How is FCPS teacher/staff shortage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

2) Totally agree. The testing as gotten out of control.

3) I support having the holidays off, but we have waaay to many PD days that can be school days for Full Weeks.

4) Yes, but this is also tricky. If there is data to support a kid needs intervention/ help then they should be getting it regardless of label. The issue I have seen more of are when kids are inconsistent in performance and are passing their SOLS. It is very hard to figure out what the issue is.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

You're quoting me and I agree on #5 - we're pretty strict parents with well behaved children who are natural rule followers, so we really lucked out on that, but have heard stories from our children about some of the things that go on in their classroom and I am shocked that it's allowed. I get that we live in a litigious society and that the behavior is tied frequently to the lack of action on the part of parents. I just wish there was something that could be done about it (I know we can't put that on the teacher, trust me).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

2) Totally agree. The testing as gotten out of control.

3) I support having the holidays off, but we have waaay to many PD days that can be school days for Full Weeks.

4) Yes, but this is also tricky. If there is data to support a kid needs intervention/ help then they should be getting it regardless of label. The issue I have seen more of are when kids are inconsistent in performance and are passing their SOLS. It is very hard to figure out what the issue is.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

You're quoting me and I agree on #5 - we're pretty strict parents with well behaved children who are natural rule followers, so we really lucked out on that, but have heard stories from our children about some of the things that go on in their classroom and I am shocked that it's allowed. I get that we live in a litigious society and that the behavior is tied frequently to the lack of action on the part of parents. I just wish there was something that could be done about it (I know we can't put that on the teacher, trust me).

I’m an ES teacher (almost 30 years). I had a very difficult time with behaviors last year. I often couldn’t go 5 minutes without a disruption. I didn’t allow it, but I was basically powerless to stop it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

I mean except for the holiday thing: where they would have to consult you to figure out what makes sense to yiu. Believe me not everyone would agree! The list is the same.
Well there is the no more comics sans and bad clip art which just shows that you are a bit naive because you think there aren’t errors in published textbooks and work books. It is sort of refreshingly cute that you trust big companies like that. The misbehavior is really part of sped and that is why we are saying more support there.
I think there should be a study about holidays across age ranges. Sometimes for the little kids they are able to do so much better after a break. I don’t know if the mind synthesizes the information better when they take a break or if just because they are rested they can concentrate more but the first couple of days after a long weekend are teaching gold. You can get so much in.

Wow, condescending jerk, much? Literally every teacher my child has had (maybe including you honey) has had incredibly poor grammar and mistakes on their homemade worksheets, so maybe you should hire an editor like the big companies do. You sound like an ass and I hope you don't teach at my child's school, peachy pie.

You're the condescending one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

2) Totally agree. The testing as gotten out of control.

3) I support having the holidays off, but we have waaay to many PD days that can be school days for Full Weeks.

4) Yes, but this is also tricky. If there is data to support a kid needs intervention/ help then they should be getting it regardless of label. The issue I have seen more of are when kids are inconsistent in performance and are passing their SOLS. It is very hard to figure out what the issue is.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

You're quoting me and I agree on #5 - we're pretty strict parents with well behaved children who are natural rule followers, so we really lucked out on that, but have heard stories from our children about some of the things that go on in their classroom and I am shocked that it's allowed. I get that we live in a litigious society and that the behavior is tied frequently to the lack of action on the part of parents. I just wish there was something that could be done about it (I know we can't put that on the teacher, trust me).

I’m an ES teacher (almost 30 years). I had a very difficult time with behaviors last year. I often couldn’t go 5 minutes without a disruption. I didn’t allow it, but I was basically powerless to stop it.

I had a chair thrower/desk flipper last year. I can’t suspend the students or enforce other consequences, that is on admin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

I mean except for the holiday thing: where they would have to consult you to figure out what makes sense to yiu. Believe me not everyone would agree! The list is the same.
Well there is the no more comics sans and bad clip art which just shows that you are a bit naive because you think there aren’t errors in published textbooks and work books. It is sort of refreshingly cute that you trust big companies like that. The misbehavior is really part of sped and that is why we are saying more support there.
I think there should be a study about holidays across age ranges. Sometimes for the little kids they are able to do so much better after a break. I don’t know if the mind synthesizes the information better when they take a break or if just because they are rested they can concentrate more but the first couple of days after a long weekend are teaching gold. You can get so much in.

Wow, condescending jerk, much? Literally every teacher my child has had (maybe including you honey) has had incredibly poor grammar and mistakes on their homemade worksheets, so maybe you should hire an editor like the big companies do. You sound like an ass and I hope you don't teach at my child's school, peachy pie.

DP, or maybe FCPS can give the teacher(s) worksheets and/or other resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

2) Totally agree. The testing as gotten out of control.

3) I support having the holidays off, but we have waaay to many PD days that can be school days for Full Weeks.

4) Yes, but this is also tricky. If there is data to support a kid needs intervention/ help then they should be getting it regardless of label. The issue I have seen more of are when kids are inconsistent in performance and are passing their SOLS. It is very hard to figure out what the issue is.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

You're quoting me and I agree on #5 - we're pretty strict parents with well behaved children who are natural rule followers, so we really lucked out on that, but have heard stories from our children about some of the things that go on in their classroom and I am shocked that it's allowed. I get that we live in a litigious society and that the behavior is tied frequently to the lack of action on the part of parents. I just wish there was something that could be done about it (I know we can't put that on the teacher, trust me).

I’m an ES teacher (almost 30 years). I had a very difficult time with behaviors last year. I often couldn’t go 5 minutes without a disruption. I didn’t allow it, but I was basically powerless to stop it.

I had a chair thrower/desk flipper last year. I can’t suspend the students or enforce other consequences, that is on admin.

I read some comments on a Fox News story about allowing military veterans to teach. People were saying that military veterans wouldn’t put up with what we put up with. I was thinking, “Sure, and you’re going to do what…?”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

2) Totally agree. The testing as gotten out of control.

3) I support having the holidays off, but we have waaay to many PD days that can be school days for Full Weeks.

4) Yes, but this is also tricky. If there is data to support a kid needs intervention/ help then they should be getting it regardless of label. The issue I have seen more of are when kids are inconsistent in performance and are passing their SOLS. It is very hard to figure out what the issue is.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

You're quoting me and I agree on #5 - we're pretty strict parents with well behaved children who are natural rule followers, so we really lucked out on that, but have heard stories from our children about some of the things that go on in their classroom and I am shocked that it's allowed. I get that we live in a litigious society and that the behavior is tied frequently to the lack of action on the part of parents. I just wish there was something that could be done about it (I know we can't put that on the teacher, trust me).

I’m an ES teacher (almost 30 years). I had a very difficult time with behaviors last year. I often couldn’t go 5 minutes without a disruption. I didn’t allow it, but I was basically powerless to stop it.

I had a chair thrower/desk flipper last year. I can’t suspend the students or enforce other consequences, that is on admin.

I read some comments on a Fox News story about allowing military veterans to teach. People were saying that military veterans wouldn’t put up with what we put up with. I was thinking, “Sure, and you’re going to do what…?”.

I’m the PP, that teaching style would have been a trigger for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

I mean except for the holiday thing: where they would have to consult you to figure out what makes sense to yiu. Believe me not everyone would agree! The list is the same.
Well there is the no more comics sans and bad clip art which just shows that you are a bit naive because you think there aren’t errors in published textbooks and work books. It is sort of refreshingly cute that you trust big companies like that. The misbehavior is really part of sped and that is why we are saying more support there.
I think there should be a study about holidays across age ranges. Sometimes for the little kids they are able to do so much better after a break. I don’t know if the mind synthesizes the information better when they take a break or if just because they are rested they can concentrate more but the first couple of days after a long weekend are teaching gold. You can get so much in.

Wow, condescending jerk, much? Literally every teacher my child has had (maybe including you honey) has had incredibly poor grammar and mistakes on their homemade worksheets, so maybe you should hire an editor like the big companies do. You sound like an ass and I hope you don't teach at my child's school, peachy pie.

You're the condescending one.

Well. That escalated. Seriously though do you not remember ever in your school career getting the right answer, the teacher marking it wrong only to have the teacher later say the answer key was wrong?
It happened to me numerous times through my student years and as a teacher.

Publishers make mistakes all the time, even on tests, but to point that out labels me a “condescending jerk?” I do find anyone who thinks big business is always to be naive.
If you need confirmation, go call Verizon.

Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

I mean except for the holiday thing: where they would have to consult you to figure out what makes sense to yiu. Believe me not everyone would agree! The list is the same.
Well there is the no more comics sans and bad clip art which just shows that you are a bit naive because you think there aren’t errors in published textbooks and work books. It is sort of refreshingly cute that you trust big companies like that. The misbehavior is really part of sped and that is why we are saying more support there.
I think there should be a study about holidays across age ranges. Sometimes for the little kids they are able to do so much better after a break. I don’t know if the mind synthesizes the information better when they take a break or if just because they are rested they can concentrate more but the first couple of days after a long weekend are teaching gold. You can get so much in.

Wow, condescending jerk, much? Literally every teacher my child has had (maybe including you honey) has had incredibly poor grammar and mistakes on their homemade worksheets, so maybe you should hire an editor like the big companies do. You sound like an ass and I hope you don't teach at my child's school, peachy pie.

You're the condescending one.

And she has a few punctuation errors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need some drastic moves recruit and retain high quality teachers. One bold move would be to go to a 4-day school week for kids. Increase T-F by 30 minutes. Kids do async work on Monday’s. Teachers plan, have pd on Monday’s. That means less time away from kids T-F. There are other models to accomplish this.

Parents will have to decide whether they want 5 days of school with a crappy, unqualified teacher in a large class or figure out childcare one day a week and get a high quality teacher in a decent sized class.

https://www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2022-06-22-can-four-day-school-weeks-keep-teachers-from-leaving

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/19/texas-schools-four-day-weeks/amp/

I’m in full support of a 4-day in-person week with Monday planning time for teachers while students use digital tools. I know for a fact this would be a huge boost for retention and the well-being of our staff

OMG. I hope this is a joke. I"m here for the kids, not the teachers.

"Digital tools" are garbage. Virtual school was a no-learning disaster and you want to cut out 20% of the school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

I’ve taught both with and without textbooks. Teaching with textbooks let me assign chapters for kids to read at home. When they came in, I could turn to page X in my teacher manual and be told exactly what to do. It gave me more time to focus on giving actual feedback on writing, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need some drastic moves recruit and retain high quality teachers. One bold move would be to go to a 4-day school week for kids. Increase T-F by 30 minutes. Kids do async work on Monday’s. Teachers plan, have pd on Monday’s. That means less time away from kids T-F. There are other models to accomplish this.

Parents will have to decide whether they want 5 days of school with a crappy, unqualified teacher in a large class or figure out childcare one day a week and get a high quality teacher in a decent sized class.

https://www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2022-06-22-can-four-day-school-weeks-keep-teachers-from-leaving

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/19/texas-schools-four-day-weeks/amp/

I’m in full support of a 4-day in-person week with Monday planning time for teachers while students use digital tools. I know for a fact this would be a huge boost for retention and the well-being of our staff

OMG. I hope this is a joke. I"m here for the kids, not the teachers.

"Digital tools" are garbage. Virtual school was a no-learning disaster and you want to cut out 20% of the school year?

Actually, it would be easy to extend the instructional time over 4 days and allow a day of planning for teachers and an additional day of rest/recreation for students. I would imagine that the mental and physical health benefits would be worth it. The way school is currently operating is not working for many people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

Teacher here.

1) Textbooks should be used as a resource not a curriculum. Even when I was in school, our textbook was used for HW not instruction. The only textbook in ES that would be helpful is math. The reading levels are too varied for content textbooks to be useful.

2) Totally agree. The testing as gotten out of control.

3) I support having the holidays off, but we have waaay to many PD days that can be school days for Full Weeks.

4) Yes, but this is also tricky. If there is data to support a kid needs intervention/ help then they should be getting it regardless of label. The issue I have seen more of are when kids are inconsistent in performance and are passing their SOLS. It is very hard to figure out what the issue is.

5) I think parents in general would be disgusted with what they see in the classroom regarding behavior. Yes, there are individual problem children but there is also a lit of disrespect coming from kids to the teacher. Parents also need to be on board with consequences and this seems to be the larger issue.

You're quoting me and I agree on #5 - we're pretty strict parents with well behaved children who are natural rule followers, so we really lucked out on that, but have heard stories from our children about some of the things that go on in their classroom and I am shocked that it's allowed. I get that we live in a litigious society and that the behavior is tied frequently to the lack of action on the part of parents. I just wish there was something that could be done about it (I know we can't put that on the teacher, trust me).

I’m an ES teacher (almost 30 years). I had a very difficult time with behaviors last year. I often couldn’t go 5 minutes without a disruption. I didn’t allow it, but I was basically powerless to stop it.

I had a chair thrower/desk flipper last year. I can’t suspend the students or enforce other consequences, that is on admin.

I read some comments on a Fox News story about allowing military veterans to teach. People were saying that military veterans wouldn’t put up with what we put up with. I was thinking, “Sure, and you’re going to do what…?”.

I had an Army Colonel sub for me once for the day in high school courses. He wanted to give a presentation. Being a "sub" even in uniform didn't help. The kids were horrible. As an example, one kid stood on a table and screamed "my ass is on fire!" At the end of the day, he wrote me a very kind letter remarking about the how he looked up to what I had to deal with every day.

People thinking that "military experience" somehow means something in a high school are living in a different era.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent here. Here's what I want.

1. A standard curriculum with real, approved textbooks, workbooks, work sheets and none of that TPT comic sans bullshit that contains grammatical errors. I would like the instructional designers at FCPS to do their jobs so that my kid doesn't come home with worksheets created by a 22 year old who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about, but sure can buy some pretty clip art on Etsy.

2. Less testing and less preparation for testing.

3. Full weeks of school without random holidays and teacher workdays on Mondays and Fridays of the same week (put them where they make sense).

4. Better support for ESOL/SPED kids AS WELL AS those children who don't have special needs but are far behind their classmates. A parent shouldn't have to pay $5000 for someone to find a mild disability and then hire a lawyer or advocate in order for their child to get extra reading/math help. PLUS there are a lot of parents who can't afford to do that but their kids still need a little extra help. Not everyone can afford to spend the $1000/month on tutors that I do.

5. Actual discipline for children who are consistently misbehaving and disrupting class. There was a year when at least twice a week, half of someone else's class would have to pour into my child's classroom because of one kid. Why aren't schools removing the problem child so that the other kids can keep learning?

I mean except for the holiday thing: where they would have to consult you to figure out what makes sense to yiu. Believe me not everyone would agree! The list is the same.
Well there is the no more comics sans and bad clip art which just shows that you are a bit naive because you think there aren’t errors in published textbooks and work books. It is sort of refreshingly cute that you trust big companies like that.[/b] The misbehavior is really part of sped and that is why we are saying more support there.
I think there should be a study about holidays across age ranges. Sometimes for the little kids they are able to do so much better after a break. I don’t know if the mind synthesizes the information better when they take a break or if just because they are rested they can concentrate more but the first couple of days after a long weekend are teaching gold. You can get so much in.

Wow, condescending jerk, much? Literally every teacher my child has had (maybe including you honey) has had incredibly poor grammar and mistakes on their homemade worksheets, so maybe you should hire an editor like the big companies do. You sound like an ass and I hope you don't teach at my child's school, peachy pie.

Why would you chastise someone for doing something and then do the same thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need some drastic moves recruit and retain high quality teachers. One bold move would be to go to a 4-day school week for kids. Increase T-F by 30 minutes. Kids do async work on Monday’s. Teachers plan, have pd on Monday’s. That means less time away from kids T-F. There are other models to accomplish this.

Parents will have to decide whether they want 5 days of school with a crappy, unqualified teacher in a large class or figure out childcare one day a week and get a high quality teacher in a decent sized class.

https://www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2022-06-22-can-four-day-school-weeks-keep-teachers-from-leaving

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/19/texas-schools-four-day-weeks/amp/

I’m in full support of a 4-day in-person week with Monday planning time for teachers while students use digital tools. I know for a fact this would be a huge boost for retention and the well-being of our staff

OMG. I hope this is a joke. I"m here for the kids, not the teachers.

"Digital tools" are garbage. Virtual school was a no-learning disaster and you want to cut out 20% of the school year?

Actually, it would be easy to extend the instructional time over 4 days and allow a day of planning for teachers and an additional day of rest/recreation for students. I would imagine that the mental and physical health benefits would be worth it. The way school is currently operating is not working for many people.

As an ES teacher I’d rather have my planning time spread out through the week. More of my planning time needs to be used as I see fit. It would help a lot if I could actually have the planning time currently assigned.