BP10_2009122_PeerReview

Macon, S. (2003) The Headache.[ink drawing]. from personal collection.
used by permission of the artist



In Defense of the Classroom Teacher

I would like to take a different view on the peer review. I looked at a number of blogs from my fellow peers blogs trying to decide on which one to review. I read through their posts on Anti-teaching and I found that yes they agree that the current educational system does not support student learning and more geared towards grades and passing test. Most of the the blogs I looked at like myself are what I will call "Special Teachers". We do not teach what is considered academics. Whether it be music, art or technology since it is not a tested curriculum it is not considered what the policy makers think is relevant. Classroom teachers have a heavy burden on their shoulders and they feel the weight of the current educational system more than we do. In my county our teachers are constantly being monitored by the district. The have curriculum maps that tell them what to teach, when to teach it and how long they have to teach them. They are even told what they should put on their walls. They have to have their word walls for each subject. Their LEQ's - I can honestly say I don't know what that is - some kind of learning focus strategy for each subject have to be posted on their walls and if they are not there they are written up. They are told how long they are to teach each subject and they cannot teach anything else during that time. They have quarterly assessment and their students have to pass these benchmarks by a certain time. If their students don't meet these mandates then they have to present a plan on how they are going to reach these goals. They have to inform the administration what benchmarks have been taught and what they have done with the students that remediate them. They have to analyze the data, reteach and retest. This information has to be given to the administration which report it to the district. I agree that the web 2.0 tools presented in the blogs are wonderful tools but it requires a lot of time and practice to use them in the classroom effectively. In my district I know my teachers plates are already full. Having been a classroom teacher for 10 years I know the pressures facing these teachers. I know they also want to use more technology in the classroom but if it takes you 3 hours to analyze the data from one benchmark assessment when do you have time to research new teaching tools. When I get home from work I go to my computer and spend hours just doing homework for the classes from this program. My teachers usually stay late working on data, parent conferences, and getting prepared for the next visit from the district. Being a technology teacher and television production teacher I have the luxury of not having to defend my class performance on an assessment test. No one ask me where my students are on the curriculum maps or what benchmarks I have taught this week. I do not have to give a report to the administration on the strategies I used for the students who didn't pass these benchmarks. All of these tools are wonderful tools but unless a change comes from the top we will still be blogging about the same thing years from now.