(The following message was sent in response to the Turner Report post yesterday about the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce needing 125 gift packets for new teachers in Joplin schools, including more than 100 from the Joplin R-8 School District.)
I am one of those teachers who left the Joplin District. When I first started, I was so proud to be a member of the high school. As the years progressed I became even prouder, until the last five years. It took me a long time to write on here, but the exit of a hundred teachers is huge. I do not understand why the community is not outraged.
I have witnessed students cussing, threatening, and intimidating teachers. Administration did nothing except try to convince the teachers to not create a problem. These students were then conferenced with and put back in the classroom.
Students were constantly disruptive, but we were told not to write referrals. If we did, we were in trouble. Eventually teachers gave up. When you have 35 kids in your room with laptops and cellphones, monitoring them was impossible. They skyped, listened to music, watched videos or played games. Of course, this was our fault for not making the lessons exciting or engaging enough. And don't get me started on all the so called professional development to correct our problems with keeping the kids engaged.
The failure rate was huge because kids did not care. They were too busy playing games. We were even told to just give points for showing up everyday, even if they did nothing in class. We were told that they should pass our class with a 50 percent. What happened to the 60 percent? We we sent lists of kids with failing grades and told to get them up. Do you think a student who has missed over fifty days in a semester deserves to pass? Or how about the student who has done nothing?
I have seen teachers cry everyday because of all the inconsistencies. Kids loved going to the office because they were rewarded. They loved ISD because they got to listen to music, watch movies, play games, and not do their work.
What happened? Why were we not allowed to teach? I did not go to school to be a babysitter and if I was a parent with a child in our district, I would be concerned.
8 comments:
It has been clear to me since shortly after I moved to Joplin that an honorable attempt to increase graduates and decrease dropouts was going awry. The bar was simply lowered and kids graduating became more important than kids learning. Kids can't learn when classrooms are out of control. Some kids are hell bent to fail. Their situations are bleak. They need tough LOVE.It isn't the job of the public schools to force them to pass... because it comes at the expense of every other student in the school. The students that struggle... the students that aim for the sky... BOTH suffer when the district bends to the will of out of control students bent on failure. I can't speak for teachers. I can speak for many frustrated parents. Joplin Schools need to remember that success isn't measured by how many kids graduate .... it's measured by the success of those who graduate. The state and federal government play their seedy role here.... tieing funds to the same numbers. It's laziness from the top down. It hurts our kids....EVERY one of them. That diploma doesnt do you much good in real life when you didnt learn anything to achieve it.
What happened is that the graduation rate has trumped all else, and now it is a quantities game instead of a quality game. The same good teachers and principals that got the district accredited with distinction did not forget how to teach and lead. Too much emphasis has been placed on "innovative" programs, nonessential personnel to run those obviously ineffective programs, and pushing kids through.
Any other district would have replaced the district leadership, but Joplin hasn't. That would mean admitting that something is wrong and that their leadership team was not what they thought it was. Until more people like Ms. Earl start speaking up and demanding change, you can expect nothing but finger pointing, firings of the wrong people, and a continued slide in academics. Demand better for your kids, Joplin. Your future and theirs is riding on your actions.
And imagine as these kids who have done nothing, or learned little... as they enter the world of work, a tech/trade school, community college, or 4 yr institution. Its messed up!
Part of education is cultural and not academic. Part of our culture is learning to be where you belong at the right time, being prepared to work and do your share, and to be responsible, respectful people. Students are not learning those skills at home, in many cases, and now they are not learning them at school, either. They make lousy employees and college students if they cannot arrive on time, ready to work, with cell phones and distractions put away.
From what I've heard, Besendorfer plans to have as many as half of their classes taken on line or in reduced circumstances. Under those circumstances, it would be difficult or impossible to know who really did the work, it would seem to me. But that's the way it's been in recent years. Academics, work ethic, and personal responsibility have been replaced with infotainment, technology, and nothing of importance. The problems we see are so far beyond the building level that I hope when (hopefully not "if") the finger pointing and firings start, that it starts at the top. The buildings were coming along pretty well 5-6 years ago. And they didn't even have all that technology. Just consequences, good instruction, and common sense. I'd like that for my child, and if I have to, I'll take him somewhere else.
I am with the person who wrote this blog. So many problems where there used to be few. And no joke about the PD. Talking to people in other districts, Joplin has about twice as much and it's usually lousy. It used to be that teachers would travel to conferences and bring back ideas that other teachers used that were useful and succesful. Now no one but admin and their little soldiers goes anywhere, and who knows what they learn for the investment in those expensive resorts and the air fare. It obviously isn't transferring to the teachers and students. Wasted money and wasted time. And it hasn't been stopped either. They wasted at least 25 to 30 grand just a few weeks ago. Not one teacher was taken. Just the troops. Looking on Facebook pages, it looks like they all had a real good time at taxpayers' expense. Again.
Interesting article on the false hopes and mistaken concepts behind technology in the classroom.
"No, iPads do not make teachers obsolete!
Why are cash-starved school districts sending public funds to Apple -- while laying off teachers? Follow the money"
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/12/steve_jobs_was_not_a_school_teacher/
I'm glad to hear some specifics. The question now is, will anything change? Are administrators planning on getting more materials? Instilling more discipline? Taking care of their teachers? I can't imagine why this was allowed to happen, except that someone made some bad decisions and then wouldn't back down from it. That is usually the case in a system breakdown.
There is no point in spending millions of dollars on new buildings if students are not prepared to learn. Many students have been successful in much simpler facilities with targeted instruction and safe environments. I wonder if the Board in Joplin has given its blessing to the principal to take the hit and step back from things innovative and reinstate normalcy? At this point, it would be better to take the loss and rebuild than to go ahead with the same plan and sink completely. I hope it works, if so.
My school district must be backwards. Laptops are not allowed in class. Cell phones can be carried but are taken away if being used. If more than 9 days are missed per semester without an excuse signed by a doctor, all credit for that semester is lost. Credit can be made up by staying after school in the homework help room. Every hour must be made up that is missed. The district also has in school and out of school suspension for those who need it.
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