June 2013
31 posts
“We are not paying enough attention to trying to teach gifted people how to cope with their lives in the adult world. Far too many of them find their drive and creativity thwarted by persons or establishments who regard them as either silly or threatening.”
—
Marylou Kelly Streznewski (via kissthedragon)
“…regard them as either silly or threatening.”
Wildfire Season
In the past 24 hours, countless wildfires have started in southern Colorado. Homes have been lost, the Royal Gorge is evacuated, and the sky is smoky. The devestating Waldo Canyon fire was pretty much exactly a year ago. We had a dry winter and spring—we’ve been in a state of drought with severe water restrictions for the past few years.
I’m safe, but please keep my state in your thoughts.
Yep, we could use the positive thoughts out this way. (Also some rain, if you’re so inclined, but sadly I doubt that’ll happen any time soon.)
Valuing physics over P.E., Colorado schools test novel pay scale →
touch.baltimoresun.com
This article is about “supply and demand” pay scales. I would love to see the #education community’s opinion on this subject.
How ridiculously stupid is this? Are they trying to say I’m an elementary teacher because I was too stupid to teach high school math? I am intelligent enough to teach high school math; however, I was foolish enough to enter a career I enjoy. Maybe I should teach something I hate so I’ll earn more money?
Here’s a news flash. I could have also gone into an engineering field and made quadruple what I make now. I followed my passion, not my checkbook. The people who come up with these ludicrous schemes never seem to realize that truth.
Also, do they not realize that no matter how good that Calculus teacher is, he or she can’t do jack shit if the students don’t know basic math skills? Or no matter how good an English teacher is at getting students to analyze literature, it means nothing if a student can’t read.
News flash: I don’t know how to teach a kid to read. That’s not part of my training, despite there being some misconception on that topic. Personally, if we’re doing something so stupid as to say which rung in the ladder is most important (think about that image for a second; see what I did there?), I think that means the elementary teacher is the freakin’ VIP.
Not to be the bad guy here, but all this is really saying is that there are certain positions that hard to fill and in order tofillthose positions, they’re offering people in those positions more money. I teach elementary school. There are ton of elementary school teachers. The phrase “a dime a dozen” comes to mind. So the idea is that either a) people who want to teach but don’t care about what they’re teaching might go into secondary education instead of 3rd grade. B) people who want to be high school teachers or special education would want to come to that district where they’ll make more money. They’re not saying those teachers have it harder or that they’re better people. They’re just saying when there’s less of something, you have to pay more for it… It’s basic economics. Does it suck for those of us who teach elementary school? Sure, but that’s why we don’t teach there.
Unfortunately this article does not explain fully what this system entails, and therefore is leaving out a lot of the problems I feel exist. In addition there’s lots of background information that I think is important in understanding the whole picture and why this system is causing such an uproar among teachers in this area. Morale is at an all-time low in the district as it is, and teachers have been on a pay freeze for 4 years. The new CITE evaluations are basically being created and changed as the district (poorly) implements them and when parents, teachers, and admin pose some of the tough but necessary questions about this they get met with lashings and unprofessional behavior. The district has a history of not managing resources, people, or money very well and transparency is severely lacking.
The article also refers to the district as being “one of the wealthiest in the nation”, but does not mention how this actually hinders public education. In general the voters who have no children or who send their kids to private school (many do) don’t want taxes on schools they don’t use, and even parents who value their public schools don’t vote for more money to be put into the school district because a) they donate directly to their children’s school and don’t realize the limitations on this money or b) they have seen the gross negligence in handling the district’s money and don’t feel comfortable sending more of their tax-dollars into these same hands. For at least 5 years voters continuously reject education bond measures and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
I see where supply and demand makes sense but I think the bigger issue here is rooted in a lot of other factors. I also know that money on its own is not enough to attract, or keep, great teachers. Unless they have an outstanding staff and a really great position that they love many of the amazing educators in the district have left already or are looking to get out as soon as possible. Sadly this means teachers are heading in droves to other districts since even many of the great administrators are leaving or being forced out because of the district’s choices. When they get there they are actually making a significant amount more than even some of the highest tiers on this pay scale. Driving across the district line to neighboring areas usually warrants at least a 7-10 thousand dollar increase for newer teachers, and quite a bit more than that for veterans with more education and experience. No matter how you look at it I don’t see this being the answer to their supposed problem of hard to fill areas, and I just don’t buy that their agenda isn’t very different than what they claim to be fixing with this system.
For anyone interested you can see the pay scale and a Denver Post article about why the union is trying to fight the district on this one.
Anyone else have thoughts or wonderings? I’d love to hear them.
work-related: questions for teachers
Hey, #education—
As I revamp my entire ELL delivery model, I’m seeking food for thought.
If you are a U.S. K-12 mainstream/content/classroom teacher of any number of students who qualify for ELL services, could you please answer a few quick questions about your experience?
The survey is anonymous, and I’ll share the results with anyone who might be interested.
Thank you!
Take 5 minutes and help this amazing teacher out!
Third Grade Reading Guarantee →
blog.schoolsin.com
What I’d like to know is how these states are ensuring a child has the best chance possible to be reading at level in PreK-2 so they have a better chance of successfully passing the requirement in 3rd. 60% of my 4th graders started this year reading below grade level (many at least 1 year below, and several at a K or 1st grade level). At the end of the year that number dropped to about 26%, but it wasn’t without a lot of help from amazing reading intervention teachers and a huge amount of hard work on the part of teachers and students. I also wonder what this looks like for SpEd kiddos or ELLs. It would be lovely to say that we want every child to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade, but for many students this is unrealistic and will just put 1 more label of failure on them. It also puts a ridiculous amount of stress on 3rd grade teachers without really taking into account the necessary setup in PreK-2 for these teachers and students to have a fighting chance. I really don’t think it is as cut and dry as the media would love for the average citizen to believe, and in that way it certainly is unfair in my opinion.
What are your thoughts?
Your dog is adorable!! I hope we see him/her more in #educationdogs (which is a tag that should exist, if it doesn't already). :)
Trogdor never disappoints his fans. In honor of the earlier dare I bring you: Dogs in Outfits!
Booties keep my feet warm!
This devil costume is the devil.
Do I LOOK like a dinosaur?! No, I am a TROGDOR!
Cufflinks?! Really?!
Cozy PJs.
EDD: Pick three moments that embody your class this past school year.
You ask an impossible question!
Ok, let’s try these:
Our field trip to the zoo had 2 moments.
- Walking towards one of the animals I heard some of my kids behind me say, “Aww man, I wish S were here! She would love to see those!!” This was a really special moment for me because S was our extremely high needs student this year. The kids had their struggles, rightly so, in handling S and some of her outbursts or behavioral challenges. I know it wasn’t always easy for them to be in her class, and some of them have been in classes with her since 2nd grade, but they really learned how to take care of her without coddling. They started to look out for S in a way that is endearing but doesn’t lessen her ability to do things on her own. They treat her like a peer but recognize that she needs additional guidance or someone to “have her back” in situations that are hard for her to handle. When she was absent for 2 days in a row the kids asked if she was ok because they became a family and when 1 member was missing they noticed. So, this moment spoke to the way my kids really take care of each other and were determined to reach the finish line of the year, even if it meant having to physically drag each other forward sometimes.
- At one point my entire class was leaning against the railing watching 2 monkeys. They were enthralled for a good 10 minutes and all I could hear was their giggles, questions, and commentary about all the things the monkeys were doing. As a warm breeze blew over us I could feel the love I have for this group of kids and the closeness we share. Even though I wasn’t looking at any of their faces it felt like we were embracing in a huge group hug, and I got teary as we stood there enjoying this beautiful moment together. I really feel like the intense year and challenges we’ve had have also brought us so much closer, and these kids will always have an incredibly dear place in my heart. They really did build an amazing community and I know they felt it too, because many shared that something they’re nervous about next year is not being in the same community or knowing if they’ll feel like a family. They have really good hearts, and I know that will always help them find their way.
- Throughout the last day of school we played all our morning meeting songs and sang as we worked on various things. At one point I was bopping around the room, singing New York State of Mind and dancing on tables (the legs were taken off and kids sat on the floor so they were low) with various groups of kiddos. There was also a large glue stick microphone that we all took turns singing with. The best thing is that this was a fairly ordinary thing for us. We sang lots of songs, we practiced our Mexican folk dance or our Beyonce flash mob dance a lot, we choreographed our own hip-hop moves so we could perform Hot Cheetos and Takis, and we just generally enjoyed some crazy fun moments. Music was a very powerful part of our year, and different songs really had an impact on the kids. We learned multiplication, the 5 themes of geography, how America was colonized, colors of the rainbow, all about NYC, what paleontology is, what the elements are… all through songs. Our theme song became Wonderwall and I think in different ways we all felt that our class and experiences together this year became our wonderwall. I will forever get choked up hearing that song and thinking of these kiddos, and aptly it was the last song we sang during the final 4 minutes of our time together as I hugged each one of my babies and sent them off to 5th grade.
EDD: What are your favorite iphone/ipad apps?
Education-related or not.
This is a tiny list that I can think of off the top of my head. Not all iPad apps, and probably not relevant for your kiddos because I am in the mindset of 1:1 management and implementation of tech right now. I need to be better about posting apps as I find them, but here goes.
Curation or Sharing Related:
- Pearltrees, IFTTT, Hojoki, Buffer, Mentor Mob, Learnist, Storify
Learning Management Systems:
- EdCanvas, Schoology
(Adaptive) Curriculum:
- CK-12, AdaptiveCurriculum, Learning.com, CommonSenseMedia (digital citizenship & family tech education)
Misc / Blended:
- Nearpod, Evernote
BabyJDR with mumma.
YoungJDR with my Meme, the great-grandmother I was named after.
EDD: what is your favorite thing to teach in 4th grade?
Oh this is so loaded, especially since we just wrapped the school year up on Wednesday!
Hrm. I would have to say I love teaching whatever it is that lights the fire of my students. When they want to know more and are excited about the learning, it gets me excited and wanting to learn more with them. The coolest thing is that each year your class takes on a personality based on the kids’ interests and your thought processes at the time, and a natural theme emerges that you never would have expected.
For example, this year my students were fascinated by civil rights and moral issues. It isn’t a specific part of our curriculum, but it kept coming up again and again. I love this because we have such rich, deep discussions that tie directly into my favorite thing about being a teacher: character ed and helping my kids to become great people. My kids also got really interested in endangered animals and wanting to get people to take action, and that was neat as well.
How’s that for a non-answer answer?! ;)
Mapping 4th Grade
Since the end of the year is fast-approaching, I wanted to do a project that combined reflection and art. This is what I came up with…
First, students brainstormed their memories for 4th grade. They then traced the state of California (here, 4th grade is all about California history. You could use any shape, or even the number of the grade). Using a ruler and a black sharpie, they broke it into about 15 “pieces.” They then used a thin sharpie draw one memory (words, pictures, or both) per box. Lastly, they used water color to paint each box a different color.
This is a fabulous way to reflect on the end of a year. Could also work well with our regions unit as a KWL or end of unit assessment piece.
WANTED: Document Camera!
Hi Tumblr friends! I recently posted a project on DonorsChoose.org.
I am looking to get a brand new document camera for the classroom. The one we have is out of date, does not zoom, and has an inaccurate color display. We use it several times a day, and it’s time to get a new one for the new school year. The total cost of the project is $225.
If you would be interested in giving or just want to look at the page, please send me a private message and I will send the link. Thank you!
If you can help this amazing teacher and her kiddos it would be fab! She definitely deserves to have functional technology in her awesome classroom.
