The rantings of a teacher who retired from the classroom but not from education.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Program Changes
Today is September 28 and I just got a new student put in my M&C class. She had been sitting in an M#1 class until today. Poor kid. This weak math student has now missed three weeks of the semester and is far behind. We are just about finished with factoring and she hasn't even started learning the process. The sad thing is she and I are the only ones that care. I'm sure our principal doesn't. After all, he and the AP's all got performance bonuses last year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Yes, the program changes.....the bane of a school with 4600 kids in a school meant for 1800. How about the senior who did an entire project for his English class and then was promptly switched to a totally different English class?? All his work for naught.... And such respect for the kids!!!
There is no respect for kids. Look at the long lines they must wait on to get to see a guidance counselor. Many are subjected to wrong classes just because there is no room in the right class. Kids are standing and sitting on window sills because classes are still oversized. It's this kind of situation that is driving me to an early retirement.
I'm on both sides of this. I want kids into the right classes as quickly as possible, but mistakes occur, and must be fixed.
As programmer at my little school, I spent the first week correcting mistakes, then the second week (+ a day) balancing major classes I think September 18 or 19 we were done. It didn't help that we lost the two days before Labor Day, nor that school started immediately after the long weekend.
And after two weeks I was down to fixing little things: PE, art, and so on. But twice this last week changes came up that had to be made.
I guess there are questions of scale. There will always be some problems that slip through the cracks late. But is it common?
And there are also questions related to capacity. Was there a way that things could have been fixed faster? For us that question is really, this year, no.
The question should not be "would we like changes to stop earlier?" the question should be, "is there a reasonable way to get changes completed earlier?"
The problem is that the schools are just too big. The case loads of guidance counselors and grade advisors are overwhelming and out of control. Kids wait weeks for changes.
School started Sept. 5, and as of October 3, our next school day, there are actually still classes with over 40 kids in them, and classes are still being created in the special education department. Our school is so overcrowded, now it's actually at about 255%. The numbers are overwhelming to both staff and students. Being in survival mode all the time is both unhealthy for those involved and certainly doesn't enhance an educational atmosphere. Memo to KleinBloomGarten: the situation in my school is proof that it's not Children First, it's, Spin First and Children Last. You are destroying the educational system and abusing both children and teachers. You must all be fascists in sheeps' clothing.
On behalf of sheep everywhere, I take umbrage at that remark.
No offense intended, NYC Ed!! Luckily no real sheep were used in that analogy, only their wool which has been pulled over our eyes by Unity and their concubines.
Post a Comment