My first face-to-face meeting with the State Teacher Advisory Council was very energizing. I did my best to represent our region well. I only wish our session could have been longer!
We discussed several initiatives up for consideration by the new legislature.
1- Elimination of tenure- Outside of a school building, the perception is that tenure is a way of protecting "bad" teachers. In reality, our current tenure process recognizes experienced teachers who have performed well on evaluations and sets up a due process procedure if problems later arise. Yes, tenured teachers cannot be fired for any arbitrary reason but administrators can document problems, create action plans, and then, if there is not improvement, the teacher may be let go. As the tenure question is discussed, we need to speak up and let the community know the truth about this process.
2-Pay for performance and Standard Six- Many districts around the nation are starting to use student performance on standardized tests as a factor in evaluating teacher performance and therefore a basis for pay levels. The team discussed concerns about how this could be implemented fairly since several groups of teachers do not participate in standardized testing. What a blow to morale if the math teacher's pay depends on test scores but the elementary music teacher's pay does not. Dr. Atkinson reported that at a national superintendent's meeting, many state school leaders reported problems with the pay for performance implementation. During our meeting, we talked about giving more weight to ratings on Standards 1-5 should pay-for-performance pass. The team felt like doing well in areas 1-5 should evidence itself in better student performance naturally without worrying about one test. We need to let our legislators know how we feel about this idea.
3- Reading standard for 3rd grade- Under the guise of promoting literacy and eliminating "social" promotions, a proposal has been made to require all 3rd graders pass a standardized reading test or FAIL. As an EC teacher, I know that most children can learn to read, even those with disabilities, but many need help to do so. Just failing a child will not improve their reading. If literacy is a concern, why wait until 3rd grade. If students are not meeting target skills in 1st or 2nd, we should give them extra instruction or refer for evaluations, not wait for bad news on a standardized test. We in Wilson know the results of any automatic fail policy....13 year olds in the 3rd grade, 18 year olds in middle school...can you imagine what this would look like on a statewide scale? We're working hard in Wilson to correct this problem, we cannot let it happen to the whole state. SPEAK UP! Let our legislators know your experiences, your opinions!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Happy New Year!
I hope that everyone had a good first day back! I'm sure it was emotional for many as we remember the tragedy in Connecticut. It is extremely disturbing that so many innocent lives were lost. However, the heroic tales of the many teachers who acted to save their students is truly inspiring. We should be proud to be part of this profession. After all, how many of us refer to our students as "my kids".
This dark event for our nation has sparked much conversation. Should schools have more security? Should teachers carry guns? Did the shooter have autism?
To start with, many of us go out of our way to make our students feel safe and welcome in a nurturing environment. It would be difficult to nurture trust through metal detectors, bars, and armed guards. And in a time when most schools systems are dealing with drastic budget cuts and teachers are woefully underpaid for their expertise, how would we pay for this extra security?
Secondly, as most teachers know, we have faced increasing restrictions on how we interact with our students. Our current "first aid kit" is a wet brown paper towel. We cannot even apply a bandaid for fear that a student may have an adverse reaction or be improperly treated for their injury. However, some suggest that teachers be allowed to have a gun on campus. For safety, I'm sure that any weapon would have to be properly locked away. The incident in Connecticut from start to finish lasted 4 minutes. By the time a teacher safely secured their students then unlocked the stored gun, a dangerous person would already have wreaked havoc. I don't want to even think about the dangers of actually having a gun stored in the classroom on a daily basis! One missed step, forgotten lock could lead to another tragedy. Children are killed or injured every year when they manage to get hold of guns that their parents swore were properly stored in the home.
Finally, I have had the pleasure of teaching students with autism for over 20 years. While I have seen many of my students have tantrums and upsets due to confusion or frustration, the planned nature of the violence of this event was very out of character of a person with autism. I recently researched state definitions of autism and was surprised to learn that the eligibility criteria for autism in this country is different in every state. We will probably never know why the Connecticut shooter chose his actions but we should not blame autism categorically. We do not know on what basis the shooter received this title (if he truly did) and whether he had any other mental disorders as well.
All I can say is that every person with autism that I know responds positively to caring and understanding, to an appreciation of their special talents and gifts. I look forward to helping them shine a little brighter each day. I'm proud to be a teacher.
This dark event for our nation has sparked much conversation. Should schools have more security? Should teachers carry guns? Did the shooter have autism?
To start with, many of us go out of our way to make our students feel safe and welcome in a nurturing environment. It would be difficult to nurture trust through metal detectors, bars, and armed guards. And in a time when most schools systems are dealing with drastic budget cuts and teachers are woefully underpaid for their expertise, how would we pay for this extra security?
Secondly, as most teachers know, we have faced increasing restrictions on how we interact with our students. Our current "first aid kit" is a wet brown paper towel. We cannot even apply a bandaid for fear that a student may have an adverse reaction or be improperly treated for their injury. However, some suggest that teachers be allowed to have a gun on campus. For safety, I'm sure that any weapon would have to be properly locked away. The incident in Connecticut from start to finish lasted 4 minutes. By the time a teacher safely secured their students then unlocked the stored gun, a dangerous person would already have wreaked havoc. I don't want to even think about the dangers of actually having a gun stored in the classroom on a daily basis! One missed step, forgotten lock could lead to another tragedy. Children are killed or injured every year when they manage to get hold of guns that their parents swore were properly stored in the home.
Finally, I have had the pleasure of teaching students with autism for over 20 years. While I have seen many of my students have tantrums and upsets due to confusion or frustration, the planned nature of the violence of this event was very out of character of a person with autism. I recently researched state definitions of autism and was surprised to learn that the eligibility criteria for autism in this country is different in every state. We will probably never know why the Connecticut shooter chose his actions but we should not blame autism categorically. We do not know on what basis the shooter received this title (if he truly did) and whether he had any other mental disorders as well.
All I can say is that every person with autism that I know responds positively to caring and understanding, to an appreciation of their special talents and gifts. I look forward to helping them shine a little brighter each day. I'm proud to be a teacher.
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