Confessions of a ‘Bad’ Teacher (Please read)

[Are_grits_groceries]

Last edited Mon Mar 5, 2012, 10:02 AM - Edit history (2)

I AM a special education teacher. My students have learning disabilities ranging from autism and attention-deficit disorder to cerebral palsy and emotional disturbances. I love these kids, but they can be a handful. Almost without exception, they struggle on standardized tests, frustrate their teachers and find it hard to connect with their peers. What’s more, these are high school students, so their disabilities are compounded by raging hormones and social pressure.
<snip>
On top of all that, I’m a bad teacher. That’s not my opinion; it’s how I’m labeled by the city’s Education Department. Last June, my principal at the time rated my teaching “unsatisfactory,” checking off a few boxes on an evaluation sheet that placed my career in limbo. That same year, my school received an “A” rating. I was a bad teacher at a good school. It was pretty humiliating.
<snip>
In fact, I don’t just want to get better; like most teachers I know, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I have to be. Dozens and dozens of teenagers scrutinize my language, clothing and posture all day long, all week long. If I’m off my game, the students tell me. They comment on my taste in neckties, my facial hair, the quality of my lessons. All of us teachers are evaluated all day long, already. It’s one of the most exhausting aspects of our job.
<snip>
The truth is, teachers don’t need elected officials to motivate us. If our students are not learning, they let us know. They put their heads down or they pass notes. They raise their hands and ask for clarification. Sometimes, they just stare at us like zombies. Few things are more excruciating for a teacher than leading a class that’s not learning. Good administrators use the evaluation processes to support teachers and help them avoid those painful classroom moments — not to weed out the teachers who don’t produce good test scores or adhere to their pedagogical beliefs.
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Read the whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/opinion/sunday/confessions-of-a-bad-teacher.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

I asked you to read this because I believe it presents important insight into what teachers do, and publishing their evaluations publicly.

He nails it in a lot of areas.

As a teacher, you do realize how you are affecting the students. They in turn ARE judging you on everything. Working with them is an exhausting collaborative effort, and there is no down time once a class begins. You have to be ready and on for the amount of time your class lasts. I wish everybody would try to do this for 5 or so classes a day for just one week.

[Angry Dragon]

1. kick

[napoleon_in_rags]

2. Common sense can seem like a battle.

I was working special ed parapro for awhile. I remember seeing teachers struggling on all the weight of what's expected of them, having a very hard time. And then I remember the school psychologist coming in, unafraid of the political pressures, teaching the kids from his gut. He presented lessons about ethics, about right and wrong, in simple terms. It was the timeless stuff I associate with Plato, but with a class of mildly DD students who were interested with it, resonating with it instinctively. Because (for whatever reason) this guy wasn't afraid, he was able to connect as a teacher while the others were struggling and not connecting.

My takeaway from that was that teaching is a spiritual thing: You have to present raw, real truth to the students as you see it, or just forget about it. So I admire this gentleman in the article fighting the good fight, I admire him even more hearing he's working with the most challenged students. I just hope he remembers to keep shining that soul light, keep believing in those kids, keep trying to bring them forward, and I hope he, like Socrates, forgets about the demands of those who would dictate about how the world "should be" (including the learning progress of the students) but rather commits himself earnestly towards embracing the students and sharing the world as it is.

[GeorgeGist]

3. kick for the day shift

[Chorophyll]

4. Kick.

Excellent piece. I spent two semesters teaching academic writing to college freshmen, and it was an exhausting, exasperating experience. But I only taught for a few hours each week, which is NOTHING compared to what the K-12 teachers do. Prior to that I was a graphic designer, working in my own cubicle all day. Sure, there was some stress around deadlines. But nothing like facing a roomful of students. It's like being onstage in a play where the audience can disrupt you at any time and you have to be prepared to work without a script. Add to that being made the scapegoat for all of society's ills, and it's a wonder anyone's still willing to do it.