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Otherwise, enjoy the entries here!
February 14, 2018
September 24, 2014
The rest of the story.....
Ah..... the sound of quiet in the house... now maybe I can express my feelings about retirement... Now that I'm really doing this, how do I explain what retirement is? When first planning retirement, I was wondering how I was going to fill all that time that I used to work, do lesson planning, and grade papers. Somehow that time has been filled, and I don't seem to have time now to do all that I want to do. Since the finances are challenging because of limited incomes, and challenges with medical benefits, I put in to substitute and have applied for part-time jobs. As a result, the phone is constantly ringing for sub jobs that I now really don't want to do because a couple of part-time entrepreneur opportunities have become available, which will enable me to develop the consultant business I started once before. However, life still seems to be slowing that process as well. Family challenges, construction challenges, and the retirement life style keep my life full!
The retirement lifestyle includes tea parties, lunches with people I haven't seen for 45 years, trips that are irresistible but challenge the tight budget, writing memoirs and other pieces both professional and personal, and especially precious time with the grand kids. The joy of being able to be available for family is awesome, And being able to make memories with grand kids is so wonderful! And when family wears me out, having time to take a mid-afternoon nap is fulfilling!
It is fun to be able to take off any time and go meet a friend from years ago, and learn each other's stories. One friend took a different path in life and in expressing how she felt when she came out of the closet, she said " I understood then why the skin didn't fit". That expression really hit me as I was writing my memoirs this morning and was trying to explain my ex-husband's description of being transgender. The connection between the pieces made me realize that our generation has so many stories to tell. And we need to tell those stories for the next generation! As Paul Harvey used to say, they need to hear .... and I'll be telling ..... "the rest of the story".
The retirement lifestyle includes tea parties, lunches with people I haven't seen for 45 years, trips that are irresistible but challenge the tight budget, writing memoirs and other pieces both professional and personal, and especially precious time with the grand kids. The joy of being able to be available for family is awesome, And being able to make memories with grand kids is so wonderful! And when family wears me out, having time to take a mid-afternoon nap is fulfilling!
It is fun to be able to take off any time and go meet a friend from years ago, and learn each other's stories. One friend took a different path in life and in expressing how she felt when she came out of the closet, she said " I understood then why the skin didn't fit". That expression really hit me as I was writing my memoirs this morning and was trying to explain my ex-husband's description of being transgender. The connection between the pieces made me realize that our generation has so many stories to tell. And we need to tell those stories for the next generation! As Paul Harvey used to say, they need to hear .... and I'll be telling ..... "the rest of the story".
June 06, 2014
Reflections on Retirement
Since I reached this milestone in a precipitous manner, and a little before I'm ready financially to afford the luxuries of my parent's retirement, the coming months are full of mixed feelings. I wonder if that is true for all my colleagues taking the same step I am? As I watch many of those my age celebrate their retirements, I wonder why I don't seem to be celebrating mine....
I know that the manner in which my career was divided up helps to make it feel that I have no one to celebrate with. I don't have a set group that I always worked with over my 42 years in education. I spent 5 years in one school, 15 years in one district and then later returned to add 7 more years in that same district (but in 3 different schools), and spent 15 years in a conglomeration of higher education, online schools, pre-school, and substituting in school districts both in Maryland and in Colorado. It made for some unique experiences, and all added to my professional development as an educator. It means I've touched thousands of students either directly (over 2500 middle and high school students, over 400 primary or elementary students), and thousands of others through the teachers I've trained or the professors I've worked with who changed their teaching through what I taught them. I've also touched numbers of virtual students through the online projects with Kidlink or the two online schools where I taught. Through the Kidlink experiences, I met global colleagues and students from foreign countries.
I earned a Master's equivalency, then went on to get a real Master's degree, and eventually achieved a doctorate. I've also presented at many conferences to share my experiences, been given a couple of awards, and published a book and articles.
So what happens to all that knowledge and experience, once one retires? I'm sure my colleagues are also faced with the same questions.... what do I do with all those binders of training materials.... training I've taken, and training I've developed? Those materials set the groundwork for education today, they are a part of history, yet a history that no longer exists and can't be used by the new generations of educators. What about all those grade books I saved for years, lugged across country and back, and still sit in my basement? I've saved them "just in case" a parent came back years later stating that something was wrong with a grade (don't laugh, it happened!). Do I just toss all that? I'll probably have a burning party with the grades eventually because it is too much to sit and shred (even though I'm retired), and it has personal info of students on it.
Since my grand kids recently moved back in with me, I figured some of the teaching materials will get used for playing school during summer months, and the training materials and grade books will make a great campfire for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores :-) ...
So I know my educational career was rich and I've left my mark if only so slight, and although I'm not celebrating with a party, I'm celebrating in my own way...... with a virtual celebration..... and who knows what life will bring next???? a new career, or just time to celebrate and enjoy my family....
May 09, 2014
Passing the baton …… a teacher's legacy
Thursday,
May 09, 2014
8:30 AM
As a retiring
teacher, I've recently "reflected" deeply about my 40+ year career in
education, what I've learned over the
years, and what yet needs to be done by my future colleagues. As I pass the
baton of my career to two nieces and a godchild who have decided to join this
noble profession, I want them to know what it has taken to get here, what
rewards the profession has had, and the challenges ahead of them.
Thankfully, I've
been blessed with having a career that spanned from teaching Pre-K to teaching Master's degree classes,
and I've watched education morph frequently.
Some of these changes were good, others were not, and some have come
back again with a different acronym. These are my thoughts on where education
has come from, and where it is currently
heading and what future teachers will need to think about.
So to my fellow
teachers remaining in the classroom, and to new teachers, I leave the following legacies:
1. The legacy of theories on student learning
- From open spaced classrooms who were
coming into their glory during my student teaching experience, to theories
about Assertive Discipline now morphed and called PBIS, to Dimensions of
Learning, Multiple Intelligences, Content Literacy, Problem and Project Based
Learning, Inquiry Learning, and now Common Core, the path to understanding student learning has been far
from boring or plain. Each theory has
improved a piece of the educational process or has changed as the needs of
students have changed.
I suspect learning
theories will evolve even more as the nature of learning changes. Technology
will enable the use of data mining, to morph learning, and aid both teachers and
students. Although currently, teaching is
heavily focused on the data mining and reporting, and it has seemingly taken
over the classroom and the media,
eventually the data will also enable individualized learning letting
students have input into their learning path, and teachers will become guides
on the sides. I challenge future teachers to make sure those paths are strong and correct.
2. The Political legacy - although I started my career with the
attitude that I could never go on strike because it would leave children
feeling that teachers have given up on them, my own feelings for the
political process have morphed over the years. As I've watched older
teachers being pushed out of the classroom by changing their grade level
after 30 years in the same one, or by giving them the hardest students to
handle, and having a colleague hounded by administration and demoted to an
aide because she was unaware that her administrator was lying to the press
when the teacher told the truth, my respect for the union and its place in
education has grown. Watching the
"language" disappear from the contracts over the years to
whittle away at our sick leave and other benefits, has caused me to become
more politically active in my older years.
But
the hardest part has been watching as politicians have led the movement on
bashing teachers by making education dollars the carrot that controls money
hungry administrators. Although their
"truisms" seem right (NCLB, RTTT), the funding machine has gotten into the hands of
business leaders who don't understand education. I remember one motivational speaker during
the "education should be run like a business" phase who talked about
how he had created a successful ice cream business, but was floored when a
teacher asked him " What do you do in your business when the blueberries
come to the dock damaged?" He
replied "We send them back." The teacher then replied "We can't
send our blueberries back." Nor do
we want to send them back.
Although
these business leaders thought they were doing right by creating foundations,
the corporate wheel has taken over and is not allowing enough input from
teachers or enough time for their ideas to be tested, researched and tried with
real students. Somehow, all the new ideals
(Common Core, PARCC, Teacher evaluations) are being rolled out without
norm referencing and criterion testing.
Therefore,
I challenge my colleagues to continue fighting politically for things that work, have been
tried and tested, and for your own professionalism.
3. I pass on my technological
legacy - while this is my true
passion, it is also the legacy that has morphed the most during my
tenure. From using typewriters in
high school, to basic computers like the Commodore, DOS based computing,
emails sent at 1200 baud, and Archie, Veronica and the World Wide
Web, to the mobile web and the
cloud today, technology will have the greatest impact on the educational
process. Although all the early changes took lots of time and effort to
figure out, the speed of changes today are so rapid that very few people
can keep up. In fact, even the
government has the vision of where technology can go, but ran across the
major glitches with the Affordable Health Care Act. However, those same glitches can be
avoided if Usability Studies in
Human Computer Interaction theory are utilized before major rollouts like
PARCC testing occur. But getting the politicians to slow down long enough
to test the tests, and the evaluation system, as well as any future
changes, will be your challenge.
My
secret passions are really
individualized and global learning. If the learning my students garnered during
my Kidlink days using global projects in the 1990's could have been spread more
quickly, then 9/11 may have been avoided.
But we were such a small but global entity in the 90's passing on
respect for global partners, celebrating similarities and differences, and
making students aware of the global community.
With today's tools such as Facebook, Twitter, and mobile apps those
global projects have so much more potential for creating awareness of and for
other cultures. Your challenge will be
to explore Social media tools, particularly online discussion tools, to enable
your students to interact with their global peers. If my 4th grade students in
1998 were able to write a mystery story with students in Denmark and an author
in New Hampshire, and have the story critiqued by students in South Africa and
Maryland's Eastern Shore, and shared with global peers, imagine YOUR possibilities now!
In
addition, the technology can now be harnessed through Learning Management
Systems to enable Common Core to focus and direct skills to individual
students, enabling students to progress at their own speed. If teachers can be
involved in developing the online curriculums to match the common core, then
students who have been exposed to the technology as infants will be able to
plow through the skill at their own pace in that digital environment. Your challenge will be to make sure all
students can develop their strengths, but also develop their weaknesses. You will also need to be sure that the whole
child can be developed in spite of the technology.
4. Last but not least, I pass on
my time and talent legacy - I wish
I could bottle and pass on the 40 years of patience I've developed over
the years while teaching thousands of kids and impacting others through
the teachers I've taught or mentored.
Although that is not possible, I can pass on my wish for you to be
treated as professionals. If
college professors can take sabbaticals every seven years, why can't
teachers do the same? I've left the
classroom several times, each one for my own professional growth in the
educational field, and have returned a stronger teacher (in my opinion,
not necessarily that of my superior's).
But imagine if I could have left the classroom with the blessing of
my district… If every teacher had a 6 month or year hiatus every seven
years to grow professionally, interact with researchers in their field,
and had time to analyze their own
teaching, what could they bring back to their district and
students? They would feel valued
and respected, and further the educational field more efficiently. Students and other teachers would truly
benefit from their experiences.
Therefore, I challenge you to take on the political forces to
change society's view of teachers, and fight for the time for your own
professional growth.
In conclusion, I
challenge future teachers take all of the above philosophies and blend them to
make new ones that will further education.
I will be cheering from the sidelines, and hoping that teachers are
included in the process and guiding these changes. Have confidence in yourselves….you know what needs to be done for students. And
hopefully I'll still be around to watch you pass your baton…. :-)
Best wishes,
A Retiring
educator,
Cybrscrybe
Cybrscrybe
©2014
June 19, 2013
From RIF'd to Recall.... Pitfalls and Silver Platters
What a tumultuous week.... a week ago I was relatively calmly teaching the last couple of days of school, hanging in there with the 8th graders who had just experienced their first formal dance and were impatiently waiting to move on to high school. Then the last day of school, I was presented with a piece of paper by a man in a suit from Human Resources, who calmly stated that my position was being cut, and that after July 1st I could collect unemployment, and my benefits would end at the end of August. The principal got me coverage for the afternoon classes, and I headed home to research my options.
Those options included retiring since I am 62, and have enough years in the district to collect a pension. However, there are some steep pitfalls to retirement as I've found out. First off, it's scary letting go of the person you've been for many years. Teachers tend to say "I'm a teacher" like that defines their role in life, even though they are a parent, sibling, child, spouse, etc., their job seems to define them more. So letting go of who you are and trying to define a new you without what has consumed your life for decades is scary. I found myself putting in job apps for more teaching jobs, or trying to figure out how to volunteer in schools, or develop my own business around what I've created over the years.
The second pitfall was the "benefits" which were not an option of my contract. This option was removed for several reasons, the first being that I was in a district that has been whittling away at our contracts with each negotiation. Because I came back a month and a half into the new contract, and because I took a leave of absence to pursue my own professional growth which brought me back to the district only 6 years ago, benefits would not be offered to me. Therefore, I began the journey through tons of medical companies trying to sell me their "cheap" policies. Of course they were cheap -- one of them only paid $10 for each doctor visit... what normally is considered your co-pay! And because my husband and I, being the ages we are, have "pre-existing conditions" some of the more reasonable companies could reject us. The "silver lining" was that come January 1st when Obama care kicks in, they could no longer reject us. However, one doubts that politicians ever create silver linings for us middle class folks, so it sounds suspicious.
The third pitfall was the limitations the pension and Social Security would put on my earnings at this time. With the pension, I could only make a certain amount of money working in public schools or the university system in the state. I could work at private schools, or on my own, but then Social Security would limit that as well. Social security would at least add any money I made above my small pittance back into the pot for when I turned 66. So I would have to juggle my finances carefully and live simply. That part didn't bother me, particularly if I was able to do something I loved.
So with all these pitfalls, when I received a phone call from HR that I was being "recalled" only a week later, I had very mixed feelings. I had already worked through all the paperwork for retirement, and was working on what that might look like. If they had asked me to take a position in another field, I would have gone on with the retirement. However, since I was already looking at jobs elsewhere in my field (the one that I spent so many years getting and recently achieving a doctorate in), and they offered my old position back to me, I had some real thinking to do.
As I thought through my decisions and the path of the last week, I realized that I was still looking for jobs in my field. In other words my "heart" was still in the classroom teaching technology. So if I had that chance, and the chance to return to a place where I was needed and used to, then I should do it. It also makes my pitfalls lessen with each year that I can continue. So even though when the riff first happened I felt that I was handed the chance to retire and should grab it, it was't given to me on a silver platter. It was given on a broken platter, and at least returning to the classroom will get me a complete platter, but it will never be a silver one ---- because I'm a "teacher".
Those options included retiring since I am 62, and have enough years in the district to collect a pension. However, there are some steep pitfalls to retirement as I've found out. First off, it's scary letting go of the person you've been for many years. Teachers tend to say "I'm a teacher" like that defines their role in life, even though they are a parent, sibling, child, spouse, etc., their job seems to define them more. So letting go of who you are and trying to define a new you without what has consumed your life for decades is scary. I found myself putting in job apps for more teaching jobs, or trying to figure out how to volunteer in schools, or develop my own business around what I've created over the years.
The second pitfall was the "benefits" which were not an option of my contract. This option was removed for several reasons, the first being that I was in a district that has been whittling away at our contracts with each negotiation. Because I came back a month and a half into the new contract, and because I took a leave of absence to pursue my own professional growth which brought me back to the district only 6 years ago, benefits would not be offered to me. Therefore, I began the journey through tons of medical companies trying to sell me their "cheap" policies. Of course they were cheap -- one of them only paid $10 for each doctor visit... what normally is considered your co-pay! And because my husband and I, being the ages we are, have "pre-existing conditions" some of the more reasonable companies could reject us. The "silver lining" was that come January 1st when Obama care kicks in, they could no longer reject us. However, one doubts that politicians ever create silver linings for us middle class folks, so it sounds suspicious.
The third pitfall was the limitations the pension and Social Security would put on my earnings at this time. With the pension, I could only make a certain amount of money working in public schools or the university system in the state. I could work at private schools, or on my own, but then Social Security would limit that as well. Social security would at least add any money I made above my small pittance back into the pot for when I turned 66. So I would have to juggle my finances carefully and live simply. That part didn't bother me, particularly if I was able to do something I loved.
So with all these pitfalls, when I received a phone call from HR that I was being "recalled" only a week later, I had very mixed feelings. I had already worked through all the paperwork for retirement, and was working on what that might look like. If they had asked me to take a position in another field, I would have gone on with the retirement. However, since I was already looking at jobs elsewhere in my field (the one that I spent so many years getting and recently achieving a doctorate in), and they offered my old position back to me, I had some real thinking to do.
As I thought through my decisions and the path of the last week, I realized that I was still looking for jobs in my field. In other words my "heart" was still in the classroom teaching technology. So if I had that chance, and the chance to return to a place where I was needed and used to, then I should do it. It also makes my pitfalls lessen with each year that I can continue. So even though when the riff first happened I felt that I was handed the chance to retire and should grab it, it was't given to me on a silver platter. It was given on a broken platter, and at least returning to the classroom will get me a complete platter, but it will never be a silver one ---- because I'm a "teacher".
June 11, 2013
The myth of tenure..... is hurting students
Tenure... that word that supposedly protects teachers... the one that everyone claims keeps bad teachers in the classroom, was proven wrong today, especially in my district. You see, I got riff'd today! Yep... and I have tenure and many years of experience.... so if the myth is true, then it should have protected me. Even recently getting my doctorate so I'm current in my field (Computer Science), and winning a Curriculum Award from the district, and getting runner-up for best paper at a state conference, and presenting at a National conference in my field didn't protect me. Being in Computer Science seems to be a detriment in this district, as many of the first to be let go were Computer Science teachers with tenure. That's extremely sad for our students. You see, we are a district that has lots of BRAC potential, touted that our county would grow with the influx of high tech positions, and it is predicted that our students will have good chances of employment in that field in this district in the next 10 years. But if they don't have Computer teachers, how are they going to learn the skills needed for those positions?
So if those in my field and my district feel that I am sharp enough to win those awards, why didn't they keep me? It all comes down to money.... our county executive cut his portion of paying for public education in the district, and the district has to rearrange its budget. I haven't a clue about how they decided, but they are "cutting programs" and our program is the first to go. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our Chief Information Officer has not supported our programs for the last several years. Maybe it has something to do with the perception that kids are born with technology skills (they may be, but they haven't a clue how to make them "work" for them rather than be a toy). Someone needs to teach them how to adapt those programs to what they are learning in the classroom.
Maybe it has something to do with the new Common Core Standards that supposedly have a STEM base to them, yet don't mention computer skills anywhere in the standards. They focus on Engineering, Mathematics, and Science, yet when professional development is offered, the technology piece (in particular careers in Computer Science like database administration, technical support, network engineers, software engineers, programmers, are never mentioned as possible careers for kids in STEM).
So what's my next step? Not sure at this point... I'll be exploring how I can use that newly acquired doctorate, trying my hand with writing again this summer, and exploring what retirement might look like.... hopefully I'll find a window of opportunity ... and soar through it.. although it won't be one that promises "tenure".
So if those in my field and my district feel that I am sharp enough to win those awards, why didn't they keep me? It all comes down to money.... our county executive cut his portion of paying for public education in the district, and the district has to rearrange its budget. I haven't a clue about how they decided, but they are "cutting programs" and our program is the first to go. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that our Chief Information Officer has not supported our programs for the last several years. Maybe it has something to do with the perception that kids are born with technology skills (they may be, but they haven't a clue how to make them "work" for them rather than be a toy). Someone needs to teach them how to adapt those programs to what they are learning in the classroom.
Maybe it has something to do with the new Common Core Standards that supposedly have a STEM base to them, yet don't mention computer skills anywhere in the standards. They focus on Engineering, Mathematics, and Science, yet when professional development is offered, the technology piece (in particular careers in Computer Science like database administration, technical support, network engineers, software engineers, programmers, are never mentioned as possible careers for kids in STEM).
So what's my next step? Not sure at this point... I'll be exploring how I can use that newly acquired doctorate, trying my hand with writing again this summer, and exploring what retirement might look like.... hopefully I'll find a window of opportunity ... and soar through it.. although it won't be one that promises "tenure".
May 26, 2013
More paradigm shifts... in 2013... from Common Core to teacher evaluations..
As time marches on, so do federal and state mandates that effect every teacher and student in this country and beyond. From a severe bashing of teachers from politicians who blame teachers for US students being behind international ones, to the development of Common Core Standards, and the support of Universal Design for Learning, teaching is still on the cusp of a monumental change. While I agree that change can be good, and since education has NOT changed in a century, being based on the factory model of learning, too much change can be overwhelming. And the fact that this change is mandated by politicians who have no clue what education is really about, or the developmental level of the child, makes this a scary time for many teachers.
While I'm an older teacher, having close to 40 years in the educational field, I applaud some of these changes, even though it goes against my colleagues and administrators. Yet, other parts I really hate because we seem to have taken childhood out of the equation, and treat our students as test scores. When the standardized testing became the norm in the early 1990's, I moaned as the test creators expected my 10 year-olds to balance the Federal budget and write a preamble to a constitution all in one morning. This was one of the first renditions of the test, and the rewrites 10 years later became much more reasonable and doable, yet I still tremble when I watch my 8th graders today undertake 10 hours of testing in Reading, Math, and Science. Are we truly preparing them for taking the SAT four years' later, just by making them endure the testing seat time?
While I abhor what the testing movement is doing to our kids, taking away from the fun and JOY of learning just to be a number on a piece of paper, I also applauded the changes the testing movement has pushed. I watched the development of the Common Core with a measure of joy, thinking that finally K-12 could be on a common field that will further encourage the development of online learning, which is my passion. While I think we are on the right track towards that passion because the common core and standardized testing have fine tuned and outlined what needs to be taught so that instructional designers can now develop online materials that can be adapted for public educators to use for students to progress at their own pace. That has been my passion... individualized learning..... Yet... The common core have been developed and are being shoved down teacher's throats BEFORE being tested, norm referenced, or other wise researched. The newly developed researcher in me ( I just recently completed my Ph.d.) screams in pain.....
The same researcher also screams in pain at the speed at which teacher evaluations are changing. Again, I've felt for years that teacher evaluations needed to be changed because the scoring of teachers for years as either Unsatisfactory, Causing Concern, or Satisfactory, has left much to be desired from the teacher's point of view. It always felt so punitive that administrators could take one incident that happened in one 45 minute lesson while they were there, and make a judgement on your total teaching career from that one comment or action. It didn't take into account all the other 179 days you taught successfully, if you made one mistake in that one lesson, you were put on a plan of action, which included a ton of extra work, which in turn took away from the energy you were giving to your students (where it belonged).
When I took a hiatus from my district and spent time in a Teacher Education Department in a College in Colorado, I was heartened to realize that they had figured out that successful teachers had to have 186 skills, and they developed a database to score those skills for their prospective teachers. If only that could be developed for classroom teachers and administrators to give a more realistic evaluation! Well, Charlotte Danielson did just that with her Framework. And since the Feds have opened the teacher evaluation can of worms by requiring systems to change their evaluation system in order to get their piece of the Race to the Top funding, systems have quickly grabbed onto whatever they could get their hands on ! Most seem to have grabbed onto Danielson's framework, even though it was just a theory when she proposed it. Now corporations and research entities have jumped on her bandwagon, developing tools to measure her framework of teaching skills. And while this process may eventually make teacher evaluations a little more fair, again it is being utilized before being tested and researched thoroughly... all because politicians want what they want, when they want it (sounds like spoiled brats, don't they?).... I suppose it's all because these politicians have a limited 4 year term and want to be able to point to the changes they've made during their time frame... but come on.. what right do they have to tell educators how to do their job? Why don't they tell Wall street how to do their job? or Banks?
I'm just glad I participated in the pilot program for teacher evaluations in my district. Now I won't be panicking along with the other thousands of educators who will be faced with the new evaluations, and new standards in the next year. I suspect an unprecedented number of retirees are leaving this year... If I could afford it, I might too.... but naw.... I want to stick around to see all these changes develop and make education better 5 years from now... hanging on for wild ride into my educational sunset....
While I'm an older teacher, having close to 40 years in the educational field, I applaud some of these changes, even though it goes against my colleagues and administrators. Yet, other parts I really hate because we seem to have taken childhood out of the equation, and treat our students as test scores. When the standardized testing became the norm in the early 1990's, I moaned as the test creators expected my 10 year-olds to balance the Federal budget and write a preamble to a constitution all in one morning. This was one of the first renditions of the test, and the rewrites 10 years later became much more reasonable and doable, yet I still tremble when I watch my 8th graders today undertake 10 hours of testing in Reading, Math, and Science. Are we truly preparing them for taking the SAT four years' later, just by making them endure the testing seat time?
While I abhor what the testing movement is doing to our kids, taking away from the fun and JOY of learning just to be a number on a piece of paper, I also applauded the changes the testing movement has pushed. I watched the development of the Common Core with a measure of joy, thinking that finally K-12 could be on a common field that will further encourage the development of online learning, which is my passion. While I think we are on the right track towards that passion because the common core and standardized testing have fine tuned and outlined what needs to be taught so that instructional designers can now develop online materials that can be adapted for public educators to use for students to progress at their own pace. That has been my passion... individualized learning..... Yet... The common core have been developed and are being shoved down teacher's throats BEFORE being tested, norm referenced, or other wise researched. The newly developed researcher in me ( I just recently completed my Ph.d.) screams in pain.....
The same researcher also screams in pain at the speed at which teacher evaluations are changing. Again, I've felt for years that teacher evaluations needed to be changed because the scoring of teachers for years as either Unsatisfactory, Causing Concern, or Satisfactory, has left much to be desired from the teacher's point of view. It always felt so punitive that administrators could take one incident that happened in one 45 minute lesson while they were there, and make a judgement on your total teaching career from that one comment or action. It didn't take into account all the other 179 days you taught successfully, if you made one mistake in that one lesson, you were put on a plan of action, which included a ton of extra work, which in turn took away from the energy you were giving to your students (where it belonged).
When I took a hiatus from my district and spent time in a Teacher Education Department in a College in Colorado, I was heartened to realize that they had figured out that successful teachers had to have 186 skills, and they developed a database to score those skills for their prospective teachers. If only that could be developed for classroom teachers and administrators to give a more realistic evaluation! Well, Charlotte Danielson did just that with her Framework. And since the Feds have opened the teacher evaluation can of worms by requiring systems to change their evaluation system in order to get their piece of the Race to the Top funding, systems have quickly grabbed onto whatever they could get their hands on ! Most seem to have grabbed onto Danielson's framework, even though it was just a theory when she proposed it. Now corporations and research entities have jumped on her bandwagon, developing tools to measure her framework of teaching skills. And while this process may eventually make teacher evaluations a little more fair, again it is being utilized before being tested and researched thoroughly... all because politicians want what they want, when they want it (sounds like spoiled brats, don't they?).... I suppose it's all because these politicians have a limited 4 year term and want to be able to point to the changes they've made during their time frame... but come on.. what right do they have to tell educators how to do their job? Why don't they tell Wall street how to do their job? or Banks?
I'm just glad I participated in the pilot program for teacher evaluations in my district. Now I won't be panicking along with the other thousands of educators who will be faced with the new evaluations, and new standards in the next year. I suspect an unprecedented number of retirees are leaving this year... If I could afford it, I might too.... but naw.... I want to stick around to see all these changes develop and make education better 5 years from now... hanging on for wild ride into my educational sunset....
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