As a teacher, the past week has been quite a whirlwind and it has nothing to do with my life in the classroom. Oprah, Hollywood and the National Broadcasting Company have all converged over the past seven days to shine a light on one of the most important issues of our time: education. It's a bit surreal to turn on the news and hear people talking about your job but over the past few days that scenario has been a reality. Hearing and seeing the way that many people have been reacting towards teachers has been both eye opening, confusing and upsetting. It seems that just because we have all been in a classroom as a student, it gives us carte blanche to speak about teachers. Most people who haven't been in a classroom in 25 years are now experts on how education should work. I find this amusing because although I've been to the dentist 50 times in my life, I don't tell the good doctor how to fill a tooth. As you can tell, all of this coverage has stirred up many emotions among myself and my colleagues. However, the one topic that has stirred up the most emotion in yours truly is the new dirty word on the lips of many New Yorkers (and Americans) TENURE.
If you were to just watch the news, with their talking heads and "man on the street" interviews you would think that tenure only exists to keep bad teachers in their jobs when in fact, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Now let me be clear, there are teachers who, through their practice or their behavior, have more than proven that they do not deserve to have their job. Does our current system protect these teachers? Perhaps. However, there seems to be a side of this argument that people either choose to ignore or are just completely misinformed about (I'm looking at you Waiting for Superman)and that is: tenure does not guarantee a "job for life". The only thing that our tenure system guarantees is due process for a teacher facing the prospect of losing his or her livelihood (and yes, I said livelihood and not "job" because for many of us, this is our LIVES.) Due process, what an absolutely crazy idea to have in the United States huh? Teaching is not a fly-by-night profession that you can just walk in and out of-or at least it shouldn't be. For many, including myself, working with students is more than a job, it's a commitment that takes up nearly all of our time between planning, grading and worrying about our kids, the least we should get is a chance to have our case heard.
Anyway.
If you're not sure where you stand on the issue of tenure (and even think if you do know where you stand on it) you should ask yourself the following: Would I want to walk into work one day and be told that I have no job? And when I asked why, to not be given a reason AND to have no recourse about it. If you answered "no" to this question then you, my friend, are in favor of tenure for teachers. NO ONE is saying that teachers who do their job poorly or hurt children in anyway should keep their jobs. As a teacher, I would love to have that dead weight gone so that my students could have a better learning experience and I don't have to hear how big of a "have a job for life" jerk I am from John Q. Public on Eyewitness News. But the reality is, without tenure, in the current "high stakes" world of education, an administrator could dismiss a teacher for whatever reason they decide. I know this, because this scenario plays itself out in our schools today. The group that seems to be forgotten in this "tenure is evil" argument are non-tenured teachers (those who have been teaching for less than three years.) You see, at any time, any one of the thousands of new teachers in our city can lose their job, not be told why, and do absolutely nothing about it.
I know this because this recently happened to a teacher in New York City, a teacher who I happen to be very close with. At the end of this teacher's second year, the principal informed them that they would not be returning to the school and since they were not tenured, this teacher had no recourse....ZERO. Without tenure, teachers could lose their jobs at any time for any reason.This should not happen to anyone, and especially not someone who has dedicated their life to working with children. When this teacher informed his students that he would not be returning, there were many tears shed on both sides. The kids didn't understand and unfortunately neither did the teacher. Were the best interests of those students served by their administration that day? If you asked them, I bet they would have a pretty clear answer. If we care about the well being of students, we not only need to think about getting rid of the dead weight but also keeping the good ones who love their kids and are loved right back.
All we want is the ability to have our story heard and let the chips fall where they may. I know that's all that my friend wanted, but he, along with many others, was never given the chance.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Opening Night Stinker
Instant reaction to tonight's Jets game: a stinker that made Jets fans sick and thrilled the rest of the country who now hate the loud mouth Jets.
-OFFENSE. And I thought the Mets offense sucked. While they looked terrible during the preseason, the Jets offense tonight was just disgusting. Practically nothing thrown down the field all game (the only completion to Keller was of course called back on a penalty) and Shonn Greene was ineffective and couldn't hold onto the ball. Plus, once he was benched he seemed to lose focus as evident in the dropped pass in the 4th. LT had some nice plays but we shouldn't be relying on the back up RB for offense. Hey guys, I just suffered through 6 months of a team that couldn't score in baseball please don't give me 4 more months of the same shite during football season. And to close it all out, the last drive was a complete JOKE. Every ball was thrown 6-10 yards down the field and to finish it, Keller goes out of bounds one yard short of the first down on 4th and 10.
-PENALTIES. Are you kidding me? How many times did the Jets commit a brutal penalty tonight? Running into the kicker, pass interference, holding and more. For God's sake Braylon Edwards had penalties on offense AND special teams. The worst was probably Wilson's pass interference that led to the touchdown before the half although Edwards's illegal formation hurt as well (the aforementioned penalty that took away the Keller completion inside the 10.) Either way, when you have almost ten penalties lead to first downs and over 100 yards of penalties you're never going to win.
-DEFENSE. It's tough to get on the defense tonight but a good defense gets off the field on 3rd down especially 3rd and long. Tonight that failed to happen about a dozen times. The MNF crew made it sound like it never happens to the Jets and while that might be statistically true, there were many key 3rd and longs last year where the defense didn't get the job done. It might not have cost them tonight but it will down the line.
-THE CB'S. Kyle Wilson did not look ready for prime time (pun intended) and the Ravens took full advantage. Between penalties and just looking plain lost at times, opening night was not one to remember for the rookie from Boise State. Luckily
Antonio Cromartie was brutal as well (and no, I don't care about the interception) Holding, pass interference and being beaten time and time again helped me forget about the interception and return. I'm dying to make a comment about his proclivity for procreating right now but I'll pass for tonight. I find it amazing that the guy who missed all of training camp and showed up a week ago was the most effective corner back tonight. Unreal.
Overall a disgraceful game from a team that has been running its collective mouth for the past 8 months. On top of tonight's stinker they have the Pats (who looked pretty good against the Bengals yesterday) rolling into town on Sunday and I'm sure they're just dying to get their shot to shut up Rex and Company.
Better get it together boys because 0-2 going into back-to-back road games at Miami and Buffalo is not going to look too good.
-OFFENSE. And I thought the Mets offense sucked. While they looked terrible during the preseason, the Jets offense tonight was just disgusting. Practically nothing thrown down the field all game (the only completion to Keller was of course called back on a penalty) and Shonn Greene was ineffective and couldn't hold onto the ball. Plus, once he was benched he seemed to lose focus as evident in the dropped pass in the 4th. LT had some nice plays but we shouldn't be relying on the back up RB for offense. Hey guys, I just suffered through 6 months of a team that couldn't score in baseball please don't give me 4 more months of the same shite during football season. And to close it all out, the last drive was a complete JOKE. Every ball was thrown 6-10 yards down the field and to finish it, Keller goes out of bounds one yard short of the first down on 4th and 10.
-PENALTIES. Are you kidding me? How many times did the Jets commit a brutal penalty tonight? Running into the kicker, pass interference, holding and more. For God's sake Braylon Edwards had penalties on offense AND special teams. The worst was probably Wilson's pass interference that led to the touchdown before the half although Edwards's illegal formation hurt as well (the aforementioned penalty that took away the Keller completion inside the 10.) Either way, when you have almost ten penalties lead to first downs and over 100 yards of penalties you're never going to win.
-DEFENSE. It's tough to get on the defense tonight but a good defense gets off the field on 3rd down especially 3rd and long. Tonight that failed to happen about a dozen times. The MNF crew made it sound like it never happens to the Jets and while that might be statistically true, there were many key 3rd and longs last year where the defense didn't get the job done. It might not have cost them tonight but it will down the line.
-THE CB'S. Kyle Wilson did not look ready for prime time (pun intended) and the Ravens took full advantage. Between penalties and just looking plain lost at times, opening night was not one to remember for the rookie from Boise State. Luckily
Antonio Cromartie was brutal as well (and no, I don't care about the interception) Holding, pass interference and being beaten time and time again helped me forget about the interception and return. I'm dying to make a comment about his proclivity for procreating right now but I'll pass for tonight. I find it amazing that the guy who missed all of training camp and showed up a week ago was the most effective corner back tonight. Unreal.
Overall a disgraceful game from a team that has been running its collective mouth for the past 8 months. On top of tonight's stinker they have the Pats (who looked pretty good against the Bengals yesterday) rolling into town on Sunday and I'm sure they're just dying to get their shot to shut up Rex and Company.
Better get it together boys because 0-2 going into back-to-back road games at Miami and Buffalo is not going to look too good.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
New Beginnings
Last June, I lost my job.
I haven't told many people about this partly because it's a little embarrassing and partly because I'm still not too sure what happened. While I wish I could say it was something like budget cuts that led to my unemployment, I can't. In fact, I don't know why I lost my job. I worked hard, I cared about my kids and I took my responsibilities very seriously. For a while, I could not accept the fact that although I had met the criteria for a "good" employee I was still shown the door. I carried these feelings with me until I returned from my trip to the Appalachian Trail last week. A weekend of hard work (both mentally and physically) and strong experiences with my new co-workers/friends let me know that it was time to move on.
The aforementioned trip was a part of my new job teaching high school in the Bronx. I was lucky enough to get the new job (which almost didn't happen due to MORE unreal drama) which I will officially be starting tomorrow. This teaching experience is going to be very different from my previous school. Instead of being in quiet, tree lined Queens neighborhood, I'll be right in the heart of the Bronx, the place where I learned the most and where I grew up the quickest. Most importantly, I'm going to be out of my "comfort zone" which on the surface seems like scary thing but if you look a little deeper....
I was working at a great school with high achieving students whose biggest problem a lot of the time was whether they would be getting a new IPod touch. Now, don't get me wrong, I worked with a lot of students from many different backgrounds who needed a lot of help and support(I'm a NYC Public School Teacher for God's sake!) but at the end of the day I don't know if those kids needed me in their lives. I don't say that from a selfish point of view as wanting to be needed but more from what I feel I can offer my students as their teacher. I'm excited because after talking with my new colleagues, I get the sense that a positive educational experience as well as a strong adult influence might be what some of them need to point these kids in the right direction and at the end of the day that's what teachers are there to do.
Please don't get the wrong idea. I don't think of myself as some savior who's going to change these kids lives in one fell swoop, but I would like to think that the terrible things that happened to me last June can result in a positive. I know that at times it is not going to be easy but I truly believe that I have the skills, talents and life experience to help make a difference for my new students.
Sometimes it's just too easy to be comfortable. Sometimes we need a kick in the ass to jump start the lives we are meant to live as well as the ones we are meant to influence. I got my kick in the ass and it hurt....for about two months. Now it's time to move on. It's time for new beginnings. It's time to help a new group of students.
Game on.
I haven't told many people about this partly because it's a little embarrassing and partly because I'm still not too sure what happened. While I wish I could say it was something like budget cuts that led to my unemployment, I can't. In fact, I don't know why I lost my job. I worked hard, I cared about my kids and I took my responsibilities very seriously. For a while, I could not accept the fact that although I had met the criteria for a "good" employee I was still shown the door. I carried these feelings with me until I returned from my trip to the Appalachian Trail last week. A weekend of hard work (both mentally and physically) and strong experiences with my new co-workers/friends let me know that it was time to move on.
The aforementioned trip was a part of my new job teaching high school in the Bronx. I was lucky enough to get the new job (which almost didn't happen due to MORE unreal drama) which I will officially be starting tomorrow. This teaching experience is going to be very different from my previous school. Instead of being in quiet, tree lined Queens neighborhood, I'll be right in the heart of the Bronx, the place where I learned the most and where I grew up the quickest. Most importantly, I'm going to be out of my "comfort zone" which on the surface seems like scary thing but if you look a little deeper....
I was working at a great school with high achieving students whose biggest problem a lot of the time was whether they would be getting a new IPod touch. Now, don't get me wrong, I worked with a lot of students from many different backgrounds who needed a lot of help and support(I'm a NYC Public School Teacher for God's sake!) but at the end of the day I don't know if those kids needed me in their lives. I don't say that from a selfish point of view as wanting to be needed but more from what I feel I can offer my students as their teacher. I'm excited because after talking with my new colleagues, I get the sense that a positive educational experience as well as a strong adult influence might be what some of them need to point these kids in the right direction and at the end of the day that's what teachers are there to do.
Please don't get the wrong idea. I don't think of myself as some savior who's going to change these kids lives in one fell swoop, but I would like to think that the terrible things that happened to me last June can result in a positive. I know that at times it is not going to be easy but I truly believe that I have the skills, talents and life experience to help make a difference for my new students.
Sometimes it's just too easy to be comfortable. Sometimes we need a kick in the ass to jump start the lives we are meant to live as well as the ones we are meant to influence. I got my kick in the ass and it hurt....for about two months. Now it's time to move on. It's time for new beginnings. It's time to help a new group of students.
Game on.
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