Admin needs to back down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current MCPS elem teacher. Behavior is OFF THE CHAINS this year. Behavior issues meaning extreme behavior challenges - multiple classes have exit plans for evacuating the classroom due to a student having a meltdown (tearing everything from walls, hitting other students, throwing chairs and desks, etc.).

In addition, we also have multiple autistic students this year that need a one to one aide and it has not happened. I believe all behavior is a form of communication but those behavior issues make teaching the other students challenging. Students need to be in an environment where they are able to be supported to reach their full potential.

It is difficult to teach when a student is overstimulated and rolling around the floor screaming. Admin does not notice and advises us to continue building relationships (which I agree with but when you have a class of 20 and 4-5 have extreme behavior challenges, it feels very overwhelming). No consequences for disruptive behavior (not talking about the autistic students - totally different issue). We need more paraeducators, and they need to be treated like professionals. The paras at our school are pulled every day to sub. Admin has no clue what it’s like to constantly sub in various classrooms - no sub plans and students that know there are no consequences. We have to collect so much data there leaves little time for teaching (benchmark assessments, Eureka, reading comp checks, DIBELS every two weeks for students not meeting expectation, MAP math and reading tests - not to mention knowing every students 504/IEP accommodations for the assessment). Instead of offering support, admin demands we create parent newsletters every two weeks when we already have a difficult time getting parents to check folders on a weekly basis. Last, we have so many students that have experienced severe trauma (hence the severe behavior issues). Admin is clueless.

This right here. There is an obscene amount of testing especially for the younger grades. I feel like my child has been in constant testing since the start of the semester. This is giving kids stress and is not actually measuring anything IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the current sad state of MCPS really the fault of the admins? Seems far more likely that central office, the superintendent and her team and the BOE are the sources of failure here and not the admins, since they don't get to make up the rules and just like teachers and educators, have to comply with whatever diarrhea trickles down from the top.[/quote

Y'all had the chance to vote BOE Brenda Wolff out at the last election and flubbed it. All you can do now is vote out her cronies at the next election then sit tight for two more years. Until Wolff is out, can't fire McKnight or the CO staff and Admins responsible for this mess.

I had no idea how bad Brenda Wolff is until I watched the BOE meeting from Tuesday about discipline. I suggest everyone watches it. It is scary and upsetting.

Everyone should watch this. Parents included. It’s important to understand where the BOE is coming from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students.
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed.
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties.
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

Yes to everything written above!

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We know kids need more time outdoors and playing(especially post pandemic) yet don’t incorporate enough real world outdoor science in ES/MS. Nor do we host enough PE classes outdoors enough in ES. Any day that the temp is above freezing, you should drive past schools and see kids outside for PE and recess. Recess should be a period of the school day, not some random 15 minutes in the school day.

Our neighboring count, Howard, on recess: "Generally, students will be outside for recess when the temperature combined with the wind chill is not less than 20 degrees Fahrenheit or the heat index reading is less than 95. Children with certain health conditions may need special accommodations during extremely hot or cold weather."

What is the MCPS policy? I agree that kids need to be outdoor a lot more. And off cell phone and Chromebooks as much as possible, but it doesn't seem that is happening.

HA!

Our ES principal cancels outdoor recess for all sorts of reasons - the fields are damp, the temperature is 34 degrees, it’s cloudy and it rained yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have yet to understand why the BOE and Superintendent haven’t used this time to TRULY reimagine education for the county and region. For instance, we know more time In school would be better. We know this from data of our own innovative schools and schools in other parts of the world. Yet instead of just reimagining the school day for entire county we are opening only two new innovative schools. Just change the school calendar and be done with it. Will folks get mad, yes. Will they get over it, yes. Will businesses and industries adjust, yes.

We know kids need more time outdoors and playing(especially post pandemic) yet don’t incorporate enough real world outdoor science in ES/MS. Nor do we host enough PE classes outdoors enough in ES. Any day that the temp is above freezing, you should drive past schools and see kids outside for PE and recess. Recess should be a period of the school day, not some random 15 minutes in the school day.

RJ has a place, but folks need to be fully trained to implement and facilitate. Further, RJ does not mean no consequences. It means finding alternative consequences that just suspending and expelling students. It’s means finding ways to instill lessons and grow kids mindset to make better decisions. It means creating empathy in the perpetrator of a wrong such that they understand the victims POV and understand how their actions affect others and others impression of them.

Want to create community, engagement, improve outcomes, then create meaningful after school programs and hire for them. Heck create an office in Central Office just for this. Working parents would love it as it reduces childcare cost and all students could benefit. Teachers would not be required to run these programs unless they want to participate and then would be paid just like anyone else. Sports, Science, Art, Leadership, homework help/tutoring could all be achieved.

MCPS needs to be clearly articulating to Teacher Education Programs the necessary skills to teach for the 21st century. Students in these programs need to be learning now Science of Reading, Restorative Justice. If teachers need to be able to assist dyslexia students then OG knowledge and experience should be noted as a preferred skill. If data analysis is important, then students obviously need some quantitative and statistical analysis classes. Part of the problem is that while teaching is difficult, obtaining an Education degree is not. A good number of the classes and skills offered in Masters of Education programs need to become standard for the Bachelor’s level.

Superintendents need to start announcing some bold initiatives about revamping US education and pushing them forward. Some of the needed things are even bold ideas they just require fortitude against naysayers.

NO WAY

Right now, MCPS is a disaster. I do not want my kid to endure even MORE time in school. We don’t even have enough staff to staff the school calendar as it is. Adding in more days to all school will make this worse.

Hard NO to year-round school right now. Okay teachers and parents will fiercely oppose this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the current sad state of MCPS really the fault of the admins? Seems far more likely that central office, the superintendent and her team and the BOE are the sources of failure here and not the admins, since they don't get to make up the rules and just like teachers and educators, have to comply with whatever diarrhea trickles down from the top.[/quote

Y'all had the chance to vote BOE Brenda Wolff out at the last election and flubbed it. All you can do now is vote out her cronies at the next election then sit tight for two more years. Until Wolff is out, can't fire McKnight or the CO staff and Admins responsible for this mess.

I had no idea how bad Brenda Wolff is until I watched the BOE meeting from Tuesday about discipline. I suggest everyone watches it. It is scary and upsetting.

Embedding here for everyone's ease of viewing

Thank you for posting. To all the people posting on this thread, please do watch. Just to understand what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current MCPS elem teacher. Behavior is OFF THE CHAINS this year. Behavior issues meaning extreme behavior challenges - multiple classes have exit plans for evacuating the classroom due to a student having a meltdown (tearing everything from walls, hitting other students, throwing chairs and desks, etc.).

In addition, we also have multiple autistic students this year that need a one to one aide and it has not happened. I believe all behavior is a form of communication but those behavior issues make teaching the other students challenging. Students need to be in an environment where they are able to be supported to reach their full potential.

It is difficult to teach when a student is overstimulated and rolling around the floor screaming. Admin does not notice and advises us to continue building relationships (which I agree with but when you have a class of 20 and 4-5 have extreme behavior challenges, it feels very overwhelming). No consequences for disruptive behavior (not talking about the autistic students - totally different issue). We need more paraeducators, and they need to be treated like professionals. The paras at our school are pulled every day to sub. Admin has no clue what it’s like to constantly sub in various classrooms - no sub plans and students that know there are no consequences. We have to collect so much data there leaves little time for teaching (benchmark assessments, Eureka, reading comp checks, DIBELS every two weeks for students not meeting expectation, MAP math and reading tests - not to mention knowing every students 504/IEP accommodations for the assessment). Instead of offering support, admin demands we create parent newsletters every two weeks when we already have a difficult time getting parents to check folders on a weekly basis. Last, we have so many students that have experienced severe trauma (hence the severe behavior issues). Admin is clueless.

This right here. There is an obscene amount of testing especially for the younger grades. I feel like my child has been in constant testing since the start of the semester. This is giving kids stress and is not actually measuring anything IMO.

I'd be fine with the map tests at the beginning and end of the year. The winter map seems excessive. One of my kid's schools seems to agree and skipped it. Unfortunately, MCAP is some crappy state test with dubious results. It's too bad they can't just substitute the more reliable map tests for this and consolidate the testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current MCPS elem teacher. Behavior is OFF THE CHAINS this year. Behavior issues meaning extreme behavior challenges - multiple classes have exit plans for evacuating the classroom due to a student having a meltdown (tearing everything from walls, hitting other students, throwing chairs and desks, etc.).

In addition, we also have multiple autistic students this year that need a one to one aide and it has not happened. I believe all behavior is a form of communication but those behavior issues make teaching the other students challenging. Students need to be in an environment where they are able to be supported to reach their full potential.

It is difficult to teach when a student is overstimulated and rolling around the floor screaming. Admin does not notice and advises us to continue building relationships (which I agree with but when you have a class of 20 and 4-5 have extreme behavior challenges, it feels very overwhelming). No consequences for disruptive behavior (not talking about the autistic students - totally different issue). We need more paraeducators, and they need to be treated like professionals. The paras at our school are pulled every day to sub. Admin has no clue what it’s like to constantly sub in various classrooms - no sub plans and students that know there are no consequences. We have to collect so much data there leaves little time for teaching (benchmark assessments, Eureka, reading comp checks, DIBELS every two weeks for students not meeting expectation, MAP math and reading tests - not to mention knowing every students 504/IEP accommodations for the assessment). Instead of offering support, admin demands we create parent newsletters every two weeks when we already have a difficult time getting parents to check folders on a weekly basis. Last, we have so many students that have experienced severe trauma (hence the severe behavior issues). Admin is clueless.

This right here. There is an obscene amount of testing especially for the younger grades. I feel like my child has been in constant testing since the start of the semester. This is giving kids stress and is not actually measuring anything IMO.

I'd be fine with the map tests at the beginning and end of the year. The winter map seems excessive. One of my kid's schools seems to agree and skipped it. Unfortunately, MCAP is some crappy state test with dubious results. It's too bad they can't just substitute the more reliable map tests for this and consolidate the testing.

Agree. A couple times a year for for snapshot purposes is fine. But these tests especially for kindergarten-3rd/4th grade are a bit too much, as is the constant use of chromebooks especially when there is a sub.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students.
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed.
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties.
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

Yes to everything written above!

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.

Most teachers I know ARE parents so we know. I did my job and then made my kids do their assigned work too. The parents who has a million excuses for why their kids didn’t do any work also had kids who struggled the most. It isn’t hard to sit your kid down and tell them they can’t play until their finish their work. It is called being a parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students.
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed.
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties.
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

Yes to everything written above!

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.

Most teachers I know ARE parents so we know. I did my job and then made my kids do their assigned work too. The parents who has a million excuses for why their kids didn’t do any work also had kids who struggled the most. It isn’t hard to sit your kid down and tell them they can’t play until their finish their work. It is called being a parent.

::sigh::

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have yet to understand why the BOE and Superintendent haven’t used this time to TRULY reimagine education for the county and region. For instance, we know more time In school would be better. We know this from data of our own innovative schools and schools in other parts of the world. Yet instead of just reimagining the school day for entire county we are opening only two new innovative schools. Just change the school calendar and be done with it. Will folks get mad, yes. Will they get over it, yes. Will businesses and industries adjust, yes.

We know kids need more time outdoors and playing(especially post pandemic) yet don’t incorporate enough real world outdoor science in ES/MS. Nor do we host enough PE classes outdoors enough in ES. Any day that the temp is above freezing, you should drive past schools and see kids outside for PE and recess. Recess should be a period of the school day, not some random 15 minutes in the school day.

RJ has a place, but folks need to be fully trained to implement and facilitate. Further, RJ does not mean no consequences. It means finding alternative consequences that just suspending and expelling students. It’s means finding ways to instill lessons and grow kids mindset to make better decisions. It means creating empathy in the perpetrator of a wrong such that they understand the victims POV and understand how their actions affect others and others impression of them.

Want to create community, engagement, improve outcomes, then create meaningful after school programs and hire for them. Heck create an office in Central Office just for this. Working parents would love it as it reduces childcare cost and all students could benefit. Teachers would not be required to run these programs unless they want to participate and then would be paid just like anyone else. Sports, Science, Art, Leadership, homework help/tutoring could all be achieved.

MCPS needs to be clearly articulating to Teacher Education Programs the necessary skills to teach for the 21st century. Students in these programs need to be learning now Science of Reading, Restorative Justice. If teachers need to be able to assist dyslexia students then OG knowledge and experience should be noted as a preferred skill. If data analysis is important, then students obviously need some quantitative and statistical analysis classes. Part of the problem is that while teaching is difficult, obtaining an Education degree is not. A good number of the classes and skills offered in Masters of Education programs need to become standard for the Bachelor’s level.

Superintendents need to start announcing some bold initiatives about revamping US education and pushing them forward. Some of the needed things are even bold ideas they just require fortitude against naysayers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students.
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed.
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties.
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

Yes to everything written above!

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.

You want martyrdom for literally doing what you're supposed to do as a parent, which is take care of your kid? I'm sorry, did you also forget to raise your kids during the pandemic? I'm a parent and I can tell which of my kid's friends parents did their parental duties during the pandemic. There are many that just gave up because it was too hard. The pandemic shined a huge light on how many people have no business raising children. You want to blame everyone but the person in the mirror. I don't need teachers to "acknowledge" what I did during virtual schooling.You sound like you want people to clap for you just for doing the bare minimum. No wonder teachers continue to leave, who would want to put up with this nonsense from parents on a daily basis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have yet to understand why the BOE and Superintendent haven’t used this time to TRULY reimagine education for the county and region. For instance, we know more time In school would be better. We know this from data of our own innovative schools and schools in other parts of the world. Yet instead of just reimagining the school day for entire county we are opening only two new innovative schools. Just change the school calendar and be done with it. Will folks get mad, yes. Will they get over it, yes. Will businesses and industries adjust, yes.

We know kids need more time outdoors and playing(especially post pandemic) yet don’t incorporate enough real world outdoor science in ES/MS. Nor do we host enough PE classes outdoors enough in ES. Any day that the temp is above freezing, you should drive past schools and see kids outside for PE and recess. Recess should be a period of the school day, not some random 15 minutes in the school day.

RJ has a place, but folks need to be fully trained to implement and facilitate. Further, RJ does not mean no consequences. It means finding alternative consequences that just suspending and expelling students. It’s means finding ways to instill lessons and grow kids mindset to make better decisions. It means creating empathy in the perpetrator of a wrong such that they understand the victims POV and understand how their actions affect others and others impression of them.

Want to create community, engagement, improve outcomes, then create meaningful after school programs and hire for them. Heck create an office in Central Office just for this. Working parents would love it as it reduces childcare cost and all students could benefit. Teachers would not be required to run these programs unless they want to participate and then would be paid just like anyone else. Sports, Science, Art, Leadership, homework help/tutoring could all be achieved.

MCPS needs to be clearly articulating to Teacher Education Programs the necessary skills to teach for the 21st century. Students in these programs need to be learning now Science of Reading, Restorative Justice. If teachers need to be able to assist dyslexia students then OG knowledge and experience should be noted as a preferred skill. If data analysis is important, then students obviously need some quantitative and statistical analysis classes. Part of the problem is that while teaching is difficult, obtaining an Education degree is not. A good number of the classes and skills offered in Masters of Education programs need to become standard for the Bachelor’s level.

Superintendents need to start announcing some bold initiatives about revamping US education and pushing them forward. Some of the needed things are even bold ideas they just require fortitude against naysayers.

Really?

You think the answer is for MCPS to create MORE Central Office positions? That’s not going to help at all. Central Office is already bloated and useless. We don’t need to add to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students.
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed.
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties.
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

Yes to everything written above!

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.

You want martyrdom for literally doing what you're supposed to do as a parent, which is take care of your kid? I'm sorry, did you also forget to raise your kids during the pandemic? I'm a parent and I can tell which of my kid's friends parents did their parental duties during the pandemic. There are many that just gave up because it was too hard. The pandemic shined a huge light on how many people have no business raising children. You want to blame everyone but the person in the mirror. I don't need teachers to "acknowledge" what I did during virtual schooling.You sound like you want people to clap for you just for doing the bare minimum. No wonder teachers continue to leave, who would want to put up with this nonsense from parents on a daily basis?

Your post is a wonderful example of the horrific discourse coming from teachers and, unfortunately, some parents. Honestly, do you think you are helping teachers by posting this? I won't point out all the ways in which your post is ridiculous but to start I have no desire for teachers to "clap" for me, hilarious that you think that is a coherent response to what I wrote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students.
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed.
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties.
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

Yes to everything written above!

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.

It’s not labor, it’s parenting. And, yet some of us have done it for several years now. These kids are acting up because they get away with it at home and school and the school nor parents care. You seem to confuse parenting with something else.