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I don’t know about the rest of you, but where I come from things right now are crazy. The picture above pretty much sums up how I’m feeling, as are many of my fellow teachers.
The value-added model that’s working so well everywhere else (ha!) is coming down the pipe to us here, while Jindal is pushing his “education reform” bill through to essentially do away with teacher tenure and open up a voucher program for private, parochial, and charter schools. Not that those schools will be held to the same standards of public schools, of course.
At my school, we are getting ready for our high-stakes test. In just a few months, we’ll be moving into a new school. A number of changes have been proposed in our district for the next school year, including doing away with the block schedule to move to a 7 period day. We’re going to be getting our first year’s transitional curriculum to move us to Common Core. Our principal is retiring, so we’ll be experiencing a major leadership change as well.
It seems like every day is something else. Morale is terribly low. I’m hoping that at some point in the near future, we’ll be seeing things in a positive light. Until then, I’m going to write some grad school reflections (THAT is a light at the end of the tunnel that I can definitely see!!) and reread The Hunger Games.
Things are crazy here, and I am in CA. I feel the same way. Sigh…This is not what I signed up for when I decided to become a teacher. I thought I’d be able to contribute creatively, it’s what I am born to do. Nope. It’s very sad, actually.
However, I recently became a PT Reading Specialist, and they give me FULL reign over that program, and the kids come running. They devour everything we do. We follow no “prescribed” curriculum, and that is what the kids come clamoring for.
Sounds exactly like our school in Iberia Parish—> education “reform”, common core, new principal, new assistant principal, new secretary —> It’s going to make for an interesting year, perhaps the change will be good!
I’m still using the tools you shared during your presentation at LACUE 2011…yay!!