Teacher Appreciation Week

This school year has been difficult for many teachers. We've entered into an age of blame. Blame is being placed on teachers for everything from low test scores to state budget woes. In truth, teachers have little control or power over either. We do the best we can with what we are given. In the end, the variables are truly out of teacher's control.

Myth Busters

Let's begin by clearing up a few myths. (1) We are paid for the days we work. We are not paid for summers, holidays, or weekends. We do not receive a paid vacation. The best we get are sick days and a couple of personal days. (2) Our clock hours are eight. In my state, we get a 30 minute duty free lunch in an eight hour day. That's it. Our conference period is work time -meetings, planning, and preparing. (3) We do not have a personal, socialist agenda. We teach kids how to read, write, and do math. If anyone has to be politically correct, culturally sensitive, and careful of what we say -it's teachers. We are not out to brainwash your kids. Really. (4) We do not design the curriculum. The curriculum standards are created by each state. The districts design curriculum based on state standards. Our autonomy is limited. (5) We hate teaching to the test. If we spend time teaching test taking strategies it's because we are not given a choice. The test has become the bottom line in education.

Standardized Tests & Evaluations

The idea of tying teacher pay to test scores has taken hold despite research that shows it's an ineffective strategy. A one day test shows one snapshot out of thousands of pictures. It's a blurry snapshot at best. There are many, many variables that effect a child's test scores. Here are a few:

1. Teachers are given a class of students who come with a range of abilities. Some students are on grade level when they arrive, some are above grade level, and some are below grade level. We do our best to take each child from where they are at and help them to grow in order to get them where they need to go. For example, a fourth grade teacher might get three children on first grade reading level. They work hard to help these children. By test time, the children read on third grade reading level. That's an amazing amount of growth! Two years in less than nine months. But it's not enough to pass the test...

2. Children come with baggage. We cannot control a child's home life. Some children are dealing with family stress, tragedy, lack of money, abuse, drugs, drinking, split parents, and a host of other things that would break your heart. They can't help what's going on in their home. And neither can we. We do the best we can to support children who are going through hard times, but don't think for a second that the difficulties in their lives don't effect them academically. Who can think about school when the police came to your house the night before, or you didn't get dinner or breakfast?

3. A lot of children move around. They move from school to school to school. They can't help it. Sometimes their parents can't help it either. We get kids every year who move in and out. Sometimes a teacher has a revolving door. It's hard to maintain consistency when kids come and go. Moving often creates gaps. A child missed the multiplication unit. They are at a new school now, and they are already behind the moment they walked in the door. All of this effects how student's perform on tests.

4. Children take the test. We can only hope they will do their best, but sometimes they don't. Sometimes they rush to get it done, mark answers without reading, or get so nervous that they over think everything. Sometimes they get off track bubbling in the answers, and forget to go back and check. It's not that they are not capable. Some kids are not strong test takers. They've shown us time and time again that they can do it if they try, but on the day of the test, they fail to rise to the occasion. It breaks our hearts to see this happen, but in the end, we can't say anything, and we don't have any control over how they handle the test.

The stress society puts on children and teachers to pass a one day test is ridiculous. Children should not cry or feel sick because they have to take a test. Tying teacher's pay to standardized tests will not improve testing, but it will increase anxiety, which will make matters far worse.

Teacher Appreciation

I pointed out myths and variables for a reason. I think that so many of the people who make decisions about schools just don't get it. They don't understand the variables. They believe the myths. We are highly educated professionals, and it's about time we are treated as such. If you appreciate teachers -

1. Say so. Tell us through personal notes, articles, blogs, and tweets. Change the growing discontented atmosphere by treating us like professionals. Stop calling us whiners. We are not whining. We are simply trying to get those on the outside to understand what we are dealing with on the inside. Teaching is a hard job. It's stressful, but most of us embrace it with a passion for teaching and learning and children.

2. Support us. It's time teachers receive the support we deserve. Parents need to step up and accept responsibility for their children (we appreciate the parents who do step up). Politicians need to step up and provide financial and moral support. The media needs to step up and tell the positive side of the story. There are many great things going on in schools. It's time we hear them.

3. Give us autonomy. The more are hands our tied, the more we are micromanaged, the less we can do to ensure your child's success. We teach children; individuals with a will of their own. If we want to reach and meet every child's needs, we need to be able to differentiate. We need the autonomy to make decisions based on our student's needs and abilities. Allow us to work creatively and to innovate. Give us the chance to help your children soar.

4. Treat us like professionals. Our pay is 14% below other professionals (that's based on daily rates for the number of days worked). We spend an average of $1000 a year out of our own pockets for classroom materials and resources. We spend countless hours off the clock in professional development, planning, preparing, reading and learning, and growing as a professional. The one bad apple news story out of millions is not a reflection on the majority of teachers or schools. No more than the one bad doctor, or the one bad lawyer is reflective of how an entire profession operates. We are just as outraged (and more so) when we hear of abuse or mistreatment by teachers. Please do not judge an entire profession of people based on a small percentage of bad characters. The media can create a perception that the "bad story" is happening everywhere. Well, it's not.

We are professionals. We really do care about your children. We work hard to help your children. Most of us are parents too. We have children in the school system as well. This week, I ask that you say or do something positive to help the teaching profession regain respect. Our children deserve the best. We want to give our best. Thank you for entrusting your children into our care. We promise to do our best with the resources we are given.

P.S. I am blessed to work in a wonderful district with supportive parents and administrators. It saddens me to hear stories of teachers who do not have the same level of support.