Re: Stick to the Script?
Posted by Anon on 11/09/08
Can I ask where you taught in NC? I'm going to be moving there
within the next few years and am looking for insight into what the
schools are like.
As for schools in MA, I agree with the other poster...it depends
on which school you are in. I just switched from private school
to public school for this school year. The new school is in a
great district, but our special ed. students have difficulty with
math MCAS. They made adequate progress last year and must do so
this year as well or our school will be "in corrective action."
As a result, math is being pushed hard in our school. Some parts
of the school day are being revamped in an effort to boost test
scores without regard for the flaws in these new changes. Being
new to the district, I'm going with the flow as much as I can,
even though the changes basically translate into me teaching an
extra class every day. I don't feel the pressure as much as the
math teachers and (so far) have been able to continue with hands-
on learning in my classroom.
On 11/03/08, fustrated wrote:
>
> Actually.. The school in NC was a title one.. 90% of my kids were
> free and reduced lunch and we had SOO MUCH FREEDOM to make
> learning engaging and hands on!
>
> The school I am at now which is stick to the script is in a upper
> class suburb with tons of parent involvement..
>
>
> On 11/02/08, long time teacher wrote:
>> I find this true of low-income schools, those receiving
>> large federal grants, and schools which are not making AYP.
>> Administrators are in panic-mode and believe the newest
>> scripted programs will turn things around. The lowest
>> performing school in my district now has all highly-scripted
>> programs, no recess, no snack, and only reading-based
>> science and social studies. Meanwhile, schools in the
>> suburb next door have far more classroom freedom,
>> experiential learning, and enrichment classes. Of course,
>> it's only a matter of time before no school is making AYP.
>> There's been a lot of hanky-panky (greased palms) at the
>> federal level in their determination of which programs
>> are "research-based" and therefore allowable under federal
>> grants. Hopefully this will change for the better with a
>> new administration and an improved NCLB. But I'm not
>> holding my breath.
>>
>>
>> On 11/02/08, fustrated wrote:
>>> Does anyone else feel like we have become robots? I just
>>> relocated from NC to MA. In NC the district gave teachers a
>>> voice and we could manipulate curriculum and have grade
>>> level conversation and think out of the box. We were
>>> encouraged to sit down with each other and learn and plan
>>> together. Our kids has the highest growth in the district.
>>>
>>> Since coming to MA, I feel like the want to me become a
>>> robot. All the Bruner models and paieda methods I have
>>> learned are not part of the new math curriculum. I was told
>>> to stick to the program, which is workbook page after
>>> workbook page. Why do they train us and then take all that
>>> knowledge away? Also, every meeting I have gone to since
>>> Sept has been a supervisor talking to us. Not a flow of
>>> conversation. I am new to the MA school systems. Are they
>>> all like this? Does anyone feel the same way?
>>>
Posts on this thread, including this one
- Stick to the Script?, 11/02/08, by fustrated.
- Re: Stick to the Script?, 11/02/08, by long time teacher.
- Re: Stick to the Script?, 11/03/08, by fustrated.
- Re: Stick to the Script?, 11/09/08, by Anon.
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