Mid week

It's hard to believe that we are already half way through the third week so far. I have been fortunate the past two nights - I haven't even brought my laptop home. I can't believe how unnatural that feels. But I leave it here so I won't be tempted to do work. At home I always spend a few minutes typing up new worksheets, jotting down notes for new types of themes, or just revising lesson plans (which is pointless because I rarely follow them anyway). And that reminds me. I need to update my lesson plans for this week. I'm a horrible teacher.

More NWEA testing scheduled for tomorrow. I actually heard kids talking about their scores yesterday. That never happened in the past. Our middle school does a good job (if you can say anything good about standardized testing) reinforcing the importance of testing. Initially when we began testing, the high school kids who weren't used to it blew it off and our scores were horrible. Thanks to NCLB that can't happen anymore. So now that we are getting the students who are used to testing (our elementary school is absolutely nuts about testing. I swear their whole curriculum is devoted to the tests. Not that they don't do other great things there - what they do with reading is absolutely phenomenal. But in my opinion, those ladies let testing drive their teaching too much), they take it more seriously. I still think some kids blow it off, but what can you do.

At our common prep meeting - a meeting run by some administrative appointed teaching gurus - one of the gurus from our department brought up an interesting point: How long can we continue to blame low test scores on kids not taking it seriously? When will we have to point the finger at ourselves and decide we need to teach better? I think that's a valid point. But I am wary of teachers who claim that they always know the best ways to teach. That seems to be the feeling that some staff get from our common prep meetings - where two gurus get up and share reading and thinking strategies to the group and then we are supposed to go back and inculcate those strategies into our curriculum and lessons. That in itself is good. However, the isn't always how it works. Some get hard feelings because they think the gurus are TELLING them how to teach (and sometimes they do). Some get hard feelings because our administrators ALWAYS appoint the same people as gurus. And of course another problem is that we get a half hour a week to digest these strategies and then apply to our lessons. In my opinion, that is not enough time. I wish we could take a week over the summer (with pay) and go through this training and then apply it to our curriculum over the summer. That is why the Red River Valley Writers Workshop at UND was so great for me. I am just too overwhelmed to add many new practices and ideas during the year. Not that I haven't found what the gurus have to say very interesting. I have used a lot of their strategies. But a lot of their ideas end up in the growing drawer in my desk next to the NWEA test results, the BST results, curriculum mapping info, and all the other well intended stuff that I rarely get to because I'm busy reading student papers, reading essays to use with students, and teaching. Again, I'm a horrible teacher.

What I would like to see done, but I'm not a guru, is that our administration or department or whomever, requires regular department meetings (and I know some who are reading this will cringe at such a suggestion). At these meetings I would like to see each English teacher bring in their best lesson plan or idea. Then they would explain or model it for us. No ROLE PLAYING. I was educated in the 1990s and thanks to the BSU education department, I loathe role playing like I loathe cancer, root canals, animal testing, and republicans. Now that is loathing!

I know members of my department do amazing things that they never share. Let me rephrase that, I know members of my department do amazing things that they don't feel comfortable sharing or that they don't think are amazing. I think meeting and seeing what we do with our classes would improve my teaching more than anything else. Maybe the members of my department who read this would agree? Maybe not. I just know we have talented people here who don't get the credit they deserve or who don't get appointed gurus because of external factors - ass kissing and so on.