Yo, Yo DeVos, There Are FIVE Things You Better Know!

Yep, she was voted in!  What a shame!  Teachers everywhere are mourning that fact too!  Not because she's Republican.  There are plenty of Republican teachers out there-me being one!  Why do we mourn-because she DOESN'T GET IT!  Nope, not a clue.  I'm joining Five for Friday to share the Five Things You Better Know!  And, trust me, I've got some good background on this one.  I come from Florid-DUH where Jeb Bush and Bill Gates have already tried it all.  So, Let's go!

Yo, Yo DeVos, BIG money won't fix it!  Yep, that's right.  Take a good look at Hillsborough County, Florida.  They got BIG money.  They got the Gates Foundation grant!  They threw curriculum, higher pay, teacher coaches, new "innovative" ideas and everything else at them.  IT DIDN'T WORK!!  Teachers still left.  School grades still didn't change.  IT DOESN'T WORK!  There are deeper things going on, but I'll get to that!  Big money in a school system won't fix problems because you are approaching it WRONG!  You can see that all across America!  Yo DeVos-are you hearing that with your $200,000,000 that got you this position.  We aren't scared by your big money, because we know it doesn't work.  It won't work for you either DeVos!

Yo, Yo DeVos, "NEW" curriculum won't fix it!  Yep, that's right!  Common Core is just another in a long string of terrible ideas developed by BIG BUSINESS-oh, that means you!  Now, at it's foundation Common Core is a good idea.   However, it is how you packaged it.  It is how it was brought to us.  In some states straight out.  In others, "hidden" as "OUR" state standards.  Flori-DUH tried this.  What, do you think we are stupid people.  That is one of the problems with this whole "educational reform".  You think we are stupid people.  Most of us are highly educated people, with multiple degrees, that read the news and seek truth past even their news stories.  We will investigate and learn-and we READ PROFESSIONAL GROWTH BOOKS-OHHHH!!  Shocking isn't it.  We actually continue to LEARN!!  So, we saw what was coming in this new curriculum.  We couldn't be tricked.  Come on government people.  You better wake up to the fact that we may appear to be meek and mild, but we are much, much more.  We see "curriculum change" coming from a mile away and we know what that means. BIG BUCKS FOR YOU!  Little support for us!  "Do it or else" from many levels of administration, starting at the Governor.  And more testing!  Big Business ruined Common Core-period! 

Yo, Yo DeVos-TESTING kids to death doesn't work either! Which now gets to the whole point of this post!  You are dealing with apples and oranges when it comes to educating students.  The haves and the have nots!  Yes, that's what all of you people up in your ivory towers have not figured out yet.  You think if you can fill kids with new curriculum and new tests, you've got the answer!  Higher standards, more new things-we can change the world!  NO, YOU CANNOT!  Until you start to recognize that this is a social class issue, you won't get anywhere.  Until you realize that providing opportunities for those in need is key, you won't get anywhere.  Until you recognize that students with a disadvantage financially, that live in poverty, have different issues and learning needs not met by your crazy curriculum and death by testing, you won't get anywhere!  You know what those students need-THEIR TEACHER WHO GETS THEM AND LOVES THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE!  That's right-that teacher, right there, in the trenches, who loves that kid, that will supply their needs for feeling safe and loved, who knows their reading level and helps them grow at their pace-THAT'S WHAT THEY NEED!  You know what else, they need alternative to "regular" classrooms-trade schools and job training.  Because I don't know where you "people" got the idea that every kid goes to college.  We, the teachers in the trenches, know they don't!  Heck, there are plumbers and mechanics making more than a lot of teachers right now!  And they didn't go to college.  Let's start doing all the things that research says we should do instead of testing our kids to death!  It won't work!  Never has, never will!

And, while we are on testing, let's talk about the "business" of education!  Do you not think that we haven't figured this out!  Come on!  We know exactly what you people are doing when you change curriculum.  We know about your ties to the testing industry and how they benefit your pocket.  And then you claim that teaching is a business. Take a  look at any five year old to see that they are not a business!  How can you dictate that any child is a business!  Pediatricians may make money by charging a fee, but they know those children sitting in their office are flesh and blood.  They know that their lives are in their hands.  If they went around thinking, "Well, this is another $1,000 in my pocket." no one would go to them.  It would be obvious!  That's what you are doing in for profit charter schools!  Parents are getting this!  Teachers are getting this!  Why do you think there is so much turn over at charter schools.  No one wants to work for less than the public school system.  Not to mention the ridiculous expectations.  I know of one teacher that had duty hours till 3:30 but her principal made her stay every day till 5:00-TO WORK FOR FREE!  It's bad enough we don't get paid, but to get disrespected like that-come on!  We know what you are "trying" to do,  but to hire the cheapest teachers at the cheapest rate and, then, in many cases, not even supply the curriculum or the higher expectations is ridiculous.  And, to say this is my opinion is one thing, but look at this data about graduation rates:

Not to mention that it has been reported in numerous places that your very own charter is failing-FAILING!  You better know, DeVos, that this is unacceptable!

Yo, Yo DeVos- Charter and Private Schools are not what is going to cure this problem!  In fact, Charters create a whole different problem!  Public school teachers can tell you that Charters are in no way the answer.  There is only ONE Charter in my entire district that does one thing different than a "regular" school.  And, by the way, they were a magnet that went Chart, not the other way around.  They were first built on a public school platform-the rest of Charts-totally a pick and choose system. Sure they do 'lotteries" but we know what that looks like. Who do these Charters think they are kidding!  Public teachers have learned two things about Charters-they get to pick and choose who they want and kick out the rest and they don't get the job done!  There it is. THERE ARE ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS but that is far and few between.  Why, you ask?  They are too worried about making money!  They don't purchase curriculum.  They hire newer teachers at less wages-so their turn over rate is constant.  Constant!  So many teachers bail and end up back in public schools because they can't afford to live!  Meanwhile, the "company" of the Charter is posting financial growth!   There's something wrong with that right there!!!  But, we already covered that!  Plus, I think there is this illusion that if the Charters don't get it done, then PRIVATE will come!  No they don't!  Look, DeVos, there is not this magical group of people out there that are sitting around going, "Today is a good day to open a Private school!"  There aren't even magical groups of people sitting around saying, "Let's open a Charter school!"  Teachers don't dream about this stuff and admin try it but usually fail because teachers won't back it-and you have to have the teachers!  It just isn't happening!  And this is Flori-duh!  Come on-if it was going to be the land of the fairy tale Charter and Private schools land, it would have happened here! And it didn't!  They have come, and they have gone-failed!  Parents didn't drink the Kool-Aide!  Who is left in the dust?  Students!  Time and time again students arrive from Charter schools that are "great" and are so far behind that they have to enter remediation to close their gaps-smart kid!  Kids that should have known what to do and how to do it.  Yet were supposed to be getting a "better" education!  Why do you think all those Senators kept asking you about accountability!  Charters need to be just as accountable or they are discredited!  You should be embracing accountability!  You should be opening your arms to it and totally saying YES if Charters are so much better!  Put YOUR money where the mouth is and make Charters accountable!  PROVE THEY ARE BETTER!  We are waiting!  

Yo, Yo DeVos-IDEA Money "better never" be touched!!  We are actually waiting for this.  Not because we want it to happen, but because of "them".  Yep, you only have to experience  "them" once to know, you don't mess with "them".  But, come on DeVos-do it!  We DARE you too!  Not because of kids, but because maybe then, just then, in your "private school" life, you will understand that money doesn't buy everything, but IDEA money keeps families going on hope, on a "normal", on a path of education for their child.  IDEA money is not a tool for you to be flexible with!  It is a lifeline for so many families in so many ways.  So, go ahead, we dare you!  Awake "them",  those Momma Bears!  Awaken "them" and there will be a storm so big that The Women's March looked like some bees swarming around some rotten honey swatted by those Momma Bears!  And they won't go away! Any teacher will tell you!  So, you better get ready!  There's nothing like those Momma Bears!  (And, just for the record, I will be joining them.  I get my Momma Bear on when necessary!)  

So, there's my 5 Yo Yo DeVos points.  Here's the deal.  You better also understand who teachers are.  We are silent many times, but not on this.  There is another storm brewing.  An election storm.  And, we know the numbers now.  We know who is taking your bribe money because that's how we see it.  That storm, the election storm equals teachers voting.  We have to!  We have to wear the sticker to school as an example. But, more importantly, because we believe in it!  We teach it to the next generation the way we do because we believe!  And, we are like elephants.  We NEVER forget.  So, even if we support that party, we remember.  At this point, we don't need these particular people in office.  We vote. We remember!  And we are a LARGE group-in many places the largest group of employees in a town.  We band together when you attack. We form a unit!  Just remember, we are coming...

P.S.  These are my opinions and in no way reflect my school or my administration or district in any way.  Feel free to comment, but know I will not directly respond to you.  I can't get my reply to work on my blog! Plus, it is my opinion based on my personal experiences in my state.  I am fully aware that there are always exceptions.  I am in no way attacking Charter teachers.  I know you are needed right where you are at!  

Why We MUST Reexamine our Reading Series

This week I’m using my reading series story Sled Dogs Run.  It is a wonderful story written in a way that oozes author’s purpose.  Yet, it is in the WRONG spot-a totally WRONG spot.  It is in the second unit (first week) of my reading series, in the anthology, in the WRONG season, and, above all, tied to the WRONG skills!  And this has happened over, and over, and over- WRONG stories tied to WRONG skills!  This is why we MUST reexamine our reading series!  Let’s take a closer look!

           

            Sled Dogs Run is tied to the following curriculum goals:  character, setting, plot and making predictions.  NO!  This is not what this story is about.  So, how do we go about thinking of the curriculum in a different way?  First, you will totally have a feeling about a story!  Really, that’s what happens!  If you REALLY know your standards, you can read a story, and examine your feelings about how the story fits, how the story breathes.  This story breathed Author’s Purpose to me.  It breathed of a love that brings in Author’s Perspective.  Sure, it had characters, a setting, a plot, all stories do-but it had MORE!  What else-let’s look closer!

            Language!  Words that mean so MUCH MORE!!  Rich, deep language that a beginning second grader CANNOT pull out or appreciate!  A language that was foreign in so many ways-terms that needed to be understood through a skill set that most teachers and students could never understand.  They are mushing terms.  Things that the average kid in America in second grade will never experience in second grade!  There had to be a deeper understanding than just “Let’s read it for character, setting, and plot!”  They need a specific vocabulary set to really understand this story!  Want more?

            You can’t predict this story!  You can’t! Unless you have ridden with a sled dog team and have intricate knowledge of sled dogs, you are out of luck-PERIOD!  Beginning of the year second graders can’t guess that there will be a moose on the journey.  They can’t guess that there will be a whiteout!  They can’t guess the dogs will lead her home!  They can’t break down the information and predict that trust is key!  They CAN’T!

            How do we fix this HUGE issue with reading series?  How do we get the best out of a story like Sled Dogs Run!  REEXAMINE IT!  CAREFULLY! 

1. Read the story and ask yourself, “What are the standards that go better with this story?”  There are lots of standards that can fit many stories but it often seems like reading series makers guess and apply.  You just can’t see how that standard makes sense.  Yet, we teach it anyways.  We teach it that way because “experts” say so.  I always wonder, “What experts?”  I’ve never heard of any of the people who put these series together.  They don’t offer any real reasons as to why they pick skills this way besides, “Because that’s where we put it.”  Should I stand on “because”?  I think not.  

2.   Ask yourself, “How does this fit into my other curriculum?”  Part of the reason this story is in the series is it fits into the series decision that it is about animal adaptation.  Later in the series there is a story about Alaska that ties into mapping.  How did they miss the connection?  This story better helps us understand the topography and environment of Alaska through the trip the dogs actually take!  And, throw in the main March event of the Iditarod, and you now have a highly engaged unit that works together to cover a plethora of skills-mapping, author’s purpose, figurative language, theme, opinion writing (based on the Iditarod controversy), and, in general, a fun winter topic!  Much better suited to the actual purpose of the story based on what it says in the author piece at the end of the story! 

This is the page I created to examine Author's Purpose before we read!

3.   CREATE!  Yes, create!  Or search out!  Begin to create your own material or find others who have!  Do this with support of quality teaching materials to guide your hand.  I do not just “go for it!”  I have real support through research-based materials to guide what I need to make.  Plus, to be honest, I’ve got years of this!  I was bucking the system way back when the system was bucking itself-during Whole Language.  We were allowed to freely create and make before there was TpT or the Internet!  Start out slow and seek support from other educators!  We love to do that stuff-support one another! 

4.  Try it out!  This is the hardest part.  Being brave to try out what you know is best, what you think will work.  You will gain confidence.  You will have flops-real flops!  That’s how you learn!  Just go back to the drawing board!  

5.  Reassess and reexamine!  What worked, what didn’t, and where do I want to go next?  This is REALLY important!  REALLY!  Did the standards work?  What went well, what didn’t?  Was it too rigorous, just right, or too easy?  How can I adjust that?  Did it work well where I placed it in my curriculum?  Did the students engage with the topic because they were mature enough to do so? 

           Now, I know that some of us have to follow roadmaps.   That in it self is a major problem.  I’m lucky enough to be in a district that allows us the choice-use the series or use “other” materials that go in line with the order of that curriculum.  This story easily fits into the curriculum we are completing now.  That’s another thing to really know-your road map and how to adjust stories to it, instead of the stories to the curriculum!  If you are not lucky enough to be in a district that is flexible, go talk to your administrator!  They are educators also.  Provide evidence as to the “why” of your change, to what works better.  If you district offers surveys, explain this type of thing on the surveys.  Go to curriculum in your district and really show them.  There are lots of options out there.  The reality is, until we stand up and begin to talk openly about the problems in a purchased series, there can’t be change.

           And with that, here is my last bit of advice.  Start emailing and talking to your legislators about these problems.  Email and share your issues with the company itself.  We owe it to our students and to ourselves to start speaking out!  We can’t improve unless we are willing to step out in the faith we have in ourselves as professionals!  We owe it to us!

Sled Dogs Run on TpT

"It's a Sin to Waste Teacher's Time"

     

Tanny's other book is Comprehension Connections

     You know it will be a good inservice when the presenter starts with that rule!  And trust me, she DID NOT waste my time!  Tanny McGregor was worth the entire time I put in watching her!  Let me tell you a little about who she is and what she shared!

      Tanny McGregor is a Heinemann author who was invited to my district by our AWESOME representatives, Trudy and Nancy!  And, to make it even better, it was a FREE event for us!  She is a keynote speaker and workshop presenter who focuses on metacognition!  I have been a firm believer in metacognition for about 15 years now.  I've read Mosaic of Thought and been a fan of Strategies that Work!  I was totally into the idea of seeing this presentation and it was worth every moment of my time!  

      Her presentation was entitled "The Transforming Power of Reflective Thinking", another thing I've really renewed my interest in since reading Learn Like a Pirate! The nice thing about Tanny's presentation is she focused on the THINKING aspects of reflecting. Teaching this skill is key to developing the comprehension of our students in ANY area!  She shared an example from recent research by Hattie and Marzano.  John Hattie's research says that metacognition is the 14th most important strategy to improve students learning out of 138 strategies!  That's a good place to be!  In Marzano's research, he calls metacognition the "mission control" of learning!  Tanny says it makes the student more "brilliant" than others.  Not the self-named brilliant, but the shining, thinking, wonderful brilliant that we want our students to be!  I like that!!  

       She also talked a bit about what kills our ability to really teach metacognition-mandates, strict standards, expectations, kids schedules that are filled with "other", and TIME!  All of these things rob us of what we used to do naturally in a classroom, which used to make the kids think deeply and "brilliantly" because we could take that time.  This was my last year.  I felt robbed by all of these things, robbed from teaching my students what they needed.  I promised myself this year that it wouldn't happen-and I'm keeping that promise!  Even more so now that I've heard it from Tanny! 

       She also reminded us to carefully examine our texts before teaching.  Do you remember a time where you felt like you can do that?  That you could really plan out materials and create those awesome lessons that lasted long enough to get good thinking!  She reminded us to do that because if not, you, the teacher are missing connections you can't get back!  The first read of a text is so important!  That's where you make the discoveries that you teach from, that you build from!  We need to slow down, just like the students do, not just in teaching, but in our planning.  I was so happy to hear her point this out-it's what I've been doing this year, slowing down.  I've also been doing her next point-Make it your own!  Take time, as a teacher, to create a system that works for you.  Use the spaces in your manuals, (which, I hate) the WHITE SPACES as my own! She recommends that students come up with their own coding systems, to make it their own and build their knowledge based on something they understand!  I say, let's take this back in our own planning, our own learning, our own classrooms and build thinking, brilliant students who do the same!  

       The final thoughts I would like to share from this awesome inservice are research findings that are the most current.  Tanny shared that the two most important findings are:

1.  Deceleration trumps acceleration:  This doesn't mean slow down a novel to the point of boring.  It means slow down your reading and teaching.  We need to make our teaching and learning mindful about reflection on what we've read and learned.  This means we need to stop the rush of learning and step back into quality! Standards won't be mastered if students can't think!  Period!

2.  Spacing is more effective than cramming:  YES!  Little things matter, like turning and talking, drawing about their reading, and anything that makes them reflect!  Tanny clearly said, "STOP thinking, "If I have time..."  We need to make the time!  The gains students will make by thinking trump the cramming of curriculum down their throats!  The following statement pretty much sums it up, "It helps at our heart level!"  Because, you see, if you don't read and take it from their head to their heart (18" problem as she calls it!) you won't improve their comprehension!  

       So, let's step out and make a "conscious choice in our lesson plans" and stop cramming and spamming them with useless materials that aren't making it the 18" it needs to go!  And let's thank Tanny for the research behind this choice!  (Trudy and Nancy-we owe you so much for this opportunity too!  Thank you will never be enough!)

P.S.  I'm looking forward to diving into her information on Genre Connections!  So blessed to have WON it at the presentation because Heinemann ROCKS!

Going Where No Teacher Wants to Go!

Disclaimer:  This in no way reflects upon my beliefs about my school or the district I work in.  I know that our administrators at the school and district level are feeling all of this in similar ways. I'm sure that if they could, they would agree with many of these points and more!  This post is aimed at my feelings about the current government system that is in place across America that is dictating things from afar and doesn't understand the classroom setting at all!  All links connected to this post support points through other's stories and research.  Be sure to read through some of those links as well.

Photo from "Make A Wish" bulletin board at my school.  

It was written by a student.  Everything speaks!

       As I sit and face another year of blogging and working, I find myself stifled for topics.   This is not because I don’t have them; it is because they are blocked. Yes, I tell you-blocked-from my true desire to write, explain, and enjoy.  What is blocking them you may wonder? Writer’s block you may think!  No, it’s the realization of where this career as a teacher is going!  The realization of where our students are going.  The realization that there is no end, but the end, may be coming!  So, I’ve decided to take a stab at it, to expose the deeper frustrations that are robbing my thoughts and fingers of other things, of helpful things, to further the good things still left!  Here’s what I’ve go!

The Two Kinds of Crying

        I have spent more time crying over my job in the last two years than I have in the entire 21 years prior to this combined!  I’ve cried before-over kids, over decisions I couldn’t control, over saying goodbye and job changes, but NEVER like this before.   A good cry can do a lot to get someone over something, but these are not good tears.  As more and more pressures and bad decisions are passed down from the government to teachers, to children, the tears are different.  It is a deep, soul problem.  So deep that one doesn’t want to go there or they may never come back.  It is a mourning of our teaching souls, knowing that there is nothing that we can ultimately do to change what is occurring, but with a prayer and a hope that someone, anyone will step in to stop this madness!  We can see the damage being done to both students, but, more importantly, the children involved in this madness!  There is a difference in those two!  The worst part of this is that the madness comes from industry-an industry that is exploiting children in the same manner that many of the human trafficking industries are doing-for MONEY!  They don’t care what they are doing to them mentally!  Their pockets are filling, they are making changes on a constant basis to refresh that cash flow, they are winning!  Winning in the same way that other children are being exploited across the world, only more “safely”, more hidden in the corners where parents can’t see or don’t want to see!  Isn’t this exactly what happens in the rest of the world but only with far more serious results to the lives of children?  I know there is a difference; I know that human trafficking is far more serious-but why does my teaching heart mourn for my students in the same way!  Why does this violation of their learning lives hurt in the same manner?  Something that cannot be undone or fixed.  We are loosing a generation of learners right now to an industry that is bent on one thing-profiting from their loss!

         How do I know-tears!  Yes, this time it is from my students.  These tears are from students who are babies and should be learning to love reading for the joy of reading.  Instead, there are tears.  According to the standards, students MUST respond to their reading in deep ways and in complete sentences (usually with the restated question) in FIRST GRADE!  “What, you don’t know what it means?  You don’t know what is being asked?  Sorry for you!  YOU ARE UNDERPERFORMING!”  WHAT!!  What about learning to read, what about learning basic comprehension, what about the joy….instead, tears!  I haven’t had a week yet that there were not tears about work that we have to do!  Without going into detail, my school is full of students who “CAN”!  There is lots of documented evidence through state testing and more to prove that!  But our kids CAN’T!  They are struggling and trying their very bests-which brings tears!  Heart wrenching, “I’m a looser” tears!  Why, oh why, is this right!  These children are not losers, they are smart and witty and fun and loving and caring and thoughtful…yet the work is speaking to them more than anyone of us can!  And so there are tears, with words such as, “Why do we have to do this?”, “It is too hard" (something that I would never accept in the past-but now, it’s truth!), “This isn’t something I’ve learned!" (Which is true on testing pieces that are based on “their” learning ability, yet ask a 5^th or 6^th grade level question as the SECOND question in their assessment!), and “I’ve tried my best, I can’t answer it!”  These are all things I’ve heard out of students’ mouths.  The worst thing is, I’d never accepted any of these in the past.  But, we have reached the ridiculous!  Now I have to hug them, encourage them, support them, and know that I am also, in a way, lying to them.  I can’t keep them from tears and I can’t protect them anymore from what is beyond their reach.  It has come and it is inappropriate.  So there are lots of tears, over and over and over…

Lack of Parent Support

            Then there are the parents!  Oh, the parents you say, they don’t do anything, they can’t help, they allow their children to do anything they want, they don’t help! Well, this isn’t true at my school!  So, let’s go there!  I have parent volunteers that come in and help with students reading-the foundations, just read to me!  I am so blessed to have them and would never give them up!   But here is what happens over and over again, “I’m an engineer, and I don’t get this math!”  “What in the world are they trying to teach?” “I spent two hours on -line trying to figure this out and I have no clue!”, and “I used to teach but I don’t know where to go with this or even what the right answer is!”  We are not talking about common folk! We are talking about college educated, extremely intelligent people!  THEY CAN’T HELP THEIR CHILDREN LEARN!  That is a real dilemma!  Talk about robbing a generation! I can’t even blame them when they hand me the paper and say they just couldn’t do it!  I’m as frustrated as they are!  I know the basic principal behind the idea, but I’ve read research too!  When a professor says it’s a good “idea’ but there is no way kids are developmentally ready for this form of algebraic expression in elementary school, don’t you think we should listen!  Don’t you think we should pay attention to the EXPERTS and RESEARCH! 

Impossible Goals Set by Impossible People

            And that statement leads to the heading above!  Who in the world decided that high-stakes testing should determine what the Common Core looks like?  Because, here’s the deal!  At the basic level, there are a lot of good Common Core Standards.  But they are being destroyed by the companies like Pearson and the consortiums like PARCC, AIR and SMARTT that are creating the guiding tests that determine the level of instruction that is expected.  I’ve taught a long time and I’ve seen a gradual shift to harder and harder work being passed down from one grade to another!  For instance, when I first started teaching, basic multiplication was in third grade. Master it, introduce basic division, and an introduction of 2 by one digit multiplication with basic mastery.  Today, basic multiplication is an expected EXIT SKILL of 2^nd grade!  They have to have their facts mastered and understand how multiplication works before they leave 2^nd grade!  That is just one example of how bringing it down works.  But this is an attainable example.  Now let’s talk about how kids need to know the CENTRAL MESSAGE in first grade.  This amounts to THEME!  Why not call it what it is!  It is not the main idea (they built a garden together) it is the theme (they shared-the idea, the work, the product) in first grade. Think that through people-they are 6!!!!  This is an example of what I mean about sneaking things in that are harmful-give it a different name, cover it in a pretty wrapper, but you better know it.  After all, you are SIX YEARS OLD!  These “people” don’t know what they are doing, nor do they care!  That is the real problem! They are lawmakers (Jeb Bush included) who have never stepped a foot into a classroom.  They are business leaders, like Bill Gates, who think that schools are a business!  They think competition is the answer for teachers!  It is NOT the answer!  It is what is messing up kids of all ages!  I’ve heard stories from every age group!  This is not a business!  We are talking about flesh and blood!  Brains that are forming!  The latest research shows that we are harming kids brain development when we force kindergarteners to read!  And these people, legislators and business men, are supporting this!

Lack-o-Fun for ALL!

            This mess has lead to a lack of fun.  Yes, I know, what job is fun!  Well, when you used to love what you did and had fun doing it, it made it worth it.  Trust me, we aren’t doing this for the money, or the “accolades”!  We are doing it because it is our passion, our calling, and our fun!  We like to laugh with our students.  We like to explore and learn with them.  We discover things every day we don’t know because of our students.  We like challenges that are creative and interesting and, well, challenging!  We like to set goals and attain those goals.  We live for this stuff.  Well, the stuff isn’t what it was, it isn’t, well, fun!  The challenges now are because a child isn’t attaining mastery at 80%.  In other words, C students are now “in danger”.  In danger of what!  I know plenty of professionals with huge degrees that will tell you they were C students!  Why!  Lots of reasons!  I know plenty of adults that were A students who have done NOTHING with their lives!  It amounts to NOTHING in the end!  But to sit there and say a C is now a kid in danger!! Who thinks this stuff up!  If I weren’t living it, I wouldn’t believe it!  So this goes right back to my previous point-who is the creator of this impossible?  Who thought this 80% rule up!  It is in plenty of professional teaching texts and I am NOT a fan.  I shouldn’t be sweating and having heart palpitations because a student got a 70% on a Unit Assessment that is totally out of the reality of a first grader!  And I am not alone!  I know a teacher/parent who is having the same concern!  So, needless to say, the fun is gone!  The glow is gone!  The pressure and the out of hand expectations are killing this job and it will, mark my words, do the total opposite than the expected-NO ONE will want to teach, anywhere! 

Crushed Creativity-FOR REAL!

             So where does that leave creativity.  Isn’t that the goal of our government?  Create independent thinkers that will bring creativity back to the American people.  Well, I see this time in education as a creativity killer.  Since when, in first grade, is the use of crayons and coloring against the curriculum?  Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t my school or district.  I do, however, know a teacher who has been told this very thing by a district level worker.  They were told to put those crayons away!  No where in the first grade curriculum does it say they can color!  REALLY!  The thing is, if it is happening there, it will slowly trickle all the way through the entire state!  Then, to the national level!  Put those crayons away!  Paint, oh NO YOU DON’T!  Create-where, where in the curriculum is that???  Why, because they need to attain that 80% success rate to be anything in life!  Or worse, because your VAM counts on it!  So, kiss creativity away!  It is a lie being told to society today!  You can still spot it here or there, but it will soon dwindle away into a thing of the past-no more construction paper, crayons, or paint-you have work to do!

Can I Just Go On! 

            Oh, and then there is VAM!  Oh yes, the Value Added Model.  The thing that will spur every teacher to the highest pay level and eliminate the bad eggs!  Well, all it has done is put undo stress upon all teachers.  We spend hour upon hour interpreting data that no one really understands, showing us that our students are low, asking us that unanswerable question of “how are you going to fix this”, followed by form after form to fill out telling how to “fix it” with NO supplies or materials to do so!  Isn’t this just so much FUN!  I can’t even get my grading done half the time because some paper or another is needing to be filled out, or run to this meeting on this topic, or go to this “optional” meeting on your planning time when you are supposed to be doing you real work!  (And by optional it means you better go or you won’t be able to understand any of the data that you are given!)  All of this so our VAM doesn’t suffer!  Our VAMS are suffering!  Our “Value All Marvelous Students!”  We can no longer just look at them as the ones we want to move along on this journey of life by giving them the foundation they need.  Now we have to look at them as a growth number!  Worry enters in and our thinking changes to “How am I going to get that child to do what they need to do on that assessment that is coming?”  This isn’t the education we want our students to face.  This isn’t the job we want to be doing!  This is NOT what we are made of!  This is a business decision!!!  This is…

            I don’t even know where to go next.  Time will only tell.  Choices will have to be made.  As more and more parents join our camp, we hope for change.  We hope for a return to sanity, to educating children to where success can be attained, students can feel positive again, creativity and fun can return to the classroom.  A time where real reigns again-real standards, real learning, real community.  We can all help.  One way is to write your legislators.  Call on them for a return to sanity!  Our children are worth it!  Their hearts and minds are worth it.  Join groups that are organizing movements against this trend!   They are working to save kids and teachers!  Speak out to local school boards and administration at the highest level.  They have to listen!  They have to act if enough people join together!  It is time to save this education system!  It is the time to save our students, our children! 

I know that this is a hot topic.  Please remember that appropriate comments are important.  Also, if you know an article that would be a great link up addition to my post, please share.  I will add it to the document.