So- upon my return to school I discovered that next Wednesday there will be a public forum about standards based reporting. There are parents who struggle now with the changes in grading and teaching at the middle school and they have a forum on Facebook where they discuss their problems and questions and challenges with it. They will be challenging all we do and have learned to do. I am not privy to any of the discussions on FB, and I am happy that I have no idea what is going on.
Politics will kill any experience that you ever have. This is no exception. Those people who are regularly reading what these vehement parents have to say are anxious, afraid, and feel dismissed and disrespected. Some teachers plan to go to this meeting and share their successes with the new grading and teaching at York Middle School. Some teachers are writing letters to the local papers to share their feelings. If you have been reading my blog all along, you know how I feel.
Politics will kill any experience that you ever have. This is no exception. Those people who are regularly reading what these vehement parents have to say are anxious, afraid, and feel dismissed and disrespected. Some teachers plan to go to this meeting and share their successes with the new grading and teaching at York Middle School. Some teachers are writing letters to the local papers to share their feelings. If you have been reading my blog all along, you know how I feel.
I don't mind telling you again, however, and since it is all the buzz this week, I might as well address it again. My teaching has been re-energized by this process of of renewal and discovery. I have been figuring out new ways to connect the standards to the learning and to my projects. I have designed new projects that I love that have engaged children in ways I have never experienced before. Without the fear of reprisal if you don't get it completed all on the same date, I see students working harder and longer and better than ever before. I have always struggled with giving students number grades, so the idea of giving them a meets or exceeds in the end of a unit is much preferable in every way. It was hard to learn the program at first, but once we got it down, it has been much better for teaching and learning. We are all still learning, and there is no end to what can be accomplished if we have the time, the support and the motivation to do it.
Finally, I believe that people should trust that teachers and administrators know how to do their jobs. They should trust that teachers have the experience and the understanding to make the right decisions for their children. They should know also that the school is not working in a vacuum, we are implementing changes that are generated from a state and a federal level. We are not renegades, we are all about making changes that will benefit all children for many decades to come. Let us hope eventually parents will see we are buying our tickets to the paradise of educational environments for children, not drinking some "koolaid" as they call it that will leave everyone high and dry in the end. Patience, compassion, listening and empathy would be the cocktail we would all be seeking, in the end.
Finally, I believe that people should trust that teachers and administrators know how to do their jobs. They should trust that teachers have the experience and the understanding to make the right decisions for their children. They should know also that the school is not working in a vacuum, we are implementing changes that are generated from a state and a federal level. We are not renegades, we are all about making changes that will benefit all children for many decades to come. Let us hope eventually parents will see we are buying our tickets to the paradise of educational environments for children, not drinking some "koolaid" as they call it that will leave everyone high and dry in the end. Patience, compassion, listening and empathy would be the cocktail we would all be seeking, in the end.
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