Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for all you do, teachers.

— a very appreciative mom.

+1

+2

+3

+4

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for all you do, teachers.

— a very appreciative mom.

+1

+2

+3

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for all you do, teachers.

— a very appreciative mom.

+1

+2

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for all you do, teachers.

— a very appreciative mom.

+1

I'm in MCPS at a high school.
Constant cursing in the hallways. F-bombs, N-word everywhere. Some cursing in class.

It's very clear a lot of kids did nothing for a year and half but play on phones and have headphones on. It's a real struggle to get them to turn phones off phones and pull the airpods out. The 9th and 10th graders act like 8th graders in my opinion. School spirit seems very low as well. Not much support for teams during spirit week. The pep rally seemed kind of sad and disorganized. Having it outside really ruined a lot of the fun and intensity.

A lot of kids forgot how to socialize/interact/work with with anyone but their close friends or immediate peer group.

Admin seems just focused on endless testing deadlines.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What data does central admin require that is more than usual or time consuming?

Here is just some of the testing at my pre-k through grade 8 school.

Fall:
K-5th grade- DIBELS testing (multiple subtests)- one-on-one testing
KRA testing- kindergarten readiness testing, one-on-one testing
iReady- K-?, math testing done online as a class
K-WAPT, kindergarten ESOL screening, one-on-one testing
WIDA Model testing, 1st-8th, ESOL screening, 4 subtests done online but not all in one day
MCAP- grades 4-8, done online, 3 mornings testing
MISA science- grade 6, done online, one morning of testing

There might be more but I'm blanking on the rest of it. All of this has to be done by mid-October. We have more than 250 ESOL students so teachers are trying to fit all of this in while trying to teach. Not all students brought back their laptops and chargers so it is impossible to give iReady to an entire class and finish in one session. Add in tons of absences and no-shows and this fall has been extremely stressful for testing, We've never had to give MD state testing in the fall before. All of this takes a lot of time away from teaching. Ironic since the data shows how far behind the students are.

For upper grades, add in District-mandated unit assessments that take 2-3 class periods. These are unit assessments that don't correlate to actual units. We don't see what's on the tests before or after. We don't get any data collected yet we waste 2-3 class periods administering the stupid tests. It is a complete sh1t show.

To the PP, we're doing VA state testing in the fall, too. For 2 subjects, ELA and math. Two more half-days of testing.

We are so far off of pacing that we're behind where we were last year for the same time period.

My mental health is shit and I'm not coming back after winter break. Already told my principal. They're going to have a hard time replacing me (specialized high school science subject) but I can't do it anymore. I'll make a lot more money working with tech companies and my life will be much less stressful.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are crying a lot. A sixth grade teacher at my school has been attacked by a student twice. An IA who is teaching a fifth grade class because there is no teacher tried to break up a fight and has bruises. She stayed home today. This can’t go on like this. Kids are not regulated and nobody is helping.

+1. I’m a SPED IA assigned to a specific class. I’ve been pulled 75% of the days we’ve been in school to cover for at least half a day when there’s an absence. I’m a former teacher and also a former sub and this year has been out of control. The fights between students, self injurious behaviors, and disrespect and aggression directed toward staff is out of control. I’m hearing the same thing from friends who work in schools across the country, including in places that “did it right” and were mostly in person last year. I absolutely blame our admin for not taking teachers’ concerns seriously and also our central office for spending money on useless positions and presentations instead of investing in staff who are working in the trenches.

Anonymous wrote:What data does central admin require that is more than usual or time consuming?

Here is just some of the testing at my pre-k through grade 8 school.

Fall:
K-5th grade- DIBELS testing (multiple subtests)- one-on-one testing
KRA testing- kindergarten readiness testing, one-on-one testing
iReady- K-?, math testing done online as a class
K-WAPT, kindergarten ESOL screening, one-on-one testing
WIDA Model testing, 1st-8th, ESOL screening, 4 subtests done online but not all in one day
MCAP- grades 4-8, done online, 3 mornings testing
MISA science- grade 6, done online, one morning of testing

There might be more but I'm blanking on the rest of it. All of this has to be done by mid-October. We have more than 250 ESOL students so teachers are trying to fit all of this in while trying to teach. Not all students brought back their laptops and chargers so it is impossible to give iReady to an entire class and finish in one session. Add in tons of absences and no-shows and this fall has been extremely stressful for testing, We've never had to give MD state testing in the fall before. All of this takes a lot of time away from teaching. Ironic since the data shows how far behind the students are.

What data does central admin require that is more than usual or time consuming?

I just have no time for anything besides work.

Only X amount of people are allowed in the copy room at a time, so I have to come to work early enough to make sure I can print off what I need to for the day.

4 out of the 5 days of the week, I either have department meetings, IEP meetings, professional development meetings, or I get pulled for coverage for a coworker who isn't there that day. I can't plan for my classes because I have to teach somebody else's. I don't know shit about science but got told to teach the teacher's science lesson during my planning period because nobody else was available.

I have to walk my high school students to the cafeteria and pick them up, so on average I have 19 minutes for lunch. I've timed it.

The cell phone usage is ridiculous. The students cannot be without their phones for 5 minutes. Now with airpods, the kids are listening to music or straight up watching videos on their phones while I'm teaching.

I can't go on like this. I'm exhausted. I'm too tired to plan ahead, I never know what we're going to manage to get through in a day so planning ahead would always be changing anyways. I'm neglecting my own family, my own health, and my own well-being just to keep it together enough to walk into my classroom again each day.

But hey, I'm keeping my therapist in business.

I know my sister is about at the end of her rope, but it's like 25% because of students & their parents and 75% of admin.

Her school (or maybe just her grade?) just did mock SOLs to see where the kids are and it was bad, bad, bad as a whole. She said the admins don't grasp exactly what they are dealing with and just keep preaching to work harder and keep sending emails for classes the teachers can do "on their down time" to help them help the students. The teachers were very much given the speech about how the SOL scores from the practice tests were NOT going to fly and the teachers needed to do everything in their power to get the kid's ready.

She teaches 2nd grade, so the last time 95% of her students were in a classroom was when they were finishing up K. She said she's got kids who still struggle to read basic words and some who are still struggling with coordination of holding their pencils correctly! Also, she mentioned that now since so many kids are behind academically, she and other teachers are worried about kids slipping through the cracks who may have learning disabilities. They're playing the "is it a learning issue or are they just academically behind" with so many kids.

Then factor in that this is the first year where most are actually in a traditional classroom for a full day... she said this is year is worse than last year where she was all virtual and worse than her first solo year of teaching.

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are crying a lot. A sixth grade teacher at my school has been attacked by a student twice. An IA who is teaching a fifth grade class because there is no teacher tried to break up a fight and has bruises. She stayed home today. This can’t go on like this. Kids are not regulated and nobody is helping.

DP
Consequences are non-existent. I’m told to use direct language. I do that, directly, and they laugh. I’m told to model, practice and keep practicing expected behaviors. I’ve been doing that for 7 weeks now. I’m supposed to raise my hand and of course all students will respectfully raise their hands and listen because that’s the expectation. If students don’t respond I should keep my hand up and wait as long as necessary until the students are respond and are attentive. I’ve been told I shouldn’t refer the students to administrators because when I do that I am undermining my own authority.