Respect for Teachers???

I wrote this and didn't send it. It is three months from the end of the school year and Clark County is still 430 teachers short. I am weary.

Dear Senator

I am writing in response to today's article in the LVRJ and your comments about high teacher turnover in Clark County.
I am in my fifth year of teaching. I have seen many teachers leave the district. I work for a great Principal who is retiring this year. She probably would have stayed longer if the expectations for her yearly goals were a little more realistic.
I work for an at risk school. We have made great strides in the past three years and for the first time in thirty years our school is off the "failed" list.
Last year we had two second grade teachers leave during the year. Another second grade teacher had to go on an extended maternity leave.

This year I have many of those students in my class. They had long term substitutes. They came into third grade lacking the knowledge they needed to prepare for third grade. The students lacked discipline and consistancy. A whole year of intermittent substitutes followed by long term subs who may have done their best but had little awareness of what was needed.
My students have made great progress considering where they were at the beginning of the year. They have so much more to learn.

I love teaching. If you asked most teachers why they do it they will tell you it is because they believe in our profession and are committed to our students' learning.

Teaching is a challenging profession. So many variables affect how and when children learn.
I am feeling so demoralized by the attitude of those who do not spend time in the classroom.
This year our legislators need to come and spend a few days at an at risk school and observe learning. Not just one day. You all really need to see how all these variables affect student learning and teachers ability to teach.
I believe money is an important equation in quality education. Money to education, money so educators can live-but I also believe teachers would stay or come here to work if they received more respect and support from the community.
I am so weary of reading criticisms about incompentent teachers when the district does not have the money needed to provide the supplies and curriculum materials needed for children.
When children in my classes have no health care and teeth are rotted or they need glasses. When children come into my room in the morning to tell me parents have not come at night-or their parents had a violent fight.
I am tired when I work two jobs to support my daughter and myself and housing and groceries are so high we can't take a vacation to LA let alone on an airplane.

I haven't thought of leaving the district until I read your comments today. Another year of huge turnover, new teachers, complaints of failure, inadequacy and urgent messages to pay new teachers more to come to our state.
What this means for those of us who stay and work hard is our money is worth less and less each year, we can't afford housing, we work extra jobs and we have to pick up the slack for all those new teachers who walk into our schools in their learning curves.
Pay me so I can work one job. Keep my coworkers the same way. Treat us well for being loyal professionals willing to remain committed to our kids in Nevada. Don't insult us by another two percent raise. Give me a living wage. Campus police make more in starting salary than I do after five years of teaching with a Masters Degree.
I'm feeling discouraged. Maybe it is time for me to move from Las Vegas as well. Maybe my exit interview will be one you read next year.

My daughter-from this-to this

Why?

Adolescence is such a long hard road.

So is parenting.

Blind Dates

So she sat with him for five hours.

He professed how lonely he was-how his last two wives hurt him.

He ate, drank, confessed his need to have a woman in his life-

one who would do his laundry-keep him company on flights-snowmobile-ride Harleys

he ate, drank-drank some more-wept into his wine glass at the exclusive eatery

drank some more-

nodded off after about hour three-

drank some coffee-

spent an hour venting his right wing politics-

sobered

looked pleadingly at her-

"are you the one?-I just want to be married"

Why did she stay five hours?

As a therapist, her sense of compassion and caring saw a wounded man

so she stayed

By mutual agreement they parted-

he home to another lonely night with his fine wines

-and her-

to her peaceful home, with the cheery fireplace, dog and two cats-

a good book-

feeling thankful-and just fine

living alone

Nights

Sometimes nights are the hardest...

I wonder what the stars think?

What kind of alarm clock person are???

What kind of alarm clock person are you??

Do you hit the snooze button more than once?

Can you sleep through the alarm?

Can you sleep through the alarm so well someone has to wake you up?

Do you sleep through the alarm so well someone has to yell at you?

Can you sleep through the alarm so well someone has to throw water on you to get you up?

Do you sleep through the alarm so well people are pissed at you for having to spend so much time trying to get your lazy ass out of bed??

Do you pop out of bed the minute the alarm begins to sound?

Do you just snuggle under the blankets for a few minutes longer, awake but enjoying that early morning warmth?

Are you up before the alarm goes off?

Do you never sleep and the alarm is just a reminder of the time?

Are you one of the unique who do not need an alarm, aren't terrified of waking late and wake up each day at the exact same time?

I wonder what that feels like.

Teens on the fringe?? Is that a good thing???

I was in a math training the other day discussing the high drop out rate of teens in Nevada's schools. Nevada has one of the highest drop out rates in the country.

Most people living in Las Vegas will tell you the story about the Valet parking attendant making a six figure salary. Kind of a Horatio Alger story-making the point that education isn't necessary in the Silver/(Gold) State.

Educators know that isn't the case. The largest group of kids are not the lowest-it is the brightest who drop out.

One of the many tragedies of standardized testing is the fact our brightest-are not always the children who do well on tests. In fact they tend to do poorly because they question the status quo. Gifted teens tend to read more into a question than needed-always asking, "Is this what they want?" Is this what this means?-as if some deeper meaning exists.

Educators gear information to the middle-the average. Most gifted students not only become bored-they become neglected-discouraged and eventually dispirited.

Education of the masses is such an ironic activity. It is all about socializing and enlightening children to become one of many. In fact, successful test takers are usually those kids who follow the rules well, get their homework in each week, complete assignments and don't question the system.

Learning is all about questioning systems, looking at alternatives, developing critical thinking and applying logic, a little intuition and making use of independent observation to draw conclusions-not necessarily following standard procedure.

I am a lousy test taker but I am not stupid. I always study with the best test takers I know. They teach me what to look for-and what not to look for.

The irony is in the goal. Do we educate our kids to be one of many? Or do we want to provide a learning environment in which our kids will become unique in thought and independent enough to make the difficult decisions in the midst of group think?

Those fringe kids you cringe at when driving by the high school? The ones with the piercings and tattoos? The ones willing to take a risk? Those who question the status quo?

They will rarely become government bureaucrats -nor should we hope they do-we need to be encouraging those kids to revel in their intelligence-it is how scientists, artists, inventors and innovators are nourished , born and bred.

Let's not lose them to mediocrity.

The death of a well rounded education...

In a meeting with third grade teachers yesterday, a 20 year seasoned teacher made what I consider an astounding statement...she said,

"I don't think kids need to learn anything more than reading, writing and math." That's all they need to know." Especially our kids(who are English language learners)-they have no business learning anything else."

I cringed inside. This statement was made in the context of reviewing our kids tests scores from last year. We were looking at what we needed to emphasize before the test in March.

And this, dear parents is your wave of the future. Ignorant children who can read and write but know nothing of our country, the world, the sciences, the history of peoples and cultures.

Perhaps, parents, you also think as she does. It is not important to learn much else besides reading, writing and math.

I consider it the death of a well rounded education.

Our testing mentality has robbed our kids of the world beyond the classroom. It has cheated them -of discovering the wonders of science, the curiosity and investigative qualities which allow us to create for our futures some of the most wondrous inventions we know.

Our kids no longer learn about other cultures, countries, traditions, geographic imprints which affect a country's identity. They are not exposed to a treasure trove of history-or even the basics of our governmental system.

If George Bush and the NCLB law had an underlying intent to develop ignorant, isolated, sadly minimized intellectually citizens of the future-they are succeeding, sadly, succeeding magnificently.

Many new teachers are moving into the field of education with one main theme, solidly sold to them, about how to educate your children.

It is this-their competencies, abilities and evaluative skills will all be based on the success of their classes passing one test-which is primarily focused on math, writing and reading.

No more trips around the world, to study the successes and failures of other cultures, no more explorations of the rain forests, or an understanding of the water cycle, how environments survive, sustain and survive changes, no more travel in a covered wagon across the west as the pioneers did, and sadly, no real exploration of how our country was founded..

Elementary school children literally, have a prison sentence, no matter how much fun teachers can make math, reading, and writing. Yes, we can develop units covering some of the themes of social studies, history, science, and geography-we can invent lesson plans which include all the main areas of emphasis-but most teachers won't do that for your child.

The stakes are too high. Teachers are not feeling support from the communities, the districts, the state or the federal government.

What a loss.

What will we have left?

A culture of group thinkers with no ability to develop the skills such as independent and critical thinking, a little dreaming and a lot of imagination, the sense that learning is all about awe and wonder, and possibilities are unlimited-and the sense that discovery is what learning is all about.

Dear Parents,

It is you who can change this world of narrowly focused , deliberately linear and ignorantly designed education your kids are receiving.

Step up to the plate. Listen to the little whispers out there that are trying to boldly and loudly tell you that this testing mania is destroying what a real education should be-well rounded, exciting, interesting, challenging and enduring.

Learning to love learning, learning how to learn and learning how to apply learning are all important components of learning.

Please stop cheating your children.

You are this country.

Do this for your kids.

Now is your time to be heard.

You did not vote out your legislators because you wanted our country to continue to follow the same path -do the same for the future of our children. Write, call, tell them enough..

I tell my third grade students, "You are the ones who will decide the direction of our country in the future-you will be the ones who make the hard decisions about resources, relationships, fairness, compassion.

Learning in an isolated frame of reference-how will they be able to do that effectively?

We need to teach them all of it.

Not just how to read the directions.