- I have been reading again. That is dangerous. I have hit a tough spot in
- my career and I keep reading about education, learning, behavior,
- whatever I can get my hands on, in
- the hopes that something will shake me
- to my roots and motivate me to revamp my teaching style once again and find
- all that I lost that was good and noble
- about this profession. Hope springs eternal.
Instead of finding motivation,
- however, I found more rhetoric, more frustration, more new old ideas (the same thing said in a different way)
- which means more young
- administrators who take on the role of Knight Valiant hoping to save the
- world from the scourge of teachers
- who obviously don't know what they
- are doing. Once again a bill has been
- sent to committee in Congress
- regarding the deplorable showing of
- math and science students on
- achievement tests in the United States
- as compared to other countries. Sigh. Thank you, Mrs. Clinton, for seeing a problem and trying to help, but the
- top down method hasn't worked for
- years. Spending a great deal of money
- on one more panel will mean little or nothing and by the time the study is complete something new will be the
- rage and all of the work will be for
- naught. None of the information will
- ever be shared with the masses and
- no one will benefit.
I can remember when it was the “in”
- thing to have ideas come from the
- bottom - that would be us, the lowly teacher…the bottom…the ones who
- are in the classroom and see what is
- going on. Unfortunately, no one ever
- told the administrators that they should take us seriously, and hours of work
- on projects we took very seriously
- met with deaf ears. “Aha!” They proclaimed (that nebulous “they” that
- lurk everywhere, but nowhere). “The bottom-up idea doesn't work. All
- good ideas come from the top.” The problem is that few administrators are math or science people - at least not
- the passionate, died in the wool type
- who should win Emmys for their daily performances and purple hearts for
- their compassion and caring. So, we
- have people trying so hard to do the
- best that they can, but we have administrators who put so many
- qualifiers on all that is done that less
- gets done and the heroes become less heroic and look to fellow scientists for support and direction. Where are the administrators who allowed you to
- come up with an idea, run with it and succeed or not succeed? Where are
-
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- the administrators who listened, guided,
- and were more of a father figure?
- They made it our school and we took
- great pride in all that we did. We didn't
- run out the door as soon as we could.
- We actually enjoyed each other's
- company and fed each other's ideas.It
- was our school. Sigh.
Science education is in the hands of
- some excellent people. Look to your listservs and you will find answers,
- ideas, and support. Math and science
- isn't weak because of the teachers,
- even our elementary teachers have
- made incredible strides in what they
- are doing. These subjects just like all
- other subjects are weak because our
- hands are tied by the politics caused
- by the parents and honored by the administrators. We cannot make them understand that not everyone is a
- genius. You are a tough teacher if you actually give C's to average students.
- Failing students for not doing
- homework and not achieving an
- acceptable grade on a test could result
- in major parent confrontations. Not
- every student is going to make it through
- an academic schedule. And it is not a
- crime. Some need alternative
- programs. These are not always readily available and should be. It is not that
- we are not preparing the kids in math
- and science, we are not preparing them
- for the world in general where their
- efforts may not be good enough.
- Even colleges are feeling the pressure
- of parents.
I love parents. I had two very wonderful parents of my own, but they were the parents that would scold you rather
- than the teacher for any
- problems that came up. They were supportive and proud but they did not pressure us. They were willing to let us
- fail so that we would learn a very hard lesson. And, believe me, I was not
- going to let them have that satisfaction.
I heard that Disney was granting wishes.
- I didn't listen to the particulars, but if
- they could grant me a wish it
- would be that the politics that we are
- forced to play with parents and administrators cease, that the students
- be allowed to realize the consequences
- of all that they do, good and bad, and
- that teachers be given more freedom in
- what and how they teach. Sometimes
- I feel as though I am in the Neverending Story and I am being overcome by the “nothingness”. Some days I feel as
- though I am in a black and white TV
- and I want to be in living color. Most
- days I feel like I am just in “The
- Twilight Zone.”
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