[hovenweep]

I posted several times last year venting and asking for help with our district writing program. It was the absolute opposite of best practices: Graphic Organizers to fill out (timed by a timer), cookie-cutter plans, the kids NEVER were allowed to write and the motto of our admins was "The kids can't be trusted to write until they can make a strong plan." The kids were forced to write one type of plan over and over, and never made these plans into actual writing because the plans were "not perfect yet." It was absolutely infuriating. We were policed on these items and actually got reprimanded if we did something different. I work in a high-poverty school, and the sentiment was: "This population needs a lot of structure." Phooey! I grew up in "that population" and found those sentiments utterly false, derogatory, and classist.

Anyway, our writing scores totally plummeted. Now they are blaming the teachers. The old program has been thrown out, so that tells us that they do realise they made a grave error. This year, we have been told to more or less do what we feel is right when it comes to writing, but the big-wigs have been stalking through our classsrooms weekly to check in on us.

Was teaching always like this? Why do they hire us if they feel we are so incompetent? Why do we get advanced degrees, read journals, attend endless trainings, read every book about best practices and fret nonstop abaout our children if the high-ups think we should be nothing more than monkeys who follow recipe-like programs?

[wig]

How infuriating! I think admin has been driven to these tactics because of NCLB. They are desperate because they have to meet AYP or it may mean their heads will role. ALways easier to blame the heads below you.

[leofenderfan]

"It" rolls down hill.

[read&see]

I also don't understand why we need all of this education and then can't use it. Sadly, it does not look like any major changes are going to occur any time soon. Children are being given a one size fits all education or a trying to fit a square box in a round hole type of thing. Children just skim the surface and don't really learn what will stay with them a long time.
So sad.

[hovenweep]

Thanks to Marzano, they keep telling us that since we achieved less than 50% proficiency, it is obvious that none of us were teaching the program "with fidelity." I wonder if this is what Marzano had in mind? Kids that aren't allowed to write? Graphic Orgainzers (which are just worksheets with an inflated job title)? Utter nonsense.