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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I remember zoom school. The 2nd teacher, aged 27, had tons of misspellings and math errors whilst teaching.  I viewed them as a slacker who just wanted a sleeper job. Not like kids are going to do anything, or the school. Schools keep poorly performing teachers all the time.

They ended up quitting to live abroad doing peace corp or something similar. Left in the middle of the school year as well. Very professional. [/quote]

My question to you and the PP is how do we attract and retain those you would consider to be higher quality teachers? [/quote]

Not the PP, but another teacher. I am comfortable saying I work with some serious slackers. I've [b]watched colleagues plan their lessons 2 minutes before classes arrive, which means they usually resort to Youtube videos and a lot of down time. I've watched colleagues not teach at all[/b], not grade at all, etc. Here's the problem as I see it: many of these teachers are the ones who are [b]staying[/b]. Administrators don't fire these teachers, and these teachers care so little that they aren't intimidated by the idea of additional observations, write-ups. At the very worst, they'll get moved from school to school by principals who find transfering teachers easier than firing them. Their pay remains the same.

Strong teachers are the ones working hard and burning out. They are trying to mentor younger teachers while simultenously holding down their own responsibiltiies, which seem to grow every year to impossible heights. They take on higher courseloads as parents demand having their children transferred to the stronger teacher's class. I've watched scores of strong teachers leave my school in the past 5 years, and I'm thinking of following. We can only "do it for the kids" for so long because we are sacrificing our own mental health and our own families.

These are the teachers you need to target and keep. How? I'd say you first need to hold the inadequate teachers accountable, document their inability to do the job, and let them go. The problem is there is nobody left to replace them, so they have a ton of job security right now and they know it. Therefore, increase pay and improve working conditions to create more interest in the profession. That will make me stay, but it will also create an influx of new teachers. I'm happy giving up my newfound job security caused by the current teacher shortage. I know I'm not at risk of being fired.[/quote]

I teach third grade. My students and my administrators would eat me alive if I tried to do that. I don’t know anyone who can pull that off and this is my 30th year. I’m constantly trying to pull together and implement math, reading and writing workshops. Science takes a lot of prep. There is so much to juggle and never enough time to do it all. [/quote]

Then it sounds like you aren’t one of these inadequate teachers. You want to be prepared for your students and do what you need to do. Yes, there is so much to juggle and never enough time… if you are a conscientious teacher. As for the ones “pulling it off,” as you say, they aren’t actually doing so successfully. They are the reason DCUM parents can complain about poor teachers. [/quote]

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