It amazes me sometimes that I am able to sit at this computer and type. My schedule is beyond hectic...some would say it borders on the psychotic. I go to work an hour early every day to try to align curriculum maps with the new Common Core standards. I work my full day as teacher/counselor/tiny injury nurse/ part time parent/ etc. Then I go home to my husband and to an amazing little 2 year old. I care for my family, get 6 hours of sleep if I am lucky only to start the cycle all over again.
During my "free hours" (I can hardly keep my face straight as I type that) I work on lesson plans, grade work,watch webinars, read articles, and attend conferences to refine my craft. Now I am trying like heck to be chosen by the UFT (United Federation of Teachers) as one of the 25 teachers they are planning to select for the Teacher Leader pilot program. I have had several people ask me if I have completely lost my mind. After all the pay for this program would be a $500 stipend. So obviously I am not in it for the "money".
As I explained to a friend of mine from work, I feel compelled to do this. I watch my students suffer from the foolish decisions of men and women who have obviously never taught a day in their life. The few that have taught have resigned their minds and souls to be tools for a corrupt system. Services are being cut left and right. Pressure from up high comes all the way down the pipe to cut services, cut paras...to cut and cut until there is nothing left to hack away at.
My students work so hard for me. They have gone up so many levels in being able to read and write. They are some of the kindest and best behaved children in my school. They love to read and to learn. But if the mayor and others have their way my "success" as a teacher will be based on their test scores. The fact that many of my students started out on a kindergarten level of reading as third graders and are now starting to read early chapter books will not matter. No...my success will be based on high stakes testing scores.
I wouldn't mind it so much if my students were given differentiated texts to read. After all that is what we teachers are expected to do all day. Alter and reteach the same idea at many different levels for the various levels of understanding in our classrooms. But of course, why would these vital tests embody the very sentiments that we teachers are beholden to? That would make sense and goodness knows we couldn't have that!
Change needs to happen and in order for that change to happen we need people who are willing to stand in the public eye and say what needs to be said. Anyone who has met me knows I am not afraid to voice an opinion and I will fight like heck to voice obvious FACTS as well. I will not yell or rage. I will use my humor and my talents to reach people on deeper levels...to bring others to a cause.
In the meantime I continue to work myself into exhaustion...all in the hopes that one day my daughter will not be a prisoner to a system that is out to steal her childhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment