Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 23:12     Subject: Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
LEAP sucks! And DCPS expects teachers to buy into it when they had no say so as to whether they wanted to opt in or out. GTFOH.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is all so disheartening. I LOVE our DCPS teachers and I hate that they have to spend so much time of these things. Is there anything parents can do to help??



Go to one of the community meetings re the new Chancellor search and try to talk to Jennie Niles

Organize a city wide petition drive against LEAP
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 23:11     Subject: Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:This is all so disheartening. I LOVE our DCPS teachers and I hate that they have to spend so much time of these things. Is there anything parents can do to help??
I have been asking for years for parents to advocate on behalf of teachers. Teachers are literally the low man on the totem pole (excuse the cultural reference) and virtually have no voice in this bureaucracy
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 22:52     Subject: Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:LEAP is worthless. Our ELA LEAP leader has been teaching 3 years- and she is our 'expert'. eh.

Last week we read some 'complex texts' that the district photocopied. Then for the last 45 minutes we sat around and talked about how the first two weeks of school are going.



I've got you beat. At my school, neither of the two ELA LEAP Leaders has ever been a classroom teacher! We have a 90-minute block with an agenda so that every minute is used. One of them modeled how to do a reading group. I've been doing reading groups for over ten years. Definitely not a great use of my time, sigh.


That's pretty scary too.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 22:50     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am so confused about LEAP and so is our school it seems. I do not understand how teachers can be effective when there are so many meetings, so much information and no time to actually plan, do attendance, grade papers, make phone calls, look at data all the stuff which makes an effective teacher.


My school has rolled LEAP out & it definitely swallows planning time whole--before school, during lunch & planning. There really is no time for actual planning, grading or phone calls. After working for hours with little to no break, I simply don't have the energy to do it at the end of the day. I run for the exit. In the past, I would've called at least half of my families by now with good and bad reports. So far I've called NONE.


THIS worries me more than almost anything else I've read so far. Well, this and the fact that so many schools still don't know what LEAP is or how it's supposed to work. Both very scary and very concerning facts!
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 22:19     Subject: Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:This is all so disheartening. I LOVE our DCPS teachers and I hate that they have to spend so much time of these things. Is there anything parents can do to help??



Go to one of the community meetings re the new Chancellor search and try to talk to Jennie Niles

Organize a city wide petition drive against LEAP
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 22:17     Subject: Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
This is all so disheartening. I LOVE our DCPS teachers and I hate that they have to spend so much time of these things. Is there anything parents can do to help??
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 22:04     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Are they really including student evals?????

Haaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa!! Laughing so hard my stomach hurts.
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 21:45     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:And did you see that the new evaluation system they're rolling out becomes live on October 3rd? It's worse than IMPACT. And we have to train on it after school hours at certain school locations. On our own unpaid time mind you.


In what way is it worse than IMPACT?
Anonymous
Post 09/08/2016 21:40     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
And did you see that the new evaluation system they're rolling out becomes live on October 3rd? It's worse than IMPACT. And we have to train on it after school hours at certain school locations. On our own unpaid time mind you.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2016 22:51     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
And just like that the thread is derailed. So the teachers who are having LEAP shoved down their throats are somehow AGAIN to blame for the woes of the world. Sigh! When will you get tired of singing that same ole' song?
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2016 22:02     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

This. the training should occur in the summer. Aren't DCPS teachers paid well already? Hard to argue that someone making 65-75k a year needs the summer completely off, do two weeks of training in the summer, every year, and give the time back to teachers to teach in the classroom. and put those LEAP teachers back in the classroom.


Riiiiiiight.

I made 54,975 last year working at one of the worst schools in this city where kids openly threatened and fought teachers. After benefits and taxes, my bi-weekly take home pay is about $1200. I was going to work summer school because I barely clear $100 a month after rent, school loans, aftercare, and groceries, but my principal told me that we work in such a stressful environment that I shouldn't risk burning out.

I disagree with your statement. The pay isn't commensurate with what we deal with, so getting six weeks off isn't too much to ask.


Can't believe we still have to talk about this but the pay is prorated so it's not that we get paid for sitting around, some work, some take grad classes, and most work on curriculum!! How do you think the DCPS curriculum get's created. Some teachers are teaching brand new content areas or grades and have to plan and prep for that during the summer. DCPS is a hot mess and getting hotter by the day
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2016 21:05     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:

This. the training should occur in the summer. Aren't DCPS teachers paid well already? Hard to argue that someone making 65-75k a year needs the summer completely off, do two weeks of training in the summer, every year, and give the time back to teachers to teach in the classroom. and put those LEAP teachers back in the classroom.


Riiiiiiight.

I made 54,975 last year working at one of the worst schools in this city where kids openly threatened and fought teachers. After benefits and taxes, my bi-weekly take home pay is about $1200. I was going to work summer school because I barely clear $100 a month after rent, school loans, aftercare, and groceries, but my principal told me that we work in such a stressful environment that I shouldn't risk burning out.

I disagree with your statement. The pay isn't commensurate with what we deal with, so getting six weeks off isn't too much to ask.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2016 19:37     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
One of the main problems with your suggestion is that tons of hiring, quitting, moving etc takes place in the summer. DC is still hiring as kids are walking into schools on the 1st day.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2016 11:06     Subject: Re:Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am so confused about LEAP and so is our school it seems. I do not understand how teachers can be effective when there are so many meetings, so much information and no time to actually plan, do attendance, grade papers, make phone calls, look at data all the stuff which makes an effective teacher.


Agreed. And if DC teachers are in need of so much training, send them to school in the summer. We really should be teaching and planning to teach instead of this teacher prep program.

The bottom line is principals will declare those they want highly effective, those they want to keep around Developing and those they want to get rid of ineffective no matter how much LEAP training and meetings Takes place.


This. the training should occur in the summer. Aren't DCPS teachers paid well already? Hard to argue that someone making 65-75k a year needs the summer completely off, do two weeks of training in the summer, every year, and give the time back to teachers to teach in the classroom. and put those LEAP teachers back in the classroom.
Anonymous
Post 09/07/2016 00:23     Subject: Teachers, How's LEAP Working So Far???
There are quite a few former MEs who took those position AND the consultants who created the LEAP training for teachers are former MEs as well.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Guys you really don't get "LEAP". It's a jobs program for the Chancellor's hand-picked Master Educators.

Since Central Office got called out for having - what, like 30? - of these $125k/year employees, they finally transferred the budgets and headcount to the schools themselves.

You should be grateful for all the additional help you're getting.


In some ways, yes. But our Leapets were not MEs. Just teachers that wanted to teach half a day.

And I am going to add to your understanding of LEAP. LEAP is really just a way to take the teacher evaluation process out of central office. They want to push it back on the schools and be done with it.