Every day is full of absurdities for teachers, at least, it’s always been that way for me and, seemingly, for my colleagues no matter where I’ve taught. We could all start our very own versions of “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” Tomorrow is a perfect case in point.
Because I am an in-person teacher (now referred to as “brick and mortar” teacher, a term which I hate because it makes me sound either completely inflexible or as if I’m already dead and rigor mortis has set in), not a year-long remote teacher as I repeatedly begged to be, my district superintendent has demanded that I haul my sorry, sleepy little self into my school building for another fun-filled day (yes, that was sarcasm again) of professional development. The teachers who are teaching the year-long remote students are allowed to stay home. If you’re still waiting for the absurdity, here it is: I will have to get up an hour and a half earlier than otherwise necessary to get ready and drive into my “brick and mortar” building just to sit in my empty classroom in front of a laptop computer all day attending Zoom and Webex meetings! You know, those things that enable you to meet remotely?
To add insult to injury, they’ve announced 3 different times for the start of the first Zoom meeting. I’ve seen 7:30, 8:00, and 8:30. Let’s keep ’em guessing folks! Keep those worthless teachers on their toes. Won’t it be funny when they have to show up for the earliest time, just in case the meeting starts then, and watch them waste the next 30-60 minutes waiting for us to start? Yes, you’ve just enjoyed playing the latest round of “How Can We Waste Your Time Now?”
The main reason the elementary teachers are having to be further “developed” is because the administration has decided to adopt a new curriculum and demanded that it be implemented immediately. Yes, you heard that right. Three-fourths of the way through the school year, essentially two months before the end of the school year, one month before standardized end-of-year testing, we’re rolling out a brand new curriculum, as if THAT will fix all the problems.
In an attempt to “close the gap” between where our students should be and where they actually are because of the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked upon our educational system, our administrators are willing to entertain an enormous amount of absurd and ridiculous ideas. Today provides another outstanding example. Wednesdays in our school district now involve an intensive intervention program of targeted instruction, specifically aimed at the most struggling students. However, does administration use the data that the classroom teachers have collected on those students? Are the teachers consulted about where the gaps and weak spots of each student lies? Are the teachers involved in deciding which students need the most support and what that support should be? NO! Why should we be asked any of these questions? We are just the teachers, you know, the ones who will be held responsible for the success/failure of these students. It’s not like we’re experts or anything. It’s not like we’ve been trained. It’s not like we’ve spent hours/days/eons in professional development after our adequate training. It’s not like we spend more of the children’s waking hours of the day with them than any other adult.
No, instead the P.E. teacher was sent into my room today to pull groups of my children out to work with them, first on their math, then later in the day on their reading. No, that isn’t a typo. No, your glasses don’t need a new prescription. No, you’re not hallucinating. I swear to God the P.E. teacher pulled my most struggling students to teach them the skills they are struggling to learn. Seriously, folks, I couldn’t make this up. It’s part of the latest initiative where they send in the “specials” teachers, to pull out the kids who need the most help in reading and math. I could see sending in the P.E. teacher to take the rest of my class off for some extra physical activity while I worked with my neediest students, but, no. Truth is stranger than fiction.