Teachers, Targets, and Test Scores!

My stomach is in knots and I want to scream.
I want to hit something.
I look at my students' test scores, the growth they have made,and I am proud of them.
I refused to teach to the test, and they still kicked DCAS !

I looked down the AYP column on the all-glorious data chart, and saw that some of my students grew by over 100 points. Only two of my students did not show "growth".

Then I look across at the column marked "Target".
That's when I wanted to scream and hit.
The target that they had to meet in order to prove that I was an effective teacher.
Not many of them met the Target. Many of them missed by a few points.
Doesn't matter, they didn't hit the bulls-eye.

A couple of months ago, my team and I called DOE to find out how these targets were determined.
We were told someone would get back to us.
Still waiting.

So now, next week,I have to sit in front of my principal and justify whether or not I am an effective teacher.
Welcome to Component V.
What is it,and how does it work, you ask?
Truthfully, no one knows.
I am not being facetious, no one knows.
The line is, "We're learning this just like you are."
All good and well, but your salary, your reputation, is not tied to it like mine.

 Here's a sample question I will have to answer: Did your target(s) lead to strengthened professional performance and improved student learning? To what extent? What evidence do you have to support your conclusions?

How will I answer that question? Honestly. Those targets didn't have a thing to do with how and what I taught in my classroom. The only target I aimed for was the ability to teach my students to be independent, critical thinkers. And while I had my eye on the bulls-eye,  they also learned how to problem solve, gained a love of books, wrote for an authentic audience, honed their Geography skills (Mystery Skype),opened their minds, used social media as a learning tool, I can go on...

I did my job, and I hit that target dead on. And test scores didn't have a thing to do with it!

Appreciating Teachers!: My Top 10!

Chocolate, gift certificates, and lunch are great! I really do appreciate all the thanks I have received during the week. 

But I'd like to  share some tips on what would REALLY make me feel appreciated!

This goes out to anyone who interacts with teachers,in no particular order:

1.  Please take responsibility for your child. I can not raise your child(ren) and my own. We each have a hand in raising your child. I need your help.

2.  Stop making excuses for your child's behavior. It causes a vicious cycle that will never end, and makes your child, hmmmm....not so nice to be around.

3.  If I send home information, read it. If I call you, listen to the message. If I email you, respond. If I need a signature, sign it.

4. Stop.talking. Do you know how much more you would learn if you were actually listening to me and/or your peers? It's not always going to be "fun" and sometimes you have to be quiet.

5.  Take responsibility. If you did it, say you did, and let's move on. If you didn't do what you were supposed to, get it done. 

6. Don't patronize me. If it's another "new thing" and I have to do it, just tell me what it is, what I have to do, and how soon I have to do it. Candy on the table won't sweeten it.

7. Treat me a s a professional. I went to college, damn it!  I can actually make decisions about what is good for my students.

8. You will never, ever, ever, in a million years know what is best for my students. Stop dictating what is best for them because you do not know.

9.   No more standardized tests! No more data, data, data!

10. Last, but certainly not least, respect me. This is a difficult, complicated, job. Try to wrap your head around what I do every single day, mostly without complaint, and respect the fact that I do it.

Thank you, thank you very much!
A teacher

When is a PLC, Not a PLC?

I wrote a post with this title  in 2011.

Fast forward.

A couple of weeks ago we were handed a rubric. The purpose of the rubric was to provide feedback on our PLC. However, it should be understood that the rubric is NOT evaluative.

I think if it walks like it's evaluative, and talks like it's evaluative...

These words were followed by, "If the district or the state comes in to observe your PLC, this is what they expect to see."

So now, my PLC (Professional Learning Community) is being observed, evaluated, and scored on a rubric! Whose idea was this? How did the wonderful idea of a TEACHER-led learning community, become yet another tool used by"them" to evaluate us?

The key word in PLN is Professional, which I assume meant the teacher. Teachers making decisions, based on data and our knowledge of our students, striving to do what was best for our students.

My PLC has become an alien form of what I learned in Arizona.

• We have meetings where we are 'taught" how to write data-based questions, because every. single. PLC meeting has to be based on data. 

• We are to begin each PLC meeting reading our norms aloud. (ex. Be on time) Yes, every.single. meeting. This is just in case we forget them, I guess.

• Review your beliefs. (Each team had to write their own)

• You must have an Agenda. ( I have nothing against agendas, they are good for guiding meetings) The Agenda must be broken down into minutes, and a hard copy placed in the administrator's mailbox two days before the meeting.(ex. 1 min-Norms 10 min -Reading data etc...)

• Make sure you have, and know, your role.

• And of course, the "non-evaluative" rubric. How can you possibly have an effective PLC when you are worried about whether you are doing what is required on a rubric?

I think back to when this began. We would meet as a team , discuss our students' strengths and weaknesses, figure out what we needed to do, and do it. No one breathing over our shoulder (literally). No one taking notes on what we were doing wrong. There was no wrong. There was no rubric.There were just a group of professionals, learning collaboratively.


I mourn the demise of PLC as we knew it, as we learned it. Another good idea that worked for educators, now being used against educators.

Reading Aloud! They're Never Too Old!

I used to read to my students every day for five minutes.  

We would set the timer, and I would begin five minutes of uninterrupted reading.  Sometimes, the students would be “Guest Readers”, and they would get a chance to read the book to their peers. They loved it, and so did I.  Then I stopped. I don’t know why, but I did.

Last year, I became a volunteer for Read Aloud DE. Every Tuesday, I head to the day care across the street, and I read for an hour to 3 and 4 year olds. There is nothing like the feeling of being the Reading Lady, and having toddlers bum rush you as you walk in the door, or outside on the playground, screaming, “Read to me, read to me!”
Well, this motivated me to read to my 5^th graders again.  I chose “The Bad Beginning” by Lemony Snickett. I have to admit I had never read one of his books. We set the timer, and I read, uninterrupted, for five minutes practically every day.  What an enjoyable experience for myself, and my students!
“The Bad Beginning” began to spring up on desks around the classroom, from low readers to higher level readers.   Some finished the first book, and moved on to the rest of the series. Some stayed with me, sharing each moment. I loved the reactions that were elicited from my students as I read. The gasps, the moans, the “Ugh, she’s only 14.”  The last day, when the five minutes were up, they begged me to finish, there were only 13 pages left.  I looked at the clock, thought about what I was supposed to be doing at 10:45 a.m., and kept reading! The applause at the end of the book was thunderous!
Each week, I would incorporate Edmodo, Twiducate Chat, Kidblog, something to make the students think, and write, about what I had read. I had them draw a picture of their favorite scene. Many of my students volunteered to bring in the movie. I’m going to use the movie as a vehicle to compare and contrast the book vs. the movie. Let them decide which is better, and explain. (I can create a poll on Edmodo before and after they view the movie). They will also create a Glog “book report” of the story.
 It still amazes me what I was able to do with 25 minutes of Read Aloud a week.  I was able to incorporate many of the Language Arts Standards, and it inspired my non-readers to read.  The next book we read, I will incorporate Guest Readers again, and I will also ask their parents to volunteer to read. Five minutes a day created something that, I hope, will last a lifetime, a love of reading!
Education World: Reading Aloud, Is It Worth It?

Teaching: A Pi Poem!

Pi = 3.14159265

Love them dearly (3)

Students (1)

They drive me crazy!(4)

Boisterous(1)

Teaching them is a task(4)

But I could not dream of doing anything else!(9)

"My Resume is Ready": Losing Good Teachers!

Not my words. 

I live and breathe teaching. I really can't imagine doing anything else, well, except writing.

These words were spoken by a teacher friend of mine.
He sounded so down when he said it.:(
He is overwhelmed, as are we all.

The kids.
The parents.
The kids.
And then all the crap from above.

He put in four years so far, and doesn't know how many more he will do.
He said his first year was great.
Second year, not too bad.
But now...this is not what he thought teaching would be.
I don't think any of us did.
And because of this, we are losing a lot of teachers, a lot of good teachers.

Teachers who are willing to go all out for the kids, but aren't willing to deal with all the "new things" being flung at us from every direction. 

We are suffocating under the weight of standardized testing, data collection, PLC's that are soon to be evaluated, (Who evaluates a PLC?), teacher evaluations tied to test scores, it's madness!

Some of us can bend and not break, and some of us can't. Some of us leave.
And it's sad.
Good teachers are leaving, young and old.

His resume is ready. I hope he doesn't have to use it.

I'm a Poet, And I Know It! Celebrating National Poetry Month!

I love National Poetry Month! I used to write poetry, maybe I will again some day.  But in the meantime, I like to give my kids a chance to grow to love writing poetry as much as I do.

There was a time, pre-standardized testing, when we would gather up all our original poetry, pair it with two really funny pieces of poetry, and have Poetry Day. We would invite the parents, and each child would share  one of their poems. We would read the two poems we chose as a group, one in the beginning, one at the end. Afterwards, we would have snacks and juice, provided by the parents. Aaaah, good times. :)

But, even though Poetry Day has gone the way of a teacher being able to think for themselves, I still incorporate poetry into April. This year, I chose formats I thought the kids would enjoy, (and they did). We wrote a Pi poem, a Spring acrostic, a cinquain," I Made a Mistake" ,and "I Am Sorry" (they apologize to an inanimate object). Tomorrow I am letting them write an original poem, any topic, any way they choose.

After they wrote the poems, they posted them on Kidblog. If you have a sec, check out the ROOM 8 Page and comment.. (Have to get in that authentic audience). I also allowed them to create a Voki for the poem of their choice.(Still working on those). I am going to create a Poetry Symbaloo, (Voki provides you with a Symbaloo link), and post it on our Weebly.

Check out one of our Voki poets below. I love National Poetry Month, and now, so do my students! :)

photo credit: Enokson via photopin cc

Are School Field Trips Becoming Obsolete?

The 5th grade went to the Blue Rocks baseball game today and we had a blast! I loved interacting with my students outside of the classroom. It's rare that we get the chance to do that anymore. We sat in the stadium, talking, laughing, and cheering. It was as far from standardized testing as you can get!:)

What happened to field trips? How can anyone think three to four  field trips a year are going to make a difference in whether these kids pass those tests? What happened to exposing our students to the world around them, letting them experience life outside the classroom?  Using a trip to supplement that great story you’re reading, or enhance a SS or science unit? When I taught in New York, we would jump  on the subway with 25-30 kids in a NY minute!

The term “Keeping it real” is played out now, I know.  But field trips do just that.  They keep it real. They give kids the opportunity to experience life “for real.” Some of these kids do not have the chance to see outside their neighborhoods. There's nothing wrong with virtual field trips, I have taken my class on a  few.  But if I had a choice of the Franklin Institute online and piling my kids on a bus and traveling to the Franklin Institute, the bus trip, with all the noise, bumps, and mishaps, trumps a virtual field trip any day!

Our pen pals on Edmodo recently took a trip to Tybee Island in Georgia. My students ask me why we can’t go on trips like that. What do I tell them?

I am exhausted. But it was worth it.
Field trips are so cool!

GoAnimate4Schools GIVEAWAY!!!!!! Animated Digital Storytelling!

How would you like to be the lucky winner of a one year subscription to GoAnimate for Schools?
If you are not sure what GoAnimate is, and/or what it can do, check out the video created by one of my students!

I asked them to use their Vocabulary words to create a story. No one begged to skip this assignment!

You can't go wrong with GoAnimate for Schools! It is a safe environment. The videos can be shared. Teachers can moderate the videos. The ways you can use this resource are infinite!

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate for Schools.

Just leave a comment below.(YOU MIGHT HAVE TO CLICK THE WORD COMMENT IN ORDER TO LEAVE A COMMENT)I will choose a winner using Random.org on April 22,2013! (Please make sure you leave your name)Your subscription will be valid for 100 students and up to 5 teachers.Good Luck!

Goodbye Creativity and Imagination, Hello Common Core Writing!

I was at a meeting this morning, (Yes, another one).  This one was about Common Core writing standards. I sat there, staring blankly at the PowerPoint presentation being READ to me. (That's another post topic).
The presenter showed screen after screen of what is expected of us next year when we implement the Common Core writing standards.

My mind wandered to the soldiers in North Korea, all marching to the same beat, the same cadence. Not a skip, hop, or jump, no one out of place. That's what the Core reminds me of.

The presenter continued, "And in 2nd grade they have to know, and in 5th grade they have to..."  I wanted to ask what if they don't get it in 2nd grade, then what happens in 5th grade? But I already know the answer to that question.

But what jolted me out of my state of emotional apathy was when the presenter began showing, and reading, to us the slide on what type of writing we are expected to cover in certain grades. Our presenter said, " If you notice, it's only 20% Narrative in the 5th grade. That's because in the real world, in a college and career ready world, students write using argumentative and informational essays."

SCREECH!...I woke up.  In the real world?

Does she mean the real world where there are authors who write fiction? The real world of playwrights, screenwriters, people who create commercials? The list is endless. The number of people who have careers that use narrative writing is endless.

And more importantly, I can only imagine the horror of being in a classroom where only 20% of the writing is Narrative. I have many students who thrive in the narrative format, and struggle horribly in others. What do I tell them, sorry we have reached our quota of narrative writing for the year? And how does one determine 20% Is there some rubric I will be forced to follow?

I love the activity in the picture above. Tons of creativity and imagination are required.  But I guess if I'm going to implement it next year, it better not be before I go over my 20%!

"Ed Reformers" Are Bullies:They Know Who to Pick On!

As an educator, I have to deal with bullies every year. There's a pattern that I have noticed in every instance. They know who to pick on.
They find the weakest kids, the kids who won't tell, the kids who, most likely, won't fight back.

See the connection?

When I first read Diane Ravitch's post about Tennessee cutting 30% of welfare benefits if their children don't raise test scores. I thought it was a cruel April Fool's joke. I laughed it off, because I thought no way could that possibly happen,no way. I read today that it passed in the House, and I'm thinking, "Who would vote for that?"

A letter was written asking, " If this is about holding parents accountable, why hasn’t this bill been piggy-backed with parental accountability for all income levels? To make any solution about money on all levels is also flawed because people with access to money may try to “buy” results or intimidate those reporting grades. The poor do not have the luxury of “buying” their way out of anything. What your bill proposes is segregating the population into haves and have-nots and then creating different rules for the have-nots. This solves nothing in the way of making positive changes in academic progress.

Yeah, what she said.  Bullies always understand the consequences of dealing with people who will not back down. They know the consequences of dealing with people who will fight back.

The closing of schools is happening in low income neighborhoods. Why? That's where you will get the least pushback. That's where you will meet the least amount of resistance. For whatever the reasons, we know this to be true. And so, this is where it happens.

You can put a bully in a suit or a dress, but they're still a bully. "Ed reformers" are bullies. But they're not taking your milk money. They are taking public funds, neighborhood schools, veteran teachers, safe learning environments, the right to learn, the right to teach.

The list is endless, what are we going to do to stop the bullying?

"The Tennessee legislation to cut welfare benefits for families if kids don’t raise their test scores was passed by the committee and now goes to the House Government Operations Committee. It is scheduled for a vote in the State Senate on April 4."

"The Cheating Scandal!" Isn't Cheating a Choice?

The original post was written in July 2011. Here we are in 2013, faced  with another cheating scandal, and people are going to jail. Is there another way?

I read an article by Jay Matthews of  The Washington Post the other day, "Easing Test Pressure Won't Save Kids", and it went along with something I had been thinking about ever since "The Cheating Scandals" broke. I don't agree with everything he had to say in his article, but there was one element that struck me. Is cheating acceptable because of the enormous pressure put on teachers, principals, and superintendents?  Is it alright to excuse, justify, or rationalize cheating, because of the intense pressure put on schools due to standardized testing?

Just as we all handle grief differently, I am sure we can apply that same thinking to pressure. I would not cheat, and I have not cheated on any of these inane tests I am forced to give my students.  I can say, with confidence, that if I was told to cheat, I would not. And yes, maybe the principal would try to "get me" or "put me on their list", but I still wouldn't budge on what I believe in.

In the Huffington Post article, "Atlanta Cheating Scandal Unveiled By Reporter", the reporter stated, "The report paints a vivid picture of a culture where teachers were publicly humiliated or fired for underperformance,... For example, a group of teachers at ... held a weekend "changing party" at a teacher's home, where they systematically altered test answers to boost results.  A post by Maureen Downey on her blog,  "Get Schooled" provides another example, " ... the principal forced a teacher to crawl under a table in a faculty meeting because that teacher’s students’ test scores were low.

Maybe I am naive, but how does this happen?  How does my supervisor coerce me into doing something I do not believe in, knowing that I will probably be the scapegoat when it blows up!  In situations like these,  no matter how much you try to hide it, it is going to blow up! Who could make me crawl under a table?  Were these untenured  teachers who feared for their jobs, and felt that the ends justified the means? Were they teachers who believed in "by any means necessary?"

All teachers did not choose to participate, they chose not to cheat.  As  a matter of fact, a lot of those teachers stood up to their supervisors and reported them.  A lot of them were ignored, and many lost their jobs, this was the choice they made.

I look at it this way. Let's say I catch one of my students cheating. I say to them, "Why were you cheating?" , and their response is, "If I fail this test, I can't play football." Do I say, "I understand the pressure you're under, so I will excuse you." No, it would never happen!  I have read so many tweets from educators who blame the system for creating these high pressure situations, and then ending with a "Well, what did you expect to happen?" kind of ideology. But should we look at it that way, that all who participated were somehow "forced" into it, and all other options were closed for them?

In the end, I feel sorry for those teachers, all over the country,who have lost their jobs because of the choice they made, for whatever reason. My heart goes out to those kids who were made to cheat, what lesson did they learn? Standardized testing is the worst way to assess our kids and hold teachers, schools, and districts accountable.  But until they change it, I don't think cheating is the solution we are looking for.