Teachers have stopped teaching?

[Anonymous]

My HS student was rushing to finish an English paper and study for a Spanish test last night. We could use a bit less going on right now..

[Anonymous]

My HS student has to read 3 articles and comment on them.
He also has to do a LONG research paper and present it.
I think it's WAAAy too much work for the end of year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS student has to read 3 articles and comment on them.
He also has to do a LONG research paper and present it.
I think it's WAAAy too much work for the end of year

Then homeschool your little snowflake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is what MCPS union protected workforce has come down to. Teachers need to start loosing their job if they are not doing it.

I don't even know where to begin.

Looks like someone's teacher should loose their job.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, does any teacher in MCPS lose their job? My kids have had their share of crappy teachers and even 10 years later they are still working for MCPS. Once they have tenure it's almost impossible to fire them and they know it. They have nothing other than personal motivation to do their jobs well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, does any teacher in MCPS lose their job? My kids have had their share of crappy teachers and even 10 years later they are still working for MCPS. Once they have tenure it's almost impossible to fire them and they know it. They have nothing other than personal motivation to do their jobs well.

This is not true. Any teacher, tenured or not, can be placed on PAR by an administrator. The teacher is subject to extra observations and evaluation, while receiving additional support and professional development in the areas of weakness. At the end of the year, the teacher can be taken off PAR if standards have been met, continue on PAR for another year if significant progress has been made, or dismissed entirely if standards are not met. If standards are not met at the end of the year, the teacher is fired and can no longer teach in any MCPS school.

I have worked with three teachers who lost their jobs this way. Two were flat out not good teachers and did not make use of the extensive support given, and the third had gotten into an expletive-laced shouting match with the principal and felt he was then put on PAR for revenge. He resigned and teaches (very effectively) in another county.

Tenure really means very little in MCPS in terms of total freedom to not do your job. Non-tenured teachers have involved evaluations every year. Tenured teachers have them every three years. Tenure also means that if a position is cut, a tenured teacher will be guaranteed a position somewhere else before any new teacher is hired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, does any teacher in MCPS lose their job? My kids have had their share of crappy teachers and even 10 years later they are still working for MCPS. Once they have tenure it's almost impossible to fire them and they know it. They have nothing other than personal motivation to do their jobs well.

This is not true. Any teacher, tenured or not, can be placed on PAR by an administrator. The teacher is subject to extra observations and evaluation, while receiving additional support and professional development in the areas of weakness. At the end of the year, the teacher can be taken off PAR if standards have been met, continue on PAR for another year if significant progress has been made, or dismissed entirely if standards are not met. If standards are not met at the end of the year, the teacher is fired and can no longer teach in any MCPS school.

I have worked with three teachers who lost their jobs this way. Two were flat out not good teachers and did not make use of the extensive support given, and the third had gotten into an expletive-laced shouting match with the principal and felt he was then put on PAR for revenge. He resigned and teaches (very effectively) in another county.

Tenure really means very little in MCPS in terms of total freedom to not do your job. Non-tenured teachers have involved evaluations every year. Tenured teachers have them every three years. Tenure also means that if a position is cut, a tenured teacher will be guaranteed a position somewhere else before any new teacher is hired.

So, having dead weight remain in a school year after year is really an administrative issue. For a high school, is that a principal or assistant school administrator? At our school the principal has done some pretty asinine stuff herself - even in front of the media - and she has been there FOREVER. She is out of school more hours than she is in school so is it any wonder the teachers are showing movies instead of teaching?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach summer school and tutor most of the school year. I don't just do summer tutoring. I don't even know where/what grade I will teach for summer school. So no, I have not stopped teaching. Our administration is still doing informal observations to get ready for our reaccreditation in a few weeks. Not all teachers have stopped teaching. But maybe if you just keep repeating yourself...

You're repeating yourself a lot. You sound annoyed. No one is picking you out as failing to complete your work - but you have to know that there are plenty of disappointed parents where the teachers are failing to keep working.

Most of my students' parents are a disappointment to me too. So it works both ways.

That's different. They don't have a paid obligation towards you or your children to work. you and every other teacher does.

As a parent, you have the responsibility to get your snowflake to school on time and to reinforce the importance of being responsible for making up work and for turning in work on time.

I'm organized. I used organizational methods in my classroom. So stay on top of your kid.

I'm tired of the enabling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoping my child's teacher is using his computer time in class to be looking for another job. It is no surprise that kids are failing county finals when teachers are not teaching to the end.

Exactly. It is shocking that teachers who complain about "teaching to the test" don't use that time to give creative lessons. Meanwhile, the rest of the world's educated elites pass us by....looks like I'll be moving or digging deep for private school.

Oh, I don't know. I graduated from a fancy prep school in the '90s and in our AP classes at least, we all (including the teacher) had a pretty relaxed attitude about things after the long hard run-up to the exam. I remember moving classes outside sometimes, watching movies that were vaguely linked to our subject, class discussions devolving into chit chat, etc. The extensive time off for testing is a separate issue, but in terms of chilling out post-APs, I think that's a time-honored tradition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach summer school and tutor most of the school year. I don't just do summer tutoring. I don't even know where/what grade I will teach for summer school. So no, I have not stopped teaching. Our administration is still doing informal observations to get ready for our reaccreditation in a few weeks. Not all teachers have stopped teaching. But maybe if you just keep repeating yourself...

You're repeating yourself a lot. You sound annoyed. No one is picking you out as failing to complete your work - but you have to know that there are plenty of disappointed parents where the teachers are failing to keep working.

Most of my students' parents are a disappointment to me too. So it works both ways.

That's different. They don't have a paid obligation towards you or your children to work. you and every other teacher does.

As a parent, you have the responsibility to get your snowflake to school on time and to reinforce the importance of being responsible for making up work and for turning in work on time.


ha that's hilarious. no teacher would ever use the word snowflake only the resident misanthropist

and for the record, my kids have never been late for school and have never handed in homework late - and get A grades in all subjects (yes, they're at a private).
I'm organized. I used organizational methods in my classroom. So stay on top of your kid.

I'm tired of the enabling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach summer school and tutor most of the school year. I don't just do summer tutoring. I don't even know where/what grade I will teach for summer school. So no, I have not stopped teaching. Our administration is still doing informal observations to get ready for our reaccreditation in a few weeks. Not all teachers have stopped teaching. But maybe if you just keep repeating yourself...

You're repeating yourself a lot. You sound annoyed. No one is picking you out as failing to complete your work - but you have to know that there are plenty of disappointed parents where the teachers are failing to keep working.

Most of my students' parents are a disappointment to me too. So it works both ways.

That's different. They don't have a paid obligation towards you or your children to work. you and every other teacher does.

As a parent, you have the responsibility to get your snowflake to school on time and to reinforce the importance of being responsible for making up work and for turning in work on time.


ha that's hilarious. no teacher would ever use the word snowflake only the resident misanthropist

and for the record, my kids have never been late for school and have never handed in homework late - and get A grades in all subjects (yes, they're at a private).
I'm organized. I used organizational methods in my classroom. So stay on top of your kid.

I'm tired of the enabling.

ha that's hilarious. no teacher would ever use the word snowflake only the resident misanthropist

and for the record, my kids have never been late for school and have never handed in homework late - and get A grades in all subjects (yes, they're at a private).

[Anonymous]

Jurassic Park or the Day After Tomorrow has no business being shown to kids in school. Any science discussion is lost in the violence and mayhem in the movies. At a minimum, before any commercial movie is shown, parents should be given permission slips to sign so they can weigh in on what is being shown to their kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach summer school and tutor most of the school year. I don't just do summer tutoring. I don't even know where/what grade I will teach for summer school. So no, I have not stopped teaching. Our administration is still doing informal observations to get ready for our reaccreditation in a few weeks. Not all teachers have stopped teaching. But maybe if you just keep repeating yourself...

You're repeating yourself a lot. You sound annoyed. No one is picking you out as failing to complete your work - but you have to know that there are plenty of disappointed parents where the teachers are failing to keep working.

Most of my students' parents are a disappointment to me too. So it works both ways.

That's different. They don't have a paid obligation towards you or your children to work. you and every other teacher does.

As a parent, you have the responsibility to get your snowflake to school on time and to reinforce the importance of being responsible for making up work and for turning in work on time.


ha that's hilarious. no teacher would ever use the word snowflake only the resident misanthropist

and for the record, my kids have never been late for school and have never handed in homework late - and get A grades in all subjects (yes, they're at a private).
I'm organized. I used organizational methods in my classroom. So stay on top of your kid.

I'm tired of the enabling.

ha that's hilarious. no teacher would ever use the word snowflake only the resident misanthropist

and for the record, my kids have never been late for school and have never handed in homework late - and get A grades in all subjects (yes, they're at a private).

If they're in private, why are you chiming in? Your snowflakes aren't in with "the masses!" So go away.

[Anonymous]

I just wonder how many teachers are not teaching. My non-W middle and high school kids still seem to be very occupied. I have not heard a single movie mentioned.

[Anonymous]

I have always stopped all writing assignments with my AP English students after the AP Exam because I push them so hard up until that point, and they have drafted multiple college-level compositions by that point. After the exam, we simply discuss novels I assign for the kids to read at home. I pick novels that I think the kids will enjoy, but discussion is all we do. Once I even had them read 50 Shades of Grey with the discussion prompt: What makes "bad literature." I think they enjoy this, and the break after the exam, and I like that we can end the year on a light note, reading simply for enjoyment. I don't care what any parents think about this.