I’m an MCPS teacher, AMA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think mcps prepares kids well for good colleges? If not, what outside prep do you recommend?

Yes I do. MCPS has many AP courses and most teachers are pretty good. I wish more students took study skills courses. But parents don’t want the courses as they aren’t honors or AP courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are your general thoughts about the assistant principals, principals, directors, and associate superintendents?

Like any other job, some are wonderful and some aren’t. It varies person to person.

[Anonymous]

Impressions of Weast, Starr, Smith, or McKnight?

[Anonymous]

Do you think it's bad for kids to graduate a couple of years early, either go straight to college or work? Do you think the socialization aspect of school is important?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think it's bad for kids to graduate a couple of years early, either go straight to college or work? Do you think the socialization aspect of school is important?

It depends on the student. Some really love the high school and college experience. Others want for that part of their life to be over and to begin the next chapter of life. It’s student dependent.

[Anonymous]

What grade level do you teach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What grade level do you teach?

Sorry, I missed that you were teaching middle school.

[Anonymous]

Do you wish the problematic behavior child would be removed from your class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you wish the problematic behavior child would be removed from your class?

If the behavior stops other students from learning, the disruptive student should be removed. Generally, in my case, students are more likely to hinder themselves with the behavior. It doesn’t impact other students. I’ll try several time to motivate the student to work or to focus. But at the end of the day, I can’t make the student care. I contact parents and note the contact in the log, but other than that, there isn’t much I can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think mcps prepares kids well for good colleges? If not, what outside prep do you recommend?

Yes I do. MCPS has many AP courses and most teachers are pretty good. I wish more students took study skills courses. But parents don’t want the courses as they aren’t honors or AP courses.

Didn't know these even existed. Can you elaborate or at last tell me what they're called so I can look it up?

[Anonymous]

Have there been any changes to the middle school curriculum since the curriculum audit (or are there any changes planned)?

What do you think of the curriculum, especially in middle school, but other levels as well?

Does the MCPS curriculum specifically teach grammar, or is it up to individual teachers to make up for gaps in grammar instruction?

Do you feel that (aside from COVID), MCPS students come to you well prepared for Middle School? Do you feel that middle school prepares kids well for high school, including AP, IB, etc.?

What do you think of MCPS grading policies?

What do you wish MCPS would change that would help students academically?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think mcps prepares kids well for good colleges? If not, what outside prep do you recommend?

Yes I do. MCPS has many AP courses and most teachers are pretty good. I wish more students took study skills courses. But parents don’t want the courses as they aren’t honors or AP courses.

Didn't know these even existed. Can you elaborate or at last tell me what they're called so I can look it up?

Sure. The AP courses or the study skills courses? The latter are usually geared towards students who need an extra elective or require preparation prior to taking an exam / standardized test. When I taught hs, these courses were seen as an easy A. Some Students were afraid to take the courses as they were worried the colleges would judge them negatively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have there been any changes to the middle school curriculum since the curriculum audit (or are there any changes planned)?

What do you think of the curriculum, especially in middle school, but other levels as well?

Does the MCPS curriculum specifically teach grammar, or is it up to individual teachers to make up for gaps in grammar instruction?

Do you feel that (aside from COVID), MCPS students come to you well prepared for Middle School? Do you feel that middle school prepares kids well for high school, including AP, IB, etc.?

What do you think of MCPS grading policies?

What do you wish MCPS would change that would help students academically?

Benchmark is meh. It’s very rigorous at the upper grades. Oftentimes, too easy in the younger grades. I’ve heard the shift to structured literacy is going well. The science teachers don’t like the new middle school science curriculum. Part of the problem is once teachers begin to feel comfortable with a curriculum, the county purchases a new one and teachers are back to learning everything anew from scratch. This results in teachers not knowing which lessons require depending, which need to be swapped out, etc.

Grammar instruction in MCPS is poor.

Some schools do a better job preparing their students than others do. I hate the 50 percent rule and the mid quarter deadlines. It doesn’t set students up for success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you wish the problematic behavior child would be removed from your class?

If the behavior stops other students from learning, the disruptive student should be removed. Generally, in my case, students are more likely to hinder themselves with the behavior. It doesn’t impact other students. I’ll try several time to motivate the student to work or to focus. But at the end of the day, I can’t make the student care. I contact parents and note the contact in the log, but other than that, there isn’t much I can do.

It does. Even if the other students don’t complain, which lower income students often won’t. Anytime you spend addressing repeat problem behavior is time taken from teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think mcps prepares kids well for good colleges? If not, what outside prep do you recommend?

Yes I do. MCPS has many AP courses and most teachers are pretty good. I wish more students took study skills courses. But parents don’t want the courses as they aren’t honors or AP courses.

They should be teaching study skills in ES and MS, not high school.