all of us for a few bad apples is wrong. Though the whole merit pay thing concerns me because it is ill-defined and unfunded, the biggest kick to the gut is the removal of all protection for a teacher in the classroom. Heaven forbid if you should disagree with your administration in the future as they will now be able to fire you at will. Heaven forbid if you should tick one too many parents off who thinks their little Johnny or Susie is the angel and you are the big bad wolf. Heaven forbid if you should complain over working conditions such as no bathroom breaks or being jipped out of your lunch period. If you make too many waves, you are now opening yourself up to being fired at will. You are opened up to being fired at will for things that have no direct bearing on the classroom or so-called student performance. This is the largest insult that our legislature poured on us with this bill. Make no mistake, these things happen far more often than the general public knows or wants to admit.
Now the bill goes to the governor who can veto it and send it back to the House. Will Charlie Crist have the decency to take into consideration the hundreds of thousand of phone calls and emails that have bombarded his office? Will Charlie Crist pay attention to the hundreds of protests that have been staged around the state? Will Charlie Crist have the political backbone to stand against his party and stand up for teachers? I'm not holding my breath.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Letter to the editor from a fellow teacher at my school
A test for teachers
By Chris Hamel
Special to the Star-Banner
Published: Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, April 2, 2010 at 6:57 p.m.
After spending nearly 29 years teaching in Marion County, I thought I had seen everything. This year's Legislature has proven me wrong. Instead of doing the courageous thing and working to find ways to better fund our schools, they have decided to devote their time and energy to undermining teachers.
Recently, the Florida Senate passed Senate Bill 6, and a companion bill, House Bill 7189 was introduced in the House. This bill's main objective is to do away with the current system we have for compensating teachers, based on years of experience and level of professional education. SB 6 replaces this common-sense system with one that will base a teacher's pay on standardized test scores of students.
If you think teachers already teach too much to the test, just wait until SB 6/HB 7189 is enacted.
If this bill becomes law, it will not only affect teachers, but every parent and student as well. Because our pay will now be tied to standardized tests like the FCAT, more pressure will be put on students to score well, because “my paycheck depends on it.”
Everyday, teachers see the damage “teach to the test” does to our students. If things aren't tested, they don't get taught.
One of other objectives of this bill is to eliminate tenure. The Legislature is spreading the myth that tenure is the reason we can't get rid of incompetent teachers.
Let me provide some clarification about tenure. First, tenure doesn't mean that I or any other teacher can't be fired, nor is it anything like the tenure that you typically think about when you hear the term (what college professors have.) It simply insures that a process must be followed. This protects teachers from a principal who wants to get rid of someone without a truly valid reason or from a vindictive parent. These basic protections exist for teachers in almost all 50 states.
The Legislature also wants the public to believe that there is a huge number of lousy teachers who just need to go. In all of my years in the profession I have never found this to be true. The overwhelming majority of teachers are hard working, dedicated, creative professionals. Most of the truly bad teachers I have encountered are no longer teaching.
As I think about this bill, I find that many issues of basic fairness crop up. For instance, since the beginning of the year, I have had a turnover of about 10 percent of my students. Is it fair for my evaluation to be based on students I have only had part of the year? What about media specialists, guidance counselors and deans? They don't even have classes of students to test. What about PE and the fine arts? Are we going to base their pay on how the students perform on testing for academic classes?
The students I teach face immense challenges and turmoil in their lives. I have students with parents in jail. Others tell me about the fighting that goes on every night at home. Most of my students come to school each day without breakfast. On any given day, my absentee rate runs from 8 to 10 percent. Should I be penalized because many of my students don't come to school?
In the end, the state wants to make my whole evaluation based on how my students score on a test. If this law passes, I can see a time when nobody will want to teach at a school like mine because of the challenges we face everyday.
In a time when finding and retaining qualified teachers has become a continual challenge, who is going to replace all of the “under-performing” teachers they hope to root out? How many of our best teachers will get disgusted and leave the profession? Unfortunately, there is not a large number of highly qualified people waiting to move in to take over (don't take my word for it, ask any principal.) If we want to attract talented, creative teachers out of college, this is going to make the profession look even less attractive.
In the end, my fear is that public schools will suffer a huge blow as well as the teaching profession because of SB 6/HB 7189.
The solution to the many issues that face our public schools doesn't involve singling out one group or another. Making our public schools better requires a comprehensive solution: more resources for our schools to do the challenging job they're charged with, more support for teachers, and more support services for parents and students. Together, as a community united for public education, we can do better
Sunday, April 4, 2010
These people get it!
Some different voices on SB6/HB 7189. These people get it and say it 100X better than I can. LOL
Senate Bill 6 / House Bill 7189: An Open Letter to Our Legislature
Paula Dockery shops education editorial
Senate Bill 6 / House Bill 7189: An Open Letter to Our Legislature
Paula Dockery shops education editorial
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