Student Feedback—Suggestion IV---I'll get to III later

Student Feedback—Point IV
IV. Ask the students

Almost all of the groups encouraged the administrators to talk to the students. I asked them to elaborate on what the administrators should ask and how they should do it. Here are answers that they gave me:

--Have students take a survey. (This was shot down by a couple of students who suggested that most students will lie on written surveys because they don't want to write--they want to get it over with and go home).
--Have the administrators come in to Interview students and teacher aides in the classroom, asking the teacher to step outside. Lead the class in a discussion regarding the teacher--no writing. Ask the following questions:
1.) Does this teacher impact you and your life positively?
2.) Does this teacher care about your grades?
3.) Do you feel encouraged or inspired by this teacher?
4.) Do you feel like you are learning in this class?
5.) Do you feel that this class moves forward together or that students are often left behind?
6.) Do you think this teacher enjoys their subject?
7.) Are your teacher's methods helpful? Are they accommodating?
8.) Do you enjoy this class?
9.) Do you feel safe in this class?
10.) Do you feel challenged in this class? (Positively or negatively).


These questions are essential for knowing whether or not the teacher is doing their job in a manner that fits with the school or district policies. This type of evaluation could be done annually for all teachers, tenured or not.

Student Feedback—Suggestion II

II. Regarding Homework
When I asked the students what they meant by this, they explained that sometimes too much emphasis on homework was bad, while too little was just as troubling. They felt that there should be some middle ground. Homework, to them, should be more practice on the things already learned in class, rather than on new concepts. Some students felt that (can you believe it) their teachers did not give enough practice homework and that some concepts that were taught once or twice were passed by and never touched on again. This could be due to a couple reasons. Reason One, that the teacher failed to use prior concepts throughout the school year; or Reason Two, that the teacher ran out of time and had other concepts to teach before the end of the semester/year. Reason Two could connect to the ever-shortening of the class time available for teaching. In my first full year of teaching, teachers taught five classes, six periods a day, about an hour per period. This meant that we saw our students on a regular basis and that we had around five hours of teaching time with each class per week. However, due to budget cuts and our bleeding hearts, we agreed to change to a block schedule, teaching six classes, three per day, for about an hour and a half a class. This does not include those weeks where a Monday or a Friday is a holiday. That would cut down the time with each student even more. Therefore, at the most, we would see one class three times a week for a total of four and a half hours. Not only did we then have more students to teach, but less time to teach them. The effects of such a crunching of our time together could be seen, possibly, through the amount of homework vs. classwork.
Teaching at a block schedule school isn’t all that bad, unless the valuable time is not used wisely. Every minute that teachers have in that classroom with students should be filled. My BTSA support provider used to tell me all the time to plan for more than what I thought I could cover, just in case I could actually get to it. This also helped with leaving lesson plans for substitutes. As a teacher and as a substitute, I cannot stand having the last ten or so minutes of class left to do nothing but stand, talk, and wait for that bell to release the students.

Addressing Suggestion I from Student Feedback

I. Focus on Teachers with the least amount of (legitimate) parent complaints
Point I is interesting because it makes a connection to parents. I actually feel like the students somewhat ignored the fact that parent’s should also have a say regarding their child’s education/teacher/etc.. Yes, as a teacher it is good to avoid complaints from parents. I have heard horror stories about things that teachers have said to students and got away with due to tenure. This doesn’t include those phone calls parents make asking what they can do to bring their child’s grade up. Some complaints aren’t as severe as others. Let’s face it, there are parents out there that believe that their child is god’s gift. They have a hard time accepting that homework was not complete, that projects were not turned in, or that Sally Student was talking in class today. It’s something that all teachers deal with at some point.
To add to what the students said, I think that the parents should be consulted regarding what they think about the teachers their children have. Perhaps they reveal that the teacher does not return their calls or emails. Perhaps the parent feels like there is not enough homework sent home or that there is too much. Maybe their child struggles with the work and the teacher is not available for help before school, at lunch, or after school and does not give alternative tutor names and/or places on campus. If the parent feels that the teacher is not concerned for their childs’ wellbeing, then the administrators should know that. What I would suggest would be some sort of survey sent home to parents. I feel that parents would be more likely to respond if they had problems with a teacher. Also, if they were asked to write, they, unlike the students, would be less likely to ignore the “assignment.” One major factor in this, however, has to do with whether or not the parents (and studenets) feel like their voice means something. If they don’t think their opinion matters, they are less likely to put forth the effort.

A Tip Regarding Sub Notes

One way to see what the teacher does with the precious learning time is to take a gander at the sub plans they leave when they are sick, on vacation, or at a meeting. I am not talking about plans for the last day before a long holiday where the only assignment is to turn in a project that students have been working on for months. I mean, just a regular old day where they leave their plans for the sub.
Since I have been subbing again, I notice that there are things you can pick up from the notes on a lesson plan.
First, if they teach both regular CP and AP classes, the curriculum should be different (in my opinion). There is no reason that only the expectations should differ!
Second, if all their note says is show a movie, then clearly, that is a wasted day. This has happened to me a few times and I loath it! I understand that teachers sometimes get horrible subs that do not follow plans, but to predetermine that the day is a waste, is.......well..... a waste.

Student Feedback

Now that I have started this blog and happen to be subbing at the same time, I figured I should take advantage of my connections and hear what some of the students have to say on the matters of school reform. I subbed for an leadership class yesterday. The plans left behind were full of activities that the students were to lead each other in. When the activities were finished, I had them do one more just for me. I asked them what they knew about the education system and then asked them if they agreed with tenure. When the majority of students said that they were against tenure, I asked them to work with the students at their tables to come up with ideas regarding how administrators were to evaluate teachers in the best possible way.
Here are some of the suggestions that I received:

I. Focus on Teachers with the least amount of (legitimate) parent complaints
II. Look at the workload that students are sent home with
III. Look at class grades and test scores
IV. Ask the students
V. Visit the classroom more often

Although I do not necessarily agree with some of the suggestions, they are pretty darn good!

One of the first steps to education reform should be......

GET RID OF TENURE!!!!

I realize that I suggested not complaining, but some is bound to occur.

I find it interesting that the year I was granted tenure was the same year that I was laid off. Although I enjoy irony, this particular case was personal. It was at this time that I discovered what I loathed most about our education system. It wasn’t just that teachers could not be saved during economic hardship, but that the teachers who could not be saved were more likely to be those teachers with fresh ideas and the most recent educational research regarding what works and what does not. Not to mention the energy and love of their subject that the students could grasp on to. What, then, was it that tenure did for teachers? Was it just a tool to keep old ideals in place? Old teaching methods that were failing our students more and more often? Personally, I would rather have my teaching abilities determine my place in the school system through accountability than the ancient belief that those who came first are safe, no matter how poor an instructor they may be.

Tenure can be used as a tool to get away with no longer caring for one’s craft. Imagine you bought a house, and because the house had been inspected years ago, there was no need for another. Perhaps you move in to your new home and find that what was once a perfectly working roof had become a leaking nightmare. What then? Can you, the student, do anything but try to cope with your new issue? Must you try to figure out a way to change your own habits to fix the problem? This is what students must do; either change their habits and conform to the new way of learning, or choose not to change and fail.

And that is where the real pain comes to play. I feel for those students who will not benefit from the newly educated, highly motivated, eager teachers. I feel for them and fear for them. And really, you should too. Because it isn’t just our jobs that are gone, but soon, as we will see in this next generation, the desire to learn and challenge themselves will also evaporate due to the need to conform to those old-school method teachers in today and tomorrow’s education system.

An Introduction

Like many other teachers in the United States, I have recently been laid off from my teaching position. This sour note has left me with time to contemplate my feelings and to ponder the reasons for our current education malfunction.

I am curious to see what other people have to say on the subject since it is something that I cannot separate myself from. I also like to think that if enough people talked about reform, including "how to" suggestions, then it could actually make a difference. That is my hope for this blog. Not just to complain about how bad our schools are or how under-appreciated us teachers are, but how to fix problems.

Let the fixing begin!