Teacher at a JKLM school AMA (ask me anything)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can differentiation really work at like 3rd grade with the grade level variation in student learning in our classes? What at your JKLM should people ask for in Title I schools?

It would totally depend on your admin team.....as a professional you know exactly what needs to be done and if your admin team supports this, then you are good.

However, if they have a different "vision" (and I quote this because the vision is usually a crappy DCPS vision) is different from yours, then you have to educate them and advocate on your behalf. If they do not see this, then you can either suffer under their awful leadership or find another school that actually believes in and supports you as a professional. Trust me.....I've had admin that have been on both sides of the fence and, fortunately, I've been on the side of admin that supports me as a professional for most of my career. If not, I would find another school. Sadly, we've lost a lot of educators because of admin on the "bad" side, but there are a lot on the "good" side as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What advice do you have for parents at Title I schools?

Without a kid, here are my ideas for educational success (in regards to social/emotional/academic success)

#1 - read to them from birth to k-5
#2 - count/do basic math skills from birth to k-5
#3 - be involved in your child's schooling (classroom volunteer or just give $$ to the pta)

Of all my years experience, these 3 items have been crucial to success in K-5....only once have I taught a student without any of these three and the young lady was academically/socially/emotionally gifted by the time she got to me (grade 4/5).

Thanks, but I meant what do you suggest for those of us who are working on improving Title I schools in gentrifying areas. For the school and also for engaging and parenting an above grade level child in a mostly below grade level classroom.

[Anonymous]

How long have you taught in DCPS and was it all at one school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What advice do you have for parents at Title I schools?

Without a kid, here are my ideas for educational success (in regards to social/emotional/academic success)

#1 - read to them from birth to k-5
#2 - count/do basic math skills from birth to k-5
#3 - be involved in your child's schooling (classroom volunteer or just give $$ to the pta)

Of all my years experience, these 3 items have been crucial to success in K-5....only once have I taught a student without any of these three and the young lady was academically/socially/emotionally gifted by the time she got to me (grade 4/5).

Thanks, but I meant what do you suggest for those of us who are working on improving Title I schools in gentrifying areas. For the school and also for engaging and parenting an above grade level child in a mostly below grade level classroom.

How would he know? He's never worked at a school with Title 1 kids.

[Anonymous]

Why are DCPS middle schools so bad and what can be done about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you consider leaving DCPS for a surburban school district like FCPS, APS, MCPS, Calvert county or any other local school system?

Fortunately, I'm at at great school with admin that supports me 100%. I moved here from another state (not Virginia or Maryland) and received a SIGNIFICANT pay increase. I'd have to either extremely dislike my admin team or the mandates from DCPS to look somewhere else. Having taught in other large urban districts, I understand that DCPS can say something and then local admin can support you as much as he/she wants. If this were to change I would look elsewhere, but I would first explore my intra-DCPS options because of retirement reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think the top kids in your class would benefit from a pull out gifted program or are you able to meet their needs in the classroom?

For me, personally, I teach to the gifted student. However, when I came to DCPS I was appalled at their lack of focus/curriculum towards our gifted students. I still cannot fathom the idea that they do not even IDENTIFY let alone service students with gifted tendencies. But what do I know? I'm just a teacher in the classroom with 10+ years experience and masters degree in the area to boot!

Fortunately, because of my admin, I have been able to introduce curriculum and/or gifted strategies to all of the students in my classroom. In my years of experience, the students will rise to your levels of expectations. Sure, some students need specific scaffolding to help them attain certain content, but most students (at least in a JKLM school) are yearning for a challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What advice do you have for parents at Title I schools?

Without a kid, here are my ideas for educational success (in regards to social/emotional/academic success)

#1 - read to them from birth to k-5
#2 - count/do basic math skills from birth to k-5
#3 - be involved in your child's schooling (classroom volunteer or just give $$ to the pta)

Of all my years experience, these 3 items have been crucial to success in K-5....only once have I taught a student without any of these three and the young lady was academically/socially/emotionally gifted by the time she got to me (grade 4/5).

Thanks, but I meant what do you suggest for those of us who are working on improving Title I schools in gentrifying areas. For the school and also for engaging and parenting an above grade level child in a mostly below grade level classroom.

I'm not that experienced in this arena, but (as I'm sure you know) parental involvement is crucial to success (be it academic and/or social/emotional).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long have you taught in DCPS and was it all at one school?

I've only been at a JKLM school for my tenure in DCPS but in other states/districts I've taught at schools with similar profiles, so I can compare on so many different levels on student expectations, admin expectations, district expectations, and federal/state expectations.

[Anonymous]

Do you think DCPS is improving overall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long have you taught in DCPS and was it all at one school?

I've only been at a JKLM school for my tenure in DCPS but in other states/districts I've taught at schools with similar profiles, so I can compare on so many different levels on student expectations, admin expectations, district expectations, and federal/state expectations.

Comparing schools with similar profiles, what does DCPS do right? What does DCPS do wrong?

How much does PARCC testing affect what you do in the classroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are DCPS middle schools so bad and what can be done about it?

My only experience is dealing with students to either Hardy and/or Deal middle schools. I'm not a parent, but if I had a child that was preparing for middle school, I would send them to either school. Here's why:

#1 - I would hope that I provided the appropriate home life to equip them with any social/emotional challenges they may encounter
#2 - I am a firm believer in public schools so I would hope that I would have prepared my child deal with all the issues at either of the schools (if I could not send them to the above schools, then disregard #3)
#3 - Private schools are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. As someone who has inquired about employment at various private middle schools I realize that the amount of money a family may spend is RIDICULOUS compared to a free public school at Hardy or Deal (not to mention charters). You would be much better advised to spend your money on summer experiences for your child. Unless you have an outrageous amount of expendable income OR you are a significant scholarship recipient, why are you wasting your money? Give it to me and I will educate your middle school student to the highest of levels!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think DCPS is improving overall?

I do, only because of the demographics. I don't want to get into the specifics of this because of the politics behind it. However, as a liberal democrat, just know that it could be improved even more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long have you taught in DCPS and was it all at one school?

I've only been at a JKLM school for my tenure in DCPS but in other states/districts I've taught at schools with similar profiles, so I can compare on so many different levels on student expectations, admin expectations, district expectations, and federal/state expectations.

Comparing schools with similar profiles, what does DCPS do right? What does DCPS do wrong?

How much does PARCC testing affect what you do in the classroom?

DCPS is FARRRRRRR behind other districts when it comes to educational technology. Most privates/charters and other districts are Google Apps for Education (GAFE) districts which provide a suite of educational tools for curriculum. The fact that the district does not support this is abhorrent. I would hope that people on this board would inquire about this BEYOND the school level (we have done so from the classroom and admin level, but parents are what greases the wheel).

As far as what they do right at a JKLM school, the PTA has been PHENOMENAL. I've been at schools with similar profiles but in DCPS, the PTA has given me anything and everything to support my classroom. It was weird at first (coming from a JLKM school without a strong PTA) but now I know how instrumental they are. Parental support (financially and labor intensive) are crucial to the success of a kid's education.

[Anonymous]

What do you think of Impact and Leap?