A thought....ok a few thoughts
Right after the Virginia Tech shootings I got on here and typed my little heart out. Sadly I lost my internet connection and my post was gone. It's really too bad because, in my point of view, it was a great post. However, I shall bless and release and move on.I am quickly coming to the end of yet another school year. As you can see by the number of entries I've had time for this year, it's been a hell of a ride. I work in an inner-city "ghetto" school and my students frequently don't test well. Due to the wonderful "No Child Left Behind Act" my school is required to jump through numerous hoops each year just to prove we are doing our jobs. Most teachers get visits from the principal once a year and get a paper signed at the end of the year that says they are doing their job. That practice does not happen at my school. We get four principal visits per year, followed by a lengthy "post observation" meeting where we get to hear all about our shortcomings. I fully admit that I'm not the greatest teacher alive, but I do what I can. I'm good at my job, and I'm confident of that fact. It is still daunting to walk into the principal's office to hear what I lack.
At the end of each year we go through what we lovingly refer to as a "debriefing." We get an overview of what we did that was good, what we did that needs improvement, and what next year is going to look like. My debriefing is tomorrow. I'm required to show that I followed my professional development plan, which included a wide vareity of professional readings and how I can incorporate them into my lesson plans. I need to show the lesson plans, and student work that documents I did what I said I was going to do. I also have to provide the administrators with data that shows my students have made improvements this school year. Each major subject area has a quartely exam we devised that should tell us whether or not the students are on the right track. My data is beautiful. Unfortunately, my data is supposed to show I teach my subject well, and I don't want to teach science. So I kinda wish my data were less impressive.
Next year we are looking at a state take over of our school. My students have failed to make what we call "adequate yearly progress" based on the state's standardized test. I watch these kids every day and am amazed that some of them even make it to school, much less manage to bring a pencil and a piece of paper. I have students of hard core gang members. Last year one of my students shot and killed his older brother in a gang fight. Many of my students have one or both parents in prison for various felonies. Many students live with grandparetns because one or both parents is dead or unwilling to care for them. I have a student who has three brothers and sisters, and her mom took in her sister's kids and now has a total of 12 children to care for. This student has straight A's and volunteers at a battered woman's shelter. It's amazing what these kids can do. Last year I had a student whose mother beat him with a skateboard so badly he had to have reconstructive surgery on his face. He dropped out of school and got his GED. Now he's the managed of a local McDonald's. Yes, I did have a 16 year old 7th grader. Now he's far better off than he ever was beforehand. Did he make his AYP? Not in the eyes of the government, but in the eyes of those who have watched his struggles for the past three years, he's far surpassed anything we could have hoped for.
posted by lobo5747 @ 4:40 PM
1 Comments:
There's totally a typo in this post....I'm SOOOOO SORRY!
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