right to creativity? never. right to independent thought? nah, not that either.
DESE and our lovely governor has threatened to unaccredit the St. Louis Public Schools. It would cost $3 million to transport 1 % of the city children to other schools, not to mention many many schools are at max capacity or near max capacity. We don't know if DESE will really unaccredit the schools - you can only imagine the mess and pain it would cause. DESE has threatened to unaccredit another school district but we have a very good idea that they won't.
To make matters worse, Hazelwood's MAP scores are so low that DESE has told us to get it together - OR ELSE. So how does our school district respond? They respond with writing out the curriculum for all of us. They told all of us we can't use any textbook that is not on the curriculum. For us, it's going to be the History Alive! Textbook. If you've seen it, it's not fantastic - it's pretty unimpressive for a textbook and sole resource. We had a big textbook which we didn't use faithfully - but it was a good resource for some things, especially geography activites, excellent maps, and more description for different things. They aren't even ordering a whole set for each student - only 35 copies of the textbook. One principal told a teacher that she couldn't use anything that didn't directly come out of the History Alive! Curriculum. The math & English curriculum is so detailed they have little freedom at all what they are teaching. Depending on the principal,, Social Studies has more freedom and it's not sooo restrictive...but it's really restrictive with the lack of resources we can use. The sad thing is this district has become obsessed with writing because our kids were terrible and it was a big part of the MAP test - but now the MAP is going to all multiple choice. The district is still obsessed with writing....it will be interesting to see if it changes at all. So our curriculum leaves NO practice on multiple choice tests (which the kids are terrible at).
It's really depressing as the teachers in this place lose more and more freedom. I'll be subtly breaking the rules of course because I'm like that, but I'll try not to get fired. I get a SMART board next year which will help in that realm. Our History of US textbooks are going to go the "library" so we'll just have to take class field trips to look at the "gorgeous resources in the library". It makes me miss good old CPS system - no one cared what the hell I was teaching (well relative speaking) and while that's no good either, it's better than this craziness.
It's hard to know what to do. Do I subtly break the rules, working for a district that violate's my very principles? Do I give up completely and go find a district that doesn't restrict my freedom? Which is right? Which is better? I can't believe this... its so sad. I know do know that when they give us a script, I'm getting out of this profession and leaving for good. And I'll complain bitterly or go work for a private school. AND THAT would be a day that a part of me would die anyways,, just goiing to work for a private school. Staying home permanently would kill me too. I don't know the answer. i feel llike my education at NU was a waste. I went to school for four years for a waste. Did I not tell you that no profession had more non-professionals making iditotic decisions but very influential decisions than teaching? Everybody thinks they know better than the experts - the teachers. Guess what? YOU DON'T. !!!!!!! Sorry. YOU DONT. So everybody can just keep their f-ing opinion to themselves about how we should teach and the textbook matter. I hate our district. I hate it. We are ruining the kids futures - getting rid of teaching kids to be critical thinkers and use more than one source, not doing anything to help our mutliple intelligences or low-functioning learners or high-functioning learners.
All I can say is I hope others in other schools are faring better. I hope Hazelwood's MAP scores sink even further and I'll laugh in their face. I hope that someone gets rid of our horrible superientendent. I hope a bunch of those administrators go *poof* into thin air, never to return. I hope NCLB catches on fire and grows devil horns and speaks in tongues of Mordor and burns up. It is the devil.
To make matters worse, Hazelwood's MAP scores are so low that DESE has told us to get it together - OR ELSE. So how does our school district respond? They respond with writing out the curriculum for all of us. They told all of us we can't use any textbook that is not on the curriculum. For us, it's going to be the History Alive! Textbook. If you've seen it, it's not fantastic - it's pretty unimpressive for a textbook and sole resource. We had a big textbook which we didn't use faithfully - but it was a good resource for some things, especially geography activites, excellent maps, and more description for different things. They aren't even ordering a whole set for each student - only 35 copies of the textbook. One principal told a teacher that she couldn't use anything that didn't directly come out of the History Alive! Curriculum. The math & English curriculum is so detailed they have little freedom at all what they are teaching. Depending on the principal,, Social Studies has more freedom and it's not sooo restrictive...but it's really restrictive with the lack of resources we can use. The sad thing is this district has become obsessed with writing because our kids were terrible and it was a big part of the MAP test - but now the MAP is going to all multiple choice. The district is still obsessed with writing....it will be interesting to see if it changes at all. So our curriculum leaves NO practice on multiple choice tests (which the kids are terrible at).
It's really depressing as the teachers in this place lose more and more freedom. I'll be subtly breaking the rules of course because I'm like that, but I'll try not to get fired. I get a SMART board next year which will help in that realm. Our History of US textbooks are going to go the "library" so we'll just have to take class field trips to look at the "gorgeous resources in the library". It makes me miss good old CPS system - no one cared what the hell I was teaching (well relative speaking) and while that's no good either, it's better than this craziness.
It's hard to know what to do. Do I subtly break the rules, working for a district that violate's my very principles? Do I give up completely and go find a district that doesn't restrict my freedom? Which is right? Which is better? I can't believe this... its so sad. I know do know that when they give us a script, I'm getting out of this profession and leaving for good. And I'll complain bitterly or go work for a private school. AND THAT would be a day that a part of me would die anyways,, just goiing to work for a private school. Staying home permanently would kill me too. I don't know the answer. i feel llike my education at NU was a waste. I went to school for four years for a waste. Did I not tell you that no profession had more non-professionals making iditotic decisions but very influential decisions than teaching? Everybody thinks they know better than the experts - the teachers. Guess what? YOU DON'T. !!!!!!! Sorry. YOU DONT. So everybody can just keep their f-ing opinion to themselves about how we should teach and the textbook matter. I hate our district. I hate it. We are ruining the kids futures - getting rid of teaching kids to be critical thinkers and use more than one source, not doing anything to help our mutliple intelligences or low-functioning learners or high-functioning learners.
All I can say is I hope others in other schools are faring better. I hope Hazelwood's MAP scores sink even further and I'll laugh in their face. I hope that someone gets rid of our horrible superientendent. I hope a bunch of those administrators go *poof* into thin air, never to return. I hope NCLB catches on fire and grows devil horns and speaks in tongues of Mordor and burns up. It is the devil.