I feel like MCPS sucks the joy out of teaching

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Work to rule."

I would like to know how to do this without being terrible at my job.
—APS teacher

Nothing but multiple choice assignments/ tests. Kids like em anyways. Or multiday projects that don’t require a lot of written feedback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Work to rule."

I would like to know how to do this without being terrible at my job.
—APS teacher

Nothing but multiple choice assignments/ tests. Kids like em anyways. Or multiday projects that don’t require a lot of written feedback.

We are highly discouraged from giving those. We have to give feedback. I’ve been at 3 schools so far and all have had the same expectations. So our hands really are tied. Not enough time in the day to really be on top of everything. It’s really overwhelming and exhausting sometimes. I feel the merry go round never stops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwood HS had 28 teachers out last Friday.
I’m guessing that most took a sick day to try and catch up on work which is pretty much impossible to do during the school day

Yep. That was me yesterday. I spent most of my Friday evening getting all of my special education reports done. And then most of the weekend doing more paperwork that’s required. It’s asinine that the priority is paperwork and not grading

While I get it, it’s absolutely Frustrating for students and parents, not to mention produces so much anxiety. The amount of grades that just show up in the last 1-2 wks of the quarter is ridiculous. We’ve given up any belief that what is listed in Synergy is correct.

Unfortunately this happens because MCPS does not build in any time to grade and it has to all be done at home. Some teachers are able to give kids an independent assignment and then grade during class time but that is easier to pull off in some subjects than others. If we didn’t have all the random stuff to do such as special education quarterlies, PD, testing training, PSAT proctor training, college recommendations, SLO’s, department and committee meetings, being asked to sub, etc., we would be able to do a better job keeping up with grading and planning. All the above random stuff was just stuff for the month of October

Which I can appreciate, but most of the things listed above are not random. If teachers aren’t writing college recommendations then who would l? If there is nonspecific Ed quarterlies then how do we evaluate how interventions are working and document progress towards goals? PD for some folks is needed (though I do agree that some of it is ridiculous). I feel like SLOs should be written at a team level not individual teacher level.

I do think being asked to sub needs to stop or greatly decrease.

[Anonymous]

If the school runs out of its 40 hrs per week teachers should just go home and say cya. We should be able to fill out our time sheets truthfully and without any funny business in deflating our numbers bc the powers that be don't want a paper trail of how many hours past contract teachers actually work.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry for the stress but grateful for your work and the work of all teachers in MCPS. My kids attended MCPS and we were really pleased with their experience and amazed by the dedication of their teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the school runs out of its 40 hrs per week teachers should just go home and say cya. We should be able to fill out our time sheets truthfully and without any funny business in deflating our numbers bc the powers that be don't want a paper trail of how many hours past contract teachers actually work.

I feel this powerfully. It frustrates me every week that if I leave 1 hour early for an appointment I need to take sick leave, but if I have to come in early or stay late every day of the week, I am still required to say I worked 8 hours per day and no more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the school runs out of its 40 hrs per week teachers should just go home and say cya. We should be able to fill out our time sheets truthfully and without any funny business in deflating our numbers bc the powers that be don't want a paper trail of how many hours past contract teachers actually work.

I feel this powerfully. It frustrates me every week that if I leave 1 hour early for an appointment I need to take sick leave, but if I have to come in early or stay late every day of the week, I am still required to say I worked 8 hours per day and no more.

Staff too! It's not just teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the school runs out of its 40 hrs per week teachers should just go home and say cya. We should be able to fill out our time sheets truthfully and without any funny business in deflating our numbers bc the powers that be don't want a paper trail of how many hours past contract teachers actually work.

I feel this powerfully. It frustrates me every week that if I leave 1 hour early for an appointment I need to take sick leave, but if I have to come in early or stay late every day of the week, I am still required to say I worked 8 hours per day and no more.

Staff too! It's not just teachers.

You should report the hours correctly. Folks can ask you about it if they want and you just nicely explain that is the correct number of hours for each day. How payroll works based on contract terms is a different situation altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the school runs out of its 40 hrs per week teachers should just go home and say cya. We should be able to fill out our time sheets truthfully and without any funny business in deflating our numbers bc the powers that be don't want a paper trail of how many hours past contract teachers actually work.

I feel this powerfully. It frustrates me every week that if I leave 1 hour early for an appointment I need to take sick leave, but if I have to come in early or stay late every day of the week, I am still required to say I worked 8 hours per day and no more.

Staff too! It's not just teachers.

You should report the hours correctly. Folks can ask you about it if they want and you just nicely explain that is the correct number of hours for each day. How payroll works based on contract terms is a different situation altogether.

😂

[Anonymous]

Here’s a reason why I felt my joy sucked out today. One of our School Improvement Plan goals — which means a goal that all of our individual teams need to support — is for more Hispanic kids to come to school more often (yes, it specifies Hispanic). So, we are evaluating ourselves on whether parents send their kids to school. Yes, the school has a role in communicating to parents that school is important. But us teachers? If only we were more entertaining, they would come, I guess?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a reason why I felt my joy sucked out today. One of our School Improvement Plan goals — which means a goal that all of our individual teams need to support — is for more Hispanic kids to come to school more often (yes, it specifies Hispanic). So, we are evaluating ourselves on whether parents send their kids to school. Yes, the school has a role in communicating to parents that school is important. But us teachers? If only we were more entertaining, they would come, I guess?

What are the objectives being used to work towards this goal and measure progress/success? That's what really matters.

I do agree that its a terribly worded goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a reason why I felt my joy sucked out today. One of our School Improvement Plan goals — which means a goal that all of our individual teams need to support — is for more Hispanic kids to come to school more often (yes, it specifies Hispanic). So, we are evaluating ourselves on whether parents send their kids to school. Yes, the school has a role in communicating to parents that school is important. But us teachers? If only we were more entertaining, they would come, I guess?

Ugh. Sorry, that is ridiculous, obnoxious and demoralizing for sure.

[Anonymous]

Admin should do the comms, admin should do the discipline, and admin should do the entertainment because they are a bunch of clowns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the school runs out of its 40 hrs per week teachers should just go home and say cya. We should be able to fill out our time sheets truthfully and without any funny business in deflating our numbers bc the powers that be don't want a paper trail of how many hours past contract teachers actually work.

I feel this powerfully. It frustrates me every week that if I leave 1 hour early for an appointment I need to take sick leave, but if I have to come in early or stay late every day of the week, I am still required to say I worked 8 hours per day and no more.

Agree that this is wrong, but its how salaried workers are treated in the corporate world from the admins all the way up the ladder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry to hear.
Thank you for your service.

Thoughts & Prayers!