Show Time

Packemin is having its Quality Review next week and I am sure everyone is nervous.  I was one of the people the Brits visited.  Even I, a veteran teacher who knew the QR had no affect on me personally was concerned.  It turned out great.  Relax, read my account if you are interested.  It is posted here for all to view.  

Relax an do what you do every day.  The teachers and students at Packemin are great.  If the QR people don't notice this, they don't want to see the truth and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Good luck to all.

Memo_032

Do you remember the days when your mom cleaned the house extra good, made a special dinner and dressed you in your finest outfits because company was coming?  She polished silverware and took out the best china too.  All this was stuff she never did, but the visitors had to be impressed.  She also wanted it all to appear to be everyday occurrences.

The people that trained your mom must have also trained school administrators because they are preparing the same way.  All the best stuff is being put out.  Necessary lessons that can't be finished are being put on hold, much like the dirty laundry that didn't get done but got shoved under the bed.  Rooms that haven't been decorated in years are now being spiffed up.

Memo_032 is just a little reminder for all of what needs to be done.

We will go through with Quality Review next week.  You are allowed to give exams on our exam days.  Please make sure you teach lessons that can be finished.  Please make sure you do what you regularly do, which is to walk around instead of standing or sitting in the front.  Please also engage in bell-to-bell instruction. Please decorate the classroom for both the Q.R. and Parent-Teacher Conference day/evening.

And while we are on the topic of mom, remember all that nagging she used to do and does continues to do..  It irritated you then and it irritates you still.  Now, not only do you get to hear mom's nagging, you get to read it in department memos.

We have all received a ladder of referral from the Principal.  Please pay attention to the following:

 Some teachers ask their students to put their cell phone away when they see one.  When students refuse to do it, they then ask for the phone.  I have been around for quite a while and I have not met a single student who will give me their cell phone after they refuse to put it away.  If you choose to ask the students to put the cell phone away, you should deal with the consequences when they fail to do so.  Calling for a dean is not the solution.  I have stated this many times before that when you see a cell phone, you should ask for it.  When a student refuses to give it to you, you can then call for a dean because it is no longer a classroom management issue.  The student is breaking school rules and being insubordinate at the same time.  I really do not wish to discuss it any further because there is no point.  Please just do what I ask you to do and I will support you.  In addition, please only call for security when there is imminent danger.  For other issues, please call and ask for a dean.

No Dog And Pony Show

I started writing this post a week ago. I read this story in Newsday today and finally feel ready to post it. Maybe it will help others who have to go through it.


I wrote the following paragraph way before I knew the Quality Review was going to visit my room. I still stand by everything I wrote.

Every day, I go into my classroom planning on doing the best job I can to help my students master the material and succeed. I have no idea what Bloom's taxonomy is and I have no interest in learning. I don't like group work. I find that it does not work very well. I went to college and have thirty years experience so in my classroom I am the center of the universe, I am the queen. When the Quality Review team arrives, I will do nothing different. I'll do whatever needs to be done to get the job done. If they don't like it, tough. The school's rating will be high or low, based on lots of things, not just my crappy attitude towards them.

I never expected the Quality Review people to come to my room. Some people were told they were going to be visited. I never received any kind of notice. Suit always kept them far away from me.


Everyone who knows me, knows I hate to be observed. I know that nothing anyone says matters for much, but I have a fragile ego and hate criticism.


At the Coffee House last week, I told Hula that I am not that good and asked him to keep the Brits away from me. ( I suspect he brought them on purpose.)

Thursday was supposed to be their last day with us. I was sure I was spared for another year.


About 20 minutes into third period class, Mr. AP came to my class and yelled "THE BRITS ARE COMING, THE BRITS ARE COMING.' (He wanted to give me some warning.) I showed him my flash drive which contains all my data.



I told him that I was prepared to tell them they could shove it [in a computer] if they needed to see my data. He looked horrified until I told him I was only kidding. (He always asks me to leave the office when anyone important comes in. He knows I have no verbal filter and even I do not trust what comes out of my mouth.) I quickly locked my door to prevent anyone from walking in without my knowledge and went back to my class.


I told the kids we might be getting observed. We joked about standing up and singing this should anyone pay us a surprise visit. I told them that I didn't care about me (which is true) but I wanted us to get a good rating because we have a new Principal who they all like. They were not fazed. To them, it was business as usual. All they cared about was preparing for a test on the following Monday.


Well, no one showed up period 3 and I breathed a sigh of relief. My period 4 came in and I told them the same story. We did a bunch of problems and again, I forgot about the possible visit. One girl took the pass to go to the bathroom. She walked back a few minutes later and yelled "One if by land, one if by land. The Brits have arrived." I continued what I was doing, the only change being a worksheet I hastily copied in the morning was distributed.


I looked out and saw Hula and two guys in suits. I looked away and kept teaching. I was hoping that if I ignored them long enough they would leave. I looked up again and they were still there. I went to the door. They asked permission to enter. I said, "I guess I can't say no, come in." Hula then did something I never saw an administrator do, he introduced the guys with him to the class. (I once got a principal to stop bringing people to my class by forcing her to introduce everyone who walked in the door with her.)


I wish I did not care what anyone thought about me. Whether anyone thinks I am good or bad has no affect on my life. I can be U-rated for the next three years and I will still be able to collect a paycheck and go on. I wish I had confidence in what I do, but I don't. I'm not any more than adequate at what I do. I'm so jealous of other teachers that just know they are good. I'm jealous of the ones that are not good but have confidence and think they are. I was totally stressed.


I announced that we were just going over problems for the test on Monday. I had no idea they were coming and had no special work planned. I did not even have a lesson plan, just a bunch of problems to go over. There was no aim on the board and no objectives written down. My room was not decorated. The bulletin boards are either empty or covered with ancient notices and half-ripped posters from the year 1965. My kids don't sit in a horse shoe or groups of four. I don't even use pairs. My room is chaotic. I like the kids to be comfortable and there are chairs all over the place. The only technology I use is a piece of white chalk on a green board. Sometimes I forget the eraser and use my hand to clean the board.


I know I made some stupid comments and jokes. I do that when I am nervous. I told the class we would not have time to do all the problems on the sheet and then I told them that #5 might be a good one to start with. I let them work for a few minutes and then sent someone to the board to do it. The problem involved a U-substitution for a function involving "e" and trigonometry. I reminded that "e" was the original superhero (you can differentiate it or integrate it and it will still be e). One of the Brits was impressed. He said he forgot, or never knew that stuff. I then thought about how funny it would be if I totally made up stuff as we went along. The write up would be hysterical. (I didn't do that but the thought of doing it helped me relax.) We went on to another problem, discussed different techniques. After about 20 minutes [it seemed like hours] they left. One of the Brits even told me I did a good job as he left. I found that hard to believe.

My day after that was shot. I spent the next two periods roaming the halls, de-stressing. I visited two of my geometry kids in the resource room. I de-stressed there by making a kid believe she failed yesterday's test and then I handed her a test with a 97 on it. As she hugged me, she told me I was mean! That made me feel a little better so I roamed some more and found more students to harass. I brow beat three of them into showing up for tutoring.

While roaming the halls, I ran into Mr. AP. He had just left the final debriefing. You better make sure you are sitting down before you read the next sentence--he hugged me and said "I shouldn't be telling you this but they said they observed 15 lessons and 3 were outstanding. Yours was one of them." I bet he heard wrong. They must have seen some pretty crappy lessons if they thought mine was good. Or maybe their standards are lower that the standards of NYS. Maybe being able to hear a pin drop is not all he cracks it up to be. Hula walked into my eight period geometry class while I was frantically looking for an exam to give a kid. I had papers all over the class and was a total disaster. I said "Please don't stay, once a day is more than enough." He just laughed and said he came to say I did great. I think he was just being nice.

I was just reliving the observation with a friend, trying to figure out what was good about the lesson. I want to know what I did that was good, so I can repeat it. I know what I did worked for the kids and if it worked for the Suits as well, I might have hit on something. And suddenly my friend said, "You taught." I taught the class as I have been teaching every class since I first started teaching a zillion years ago. And, these guys liked it. Maybe old folks like me still have some mileage left before we hit that retirement home.

Anyways, everyone knows this stuff is all BS. These guys saw me the way I am every day. I wonder how many other teachers were exactly the same? Besides, what does what they think really mean? Are they really qualified to judge the school? They are not worth the $$$$ they cost.

I know I am rambling in this post. One of the reasons I keep on hitting save instead of publish is because it is so disconnected. Unfortunately, I am pretty disconnected too, most of the time, so maybe this post is the real me.

Well, our school is well developed. I hope I helped get that rating. At least I know I didn't do anything to screw it up. I've never been considered well developed before. I think I will go out and buy a new bra!
I had to take the family out for dinner after all this. We finally used the Grand Lux gift certificate.

My tofu salad.

My good friend, Sam Adams.

I brought the kids cookies this week to thank them for being so cooperative when the Hula and the Brits were in the room. I wanted them to know how much I appreciated their help.

Now Try Doing That Every Day

The observation by the Quality Review people reminded me of the only other time I was observed by multiple people. Since I still have no confidence in what happened this time, I'll relive the past one. (I've been told this one went well, but I can't figure out why it did.)

When I first started at Packemin HS, I was assigned to teach math in the special education department. My former school had lots of remedial classes and I really liked those kids. I didn't think the special education kids could be much lower functioning and I wasn't wrong.

Although I was not a new teacher, I was fairly new to this building when the coordinator of the department came to me and said, "Ms. POd, on Friday there will be 10 supervisors from around the city here to observe your class." I almost wet my pants. Not only did I hate being observed, I was not around that long and I had no special education training. I tried to plead my way out. "No, she said. Don't worry. This will not affect you at all." It was easy for her to say and impossible for me to believe.

I told the kids what was going to happen. I emphasized that they were not being observed. Some of these kids were ultra sensitive and I did not want to put any pressure on them. I said, just be yourselves only try to do it without talking so much."

The big day came. The supervisors crowded into the room. I taught and survived the 40 minute class. I don't know what these guys thought because true to my supervisor's word, no one spoke to me about it. The big thing I remember from the day is that as everyone was leaving, one of the wise guys in the class threw his arms around me and said

"Great job Ms. POd, now try doing that every day."

He smiled as he walked out the door. I know the supervisors heard this. At least one of them snickered. I know I turned bright red and wanted to fall through the floor. I still wonder if they think the comment was true.

Stay tuned, I am eventually going to get the courage to publish what I wrote about the Quality Review. Writing about this one took me over twenty years. Hopefully that one will happen sooner.

Smiley

When things are going well, this girl has a smile that lights up the room. When things are not going well there is another kind of energy she emits that can power the universe.

Today, Smiley was not smiling nor was she emitting any kind of power. She was clearly upset and no matter what I did, I could not get her to focus on what we were doing. We are having a test tomorrow that she must pass and even that could not get her working.

When the bell rang, her friend said, "Tell her." Smiley said, "I'm not sure I should." Her friend insisted. I said, "Don't tell me if it is something I have to report." (Although I have no evidence, I think it is possible her dad has beat her in the past.) Smiley said, "It's not and then she proceeded to tell me."

My dad is probably going to jail in a few weeks. We'll know definitely by the end of next month. I'm scared. No one wants me. My mother is a psycho bitch who lives out of state. She would only take me for the money I get her. My stepmother only sees me as a problem and she doesn't want me either. My real mother would never let me live with her even if she wanted me, she's jealous and evil. The only one who wants me is my grandmother and she is too sick to take me in. I won't even be 17 until the summer. If they put me in a group home in Brooklyn or the Bronx, I won't even be able to come to school here. No one knows how I feel."

She's right. I can sympathize with her but I can't even imagine what she must be going through. It breaks my heart to be unable to help her. She is a difficult kid who has had a really screwed up life. It is easy to see why her relatives will not take her in.

She's not a bad kid. In the right environment, she could have blossomed into a beautiful flower.

If those Quality Review people came into my room today, they would have seen Smiley and her friend deep in conversation. Mr. AP would have hit the ceiling if he saw them. Yet, when I think about all Smiley is going through right now, I am just happy that she came to class. Math was one of the only ones she actually attended today.

As far as Smiley is concerned, I am going to keep creating an atmosphere where she can be happy, or at least safe, if only for 45 minutes a day. Let others say what they will. I don't care.

Quality Review

We were just told our quality review is next week. I understand why the administrators are uptight, their jobs and their bonuses might be at stake. Why teachers like me worry, I have no idea.

I hope the quality review team comes no where near me. I have no respect for the jobs they do or the opinions they form. I am willing to bet that their classroom experience is not equal to mine and I am sure they cannot be experts in every subject they are seeing. They have no right to judge me based on a short observation. I am not a trained seal and I do not perform on command. I will not make my students nervous in anticipation of their arrival.

That being said, there are things I will do should these people come in contact with me.

I will be the best teacher I can be, as I try to be every day. I will continue with my goals of trying to reach every student. I will continue trying to get my kids to think and to learn to tackle difficult problems. And, in spite of what I write, I will do my best to help Principal Hula and his staff look good. In spite of being a suit, Principal Hula is the best principal I have ever worked with. Under his leadership I see hope for the future of our school and for the education of our students. I would not want any of my actions or words to cause him any stress or to give the Quality Review people cause to lower our ratings.

Good On Paper

I walked into the math office a little before period 2 today. The office was filled with kids who needed help. There was one teacher in the room and it was obvious she was doing her best to help them and it was also obvious that she was overwhelmed and that it was impossible for her to help them all. I went over to one girl to try to help her before my class started. The girl was a Math B student and her questions involved domain, range and composition functions. The poor kid was totally lost. She was having problems factoring and solving basic equations (skills she needed to do the other questions.) I helped her a short time, but had to go to class. She wanted to stay another period but no teacher was assigned to tutoring until third period. No one was going to be around to help.

The same situation hits me when I have my tutoring in the library. There are just too many kids for one person to effectively help. Sure, I can answer questions, but when the kids really need a topic taught or thoroughly explained, it just cannot be done. On Monday, the English AP commandeered the library for her departmental meeting. No tutoring could take place. The librarian told me to go to the math office but, I am assigned to the library, not the math office, and it is not her job to tell me to go anywhere. Also, the math office was being used for math meetings. My AP used his own space instead of the space belonging to someone else. Other days the library is closed because it is overcrowded and the kids cannot get in for tutoring. Yesterday, I sent a bunch of them to Suit so they could complain. (I don't know if they got in to see him or if they even made it down there.)

One of Principal Suit's favorite tutoring programs is "lunch and learn." Teachers are assigned to the cafeteria where kids can get help while they eat. Sounds great, right????? Wrong!!!!!! The cafeteria is so loud no one can hear themselves think, let alone an explanation to a problem. There is also no seating area for tutoring and the smells are nauseating.

All these programs sound great on paper. Maybe this is why my school got rated as "well developed." Too bad no one really looks closely into what is going on. Too bad no one sees through the smoke to see where the real fire is.

I Need A Drink

My colleague on a health sabbatical missed an exciting faculty meeting today. I'll just have to right about it to keep him posted.

My huge school is on a 12 period day and because of the different time schedules of so many teachers, Suit is forced to hold conferences multiple periods. Some teachers luck out and get to go to a conference during a lunch or a prep so they don't have to stay extra. I'm not that lucky. I'm stuck staying the extra period at the end of the day. Of course, listening to Suit and then going to teach is no bargain either. He would not stop talking during the period four meeting and refused to let teachers leave at the end of the period. The teacher who comes into the room after me was really late to class. She has a difficult class and is always after them to be on time. Coming late herself set a bad example. When she finally arrived, she was really upset. The kids gave her a hard time about being late too. She told him "Principal Suit was holding a meeting and he would not let us leave." The same thing happened at a meeting I was at a few years ago. The only difference was that I got up five minutes before the end of the meeting and walked out. When Suit complained I told him "I have a class in the trailer. I'm not going to be late." He didn't like my answer but he knows that I am made of Teflon and he can do nothing to me. Others are not in that position and must take his abuse.

The meeting I went to began with a lecture about using the new call sub station and EGS (electronic grading system). We were told that computers would be available in the school but we would be much better off working at home in our pajamas. I vote for not working in school in my pajamas. We then listened to the AP of security. This guy looks just like Terence of South Park (big mouth, nothing intelligent ever coming out of it). He was telling us how effective the school was going to be in dealing with lateness. He plans on having his C-6 hall patrol people doing sweeps. Too bad my colleague isn't in school this semester. If he had a hall patrol, I know how much he would love the sweeps. I don't think anyone in the room thought this plan would work. But Terence sure had a good time standing in front and talking. Next to speak was Suit himself. First he talked about our Quality Review and patted himself and the staff on the back. The stupid teachers actually applauded. He talked about differentiated instruction. He wants us to talk to every student individually. He wants us to speak to special education teachers and ELL teachers to find books that are easier for some students to use. All this with 5 classes and a C-6 assignment. I think the guy is on drugs. He then talked about the biggest problem in our school--Black males not getting advanced and honor diplomas. He's finally woken up. I've said for years that this group is not being cared for. I've said for years that this group faces major discrimination. No one listened. Now that the school is faced with the group bringing down the stats, he wants to address the problem. He said a bunch of racist stuff, stuff he claimed was based on facts. After teaching six classes and a C-6 assignment, I didn't have the energy to challenge him. I just watched the clock and made sure to leave when the period was up. I did take a cell phone call in the middle of the meeting. I hope it got on him nerves. As people were leaving he mentioned our next PD would be in January. I definitely feel a severe headache coming on.

Only The Shadow Knows

Suit's weekly announcement said that since many guidance counselor's have never actually taught they were going to shadow a student on their caseload this week. Teachers shouldn't think they are being observed. (I am sure some will love reporting everything they see.) The purpose is just to let the counselor know what a kid's school day is like.

Doesn't this say something about the lack of preparation of today's counselors? Years ago, a counselor had to teach for at least three years. That way, they knew the job they would be taking from all ends. They could understand the frustrations of the teacher and the student. Now, the "teenie bopper" counselors sit in an office equipped with a phone and a computer. When they need something, they see nothing wrong with calling a class and interrupting. Or, if a teacher speaks to them, the response is "put it in writing" which is hard to do when you are walking from room to room with three bags of books and there is no place stop and write.

I don't see what the counselor's will learn by shadowing the kids. The halls are crowded. Classrooms are dirty and overcrowded. The kids are so diverse in some of the classrooms that learning is difficult. They already know that. And now the counselors have been pulled away from their desks for a full day. They have huge caseloads and an inordinate amount of work. This time could be better spent. But, the idea of a counselor shadowing a student sounds good. Quality review is coming. Maybe Suit thinks this is something that will raise his score.

Election Day Is Coming

I'm really looking forward to Tuesday. It will be the annual Election Day staff development. I will receive lots of developing so that my lessons will be better and my students will perform on a higher level. I'm looking forward to the well prepared trainers that will be instructing us. I look forward to sitting in the auditorium and listening to Principal Suit's lecture on all we are doing wrong and what we must do to improve our school's grade, as the Quality Review team will be returning next week.

One of the biggest surprises for that day will be the time schedule we work. Since we are on a twelve period day, with first period starting at 7:15 AM and twelfth ending after 5:00 PM, everyone will have their hours changed. I guess it is good that we don't know what those hours will be yet. That way, we can surprise the babysitters who watch our children by changing their hours at the last minute too. We can make the doctors we have appointments with wait for us. We can be late to second jobs.

One of the only good things about staff development day is that it would give the staff an opportunity to meet with colleagues teaching the same prep. We could discuss what we are teaching and plan together for a uniform final. I wrote my AP a note, asking for such time. I know other teachers spoke to him about this. As yet, we have not received an answer. I guess that will be another surprise for the day.

I don't know what the contract says about changing a teacher's time schedule without notice, but I am willing to bet there is some provision for notification in it. My day won't be changed much (I have a pretty much middle of the day schedule) so I really can't complain. I don't understand how the other teachers who are affected don't open their mouths and say something. Administrators don't care much about contracts anyways. Unless, of course, the contract clause suits their needs.

Hopefully the days activities will be available tomorrow. If they look too awful, I am going to take the day to take care of the awful headache I am anticipating. That, is one of the benefits of having over 100 days in a sick bank.

Departmental Meeting

We had our monthly departmental meeting today. It should have been held last week, but Mr. AP had to leave early to take his new baby to the doctor. Our UFT rep told him it was not a problem to reschedule. We all know that rescheduling was a contract violation, but some things are not worth fighting about.

We are a school on a twelve period day. Supposedly, to accommodate different schedules, our meetings are held various periods during the day. We still have to go to C-6 assignments. This means that the only free period we have is lunch. Ms. POd bitched because the only period she could attend gave her five classes in a row. Mr. AP gave her permission to go the the bathroom and get coffee first. What a guy!

The meeting consisted of his usual double talk and talking down to teachers. He again reminded us how we are here to help children. One of my kids went to him today because she is in the wrong math class. He had told her earlier in the semester to see him if the class was too hard. He proceeded to yell at her and tell her to tell her guidance counselor to change anything he wanted. He would not do the counselor's job. The kid was upset. She said, "I am a student. I cannot tell my counselor what to do." I ended up walking her into the counselor and helped get her straight. I might not say that my job is to help kids, but I do help them all the time.

One of the things he mentioned was the availability of a scholarship report. He told us all to stop by and see him about it. I asked if we could do this during the C-6 period. Of course I got yelled at. "Your job is to help kids. Don't mention contract. So what if you have to give up five or ten minutes of your lunch." Too bad he always mentions contract when we complain about the C-6 assignments. I guess the contract only works when it benefits him. I am not going to see him about these reports. I can't see any way that seeing them will help my students.

Quality review is giving our school a second look in a few days. We are all supposed to want that good grade so we will get good students. Our school is too crowded. We don't need any more students. Besides, the school is in a good, safe neighborhood. The kids will keep coming no matter what mark we are given. Administration wants the grade for their bonuses. I just want to be left alone. The only positive thing I can say about my school is that the administration is not as bad as the one Justice Not Just Us works for.

B

I heard a rumor today that we only got a B on our Quality Review and Principal Suit is upset about it. In fact, he is so upset that he invited the reviewers to come back to try to up the score.

I don't know if this is true. I don't know what goes into making the score the score it is. I only know that the reviewers are kept far away from me. It doesn't matter that I get good results and have success with kids that have never succeeded before. I would tell the reviewers the truth about the school. I would tell those shameful little secrets that are kept hidden away. I would tell the family secrets.

I wonder what will happen if they do return. I bet Suit is already working on some of his staff to portray the "right image" and he has been coaching them on giving the right answers. I wish there was a way for them to see what really goes on. I wish they could see my classroom with the broken thermostat and the mosaic painted walls and the windows that don't all open. I wish they could see the lack of security by the trailers. I wish our grade would go down.

With all this I still have to say that my school is still one of the best around. We have a great staff and great kids. It is just not perfect. In fact, it is very far from perfect. These imperfections have to be pointed out. It is the only way to improve the system that is failing kids every day.