I want to vent, but I realize that this may not be the best place to do so. So while I vent, I will be general as I write.
Public education is awful. It's awful for teachers and for students. I am almost in tears tonight, not because of student behavior or anything, but for ridiculous expectations.
Oh, and if we have documentation, results don't really seem to matter.
No Child Left Behind has to be one of the dumbest things I've come across in my lifetime. In five years, every child - including the students that are mentally retarded, must be at their grade's reading level. Do these people have any clue what reality is? Tomorrow, there will be students who are mentally retarded taking a field test at the same level of test a Pre-APer would take. How is that right? Ever heard of what is fair is not always equal?
I have a student that is beginning to misbehave because she is realizing that she can no longer be at the same level as her peers. She does receive special ed services, but due to changes in laws, she is receiving less and less of those services. In fact, if she were to be tested now, she wouldn't qualify for special ed due to the new restrictions. So instead of receiving the help and modifications she needs, she struggles with work and then chooses to act out. How does this benefit her?
All the while, I'm dealing with more work than I've ever dealt with before. Today alone, I was told about ridiculous things that I must do that will take HOURS of personal time. Even though I have a maximum of 34 school days left to teach, I can't get out fast enough.
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8 comments:
It just breaks my heart to hear so many teachers being fed up with the system (not teaching) I don't understand why no one is listening to the most important profession we have. Where would any of us be without teachers? Seems like they would know that you all know your business much better than the rest of us and they would just listen and make the changes necessary to benefit you and the kids the most.
I just don't get it.
I hear ya'! It's so funny that you wrote this because I went to bed angry at the world last night due to the same frustrations! Because of these stupid new "resource" policies, I've basically given up. It sounds so wrong, but all the teachers at my school want these kids to fail so that the state will see that they need help!!
Even scarier, I've heard the word "strike" mentioned a few times.
It is terrible. Jake - a teacher as well -and I always talk about how terrible that law is. It is unreal to me these people we put in office can't see that we all can't work at the same level and that is okay. We are all made differently and have different needs. Can you imagine if that did this in sports!!
Amen girls! We talk about this quite a bit around my house. It is one of the big reasons why I left teaching too. NCLB is ridiculous!
Girls you are not the only ones that hate that law. It is stupid. My neices have had a rough couple of years and have been left to my parents to raise. Because of the law they can't recieve sped services yet they are in grades that cannot function in because they have already failed 2 times due to circumstance in their lives. But because of NCLB they are stuck to struggle through in the higher grades without much help from the school. My parents are doing everything they can to help these girls now that they are raising them.
Sorry to rant, but I hate that law.
If I may be so bold, I think the path toward this nation-wide stupidity began in the early '70's. It was at that time that America began over-reacting in matters of "rights". Because we feared offending liberals...because they were adept at putting down those who tried to maintain standards.
The result is young, talented teachers who can't wait to bail out of the system. And older, talented teachers who opt for a career change. The trend is that those who replace them will be less talented and less dedicated. More and more replacements are immigrants from west Africa and India. Their communication skills are extremely suspect, and their understanding of American culture is deficient.
The losers are students, who now are pushed toward impossible goals by teachers who are no longer our "best and brightest".
I am so glad I survived 36 years of idiocy with my intellect intact (subject to argument from my family). I am also so glad that my daughter, a dedicated and brilliant teacher, has only a smattering of days left in her teaching career.
How sad.
OK MY TURN!!! I am so glad to stay home now too. Last year our school was getting into this, and being a special ed teacher... i tis very hard to tell a reg. ed teacher that they have to take certain kids back without any services anymore. Mostly it is hard because I knew the kids still needed the help. How can we just throw them back in reg. ed. when they are not ready. They are just going to get farther behind... not magically catch up. I felt sorry for the teachers, but more so for the kids. I felt like we were just saying "we know you will fail, but the law says..." Poor kids, they get so frustrated and loose all self esteem. I think drop out is going to go way up after a few years. Anyway, I agree, those people need to just listen to the teachers that are actually doing the job.
Uggghhh. So annoying. This is one of the reasons I'm happy to not be using my teaching certificate. I'm so glad there is an end in sight for you, but the system needs to be changed!
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