demoralized in MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she's really getting bullied, telling HER to get professional help/therapy is so backwards. The person inflicting the abuse should get the help.

According to that poster, every good teacher is being bullied. Many teachers have posted that they have not been bullied. Her response is that they are either not good teachers or they are themselves bullied. She is incapable of accepting any other viewpoint. Doesn’t that sound like someone who needs therapy?

[Anonymous]

It's absurd that they try to make black and white the issues of good teaching and bad teaching. Humans are so much more complicated than simply calling someone good or bad. If your boss is trying to label a teacher as ineffective are they putting out there that they are ineffective and will never ever be effective in the future as they will never say positive things about them. I think that teaching is tougher than ever before and I feel sorry for people who got in the profession with good intentions because bad people think people with good intentions are easy targets and that is why morale stinks. They think opened minded good people are weak because they are nice and don't realize the benefit of nonthreatening environments when their profession is under assault by the main people who are suppose to be protecting, supporting, developing and retaining them as altruistic necessities for the profession.

Is that too deep for you. Ok let me simplify it for you. Good people need to be treated well. Asshole principals can burn in hell. Wow I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

[Anonymous]

Abusers, bullies, and narcissists are unusually cruel egomaniacs BUT their false sense of confidence is good for business as usual in educations current paradigm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Abusers, bullies, and narcissists are unusually cruel egomaniacs BUT their false sense of confidence is good for business as usual in educations current paradigm.

Are you a bot?

[Anonymous]

No I'm a real person, flesh and blood giving a voice to the powerless who live in fear of retaliation of admin who threaten teachers livelihoods as many are living paycheck to paycheck and just want to be left alone to do a good job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Abusers, bullies, and narcissists are unusually cruel egomaniacs BUT their false sense of confidence is good for business as usual in educations current paradigm.

Are you a bot?

what a stupid comment

Why would that response be "bot-like?"

I left two jobs in MCPS b/c my supervisors were narcissists. One continues on; the other was exposed and demoted. It takes a village of strong people to bring them down. Unfortunately, my current team leader is a mini-narc with only 5 years in the system. No one will say no to her; they simply go "around" her. The team dynamics are horrible and demoralizing. So while she cannot go after us, she makes planning very difficult. I have tried to speak up, but my other colleagues will not support me. So I, too, go around her actions.

The system - at this point - is set up for failure b/c few people have the energy to do what's right for themselves and for the students. I really don't blame anyone; I understand that this is a job. So how much of your life are you willing to sacrifice in the name of education?

But unless we take our power back, we're doomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's absurd that they try to make black and white the issues of good teaching and bad teaching. Humans are so much more complicated than simply calling someone good or bad. If your boss is trying to label a teacher as ineffective are they putting out there that they are ineffective and will never ever be effective in the future as they will never say positive things about them. I think that teaching is tougher than ever before and I feel sorry for people who got in the profession with good intentions because bad people think people with good intentions are easy targets and that is why morale stinks. They think opened minded good people are weak because they are nice and don't realize the benefit of nonthreatening environments when their profession is under assault by the main people who are suppose to be protecting, supporting, developing and retaining them as altruistic necessities for the profession.

Is that too deep for you. Ok let me simplify it for you. Good people need to be treated well. Asshole principals can burn in hell. Wow I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

If a teacher is clearly struggling in the eyes of her peers and supervisors, but refuses help, what is an administrator supposed to think? That the teacher will spontaneously improve in 5-7 years? Don’t want to make her feel bad although kids are not learning in her classroom. Maybe at mid-career, she’ll be effective. Nope, that didn’t work either. We’ll run interference when the community asks why we don’t remove her. She still might turn it around, but let’s not support her with PAR because she might feel demoralized. Now it’s year 28 and she’s still not actually educating anyone. Oh, well! She deserves her pension just for showing up to such a hard job. And she was so NICE!

There are children in this county for whom a quality education will make the difference between a step into the middle class or a life in poverty. We can’t afford to coddle adults too fragile to examine their incompetencies and root them out. Being nice won’t get them a job that pays above the minimum wage. Why should we pay a teacher $80k a year simply because they are nice. Hospitals don’t allow incompetent staff to keep treating patients just because they are nice. Air traffic controllers who can’t fulfill their duties aren’t kept on just for being likable by their coworkers.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher who thinks morale in MCPS is terrible, but I agree with this PP. The problem is the culture of mediocrity and NOT firing poor teachers who can't or won't turn it around. And then penalizing the good ones for going above and beyond and thereby making others uncomfortable with their excellence. In many of our schools, the problems come from people feeling threatened by other teachers who just want to do a great job. Those hard workers get called all kinds of things, as we've seen in this chain. They're trying to be "Mother Theresa," or it's about their ego.

[Anonymous]

There is not way to work hard and stay in education unless you play ball and inflate for you king and fraud for the queen principals. If you don't play they will make you pay.

[Anonymous]

Then when you get caught it's lawsuit time and they will show up next year will a car bought with their bonus and you will still never get a reference from a bully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is not way to work hard and stay in education unless you play ball and inflate for you king and fraud for the queen principals. If you don't play they will make you pay.

You might want to get that word salad looked at.

[Anonymous]

How can principals visit a class a few times a year and somehow decide who’s highly effective and who is ineffective? The so called star teachers in our school somehow get the best students year after years. There are also those popular teachers who give in to every whim of the students, but don’t actually do much teaching. In a toxic environment where harassment is allowed and certain teachers are being targeted for no special reason, it’s about playing the game for self preservation. So we take the Xanax and come to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can principals visit a class a few times a year and somehow decide who’s highly effective and who is ineffective? The so called star teachers in our school somehow get the best students year after years. There are also those popular teachers who give in to every whim of the students, but don’t actually do much teaching. In a toxic environment where harassment is allowed and certain teachers are being targeted for no special reason, it’s about playing the game for self preservation. So we take the Xanax and come to work.

That’s not how the process works.

Teachers are observed for evaluation throughout the year by the following:
Team leaders
Department heads
Administrators
Staff development teachers

Teachers are also informally observed by peers for walk throughs and other schoolwide initiatives. Usually related to the school improvement plan.

Teachers may be informally observed by visitors from other schools and central office.

In the past 30 days, I’ve had 7 visitors and it is not even my eval year. One came Friday afternoon before Winter Break. I suppose I could say that was unfair because the kids were so excited. Instead, I had planned ahead —without knowing I had a drop-in observation. My students created their own review board games the day before and were playing them loudly but completely engaged when our visitor came. They were eager to share their work and explain how it related to our unit.

When you have a bad observation, you should set a meeting to discuss it and come forearmed with what you will do differently in the future. Don’t just blame it all on the rotten kids you got or bad timing. Part of being a professional is reflecting and growing. It may sound silly, but acknowledging a need to adjust pacing or your seating chart can reassure an administrator that you are willing to make changes toward improvement. It is ridiculous to claim your teaching is fine when students, parents, and admin all disagree.

In the end though, you were hired to do quality teaching every day. Not just some of the time. To complain that your principal judged you on only three visits is like arguing that the cops pulled you over only on the three days a year that you drink and drive. They should just focus on all the days you were sober.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can principals visit a class a few times a year and somehow decide who’s highly effective and who is ineffective? The so called star teachers in our school somehow get the best students year after years. There are also those popular teachers who give in to every whim of the students, but don’t actually do much teaching. In a toxic environment where harassment is allowed and certain teachers are being targeted for no special reason, it’s about playing the game for self preservation. So we take the Xanax and come to work.

That’s not how the process works.

Teachers are observed for evaluation throughout the year by the following:
Team leaders
Department heads
Administrators
Staff development teachers

Teachers are also informally observed by peers for walk throughs and other schoolwide initiatives. Usually related to the school improvement plan.

Teachers may be informally observed by visitors from other schools and central office.

In the past 30 days, I’ve had 7 visitors and it is not even my eval year. One came Friday afternoon before Winter Break. I suppose I could say that was unfair because the kids were so excited. Instead, I had planned ahead —without knowing I had a drop-in observation. My students created their own review board games the day before and were playing them loudly but completely engaged when our visitor came. They were eager to share their work and explain how it related to our unit.

When you have a bad observation, you should set a meeting to discuss it and come forearmed with what you will do differently in the future. Don’t just blame it all on the rotten kids you got or bad timing. Part of being a professional is reflecting and growing. It may sound silly, but acknowledging a need to adjust pacing or your seating chart can reassure an administrator that you are willing to make changes toward improvement. It is ridiculous to claim your teaching is fine when students, parents, and admin all disagree.

In the end though, you were hired to do quality teaching every day. Not just some of the time. To complain that your principal judged you on only three visits is like arguing that the cops pulled you over only on the three days a year that you drink and drive. They should just focus on all the days you were sober.

Agreed! Though I'm a Staff Development Teacher and we are NOT evaluative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can principals visit a class a few times a year and somehow decide who’s highly effective and who is ineffective? The so called star teachers in our school somehow get the best students year after years. There are also those popular teachers who give in to every whim of the students, but don’t actually do much teaching. In a toxic environment where harassment is allowed and certain teachers are being targeted for no special reason, it’s about playing the game for self preservation. So we take the Xanax and come to work.

That’s not how the process works.

Teachers are observed for evaluation throughout the year by the following:
Team leaders
Department heads
Administrators
Staff development teachers

Teachers are also informally observed by peers for walk throughs and other schoolwide initiatives. Usually related to the school improvement plan.

Teachers may be informally observed by visitors from other schools and central office.

In the past 30 days, I’ve had 7 visitors and it is not even my eval year. One came Friday afternoon before Winter Break. I suppose I could say that was unfair because the kids were so excited. Instead, I had planned ahead —without knowing I had a drop-in observation. My students created their own review board games the day before and were playing them loudly but completely engaged when our visitor came. They were eager to share their work and explain how it related to our unit.

When you have a bad observation, you should set a meeting to discuss it and come forearmed with what you will do differently in the future. Don’t just blame it all on the rotten kids you got or bad timing. Part of being a professional is reflecting and growing. It may sound silly, but acknowledging a need to adjust pacing or your seating chart can reassure an administrator that you are willing to make changes toward improvement. It is ridiculous to claim your teaching is fine when students, parents, and admin all disagree.

In the end though, you were hired to do quality teaching every day. Not just some of the time. To complain that your principal judged you on only three visits is like arguing that the cops pulled you over only on the three days a year that you drink and drive. They should just focus on all the days you were sober.

Agreed! Though I'm a Staff Development Teacher and we are NOT evaluative.

Q for SDT - How long were you a teacher before you shifted?

I was one for 10 years before the shift, and then I shifted back into teacher b/c I felt guilty for having such a cushy role. I loved my principal and took on many admin duties no one wanted to touch, but that left little time to help teachers. Even in a school where SDT duties are "valued," there's no time to co-plan, co-teach, work with struggling teachers - both novice and experienced, etc. The job is a joke, and having been in your spot, I don't value your input. In many cases, teachers who struggle will rely on empathetic colleagues who give up planning periods to help with planning. Some (I'm in this category.) will spend a planning period in a class, working with some difficult kids in small groups. THAT'S support.

Even the BEST teachers end up with a difficult mix of kids in large classes of 30+. Yet we fail to acknowledge that. Instead we blame the teacher.

many sick excuses on this thread by those who are "experts" - Where's your humility? your compassion? your willingness to help colleagues who may be facing other obstacles in their lives (sick partners and kids, ailing parents, etc)?

sad