we have plenty of special people around and not just in the school system so come on down, you know you have a place to live. really i just miss sarah in the kitchen !
man, if you really like the school/program you got the job offer for sack up, quit bitching and play their little game. im sure with all the budget cuts, school violence and all the normal aggravation of the real world this wont be the last time you see things differently than the people making decisions. it sucks but what would really suck is if you get all crazy and have to stay out west to look for another job.
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If you need to contact me , email me. Less Internet, less stress
Why is it that teachers can't fail students anymore? Doesn't that indicate a major flaw in the system? Shouldn't a certain percentage of failure be expected and its absence be suspect? My sister-in-law teaches physics here in KY and she's hunting for a private school. She's had kids fight (pysically, hitting one another) that she's sent to the office only to have them returned to class after a scolding! When I was in public school you got suspended for fighting! She's been warned about failing students and told (though not "officially") that she'd better find a way to at least give them D's! Oh, and there's the "no child left behind" bullshit which is the only thing they're supposed to teach (though *wink wink* you can't teach to the test ([serious voice] though, you must teach to the test)). It's a wonder anyone remains a teacher anymore.
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
Don't be lame. Just do the stupid interview, suck it up, and call it the cost of being a good employee with a good attitude that is a role model for everyone because of your dedication, character, and knowledge.
I could go on forever about all the problems with our educational system, but I won't. It would take to much time. I just want to say a few things.
Ohio for the past couple years has been laying off teachers. Thousands have lost their jobs and its not just in poor school districts. What type of country do we live in that lets that happen.
At the school that I teach at in NC, we 100% teach to the test. For example the administration yesterday informed us that we were going to be taking a mock end of year test, today. We had to postpone our plans and completely disrupt educational flow, and were informed of it the day before. I had things planned way in advance that could only be done on certain days. i.e. Computer lab reservation.
Our system in its current state is a failure. Our standardized test are so easy, its a joke, and students still can't pass them. Then school districts and politicians have a jerk fest when a school does well on a test a monkey could pass.
Even high performing schools in our country are not preparing our students well enough for the growing global competition. I will stop here. I am already upset.
Oh yea, Alan is right. Students at our school can't fail. If they fail the year all they have to do is show up for two weeks of summer school to pass. They don't even have to do anything while they are at summer school. Just show up.
Alan Evil wrote: She's had kids fight (pysically, hitting one another) that she's sent to the office only to have them returned to class after a scolding! When I was in public school you got suspended for fighting!
This past year I've been working in a self-contained classroom for kids with emotional behavior disorders and these kids never get suspended for fighting. It is actually protocol to handle the issue "in house" because fist fights break out so frequently in the classroom. If they leave my classroom, it's generally in handcuffs. I usually consider it a good day when these kids don't assault anyone, although that has been happening less and less since I switched from a day treatment facility to a public school setting. It's funny how there is such a push for inclusion of special ed kids in the general ed classroom and all this talk of accountability, but no one mentions the behavior kids. They still seem to be the exception. Keep them in their own little room and let them hit each other rather than hit someone else's kid...
I'm in the 'quit bitching, go to the 're-interview'' camp on this. If it's a good program and a good fit for you, a stupid day of interviewing isn't that bad.
Could be worse - a friend of mine taught for several years in London* and moved back to the states with his American wife and their kid. The State of Illinois took months and months to deal with his certification, and he missed out on hiring season. This year he's doing some subbing and working at a Barnes and Noble's. He's a junior high/HS history teacher and knows US history inside and out. Considering how much of almost any history class in the states is really Brittish history, it's amazing that school districts aren't clamoring to hire him.
I was going to say that he would be disinclined to 'teach to the test', but the UK has a very rigid system of testing. They have sets of standardized tests (the GCSEs and others), so maybe they have their own 'teaching to the test' issues.
(*He said that most of the kids where he taught in London were Greek and Turkish, and lots of them did the 'wannabe Arab' thing that the Ali G character is based on...)
I agreed to do the second interview which was scheduled for today. The director calls me last night and asks to reschedule for next week. I tell her I will be gone for 5 weeks. She says, oh no, that won't due. So we arrange to meet later today. I go into the building. The principal for my school is pulled out of another meeting. We exchange names, shake hands. Welcome aboard. I go home with job. It took me longer to get dressed this morning than it did to have my "interview".
so come on down, you know you have a place to live. really i just miss sarah in the kitchen !