Our Schools Very Inefficient

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we need a PD on proper care of a copier then. Imagine that, a useful PD.

Or better yet, the laminator. At my school there's only one person who is trained and allowed to use the laminator and she laminates 2x/week on a schedule. Except she doesn't actually stick to the schedule so I can't count on having the materials I need when I need them. This system was supposed to cut down on laminator breakdowns but it doesn't break down any less frequently than it used to. Now it just further adds to frustration because you can't always count on having the materials for a planned lesson when you need them and so you either have to use them without having them be laminated or come up with another lesson on the fly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we need a PD on proper care of a copier then. Imagine that, a useful PD.

Or better yet, the laminator. At my school there's only one person who is trained and allowed to use the laminator and she laminates 2x/week on a schedule. Except she doesn't actually stick to the schedule so I can't count on having the materials I need when I need them. This system was supposed to cut down on laminator breakdowns but it doesn't break down any less frequently than it used to. Now it just further adds to frustration because you can't always count on having the materials for a planned lesson when you need them and so you either have to use them without having them be laminated or come up with another lesson on the fly.

We have the same issue at my school too. Only one paraeducator is allowed to laminate. I've been printing things out on my color printer this weekend like crazy so she can do it all this week. There were so many times I printed something and she couldn't get to it for a week or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having worked admin positions in office environments when I was younger, IME the vast majority of copier breakdowns are due to user error. People don't load the paper correctly, they don't take staples out of their originals before putting them into the copier, they put excessively thick of flimsy documents through the feeder rather than on the glass, etc. Then when (if) they try to fix it themselves, they don't actually follow the instructions, they just try to yank stuff out, leaving debris behind that ends up jammed further down into the copier and turns a simple jam into something requiring a maintenance visit from the outside service vendor, whose schedules you don't control. If people took better care of the copiers on a day-to-day basis, they'd see a lot less copier breakdown.

Wish you were right, but simply not the case in our school. We don't photocopy weird things. Most jobs are sent directly from our computers, actually. The photocopiers simply can't handle the load from so many teachers. We need more copiers. Before you say well, we should do everything by PC, we are trying that but we simply don't have enough to go around. If kids didn't have a worksheet to do, there would be chaos.

[Anonymous]

We have to have papers at our school because students don't have their own devices. 700+ students in the school and 2 copiers. What a mess! I never send my copiers directly to the printer because they often get lost in some other teacher's printing job. If the printers break, it takes a day or two to get a repair person to fix them. Then we get scolded for having students copy from the board. We can't win.

[Anonymous]

Are the copiers really cheaper than workbooks? There are so many great workbooks out there. You don't even have to use all the pages from them if they don't apply. it just seems all this individual teacher lesson planning and copying is very inefficient and even costly. From an outsider it seems to take less time and money using 1 workbook for the majority of curriculum with some supplemental handmade or purchased papers as needed. Am I correct or off base?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the copiers really cheaper than workbooks? There are so many great workbooks out there. You don't even have to use all the pages from them if they don't apply. it just seems all this individual teacher lesson planning and copying is very inefficient and even costly. From an outsider it seems to take less time and money using 1 workbook for the majority of curriculum with some supplemental handmade or purchased papers as needed. Am I correct or off base?

Yes - that is part of my point. Why isn't management asking these questions and making things more efficient? Why not just have a workbook for the same grades throughout the County? We have this country-esque approach to a major school system and it's not helping matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am on Day 3 of useless PDs. All I want is a few straight hours in my classroom. No, I do not need to hear about the district's "new" initiatives because they aren't new. Same thing from 4 years ago with a different name.

It's the same in Fairfax. PD is just an excuse for someone making twice your salary to read a powerpoint out loud to 500 people who don't give a crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe we need a PD on proper care of a copier then. Imagine that, a useful PD.

Or better yet, the laminator. At my school there's only one person who is trained and allowed to use the laminator and she laminates 2x/week on a schedule. Except she doesn't actually stick to the schedule so I can't count on having the materials I need when I need them. This system was supposed to cut down on laminator breakdowns but it doesn't break down any less frequently than it used to. Now it just further adds to frustration because you can't always count on having the materials for a planned lesson when you need them and so you either have to use them without having them be laminated or come up with another lesson on the fly.

And no one sees the irony of a school which would rather withhold resources from teachers than teach them to use the laminator. It's not actually that hard to use - our school had one - the problems usually happen when the machine has been crammed into a corner or badly positioned so that one can't access the back side easily to make sure nothing jams. And also it helps if one puts directions out where people can see them. Much smarter than limiting the use of this simple machine to one person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have to have papers at our school because students don't have their own devices. 700+ students in the school and 2 copiers. What a mess! I never send my copiers directly to the printer because they often get lost in some other teacher's printing job. If the printers break, it takes a day or two to get a repair person to fix them. Then we get scolded for having students copy from the board. We can't win.

Have the teachers approached the PTA to see if PTA can help? I know--the school system should provide another copier or more and better printers. But if the need is there, and the system won't provide, see if PTA either will help directly or will start a campaign to get your school system to provide another one. I'm betting, given the sadly resigned tone of this whole thread, that your answer may be either the PTA won't care or central purchasing rules prohibit this kind of help. Both are probably true. But if parents were made aware of how the issue affects their kids day to day, they could at least squawk loudly to your bosses about it and have teachers' backs. And... If PTAs can pay for playground equipment (as they did at our ES), they should be made aware that things necessary to everyday education are lacking while the playground has shiny new stuff....
Unfortunately maybe teachers won't directly talk to PTAs like that out of fear principals will punish teachers for doing so. What a mess, indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have to have papers at our school because students don't have their own devices. 700+ students in the school and 2 copiers. What a mess! I never send my copiers directly to the printer because they often get lost in some other teacher's printing job. If the printers break, it takes a day or two to get a repair person to fix them. Then we get scolded for having students copy from the board. We can't win.

Have the teachers approached the PTA to see if PTA can help? I know--the school system should provide another copier or more and better printers. But if the need is there, and the system won't provide, see if PTA either will help directly or will start a campaign to get your school system to provide another one. I'm betting, given the sadly resigned tone of this whole thread, that your answer may be either the PTA won't care or central purchasing rules prohibit this kind of help. Both are probably true. But if parents were made aware of how the issue affects their kids day to day, they could at least squawk loudly to your bosses about it and have teachers' backs. And... If PTAs can pay for playground equipment (as they did at our ES), they should be made aware that things necessary to everyday education are lacking while the playground has shiny new stuff....
Unfortunately maybe teachers won't directly talk to PTAs like that out of fear principals will punish teachers for doing so. What a mess, indeed.

The PTA can help by squawking loudly about how LCPS needs to be reorganized and do away with inefficiencies because it does affect the quality of teaching. It also affects teacher morale. We are talking unecessary screaming at kids that you all aren't even aware of.