I Suck Redux
Posted by mimi on Aug 15, 2005 in dish | 4 commentsToday I spent yet another day out of the classroom at a State workshop on how to do my job better. According to the official line, if I don’t have student achievement at 98% on our state test or higher for every kid in every class, I am ineffective.
I would rant about the overall injustice of such an approach–I am, after all, human, as are the children in my classroom–but doing so just makes me look bad. Therefore, I sucketh.
*sigh*
I’m ready to go back to my classroom. At least there I get the feeling I’m doing something right.
Don’t you just love the way they don’t put any responsibility on the children or their parents?
You are NOT ineffective. You’re a finalist for teacher of the year! You get to hang out with the Jeb Bushes. Oh, por favor! What kind of crap is that?
Suggesting that parent and student input might have something to do with student achievement is an “excuse” for not doing my job properly. Or so the official line goes. Are you really leaving a child behind who refuses to get on the bus in the first place?
God, Mimi, I could commiserate with you on this subject forever. I taught for several years (until a year after I moved here and decided I had some SERIOUS problems with the fact that the superintendent of the only school district in town is also a bishop, i.e. leader, in the popular state religion). And they make it sound like every teacher who disagrees with the idea of state testing is just protectionistic of his/her job and not in it for the children. I SO beg to differ! I have problems with the testing BECAUSE of the children. Having a prescribed curriculum would probably be easier, but how good would you feel at the end of the day if you couldn’t put any of yourself into it?