Anonymous wrote:I was a full-time elementary volunteer and I can tell you before the pandemic what I saw with teachers was pathetic. Laziness, whining, glossing over curicullum and skipping a great deal of what is required. Just don’t want to be bothered.
Anonymous wrote:Things are great here in New Jersey, where the median teacher salary is above $90,000 (versus about $65,000 in Fairfax County). Of course, we pay 2x the property tax you do.
How many years of teaching with a Bachelor’s degree does it take to get up $90k? Just curious. I’m in year 11 in my district and I’m around $81k. I should get to $90k by year 20. That’s nothing to get excited about.
If salaries aren't frozen AGAIN...
I have a MA+30 and have been teaching over 20 years, but only 16 with FCPS. I barely make $90K. I've had an MA the entire time I've been teaching and added the +30 about 15 years ago, so it isn't as though those are new credentials. We've had salary and step freezes so often that I am not on the step I should be.
I've worked for 30 years professional work and make $100,000 and don't have summers off. Teaching might be harder, but there are real other jobs that make this same amount. I think the safety issues are ridiculous in the schools.
Right, but if people aren't willing to do the job, then you don't have people doing the job. That's the bottom line.
It's a necessary job, so you have to get it filled somehow. That means more salary or better benefits or something. The benefits and salary are not too much if you can't find people to do it. Obviously -- and I mean obviously -- if it was that great a trade-off, people would go into teaching from other jobs instead of just saying it's a better deal. If it were, they would do it, especially with requirements loosened.
Not really. That’s what they said about grocery store checkout employees. Should we pay checkout workers 6 figure salaries because they had to work duri by the pandemic and deal with the public and other undesirable traits of their jobs? Nope. Self checkout!
Trends are moving in different directions. Traditional styles of in person teaching are fading away. Time to rethink education.
Great sounds like you are good with having no teachers at school. Enjoy
Many schools already are moving towards flipped classrooms where 1 teacher can record the lesson for multiple classrooms. Kids watch the lesson and then complete the assignments. Many times the assignment is graded by the computer. The teacher can hold office hours for questions or respond via email. Stride K12, Connections Academy, and many others have software based learning augmented by a teacher. We won’t need as many teachers anyway. This is the future.
This is funny after how you all SCREAMED that students needed to be in the building students need to build relationships with their teachers. "just look at what covid did to our kids" LOL
Kids would still be in the school building. They could be supervised by a behavior specialist. Teaching as we know it is a dying profession. Teachers dont want the job and students learning shouldn’t be dependent on the availability of a teacher. Software and video lessons ensure continuity in learning.
Bwhahahah. No "behavior specialist" in their right mind would take that assignment. Overseeing a group of students who are sitting around supposedly learning en masse from a recorded video is not what RBTs, BCBAs, or even behavior techs do.
It could very well be what they do. Aides would work as well. Kids who would be on phones and not working would be doing that regardless of whether a teacher is trying to teach in front of them or not. The only difference would be children who want to learn could continue learning regardless of whether the teacher resigned or not.
Tell me you've never been in the classroom without telling me LOL fool
Yawn. The tired “tell me yadda yadda without telling me.”
Aww did that trigger you LOL
Yawn again. Triggered you, I suppose.
This “repeating the person’s words back to them” thing you continue to do is the behavior of a 5th grader. Just FYI.
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who works incredibly hard. I am fortunate to have parents who value and support me. But, I can tell you this. The amount of parenting questions I have gotten over my career in mind boggling. My teammates agree. The second thing is my kids with phones have the worst attention spans. This is 6th grade.
Would it be better to completely eliminate the phones in school?
That won’t make a difference because the parents gave them the phone. It isn’t just phones. Computers and Video Games play into that. You know how many times a parent has asked me how to get their kid off technology?
DP. My kid has been "suspended" from the tablet/laptop a couple times for inappropriate use. If he can go a week in class without a laptop, can he go all the time without a laptop? Please?
Why don't you instead teach him to behave and listen to the teacher and not inappropriately us the laptop. PARENTING FAIL.
I'm fine with the teacher disciplining him and teaching him to behave and use the technology properly.
It would be easier for everyone, I think, if kids didn't get tablets/laptops/games during class.
It’s 2023. This isn’t going to happen. If you want that, go Catholic. No, you do not have to be Catholic for your child to attend Catholic school.
Anonymous wrote:so those of us who have kids who still have a while to graduate but can't afford private schools? what do we do? I encourage my kids to read (they love reading), they take math enrichment...but what else? Is this also an issue with kids in honors and IB/AP classes?
Nope. My kids have been in AAP since 3rd, 1 is about to graduate with a full IB diploma, the other is in 10th taking AP classes. They are at 2 different schools. The senior pupil placed to an IB Scchool. The Board reads like fiction to me. My kids and their peers are studious and motivated and teachers love them. Teachers will reach out to me unsolicited about my kids with positive messages. I think I'm more the norm than this board would have you believe.
3 teachers my kids had in the past have since left FCPS, the rest have remained. All of the 3 that left, still keep in contact with my kids and my family. 2 of the 3 that left, along with his current English teacher, helped review my oldests's college/scholarship essays.
Which school pyramids? My kid’s counselor resigned halfway through the school year and one of his STEM teachers just resigned, too. Yeah, my kids are “studious and motivated,” too. I found that the teachers were far too overwhelmed to give my kids attention. You get emails from your kids’ teachers? They have the spare time to do that? I’ve gotten maybe sum total three emails about both of my kids over K-12
Really? We get a weekly email from our kid’s 6th grade teacher.
Not a mass email— an email about your kid, specifically.
Anonymous wrote:so those of us who have kids who still have a while to graduate but can't afford private schools? what do we do? I encourage my kids to read (they love reading), they take math enrichment...but what else? Is this also an issue with kids in honors and IB/AP classes?
Nope. My kids have been in AAP since 3rd, 1 is about to graduate with a full IB diploma, the other is in 10th taking AP classes. They are at 2 different schools. The senior pupil placed to an IB Scchool. The Board reads like fiction to me. My kids and their peers are studious and motivated and teachers love them. Teachers will reach out to me unsolicited about my kids with positive messages. I think I'm more the norm than this board would have you believe.
3 teachers my kids had in the past have since left FCPS, the rest have remained. All of the 3 that left, still keep in contact with my kids and my family. 2 of the 3 that left, along with his current English teacher, helped review my oldests's college/scholarship essays.
It's not fair that schools only focus on AAP/IP/AP children. My child is not AAP smart, but she's a hard worker, she doesn't ask for screen time, she doesn't watch a lot of TV, she's super well behaved but she's an average kid, she's in general education stuck with the poorly behaved kids and if you want to talk about a child who is COMPLETELY ignored and is falling behind because of inclusion/ADHD kids/ESOL kids/etc in the class, that's MY KID. We spend thousands on tutors because she's not learning anything in school. We got her tested because we thought maybe she had a learning disability or something, but no, she's just a perfectly normal, average child who isn't getting taught anything because her teachers are too busy with troubled kids and all the smart kids were sorted into AAP where they get all sorts of special treatment, special lessons, no disruption. IT'S NOT FAIR.
p.s. Not Catholic, we can't afford expensive private schools, we're just plain screwed.
I'm not sure what you want here. A class for only the super nice kids? It does stink that your kid isn't getting enough out of school, but lowering the bar for everyone is not the solution.
I don't think that's what the poster meant. I think they, like a lot of people, are fed up with their kids getting screwed over for being "normal." If the kid isn't smart enough for AAP, or protected by a 504/IEP, they are totally screwed. Gen Ed classes are dominated by children who should not be included in a general education classroom-- disruptive behavior issues that suck up all the teacher's time and attention. But any time anyone suggests this is a valid issue, you get people screaming about how their precious monster is entitled to be in the classroom and has a right to be disruptive and no one can suggest otherwise because of their "disability." And suggesting that a child with a disruptive disability should be in a separate classroom with more support somehow makes you ableist and evil and advocating for all disabilities to be excluded. Why arent normal kids entitled to FAPE?
I don’t think you understand what FAPE is. You “normal” kid is getting it. My AAP kid is getting it. The bozo kid down the block is getting it. All FAPE means is access. It doesn’t mean taught in a way that’s acceptable to you, in a classroom full of kids acceptable to you. I think a lot of you will never be satisfied.
No. The law needs to be changed so that LEGAL protection of FAPE is provided to *all* students, including non-disrupted classrooms and being able to hear the teacher, in environment conducive to learning.
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who works incredibly hard. I am fortunate to have parents who value and support me. But, I can tell you this. The amount of parenting questions I have gotten over my career in mind boggling. My teammates agree. The second thing is my kids with phones have the worst attention spans. This is 6th grade.
Would it be better to completely eliminate the phones in school?
That won’t make a difference because the parents gave them the phone. It isn’t just phones. Computers and Video Games play into that. You know how many times a parent has asked me how to get their kid off technology?
DP. My kid has been "suspended" from the tablet/laptop a couple times for inappropriate use. If he can go a week in class without a laptop, can he go all the time without a laptop? Please?
Why don't you instead teach him to behave and listen to the teacher and not inappropriately us the laptop. PARENTING FAIL.
I'm fine with the teacher disciplining him and teaching him to behave and use the technology properly.
It would be easier for everyone, I think, if kids didn't get tablets/laptops/games during class.
It’s 2023. This isn’t going to happen. If you want that, go Catholic. No, you do not have to be Catholic for your child to attend Catholic school.
It's 2023. Maybe we'll become wise and slow down the technology in the classroom. We have lots of evidence that it is harmful rather than helpful.
Anonymous wrote:so those of us who have kids who still have a while to graduate but can't afford private schools? what do we do? I encourage my kids to read (they love reading), they take math enrichment...but what else? Is this also an issue with kids in honors and IB/AP classes?
Nope. My kids have been in AAP since 3rd, 1 is about to graduate with a full IB diploma, the other is in 10th taking AP classes. They are at 2 different schools. The senior pupil placed to an IB Scchool. The Board reads like fiction to me. My kids and their peers are studious and motivated and teachers love them. Teachers will reach out to me unsolicited about my kids with positive messages. I think I'm more the norm than this board would have you believe.
3 teachers my kids had in the past have since left FCPS, the rest have remained. All of the 3 that left, still keep in contact with my kids and my family. 2 of the 3 that left, along with his current English teacher, helped review my oldests's college/scholarship essays.
It's not fair that schools only focus on AAP/IP/AP children. My child is not AAP smart, but she's a hard worker, she doesn't ask for screen time, she doesn't watch a lot of TV, she's super well behaved but she's an average kid, she's in general education stuck with the poorly behaved kids and if you want to talk about a child who is COMPLETELY ignored and is falling behind because of inclusion/ADHD kids/ESOL kids/etc in the class, that's MY KID. We spend thousands on tutors because she's not learning anything in school. We got her tested because we thought maybe she had a learning disability or something, but no, she's just a perfectly normal, average child who isn't getting taught anything because her teachers are too busy with troubled kids and all the smart kids were sorted into AAP where they get all sorts of special treatment, special lessons, no disruption. IT'S NOT FAIR.
p.s. Not Catholic, we can't afford expensive private schools, we're just plain screwed.
I'm not sure what you want here. A class for only the super nice kids? It does stink that your kid isn't getting enough out of school, but lowering the bar for everyone is not the solution.
I don't think that's what the poster meant. I think they, like a lot of people, are fed up with their kids getting screwed over for being "normal." If the kid isn't smart enough for AAP, or protected by a 504/IEP, they are totally screwed. Gen Ed classes are dominated by children who should not be included in a general education classroom-- disruptive behavior issues that suck up all the teacher's time and attention. But any time anyone suggests this is a valid issue, you get people screaming about how their precious monster is entitled to be in the classroom and has a right to be disruptive and no one can suggest otherwise because of their "disability." And suggesting that a child with a disruptive disability should be in a separate classroom with more support somehow makes you ableist and evil and advocating for all disabilities to be excluded. Why arent normal kids entitled to FAPE?
I look at my grade level and none of the SPED kids are disruptive. All of our disruptive kids are the academically normal ones or ESOL students.
What consequences do they get?
Sometimes being moved to a different classroom. Getting sent to office. Sometimes in school suspension. In other grades there are SPED kids with behavior issues but the majority of the kids who are behavior problems aren’t SPED.
It doesn't matter if they are SPED or not, disruptive kids need to get kicked out of the classroom. There needs to be consequences -- I don't see or hear about anything that you're mentioning. I know that kids who get sent to the office just sit there and color or chat with the principal. It's like a reward to them. I have literally NEVER heard of a kid at our school getting suspended and we're talking about chair throwers and kids who have hurt other children. They're back the next day. The only kids that get moved are the victims, which is totally unfair. Kids are less likely to complain and tell their kids if they know it means they'll have to move to a different classroom. My kid flat out told me this.
This is exactly right. DEMAND that disruptive kids are expelled.
Schools are not psychiatric treatment centers.
Every time I read a declaration like this, I wonder. What qualifies as a disruptive kid? It’s it a one-time offender? A three-time? A wiggly, chatty kid who takes a lot of the teacher’s time for redirection? An ESOL student who gets frustrated? A yeller, or an eloper, or a class clown, or a puncher? All disruptive in different ways. Genuinely asking because I see huge challenges for this ahead. Who will make that call?
DP. I think the extremes can have some clear lines, even if the middle cases are judgment calls.
Th most clear situations are where there is real safety risk. The first time the rest of the class has to be evacuated from a room for safety, it should be considered. The second time, for the same child? That is too much of a safety risk and too disruptive to the other children's learning, which is equally important.
But that is the issue. Most classrooms don’t have the need to be evacuated due to one kid. It has certainly happened at our school but usually out of 20 classes, there might be 1-2 classes that have a kid like this. Most have disruptive behaviors where kids don’t shut up, refuse to do work, talk back to teachers, use inappropriate language, etc. I teach AAP and I have kids who literally talk all day and they need redirecting.
Sure. But why should the existence of cases in the gray zone prevent us from dealing with the clear-cut black & white cases? Why is the fact that there are some hard decisions prevent us from moving forward on the easy ones?
Start there. Then keep talking. But don't wait for the conversation to be finished before you do anything at all.
DP. Did you not understand what she said? Because those classes are far from the majority of cases. I teach an AP class and in one section a good number of the kids are astonishingly rude, talking over me while I teach or staring at their phones.
Right. And why aren't those classes dealt with appropriately? As shown in this thread, people start to hem and haw and say "but, but, these other cases aren't so clear cut, and those are harder to deal with .."
Sure. But why are the OTHER clear-cut cases not dealt with? Nothing is changing. Stopping those smaller awful recurring cases shouldn't depend on whether you can figure out other things. Start there.
Because as the principal above says, if the student has an IEP, the parent has to agree to another placement. And many, many parents refuse to have their kid moved to a center program.
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who works incredibly hard. I am fortunate to have parents who value and support me. But, I can tell you this. The amount of parenting questions I have gotten over my career in mind boggling. My teammates agree. The second thing is my kids with phones have the worst attention spans. This is 6th grade.
Would it be better to completely eliminate the phones in school?
That won’t make a difference because the parents gave them the phone. It isn’t just phones. Computers and Video Games play into that. You know how many times a parent has asked me how to get their kid off technology?
DP. My kid has been "suspended" from the tablet/laptop a couple times for inappropriate use. If he can go a week in class without a laptop, can he go all the time without a laptop? Please?
Why don't you instead teach him to behave and listen to the teacher and not inappropriately us the laptop. PARENTING FAIL.
I'm fine with the teacher disciplining him and teaching him to behave and use the technology properly.
It would be easier for everyone, I think, if kids didn't get tablets/laptops/games during class.
It’s 2023. This isn’t going to happen. If you want that, go Catholic. No, you do not have to be Catholic for your child to attend Catholic school.
It's 2023. Maybe we'll become wise and slow down the technology in the classroom. We have lots of evidence that it is harmful rather than helpful.
Anonymous wrote:I recently applied for the FCPS tutor position they've been advertising. However, I noticed in the actual application that tutors will be responsible for creating their own "curriculum"? Wouldn't that be provided by the students' teachers?
No, of course not. Teachers are responsible for education during the school day. They are not responsible for communication with tutors, nor for providing curriculum to tutors. Middle and high school teachers have 130-175 students. They cannot communicate with every tutor parents hire. And some parents hire tutors for their children who have less than a 93% in classes, so there may be quite a few students who have tutors or who use tutor.com.
Tutors can communicate with students to figure out what they need. The student being able to explain what they are doing in school is important. Have the student show the tutor information on Schoology or in their notebook.
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who works incredibly hard. I am fortunate to have parents who value and support me. But, I can tell you this. The amount of parenting questions I have gotten over my career in mind boggling. My teammates agree. The second thing is my kids with phones have the worst attention spans. This is 6th grade.
Would it be better to completely eliminate the phones in school?
That won’t make a difference because the parents gave them the phone. It isn’t just phones. Computers and Video Games play into that. You know how many times a parent has asked me how to get their kid off technology?
DP. My kid has been "suspended" from the tablet/laptop a couple times for inappropriate use. If he can go a week in class without a laptop, can he go all the time without a laptop? Please?
Why don't you instead teach him to behave and listen to the teacher and not inappropriately us the laptop. PARENTING FAIL.
I'm fine with the teacher disciplining him and teaching him to behave and use the technology properly.
It would be easier for everyone, I think, if kids didn't get tablets/laptops/games during class.
It’s 2023. This isn’t going to happen. If you want that, go Catholic. No, you do not have to be Catholic for your child to attend Catholic school.
It's 2023. Maybe we'll become wise and slow down the technology in the classroom. We have lots of evidence that it is harmful rather than helpful.
Once again, it’s not going to happen.
It’s ok you have won that battle- relax each is going to stay. It IS bad for kids brains because it increases cortisol and dopamine addictions. The kids who suffer from add and have other brain differences (more likely to be addicted tot bings etc) will suffer more. To say this isn’t scientific fact is wrong but you can relax because it will stay.
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who works incredibly hard. I am fortunate to have parents who value and support me. But, I can tell you this. The amount of parenting questions I have gotten over my career in mind boggling. My teammates agree. The second thing is my kids with phones have the worst attention spans. This is 6th grade.
Would it be better to completely eliminate the phones in school?
That won’t make a difference because the parents gave them the phone. It isn’t just phones. Computers and Video Games play into that. You know how many times a parent has asked me how to get their kid off technology?
DP. My kid has been "suspended" from the tablet/laptop a couple times for inappropriate use. If he can go a week in class without a laptop, can he go all the time without a laptop? Please?
Why don't you instead teach him to behave and listen to the teacher and not inappropriately us the laptop. PARENTING FAIL.
I'm fine with the teacher disciplining him and teaching him to behave and use the technology properly.
It would be easier for everyone, I think, if kids didn't get tablets/laptops/games during class.
It’s 2023. This isn’t going to happen. If you want that, go Catholic. No, you do not have to be Catholic for your child to attend Catholic school.
It's 2023. Maybe we'll become wise and slow down the technology in the classroom. We have lots of evidence that it is harmful rather than helpful.
Not really if you look at the full body of evidence.
Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher who works incredibly hard. I am fortunate to have parents who value and support me. But, I can tell you this. The amount of parenting questions I have gotten over my career in mind boggling. My teammates agree. The second thing is my kids with phones have the worst attention spans. This is 6th grade.
Would it be better to completely eliminate the phones in school?
That won’t make a difference because the parents gave them the phone. It isn’t just phones. Computers and Video Games play into that. You know how many times a parent has asked me how to get their kid off technology?
DP. My kid has been "suspended" from the tablet/laptop a couple times for inappropriate use. If he can go a week in class without a laptop, can he go all the time without a laptop? Please?
Why don't you instead teach him to behave and listen to the teacher and not inappropriately us the laptop. PARENTING FAIL.
I'm fine with the teacher disciplining him and teaching him to behave and use the technology properly.
It would be easier for everyone, I think, if kids didn't get tablets/laptops/games during class.
It’s 2023. This isn’t going to happen. If you want that, go Catholic. No, you do not have to be Catholic for your child to attend Catholic school.
It's 2023. Maybe we'll become wise and slow down the technology in the classroom. We have lots of evidence that it is harmful rather than helpful.
Once again, it’s not going to happen.
It’s ok you have won that battle- relax each is going to stay. It IS bad for kids brains because it increases cortisol and dopamine addictions. The kids who suffer from add and have other brain differences (more likely to be addicted tot bings etc) will suffer more. To say this isn’t scientific fact is wrong but you can relax because it will stay.
Those kids can ask for medical accommodations.
But:
-don't come on here with "scientific facts" if a) you aren't in the field and b) you're not at least providing the facts;
-While I agree that the tech used is not always helpful, in a lot of instances it is. The key is do ID which is which. Not "slow down tech in the Classroom", which as the other PP said, is not happening.
Forum Index
»
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
