I barely have an idea what is being taught in child's 1st grade class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, to some of these comments. It's disgusting how entitled some people sound. Do you have any idea how hard your child's teacher is most likely working? You can't imagine how much some of you are asking of teachers. Weekly email reports?? Hilarious. Did you forget that teaching is not a desk job? Realty check: the majority of teachers spend a MINIMUM of 10-15 hours of personal (unpaid) time per week just to keep up with the job. You can't imagine the amount of time planning, grading, prepping, organizing, communicating with other staff, meetings, (did I mention TEACHING?) etc etc go into the demands of this job, especially with overcrowded classrooms which exasorbate behavior issues.

Reality check: that is not unpaid time. It's part of the job. You're a salary employee, right? You don't clock in each morning and make an hourly wage for the time you spend in the building, right? So you're getting paid for it. Your argument might be that the hours are long and you're not paid enough, which I would agree with. But let's be clear on the issue. (And I have several educators in my family and one close life-long friend who is a teacher.). I'm a lawyer and I have an annual billable hour requirement, which directly impacts my compensation, and then a bunch of administrative responsibilities that do not count toward my billables. But that doesn't mean I'm not paid for those tasks. They're just built into my base salary.

And I take issue with your hostility. Engaged parents are not the enemy. Many of us are highly educated and credit our success to education. We want to be partners in our kids' education. Figure out how to harness that to your benefit.

[Anonymous]

Teacher, I mostly agree with you. For the hours you put in for the pay you get, you have very hard job. I admire you. I will say in my 4 years with a kid in MCPS I have come across teachers that don't communicate well when there are issues. If there is a problem I want to know ASAP. For example, I don't want to hear 2 months into the school year that you think my kid is talking all the time and you give him an N on the report card without ever talking to me.

Many teachers (including you) are doing a great job and parents are being unreasonable with expecting daily updates or the like. I feel your pain because I have seen it.

And I also agree that parts of the curriculum are a disaster for both you and non-middle of the road students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: The other kid does work above grade level and scores off the chart on Map-M. We can't reward above grade level work because that's not allowed. I can reward someone who writes a lot about the on grade level activity.

Glad to see someone actually admit this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers in MCPS are totally overwhelmed. Our curriculum is hard to teach, and we get very limited resources that are ready-to-use (most things you'll see are teacher-made or printed off the internet). I admit that parent communication is one of the things I am weak in. But I'm grading and planning for hours every day. (BTW, I teach second grade, but it's been like this in the three other ES grades I've taught).

Request a conference and if you get no response, contact the principal and let him/her know what's going on. If the teacher is not doing his/her job, you have a right to say so. But let her know what you are looking for. I would hope that a teacher would respond to a conference request immediately. Do you get report cards and progress reports? Friday folder reports? Do you mind sharing what school this is?

I did have a conference with the teacher and she basically told me the same thing, that my son is doing fine. I asked if I could keep one of the books they use in the classroom overnight and she agreed. We get report cards but that is the only progress check. No homework except forreading about once a week. The school name begins with the letter C.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, to some of these comments. It's disgusting how entitled some people sound. Do you have any idea how hard your child's teacher is most likely working? You can't imagine how much some of you are asking of teachers. Weekly email reports?? Hilarious. Did you forget that teaching is not a desk job? Realty check: the majority of teachers spend a MINIMUM of 10-15 hours of personal (unpaid) time per week just to keep up with the job. You can't imagine the amount of time planning, grading, prepping, organizing, communicating with other staff, meetings, (did I mention TEACHING?) etc etc go into the demands of this job, especially with overcrowded classrooms which exasorbate behavior issues. Yes, in case it weren't obvious I am a teacher, and I speak with close to 20 years of experience. I can name on less than one hand the number of teachers who actually DON'T bring work home, and/or stay well beyond their duty day, and/or arrive early. To the commenter who complained that no reading took place in your child's classroom other than before report cards are sent, you surely misunderstood. Formal assessments only take place 3 times per year, as should be the case given that they take the teacher away from instruction and it is not necessary more frequently than that anyway. Reading instruction and guided groups should take place every day. And for the commenter who suggested 3 conferences including one with the reading specialist to evaluate your child, good luck with that. There is a special education process that you should look into because what you are suggesting is not how it works, nor should it work that way for good reason. Otherwise, we'd be wasting a lot of time formally evaluating children who would not qualify for an IEP. If your child's teacher had more time to communicate with you she would. Instead, it's probably her priority to get ready for the next day of lessons. You just can't imagine. The only time I ever have to communicate with parents is on my own personal time from home in the evenings. If she says your child is doing fine then trust that or otherwise ask for a parent conference (which you are perfectly entitled to and which a good teacher will call for herself if she feels it is needed), but know that your child's next lesson will probably not be as organized because of the planning time the conference costs the teacher. Yes, that's how it works.) Look on the MCPS website to investigate the specifics of the curriculum. Doesn't anyone ever wonder why it is such a high burn-out job in spite of the vacation and benefits? Yes I am disgruntled. Nobody gets it besides other teachers. The ones who manage to stick it out for the long haul do so because we love kids and have passion for the art of teaching. So try to show a little more respect, especially because something like 80% of the elementary teaching workforce today are in their first 5 years (meaning fresh out of college). If we want to increase the number of seasoned teachers, we need to make life a little less stressful for them, however possible.

So if they are salary, work 6 hours in school and get 2 periods of 30min each minimum of lunch/break then wouldn't those 10-15hrs each week add up to a 40hr work week? My husband is salary and he has never worked 40hrs. 45-50hrs is the norm for salary employees and many bring work home beyond that. Some have deadlines that they have to pull all nighters on. My husband can work up to 60 a week and he doesn't have 1/4 of the year off either. Sorry, no pity on that quote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers in MCPS are totally overwhelmed. Our curriculum is hard to teach, and we get very limited resources that are ready-to-use (most things you'll see are teacher-made or printed off the internet). I admit that parent communication is one of the things I am weak in. But I'm grading and planning for hours every day. (BTW, I teach second grade, but it's been like this in the three other ES grades I've taught).

Request a conference and if you get no response, contact the principal and let him/her know what's going on. If the teacher is not doing his/her job, you have a right to say so. But let her know what you are looking for. I would hope that a teacher would respond to a conference request immediately. Do you get report cards and progress reports? Friday folder reports? Do you mind sharing what school this is?

I did have a conference with the teacher and she basically told me the same thing, that my son is doing fine. I asked if I could keep one of the books they use in the classroom overnight and she agreed. We get report cards but that is the only progress check. No homework except forreading about once a week. The school name begins with the letter C.

I'm glad you met with the teacher. I know that a lot of first grade teachers have issues with homework and want the kids to focus on reading only. I can't argue with that since I HATE making and grading homework, and can't use it for any real information - because I ALREADY know which students are responsible and which ones have the parents who will prioritize homework.

I really am proud to work for MCPS - I really am, mostly because I've met some amazing teachers (and one or two solid administrators as well. However, I think we are in the midst of a huge hot mess that started with the CCSS. I think MCPS tried to be proactive and get in the boat first, sold their soul to Pearson for money to pay a team to write a crappy curriculum... and now the teachers are the ones saddled with it. I pray that one day soon we'll look back on this and talk about our war stories. (It's nationwide, btw - NY is a bigger wreck than us).

Here's the thing I hold on to: I knock myself out to make the content engaging for my kids. The quality of the teaching counts for way more than the quality of the curriculum. Yes, we do need to know our content (and yes, I did need to learn how to do this new math....and guess what? Now I'm better at math.) And I know lots of other teachers who are much better at captivating kids than me. We also have technology to help - I'm not asking my ESOL kids to visualize something they can't or trying to explain something that I shouldn't - I can access photos and visuals easily because I've got a working Promethean Board. I promise to all of you - I give the kids 100% every day. (I do admit by the time they leave I don't always have it in me to give the parents 100%). I promise that I am loving them and that their academic success is my priority.

What we need are responsible, smart, well-meaning teachers who get respect. And we need a good evaluation system (that is not even a little bit BASED ON @%$*# STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES!) so that we acknowledge the great teachers and work to improve those who are not great. And maybe show the door to some who show no effort in improving.

[Anonymous]

What we need are responsible, smart, well-meaning teachers who get respect. And we need a good evaluation system (that is not even a little bit BASED ON @%$*# STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES!) so that we acknowledge the great teachers and work to improve those who are not great. And maybe show the door to some who show no effort in improving.

There needs to be a balance. I have a teaching background and volunteer in my 1st grader's class. His teacher really is not a good a teacher. She's very nice but scatterbrained. She doesn't realize when she is being inconsistent with the kids or when she forgot to include part of the directions. I've seen her explain something wrong but then not catch herself and be confused about something else. She's just one of the people who always seems confused and spacey. The kids at all levels are underperforming because of her abilities.

She's very nice so a peer review would probably cut her a ton of slack as this is how peer review works in K-12. She would never not do exactly what the principal wants or cause problems so the principal will not be after her. The parents are not pleased but since she isn't mean to kids there isn't the ground swell of protest just everyone talking about how bad 1st grade is in MCPS.

An evaluation that includes standardized scores would help identify this teacher as a problem which is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers in MCPS are totally overwhelmed. Our curriculum is hard to teach, and we get very limited resources that are ready-to-use (most things you'll see are teacher-made or printed off the internet). I admit that parent communication is one of the things I am weak in. But I'm grading and planning for hours every day. (BTW, I teach second grade, but it's been like this in the three other ES grades I've taught).

Request a conference and if you get no response, contact the principal and let him/her know what's going on. If the teacher is not doing his/her job, you have a right to say so. But let her know what you are looking for. I would hope that a teacher would respond to a conference request immediately. Do you get report cards and progress reports? Friday folder reports? Do you mind sharing what school this is?

I did have a conference with the teacher and she basically told me the same thing, that my son is doing fine. I asked if I could keep one of the books they use in the classroom overnight and she agreed. We get report cards but that is the only progress check. No homework except forreading about once a week. The school name begins with the letter C.

I'm glad you met with the teacher. I know that a lot of first grade teachers have issues with homework and want the kids to focus on reading only. I can't argue with that since I HATE making and grading homework, and can't use it for any real information - because I ALREADY know which students are responsible and which ones have the parents who will prioritize homework.

I really am proud to work for MCPS - I really am, mostly because I've met some amazing teachers (and one or two solid administrators as well. However, I think we are in the midst of a huge hot mess that started with the CCSS. I think MCPS tried to be proactive and get in the boat first, sold their soul to Pearson for money to pay a team to write a crappy curriculum... and now the teachers are the ones saddled with it. I pray that one day soon we'll look back on this and talk about our war stories. (It's nationwide, btw - NY is a bigger wreck than us).

Here's the thing I hold on to: I knock myself out to make the content engaging for my kids. The quality of the teaching counts for way more than the quality of the curriculum. Yes, we do need to know our content (and yes, I did need to learn how to do this new math....and guess what? Now I'm better at math.) And I know lots of other teachers who are much better at captivating kids than me. We also have technology to help - I'm not asking my ESOL kids to visualize something they can't or trying to explain something that I shouldn't - I can access photos and visuals easily because I've got a working Promethean Board. I promise to all of you - I give the kids 100% every day. (I do admit by the time they leave I don't always have it in me to give the parents 100%). I promise that I am loving them and that their academic success is my priority.

What we need are responsible, smart, well-meaning teachers who get respect. And we need a good evaluation system (that is not even a little bit BASED ON @%$*# STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES!) so that we acknowledge the great teachers and work to improve those who are not great. And maybe show the door to some who show no effort in improving.

I just wanted to say that I empathize. I volunteer in both of my kids' classrooms and really feel that the teachers are doing the very best they can with what they have to work with. I think both of your posts are honest and realistic.

Good luck to you. You sound like a hard-working, good teacher who cares about the kids. I know that I could never do your job and give you credit for what you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What we need are responsible, smart, well-meaning teachers who get respect. And we need a good evaluation system (that is not even a little bit BASED ON @%$*# STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES!) so that we acknowledge the great teachers and work to improve those who are not great. And maybe show the door to some who show no effort in improving.

There needs to be a balance. I have a teaching background and volunteer in my 1st grader's class. His teacher really is not a good a teacher. She's very nice but scatterbrained. She doesn't realize when she is being inconsistent with the kids or when she forgot to include part of the directions. I've seen her explain something wrong but then not catch herself and be confused about something else. She's just one of the people who always seems confused and spacey. The kids at all levels are underperforming because of her abilities.

She's very nice so a peer review would probably cut her a ton of slack as this is how peer review works in K-12. She would never not do exactly what the principal wants or cause problems so the principal will not be after her. The parents are not pleased but since she isn't mean to kids there isn't the ground swell of protest just everyone talking about how bad 1st grade is in MCPS.

An evaluation that includes standardized scores would help identify this teacher as a problem which is needed.

I'm not opposed to data being a part of teacher's evaluation - I completely support that. I'm solely opposed to standardized test scores being the deciding factor, because there are way too many variables that we can't control or help. But if your child is not making progress - reading level has plateaued, or writing is not improving, or math skills are not increasing, then make this known. Because THOSE are the kinds of things that are important and that the teachers are responsible for.

I hear you on the scatterbrained teacher. And I understand it being harder because she's a nice person. However, her priority should be student achievement. And it's your right to say that you are concerned about her ability to teach. I'm a parent too and so far have been happy with my kids' teachers. But they are still little...I have many more years to go even in ES. I can imagine situations in which where I'll march myself into the school to discuss these kinds of things.

[Anonymous]

Good luck to you. You sound like a hard-working, good teacher who cares about the kids. I know that I could never do your job and give you credit for what you do.


THANK YOU! You sound terrific too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So if they are salary, work 6 hours in school and get 2 periods of 30min each minimum of lunch/break then wouldn't those 10-15hrs each week add up to a 40hr work week? My husband is salary and he has never worked 40hrs. 45-50hrs is the norm for salary employees and many bring work home beyond that. Some have deadlines that they have to pull all nighters on. My husband can work up to 60 a week and he doesn't have 1/4 of the year off either. Sorry, no pity on that quote.

PP, step back and try to gain some perspective. It's not a contest. Try to keep the thread from derailing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers in MCPS are totally overwhelmed. Our curriculum is hard to teach, and we get very limited resources that are ready-to-use (most things you'll see are teacher-made or printed off the internet). I admit that parent communication is one of the things I am weak in. But I'm grading and planning for hours every day. (BTW, I teach second grade, but it's been like this in the three other ES grades I've taught).

Request a conference and if you get no response, contact the principal and let him/her know what's going on. If the teacher is not doing his/her job, you have a right to say so. But let her know what you are looking for. I would hope that a teacher would respond to a conference request immediately. Do you get report cards and progress reports? Friday folder reports? Do you mind sharing what school this is?

I did have a conference with the teacher and she basically told me the same thing, that my son is doing fine. I asked if I could keep one of the books they use in the classroom overnight and she agreed. We get report cards but that is the only progress check. No homework except forreading about once a week. The school name begins with the letter C.

Candlewood
Cannon Road
Carderock Springs
Rachel Carson
Cashell
Cedar Grove
Chevy Chase
Clarksburg
Clearspring
Clopper Mill
Cloverly
Cold Spring
College Gardens
Crossway Community Montessori
Cresthaven

None seem to be poor performing schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers in MCPS are totally overwhelmed. Our curriculum is hard to teach, and we get very limited resources that are ready-to-use (most things you'll see are teacher-made or printed off the internet). I admit that parent communication is one of the things I am weak in. But I'm grading and planning for hours every day. (BTW, I teach second grade, but it's been like this in the three other ES grades I've taught).

Request a conference and if you get no response, contact the principal and let him/her know what's going on. If the teacher is not doing his/her job, you have a right to say so. But let her know what you are looking for. I would hope that a teacher would respond to a conference request immediately. Do you get report cards and progress reports? Friday folder reports? Do you mind sharing what school this is?

I did have a conference with the teacher and she basically told me the same thing, that my son is doing fine. I asked if I could keep one of the books they use in the classroom overnight and she agreed. We get report cards but that is the only progress check. No homework except forreading about once a week. The school name begins with the letter C.

Candlewood
Cannon Road
Carderock Springs
Rachel Carson
Cashell
Cedar Grove
Chevy Chase
Clarksburg
Clearspring
Clopper Mill
Cloverly
Cold Spring
College Gardens
Crossway Community Montessori
Cresthaven

None seem to be poor performing schools.

Wow PP, you have WAY too much time on your hands. Get a life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually think Michelle Rhee did a lot of good for DC schools. Anyone who has taught knows that there are teachers and administrators in the system who are not doing their job. Being around co-workers who are never held responsible for their actions burns out high performers more than a high workload!! Its demoralizing and brings down the entire organization.

Comparative data and have a standard minimum performance are import an

I also agree with many of Ravtich's points. If testing is the only criteria then the schools are following a reductionist goal. Their behaviors will not be incentivized toward doing the best for every student it will be about scoring high. This obsession with high scores is what makes MCPS such a disaster. The central office is a classic example of an organization focused on its own self interest and survival. The test scores ensure this survival and they push this culture all the way down.

The Curriculum 2.0 is a perfect example of an organization focusing only on meeting the test score criteria as a success measure for success. Its crossed two superintendents. I actually don't think Starr cares about 2.0. he's just too arrogant to admit problems and can't control or chooses not to control the bureaucrats below him.

You have just bought into the hype. All research points to the contrary. Bad/lazy/inefficient teachers are NOT the cause of the high teacher-burnout rate. Most teachers quit within 5 years because the job is so overwhelming, not because there are so many fellow teachers who aren't doing their job. Sure there are plenty of bad teachers out there. There are also plenty of bad doctors, lawyers, police officers, etc. etc. To suggest that bad teachers are the root cause for other teachers quitting, or for education problems in general as Rhee, not to mention that horribly misleading and irresponsible film "Waiting for Superman" suggest, is just plain ignorant. It's easier to play the blame game than to try to address the real issue because addressing the real issue is to expensive. Bad teachers account for such a small slice of the problem that we waste too much time and money on it rather than attacking the real problem (again, poverty, class size, teacher burnout, etc.). Look at how certain other countries handle education and you will find a much different picture. Teachers are actually respected and given the resources and support to actually do their job. I don't know about you, but I'm damn tired of bringing hours and hours of work home every week. All unpaid overtime, taking me away from my own children. That has nothing to do with the 2-3 teachers (at the most) of the 40 in my building who are slackers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, to some of these comments. It's disgusting how entitled some people sound. Do you have any idea how hard your child's teacher is most likely working? You can't imagine how much some of you are asking of teachers. Weekly email reports?? Hilarious. Did you forget that teaching is not a desk job? Realty check: the majority of teachers spend a MINIMUM of 10-15 hours of personal (unpaid) time per week just to keep up with the job. You can't imagine the amount of time planning, grading, prepping, organizing, communicating with other staff, meetings, (did I mention TEACHING?) etc etc go into the demands of this job, especially with overcrowded classrooms which exasorbate behavior issues.

Reality check: that is not unpaid time. It's part of the job. You're a salary employee, right? You don't clock in each morning and make an hourly wage for the time you spend in the building, right? So you're getting paid for it. Your argument might be that the hours are long and you're not paid enough, which I would agree with. But let's be clear on the issue. (And I have several educators in my family and one close life-long friend who is a teacher.). I'm a lawyer and I have an annual billable hour requirement, which directly impacts my compensation, and then a bunch of administrative responsibilities that do not count toward my billables. But that doesn't mean I'm not paid for those tasks. They're just built into my base salary.

And I take issue with your hostility. Engaged parents are not the enemy. Many of us are highly educated and credit our success to education. We want to be partners in our kids' education. Figure out how to harness that to your benefit.

The point is that for the salary we are earning, and most importantly have the potential to ever earn, the workload is not fair. We too, are required to earn a bachelor's degree. We have a certain number of years to earn a master's or our salary will not advance. Ever. Our potential for earnings and our base salary pales in comparison to that of a lawyer and most other professional positions so I don't see how you can make this comparison. Furthermore, we stand no chance at an annual bonus. You can take issue with my hostility just as I have taken issue with some of the hostile comments toward teachers on this thread.