From a reader in response to, Duval's big Discipline Lie.
Very similar things are happening at my high school. Kids are being sent back to class who are cursing at the teacher; students are literally refusing to work, won't follow the phone policy, are late every day, and generally create havoc in the classroom. The excuse/line from admin is that if teachers have good classroom management, then there won't be any discipline issues. That is rubbish. I have been in Duval for 8 years, and there are always two or three students in class whose goal in life is to undermine teachers and do nothing all day. Are they in every class? Sometimes. Admin should support the people who are actually trying to teach those students, not condemn them for seeking help.
Currently, we have admin roaming the classrooms, micromanaging every element of a teacher's day. We don't have time for that and are constantly stressed out. It has only been 2 weeks! We spend our Common Planning doing inane things like that I learned in the College of Ed, being yelled at by the AP, and wasting precious minutes in the day. By the way, the average admin has less teaching experience than I do at 9 years. It is ridiculous that I have to sit there and listen to people, who I would not let teach my own kid, lecture on how I should teach.
The myth that things are getting better is untrue on all sides. The admin and those downtown are constantly undermining the teachers who do the actual hard work. Yeah, I said it! The students are who they are. They will always be great or frustrating. It is the adults who make life difficult, not the students.
Very similar things are happening at my high school. Kids are being sent back to class who are cursing at the teacher; students are literally refusing to work, won't follow the phone policy, are late every day, and generally create havoc in the classroom. The excuse/line from admin is that if teachers have good classroom management, then there won't be any discipline issues. That is rubbish. I have been in Duval for 8 years, and there are always two or three students in class whose goal in life is to undermine teachers and do nothing all day. Are they in every class? Sometimes. Admin should support the people who are actually trying to teach those students, not condemn them for seeking help.
Currently, we have admin roaming the classrooms, micromanaging every element of a teacher's day. We don't have time for that and are constantly stressed out. It has only been 2 weeks! We spend our Common Planning doing inane things like that I learned in the College of Ed, being yelled at by the AP, and wasting precious minutes in the day. By the way, the average admin has less teaching experience than I do at 9 years. It is ridiculous that I have to sit there and listen to people, who I would not let teach my own kid, lecture on how I should teach.
The myth that things are getting better is untrue on all sides. The admin and those downtown are constantly undermining the teachers who do the actual hard work. Yeah, I said it! The students are who they are. They will always be great or frustrating. It is the adults who make life difficult, not the students.
My husband is a devoted and very committed teacher. He came home so dishaarted today. His school or the Powers that Be, decided to surplus some teachers today and without even letting him know took one of his honors classes (His favorite) and dispersed those students and gave him a regular class. (Not honors)
ReplyDeleteThey had already decided to do away with the AP classes that he loved to teach and now this.
It doesn't seem the administration cares much about the actual classroom experience, just the numbers. I pray my husband can continue to want to teach. I sometimes think Nassau or St Johns are the answer but is it?
Education Policies are CENTRALLY DIRECTED from the Florida Department Of Education in Tallahassee. Yet, administration tends to be different in Nassau and St Johns and the kids, better behaved due to socio-economics and demographics.
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