Reminder

The boss-man said today that he expects 90% of our students to have a 90% or higher in all classes including in the science classes I teach.  So, 90% of AP Physics students should have a 90% or higher, you say?  Thanks for the reminder to check the job websites tonight for a new field because I cannot ethically hand out A's to kids who didn't earn them.

Fight!

Today was one of those days that you dread as a teacher . . . the day when you walk out of your room and see a larger than normal crowd and they're all looking in the same direction.   Uh oh.  Fight.

Students who normally have a difficult time bringing a pencil to class are able to make a perfect impenetrable circle in mere moments when a fight breaks out.   As a teacher, trying to pentrate this circle involves pushing students aside and praying you don't get sued for "touching" them.  Then  you get to the actual fight where the thought again becomes, "What can I do to stop this and not get sued?" 

And that's what happened today.  As a small female teacher, penetrating the circle was hard enough.  When I then got to the center of the circle, there was another female teacher trying to separate two boys who were rolling around on the ground punching each other and bleeding all over the place.  I grabbed the student that was closest to me by his shirt and with the help of a student, was able to drag him away.  The other teacher did the same with the help of a student. 

This makes me wonder several things.  Why is the punishment for fighting not being carted out in cuffs and charged with assault?  Why do we not make the punishment for fighting more severe so that fights don't happen every other week?  Does my employer not care if I get injured breaking up these bi-weekly fights?  How has the school not been sued by a student or staff member injured in the fight?  Why, when 200+ students are standing around, do only two students help break up the fight and zero students go get another adult?  Why are the bus routes arranged such that several hundred students stand around outside for 15-30 minutes?  Why are there no administrators out with bus duty? 

That was the second fight I've had to break up in my career.  I hope it's the last. 

The Job Hunt

Like most other teachers I know, I keep my eyes peeled for other professional opportunities.  Although this was not my experience a decade ago, nearly everyone I now know in the profession is looking for something else to do.  As such, I get daily emails from monster.com featuring jobs in the field of education (although not necessarily a K-12 teaching).  Yesterday, this one arrived (you can click on it to enlarge): 

 

Hmm, test scoring?  Is that something I could do?  Sounds a little monotonous but perhaps it wouldn't be too bad.  It is full time, requires a degree, and they are looking for someone bilingual.  I meet those specifications.

Then, I saw the wage.  Seriously?  $13/hour?  Our children are scored on a high stakes test, our teachers salary will soon be determined by said high stakes test, and the person doing the scoring only makes $13/hour?  That's $26,000/year!  And they want you to have a degree and they'd like it if you're bilingual.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, that wage is less than the poverty threshold for a family of five.  It's a good thing university recruitment posters don't feature these facts.

Get a degree!  Learn a second language!  Live in poverty!  

Typical Day

Today was a typical day for me.  It went something like this:

• Arrive one hour before contractual time to conduct a study session with students before they take an exam
• Teach the normal number of hours of class
• Do bus duty for 15 minutes  (answering 3 questions about class on my way out)
• Tutor the student of another teacher after contractual time for 90 minutes
• Answer students questions online while doing family/household chores off and on throughout the evening.

Tomorrow will be a repeat of today but instead of a study session before school, it will be a meeting about nothing that will improve learning.  The student tutored after school will be one of my own students.  The next day will be another meeting before school followed by another staff meeting after school.  The day after that is a meeting before school and a 2 hour meeting after school with a  project due.  And Friday?  Friday I will come up for air. 

A New Endeavor

I recently attended a political event for education issues and a politician said, "We need you teachers to speak up!  We need you to tell your friends, your neighbors, the people at church, and the strangers at Walmart about what is going on in education in this State!  You need to tweet it, make it your Facebook status, blog about it, or whatever you do but you must inform people."  For the last month, I've been thinking about this and he was right.  As teachers, we have been afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals.  Although we frequently share anecdotes of our joyful and fulfilling moments, we tend to keep the frustrations quiet.  The purpose of this blog is to share all aspects of what it is like to be a teacher in the State of Indiana today, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

To do this, we will have many educator bloggers from around the state.  These bloggers come from schools big and small, rural, urban, and suburban, so-called "A" schools and so-called "F" schools.  They will write under pseudonyms to protect their identity and their job.  We hope you will respect their privacy.

Happy reading!