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| My Grandmother the Teacher Gives Another Lesson |
Grandma grew up on a farm, graduated from college, taught in a one-room school, and raised four kids on another farm. There were a lot of critters along the way, but as far as i know, this was the first one with house privileges.
All of these animals, though, had to relate to kids, and the kids had to know how to behave with the critters. Grandma was well-equipped to introduce her housepet to her fourth grandchild.
She did not need the president of Homemaker's Extension, the minister, the county clerk, the governor, or anybody else to tell her how to teach me to behave with the kitty.
She did not need the president of Homemaker's Extension, the minister, the county clerk, the governor, or anybody else to tell her how to teach me to behave with the kitty.
In the complex world of education today, we hear from superintendents, the mayor, the heads of the state and national boards of education, researchers of all kinds.
i'm told we need researchers, people who can record the data on what our kids are actually learning and the effect of the teaching they are being given.
What i haven't heard is very many in the trenches teachers speaking out. The ones i know, who work in several different districts, are afraid. Afraid either to say what they think, or to let what they think get back to the administration.
One friend of mine, a licensed teacher, has taught about two weeks this semester. She's there every day, and stays after to work more with the kids, but most of her time is spent testing this or that group of kids. Only licensed teachers are allowed to test, you see, though, in what little i know, i see no reason a license would be required to administer the tests. She spends over two hours a day doing lunch and recess when there are students she needs to teach, but the people in nonlicensed positions have been let go so the teachers can stay.
Lunch and recess duties, however, are nonoptional regardless.
If you've been around me much, you may have picked up on the fact that i read the Indy Star in huge batches, not daily. So, with that in mind, here is a link to a letter in the Star from January 20 by Susan Pattee, an IPS teacher, expressing what i have heard often from my friends: frustration at not being taken seriously, a desire for autonomy to teach their students as they, and the notion, correct or not, that their ideas will not be well received by their superiors in the heirarchy.
From the outside looking in, i see teachers in a Dilbert type situation.
Education is about a love of learning. Test taking is a totally separate skill. People who can parrot back endless facts - and i can win at that game - are not necessarily better qualified for life.
Too many tests take away the time that could be better spent learning
Worse, endless testing can seem pointless and kill any desire to learn.
i have lots of ideas about education, and i appreciate the PTA for giving me a way to be heard, and my son's school for working with me. Partnership between the home and school is essential. But ultimately, the teachers who are actually teaching NOW are the ones who are the best hope of our students' success in school.
And for them to be able to do a good job they need to be treated as the adult professionals they are, allowed to do their job in the best way they know how.
i'm told we need researchers, people who can record the data on what our kids are actually learning and the effect of the teaching they are being given.
What i haven't heard is very many in the trenches teachers speaking out. The ones i know, who work in several different districts, are afraid. Afraid either to say what they think, or to let what they think get back to the administration.
One friend of mine, a licensed teacher, has taught about two weeks this semester. She's there every day, and stays after to work more with the kids, but most of her time is spent testing this or that group of kids. Only licensed teachers are allowed to test, you see, though, in what little i know, i see no reason a license would be required to administer the tests. She spends over two hours a day doing lunch and recess when there are students she needs to teach, but the people in nonlicensed positions have been let go so the teachers can stay.
Lunch and recess duties, however, are nonoptional regardless.
If you've been around me much, you may have picked up on the fact that i read the Indy Star in huge batches, not daily. So, with that in mind, here is a link to a letter in the Star from January 20 by Susan Pattee, an IPS teacher, expressing what i have heard often from my friends: frustration at not being taken seriously, a desire for autonomy to teach their students as they, and the notion, correct or not, that their ideas will not be well received by their superiors in the heirarchy.
From the outside looking in, i see teachers in a Dilbert type situation.
Education is about a love of learning. Test taking is a totally separate skill. People who can parrot back endless facts - and i can win at that game - are not necessarily better qualified for life.
Too many tests take away the time that could be better spent learning
Worse, endless testing can seem pointless and kill any desire to learn.
i have lots of ideas about education, and i appreciate the PTA for giving me a way to be heard, and my son's school for working with me. Partnership between the home and school is essential. But ultimately, the teachers who are actually teaching NOW are the ones who are the best hope of our students' success in school.
And for them to be able to do a good job they need to be treated as the adult professionals they are, allowed to do their job in the best way they know how.
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