I want to cuss and fuss and rant and rave and be sarcastic and profane! I wasn’t planning on all that rhyming but that the way it worked out. I’m just so mad today! This is totally off our topic so please skip today if you don’t want to deal with a lot of bitching.
I want to say first that I love teaching. I mean that with all my heart. But I am beginning to really hate my job. I have had to go to a two day workshop here in the middle of my sacred summer. I thought, ‘It’ll be okay, I’ll see the people I work with, I like them’. But within minutes of arriving I was just so pissed!
I’ve been teaching for over 20 years now. And to brag just a little my students did great on their end of year tests this past year. I teach and math over 93% of my students passed at grade level. That was the highest in our school. Wouldn’t you think that this would say I know what the hell I’m doing???? Why do they force me to go to these asinine workshops which basically say “Everything you do and have ever done in the past is stupid. If you don’t use these new 'wonder methods' then you’re not worth shit!” They are spending two friggin days (and an absolute fortune) telling me I should ‘discover what my children know when they get to me and then teach them the proper vocabulary to learn the curriculum I’ll be teaching.’ Damn! I sure as hell wish I’d thought of that!! What are they going to tell me next? Maybe I should explain to my students that we will be working with numbers in math this year and that 2+2 = 4? What a concept? What the hell do they think I’ve been doing for 20 years?
I’m sick of having to read books written by ‘experts’ on these wonder methods and listen to what they have to say at workshops when the only thing I know about them is they no longer want to teach school for a living. They have found the only way to make money in education. Publish something that uses words and acronyms like – rubric, differentiation, cognitive, data driven, quantitative, SIOP, AYP, PEP, PDP, cerebral, and diversification to name a few. Let me tell you this crap reads like a dream. Now don’t get me wrong, I know what these words mean but if these people are so damn smart and such good educators why can’t they write in the language normal people speak. Are they just trying to show off how smart they are and what big words they know? It drives me nuts!!!
I’m not a dinosaur; it’s not that I am against trying something new I just hate it being forced down my throat and being made to feel that if it’s not new then it’s bad. I see myself as the old workhorse on a farm, the kind that the farmer can hitch to the plow and then just get the hell out of the horse’s way. Those old plow horses know how to plow straight furor, turn and come up the next row. It’s okay to have younger horses around. The farmer might even want some fancy horses to take to town to show off or pretty ponies so he can teach them a few tricks – any of these would be great in the stable. But don’t screw with the old plow horse.
I love teaching, and thank heavens I love the kids they give me. I know I need to go to these meetings, paste a fake smile on my face, keep my damn mouth shut and then go back to my room, close the door and teach the best way I know for my students. And since my kids did better than any of those taught by any of the younger horse or even the pretty ponies I think I’ve earned the right to do just that.
Bitching over for the moment, summer posts should resume soon.
Before my second son was born, I was going to school to teach. I've not taught one class, and will probably NEVER return because of how incredibly difficult I saw it can be for teachers - paperwork, politics, unreasonable expectations - it was too much for me. I'm telling you this because I want to know that I think ANYONE in your field is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, and I can see why you are frustrated. I would be a little aggravated, too. I'm sure you know already that so many of us are thankful that you do what you do, and that you sit through those workshops seething just to continue teaching. Props to you!
ReplyDeleteubric, differentiation, cognitive, data driven, quantitative, SIOP, AYP, PEP, PDP, cerebral,
ReplyDeleteWHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?.I believe i would fail if it were back in school..!
M. Wife,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your comment. It's not the way it was when I started. I love teaching, I just wish everyone would let me alone and let me do it. Mollie wants to teach and it really worries me.
Mthc,
The sad part is all these words can be easily defined. That's why it makes me so mad when people throw them around to show how smart they are.
I know how much teaching means to you PK but it has changed so much, I saw that when I was a teaching assistant for short time.
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth have a two day workshop now, why not later in the summer before the kids return.
Love,
Ronnie
xx
PS - I've no idea what you said either with SIOP and the rest x
PK: I am glad you vented and got it off your chest. That's the great thing about blogging. You can vent after listening to those idiots with your fake smiles.
ReplyDeleteEverything you said was right on and it is terrible what is happening to the education system in our country. But I know you can't speak up and tell them they're idiots so you just have to endure it and do what is best for the kids.
And I thought you could relax and forget about school for a couple of months. It is like they enjoy tormenting you.
And now that you have gotten that off your chest, I hope you can get something much better on your chest in the near future. LOL.
FD
hugs, PK hopefully this will be the last one this summer.
ReplyDeleteRonnie,
ReplyDeleteI don't know why they had it now. I don't know what it was about either. I tried to ignore everything.
FD,
You don't know how much it really did help to vent. The second day went much better after i got that off my chest. And i promise to work on better things for my chest!!!
Jean,
I sure do home you're right!!
Just remember dear, when dealing with those "experts". Ex is an unknown quantity and a spert is a drip under pressure!! Helps me keep my temper every time listening to the drippy bastards. lol
ReplyDeletedieseldiva
dieseldiva,
ReplyDeleteYou have made some excellent points here! LOL, I will try to keep this in mind.
I understand...if you could just do what you love and teach and not have to deal with the other stuff it would be so much more enjoyable...you are a great teacher, of that I am certain!
ReplyDelete