Teacher trainee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And if we give teachers more planning time, all of those higher ups won’t be able to fill their schedules. They exist to create more work for teachers. We have a lot of teacher vacancies in my district but more people out of the classroom than ever. They create more work for us to justify their job.

Yet somehow all those people outside of the classroom get the 7% raise, too. It’s not people in the classroom breaking the budget. I bet there would be plenty to give in-classroom teachers a competitive raise even with a reduced budget if they didn’t windfall-raise the folks making the work in the classroom harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's our area's way of "fully staffing" schools with folks who have no training.

1. One wonders why we have to come up with creative ways to fill teacher vacancies - could be that teachers have to deal with the condescension, disrespect, and know-it-all attitude of parents in "our area" - cause-effect of the need to "fully staff" our schools.
2. "The folks who have no training" are carefully vetted by FCPS - they are long term subs, IAs, parents who have put their children through the system and have volunteered during that time, professionals transitioning for various reasons, including those looking for something meaningful to do with their time and, maybe, give back to their community...until they find out why there are those vacancies in the first place, and run for the exits!
3. Like the draft or jury duty, our country should introduce mandated teaching service in a public school for all of us to learn to respect our diligent, hardworking, sincere educators, entrusted with molding the foundation of the future of our country.

NP. The bolded perfectly describes my short-lived experience as a sub with FCPS. I had considered a career switch for some time and thought I might enjoy teaching. SO GLAD I decided to try subbing before going to all the time, trouble, and expense of becoming a teacher trainee and acquiring licensure, etc. What a hellish experience.

I took on an elementary school long-term sub role and regretted it within days. There was zero training, and I was expected to take on ALL of the responsibilities of a teacher - to include lesson planning, grading, parent/teacher conferences, classroom management (of a very unruly and poorly behaved class), etc. The few kids who actually wanted to be there were a delight, but the rest made it their mission to be as disruptive and disrespectful as possible. When I asked for help from admin, I literally got a shrug.

Needless to say, I absolutely ran for the exits after about a month there. Never again - but at least, now I know.

You proved my point that it is only once you are in a classroom juggling all the many duties of a homeroom teacher all day everyday, that one realizes the true worth of a teacher.

If a teacher's salary were to be doubled, society would begin to respect the amazing people who are entrusted with the foundation years of our children's future.

Instead, armchair critics heap insults on teachers and talk about how they have to reteach their kids - my foot! Put yourself in a teacher's shoes - teach 20-30 clones of your own all day, for a week - and you'll kiss the ground on which a teacher walks. #RespectTeachers
#MandateTeacherDuty

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And if we give teachers more planning time, all of those higher ups won’t be able to fill their schedules. They exist to create more work for teachers. We have a lot of teacher vacancies in my district but more people out of the classroom than ever. They create more work for us to justify their job.

Yet somehow all those people outside of the classroom get the 7% raise, too. It’s not people in the classroom breaking the budget. I bet there would be plenty to give in-classroom teachers a competitive raise even with a reduced budget if they didn’t windfall-raise the folks making the work in the classroom harder.

Like the multimillion dollar basal LA program that FCPS has paid for and forced down the throats of teachers. Glossy books and binders, Reader's Theater and supplemental books for which there's no time to use, assessments that don't align with SOL standards - it will be interesting to see the inevitable plummeting scores in our district at the end of this year. No doubt, it will be blamed on the teachers, not the incongruous with reality program to which they've been handcuffed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

If all the surgeons quit because they were being paid like teachers, we might have to trust a carpenter to put us out of our pain!

This analogy is so lame and overused by people who have no clue what a teacher's day to day is like for what they get paid, plus the bonus of insults from the broader community who don't actually get in the weeds to help.

Instead, go to your nearest school and volunteer as a monitor - give a teacher a break to use the restroom or eat their sandwich for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

If all the surgeons quit because they were being paid like teachers, we might have to trust a carpenter to put us out of our pain!

This analogy is so lame and overused by people who have no clue what a teacher's day to day is like for what they get paid, plus the bonus of insults from the broader community who don't actually get in the weeds to help.

Trainees are vetted professionals with college degrees and postgraduates with real life experience, often those who have firsthand experience of raising their own kids in the system. They are troopers who are transitioning to teaching or giving it their best faith effort to fill urgent gaps because experienced teachers are fed up of the abuse.

Instead of condescension, go to your nearest school and volunteer as a monitor - give a teacher a break to use the restroom or eat their sandwich for lunch. Do your bit - or at least bite your tongue🤐😊

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

If all the surgeons quit because they were being paid like teachers, we might have to trust a carpenter to put us out of our pain!

This analogy is so lame and overused by people who have no clue what a teacher's day to day is like for what they get paid, plus the bonus of insults from the broader community who don't actually get in the weeds to help.

Instead, go to your nearest school and volunteer as a monitor - give a teacher a break to use the restroom or eat their sandwich for lunch.

Teachers generally don’t want parents helping out as they are nosy and spies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

If all the surgeons quit because they were being paid like teachers, we might have to trust a carpenter to put us out of our pain!

This analogy is so lame and overused by people who have no clue what a teacher's day to day is like for what they get paid, plus the bonus of insults from the broader community who don't actually get in the weeds to help.

Instead, go to your nearest school and volunteer as a monitor - give a teacher a break to use the restroom or eat their sandwich for lunch.

Teachers generally don’t want parents helping out as they are nosy and spies.

Perhaps because only the nosy spies volunteer! Teachers welcome supportive parents, not nosy spies. Try a full day of dealing with an energetic classroom of 20-30 students and then care to compliment your child's teacher on "FCPS Cares". Appreciative parents outnumber nosy spies, but the community only hears condescending critiques from the latter.

[Anonymous]

We have had many trainees. 2 have her to finish the requirements and get the provisional and one is going to be going into the 4th year! HR doesn’t seem to care anymore because now they are staffed and paying these people less but these kids are getting unlicensed teachers and it adds more work to teammates and mentors in the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

If all the surgeons quit because they were being paid like teachers, we might have to trust a carpenter to put us out of our pain!

This analogy is so lame and overused by people who have no clue what a teacher's day to day is like for what they get paid, plus the bonus of insults from the broader community who don't actually get in the weeds to help.

Instead, go to your nearest school and volunteer as a monitor - give a teacher a break to use the restroom or eat their sandwich for lunch.

Teachers generally don’t want parents helping out as they are nosy and spies.

Teachers welcome supportive parents, not nosy spies. Try a full day of dealing with an energetic classroom of 20-30 students and then care to compliment your child's teacher on "FCPS Cares". Appreciative parents outnumber nosy spies, but the community only hears condescending critiques from the latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a sub and I only sub in Kindergarten - I'll take both the teacher and IA job. I've subbed as a Kindergarten IA in over a dozen classrooms this year so I've witnessed first hand the teaching styles of a dozen different teachers. Some have been excellent. A couple have been average. And then the worse one is a teacher trainee. She told me she's in her second year as a trainee. She's a very sweet woman who is a career switcher. She has a good class of kids, only one child has challenging behavior and it is very mild. But she is super disorganized. She can't keep to the schedule. I sub in this school frequently and every single day I'm at this school, her class is the last one to come out for recess - sometimes as much as 15 minutes later than the rest of the K classes. I hope she's getting support because she seems to enjoy her job and she is really good with her interactions with the children.

Re: this teacher trainee, I'd just like to add my own experience. I had an incredibly challenging child in my class. This girl would throw tantrums, climb inside the supply closet, lock herself in the bathroom, etc. And she would almost always do this right when we needed to transition to a special. So, all the other kids would line up to leave, but she would prevent me from taking them as I would have to find a way to get her out. I couldn't just leave her in the classroom unsupervised. I couldn't put my hands on her to haul her out. So, her behavior would constantly make our class late to their next special or to recess, lunch, etc. It was one of the most demoralizing things I experienced. I couldn't do anything with her - one time I made her go to the front office with me, and after explaining the issue, the assistant principal simply gave me a withering look and sent us back. Admin did NOTHING to help. And so everyone thought the issue was me not having my act together, or being "disorganized," as you said. The reality was quite different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

Are you sure there is absolutely no training?

I guess when there is not an experienced applicant pool, this is what we have. Alternatives: putting 35 kids in a class.

Yes. They are given a mentor teacher (so another teacher now has less time to plan!) but that’s it. It’s insane. All for $45k/year.

We already have 35 kids in classes. My son’s 5th grade is 33. My high school classes have 34/33/31/29/23 (the last is a remedial class that was supposed to be capped at 15, then 20)

The alternative is we pay teachers more so more people see it as a reasonable option for a career, or we make the conditions better (smaller classes, increased planning time). Both cost more money though. This is cheap.

+1
When I was a teacher trainee, it was very obvious that the mentor teacher I was assigned to was resentful of spending any time with me. Understandable, since teachers have zero time to begin with - I didn't blame her, but I certainly didn't feel comfortable asking her for help. In retrospect, I can't believe I lasted as long as I did before quitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's our area's way of "fully staffing" schools with folks who have no training.

1. One wonders why we have to come up with creative ways to fill teacher vacancies - could be that teachers have to deal with the condescension, disrespect, and know-it-all attitude of parents in "our area" - cause-effect of the need to "fully staff" our schools.
2. "The folks who have no training" are carefully vetted by FCPS - they are long term subs, IAs, parents who have put their children through the system and have volunteered during that time, professionals transitioning for various reasons, including those looking for something meaningful to do with their time and, maybe, give back to their community...until they find out why there are those vacancies in the first place, and run for the exits!
3. Like the draft or jury duty, our country should introduce mandated teaching service in a public school for all of us to learn to respect our diligent, hardworking, sincere educators, entrusted with molding the foundation of the future of our country.

NP. The bolded perfectly describes my short-lived experience as a sub with FCPS. I had considered a career switch for some time and thought I might enjoy teaching. SO GLAD I decided to try subbing before going to all the time, trouble, and expense of becoming a teacher trainee and acquiring licensure, etc. What a hellish experience.

I took on an elementary school long-term sub role and regretted it within days. There was zero training, and I was expected to take on ALL of the responsibilities of a teacher - to include lesson planning, grading, parent/teacher conferences, classroom management (of a very unruly and poorly behaved class), etc. The few kids who actually wanted to be there were a delight, but the rest made it their mission to be as disruptive and disrespectful as possible. When I asked for help from admin, I literally got a shrug.

Needless to say, I absolutely ran for the exits after about a month there. Never again - but at least, now I know.

You proved my point that it is only once you are in a classroom juggling all the many duties of a homeroom teacher all day everyday, that one realizes the true worth of a teacher.

If a teacher's salary were to be doubled, society would begin to respect the amazing people who are entrusted with the foundation years of our children's future.

Instead, armchair critics heap insults on teachers and talk about how they have to reteach their kids - my foot! Put yourself in a teacher's shoes - teach 20-30 clones of your own all day, for a week - and you'll kiss the ground on which a teacher walks. #RespectTeachers
#MandateTeacherDuty

PP here and I fully agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a sub and I only sub in Kindergarten - I'll take both the teacher and IA job. I've subbed as a Kindergarten IA in over a dozen classrooms this year so I've witnessed first hand the teaching styles of a dozen different teachers. Some have been excellent. A couple have been average. And then the worse one is a teacher trainee. She told me she's in her second year as a trainee. She's a very sweet woman who is a career switcher. She has a good class of kids, only one child has challenging behavior and it is very mild. But she is super disorganized. She can't keep to the schedule. I sub in this school frequently and every single day I'm at this school, her class is the last one to come out for recess - sometimes as much as 15 minutes later than the rest of the K classes. I hope she's getting support because she seems to enjoy her job and she is really good with her interactions with the children.

Re: this teacher trainee, I'd just like to add my own experience. I had an incredibly challenging child in my class. This girl would throw tantrums, climb inside the supply closet, lock herself in the bathroom, etc. And she would almost always do this right when we needed to transition to a special. So, all the other kids would line up to leave, but she would prevent me from taking them as I would have to find a way to get her out. I couldn't just leave her in the classroom unsupervised. I couldn't put my hands on her to haul her out. So, her behavior would constantly make our class late to their next special or to recess, lunch, etc. It was one of the most demoralizing things I experienced. I couldn't do anything with her - one time I made her go to the front office with me, and after explaining the issue, the assistant principal simply gave me a withering look and sent us back. Admin did NOTHING to help. And so everyone thought the issue was me not having my act together, or being "disorganized," as you said. The reality was quite different.

I commend and support you for gracefully coping with the disruptive student. If teachers don't support teachers, our ship is sunk. When a student acts up in the hallway/playground, the worst line is: "Is that kid yours?" None of them are, genetically, but they're all our responsibility, collectively.

We need to advocate for each other with empathy and nurture support - we're bringing up the next generation together. We're missing the forest for the trees if the ABCs are Academics and Basal Curriculum minus support for teachers.

Maybe seasoned teachers are running on empty - having to control 20+ little learners is a lonely endeavor, and there's no energy to empathize with each other.

One way to get the disruptor's cooperation is to earn a brain break at the end of the day - play Kahoot or Would You Rather - if everyone lines up quietly and transitions well during the day. This way, classmates help each other stay on task. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you trust a surgeon with no training to operate on their own? That’s what a teacher trainee is doing. He or she is teaching in a classroom alone with no training. He or she is expected to perform the work of a teacher without training. Why should we expect a teacher in this position to do as well as traditionally train teachers?

If all the surgeons quit because they were being paid like teachers, we might have to trust a carpenter to put us out of our pain!

This analogy is so lame and overused by people who have no clue what a teacher's day to day is like for what they get paid, plus the bonus of insults from the broader community who don't actually get in the weeds to help.

Instead, go to your nearest school and volunteer as a monitor - give a teacher a break to use the restroom or eat their sandwich for lunch.

Teachers generally don’t want parents helping out as they are nosy and spies.

Perhaps because only the nosy spies volunteer! Teachers welcome supportive parents, not nosy spies. Try a full day of dealing with an energetic classroom of 20-30 students and then care to compliment your child's teacher on "FCPS Cares". Appreciative parents outnumber nosy spies, but the community only hears condescending critiques from the latter.

Parent here. I can't tell you how many FCPS CARES awards I have submitted, some of which went on to help earn the recipient a region-level award. It's 100% worth it to build up a good teacher. I can't unilaterally raise their salaries, but I can make sure they and their bosses know they are appreciated.

You can also submit FCPS CARES for other staff - bus drivers, custodial staff, lunch staff, whatever. Everyone should do it. But yes, it requires interacting with these people and to do that it does help to volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's our area's way of "fully staffing" schools with folks who have no training.

1. One wonders why we have to come up with creative ways to fill teacher vacancies - could be that teachers have to deal with the condescension, disrespect, and know-it-all attitude of parents in "our area" - cause-effect of the need to "fully staff" our schools.
2. "The folks who have no training" are carefully vetted by FCPS - they are long term subs, IAs, parents who have put their children through the system and have volunteered during that time, professionals transitioning for various reasons, including those looking for something meaningful to do with their time and, maybe, give back to their community...until they find out why there are those vacancies in the first place, and run for the exits!
3. Like the draft or jury duty, our country should introduce mandated teaching service in a public school for all of us to learn to respect our diligent, hardworking, sincere educators, entrusted with molding the foundation of the future of our country.

NP. The bolded perfectly describes my short-lived experience as a sub with FCPS. I had considered a career switch for some time and thought I might enjoy teaching. SO GLAD I decided to try subbing before going to all the time, trouble, and expense of becoming a teacher trainee and acquiring licensure, etc. What a hellish experience.

I took on an elementary school long-term sub role and regretted it within days. There was zero training, and I was expected to take on ALL of the responsibilities of a teacher - to include lesson planning, grading, parent/teacher conferences, classroom management (of a very unruly and poorly behaved class), etc. The few kids who actually wanted to be there were a delight, but the rest made it their mission to be as disruptive and disrespectful as possible. When I asked for help from admin, I literally got a shrug.

Needless to say, I absolutely ran for the exits after about a month there. Never again - but at least, now I know.

You proved my point that it is only once you are in a classroom juggling all the many duties of a homeroom teacher all day everyday, that one realizes the true worth of a teacher.

If a teacher's salary were to be doubled, society would begin to respect the amazing people who are entrusted with the foundation years of our children's future.

Instead, armchair critics heap insults on teachers and talk about how they have to reteach their kids - my foot! Put yourself in a teacher's shoes - teach 20-30 clones of your own all day, for a week - and you'll kiss the ground on which a teacher walks. #RespectTeachers
#MandateTeacherDuty

I really don't think the bolded is true. There are lots of high salary people that society doesn't respect.