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Illinois Teachers Chatboard

fifth grade

by sydney

Aug 9, 2010

i am changing grades from second to fifth. our entire school has been switched around and I am very nervous. Any hints or tips for me?

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Mae in Texas I've done both 2nd and 5th.

2nd - not as independent, wiggles more, interrupts more, sweet, loving, needy, shorter attention span...

5th - more independent (but not all of them), can sit still and work (except for kids who are ADHD), interrupts less but interruptions are more purposeful -hoping to get you off track or to get you ...See More

Aug 10, 2010

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field trips for 4th grade

by Michelle

Aug 13, 2010

Hi there! Does anyone have any suggestions for field trips in the western suburbs near Chicago? We're looking for something different to do this year in the burbs.. The kids have visited the Brookfield Zoo many times. In 3rd grade they go to the Naperville Settlement, so that's out, too. Thank you in advance!

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Carol Cofer On 8/13/10, Michelle wrote: > Hi there! Does anyone have any suggestions for field trips > in the western suburbs near Chicago? We're looking for > something different to do this year in the burbs. If you're not too far away from Aurora, SciTech is a great place to visit. Also, Fermilab has an education center that schedules school trips. ...See More

Aug 13, 2010

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Betty Ann How about Isle a la Cache Museum in Romeoville? It's about the trappers and fur traders. You could even consider pairing it with a stop in Lockport at the I & M Canal.

On 8/13/10, Michelle wrote: > Hi there! Does anyone have any suggestions for field trips > in the western suburbs near Chicago? We're looking for > something di...See More

Aug 14, 2010

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Does HQ status matter when applying for jobs?

by Lea

Aug 17, 2010

I currently have a provisional k-9 certificate. I'm working on getting the content and apt tests passed. Do these need to be done before I even apply for public school jobs? Is it hard to get a job in the public schools with a provisional certificate? Or do you need to be highly qualified to be considered for a job? My certificate is valid until Ju...See More

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Lea On 8/18/10, sped wrote: > On 8/17/10, Lea wrote:

Thanks for the feedback! The idea of getting a teaching job is seriously daunting to me! I'm trying to be positive. I've checked some private and charter schools and there are some that want fully certified. Ugh! This is NOT fun! Thanks again!

>> Is >> it hard to ge...See More

Aug 18, 2010

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Michael Like SPED said, it's tough to get a teaching job right now. There are all sorts of fully certified kids just out of school looking for jobs. There are also all the people who got laid off at the end of last summer who are looking for work too. I only know two people who have found new teaching jobs this year. One in rural NY and one in a Catholic s...See More

Aug 18, 2010

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Stop the ISAT!

by Susan

Aug 20, 2010

“Hey I got a solution for IL to cut millions of dollars in Debt! Get rid of the ISAT!!! It costs IL millions of dollars to buy, distribute and score the ISAT! Let's get rid of the ISAT! It does nothing for the students anyways. It does nothing for "accountability" of teachers. It doesn't follow the school district's curriculum. It doesn't improve...See More

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tyler Let me start by saying that I appreciate your response and passion on this issue. Additionally, I pretty much agree with most of what you are saying. I think we all know that 100% is an impossible standard in anything. My main issue is with the statements you have made about the purpose of NCLB, that is to harm public education and essentially funn...See MoreLet me start by saying that I appreciate your response and passion on this issue. Additionally, I pretty much agree with most of what you are saying. I think we all know that 100% is an impossible standard in anything. My main issue is with the statements you have made about the purpose of NCLB, that is to harm public education and essentially funnel public education dollars into private christian white schools. While this may be one aspect of NCLB, there were a lot of non christian, non white supporters of NCLB. In fact, many inner-city residents have championed the ability to move their children into compliant schools.

I suppose I also have an internal struggle with NCLB. I really think that there should be standards for public education, and schools should be held to those standards. We should expect good things from public education. It is a necessary part of a functioning democracy. I also think that choice can be a wonderful thing, and if a particular public school is not doing what it needs to be doing, then individual families and students should be allowed to attend a school that is excelling.

On 9/04/10, sped wrote: > On 9/02/10, tyler wrote: >> do you know >> of any well-respected literature or research that shows that >> NCLB was created to destroy public education? As I recall, NCLB >> had strong bipartisan support and has arguably increased federal >> public education funding. > > NAFTA had bipartisan support, and was signed by Bill Clinton, and > that has decimated the middle class in America, shipped millions of > good paying jobs overseas where they can be filled with almost slave > labor, and turned America into a nation of waitresses and Wal-mart > cashiers. The Republican party doesn't have a monopoly on screwing > up America, though they are admittedly very good at it. That > Democrats backed NCLB only means they're cashing checks from the same > people the Republicans are. > > In order to make AYP, NCLB requires 100% of virtually all students to > read and write at grade level by 2014. If a school scores 99%, it is > a failure and is subject to penalties, including eventually allowing > parents to yank their kids out of said school. This includes > students who immigrate and speak no English and special education > students who work their whole educational careers to get to a 4th > grade reading level. > > Imagine other fields given the same standard. The police are > failures because they don't solve 100% of crimes. Fire departments > are failures if they don't save 100% of people trapped in a fire. A > doctor is a failure because he doesn't cure 100% of his patients. > The military is a failure because they don't kill 100% of the enemy. > It's an impossible standard. > > This impossible standards was created because conservatives don't > like public schools. They don't like teachers because of those pesky > unions, and after all, they feel that rich, white, Christian kids > deserve better education. They shouldn't be mixed with all those > non- rich, non-white, non-Christians. > > The state of American education is terrible. This has been made > worse BECAUSE of NCLB. Public education has become simply test prep. > I work there everyday. Gifted students are largely ignored because > they're going to pass the test anyway. Lower students are pulled > from every enriching activity to drill-and-kill on computers. The > middle isn't taught much that isn't on the test. Students who have > come up in the NCLB world have almost no exposure to civics or > history, art, music, and so on... don't even think about it if you > need test prep! This is education today in the USA. > > I run a middle school sped program for a good district. Most of our > schools usually make AYP. We take special ed 8th graders with > computational skills at about the 2nd grade level, and teach them > Algebra. Well, I'm pretty sure we don't teach them Algebra, but a > teacher is teaching Algebra in the room while they're there not > making heads or tails of it. We do this because they have to take > that test in 8th grade, and they have to pass the PSAE in 11th grade. > It doesn't matter that they don't understand decimals, can't add > three digit numbers, couldn't understand a bank statement, and can't > tell time, but we're exposing them to Algebra, Geometry, and Trig > because they gotta pass the test. It doesn't matter that we're > depriving them of math-based life skills like counting money or > managing a bank account. We're teaching they sine and cosine, and > that's important for them to know because... it's on the test! > > NCLB is hurting kids across the board. It was designed to hurt > teachers and their unions, and get kids away from those crazy liberal > public school teachers and non-believing brown people and into a > "faith-based" school that teaches proper things... like that Jesus > founded America and that cavemen rode dinosaurs in 1520 AD.

Sep 10, 2010

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sped On 9/10/10, tyler wrote: > I think we all know that 100% is an impossible standard in > anything.

Yet it remains the law.

My main issue is with the statements you have made about the > purpose of NCLB, that is to harm public education and essentially > funnel public education dollars into private christian white school...See MoreOn 9/10/10, tyler wrote: > I think we all know that 100% is an impossible standard in > anything.

Yet it remains the law.

My main issue is with the statements you have made about the > purpose of NCLB, that is to harm public education and essentially > funnel public education dollars into private christian white schools. > While this may be one aspect of NCLB, there were a lot of non > christian, non white supporters of NCLB.

There were black slave owners, an historical fact, but that didn't make them the main benefactors or progenitors of slavery. Likewise, while there are non-white, non-Christian supporters of NCLB, they aren't the people who created it.

> I suppose I also have an internal struggle with NCLB. I really think > that there should be standards for public education, and schools > should be held to those standards.

A perfect red herring. Why is it when someone questions NCLB and it's pending 100% achievement rate, they say we don't want any "standards" for public schools? If I question militant Islamic Sharia law and it's requirement that women cover themselves completely, then I believe all women should be completely nude in public and active prostitutes? If I believe that 20 mph is not a proper speed limit for a highway, then I want unrestricted speed limits with people barreling down school zones at 150 mph?

100 percent at grade level is beyond unreasonable. It is particularly so when such an achievement nationwide would require an unprecedented amount of funding and support and that support has not been forthcoming. Plus, the narrow testing requirements of NCLB have created a startlingly ignorant population. We focus on standardized testing in reading and math. We don't really care if they're functioning readers or mathematicians, but only that they can do well in the narrow confines of the test. We are graduating high school seniors who have no idea who Adolf Hitler is. Genuinely have little to no idea. They can't tell you what photosynthesis is. They can't find their home state on a map. They have almost no marketable job skills, and more and more, high school graduates don't finish college because the don't have the skills to do so.

> We should expect good things from > public education. It is a necessary part of a functioning democracy.

America is not a functioning democracy. 51,000,000 people voted for Al Gore in 2000 and 50,500,000 voted for G.W. Bush the same year. I think you know who won. This has nothing to do with Florida or hanging chads, but the official total, even with Florida's fishy totals. However, as we all know, Dubya won the electoral college because... we're a democracy? Nope, in democracies, majority rules. The US electoral college system was created to disenfranchise citizens. Again, not hyperbole, but this is taken directly from the Federalist Papers, which in case you're a recent graduate of US public schools, were documents which discussed and analyzed the nation's new Constitution and were written by those who actually wrote said Constitution.

Throw on the whole Senate filibuster thing, electronic voting booths with no paper trail, corporations being treated as "people" and corporate money being treated as "free speech," and you don't have a functioning democracy in the US.

I > also think that choice can be a wonderful thing, and if a particular > public school is not doing what it needs to be doing, then individual > families and students should be allowed to attend a school that is > excelling.

Individual families ARE allowed to attend said schools. You just have to pay for them...

OK, if you can find a school that meets or exceeds 100% of the time, and your local school doesn't (wow, a school is failing if it doesn't have 100 percent of all students passing a multiple choice test), then sure, go ahead and change schools. Of course, private and religious schools aren't tested, so they shouldn't be included or eligible for any public support because how do we know they are any better if they don't have any test scores to back it up? What's good for the goose..., in my opinion

Sep 17, 2010

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Middle School Endorsement

by Shah

Aug 23, 2010

I currently have a type 9 certificate with a chemistry endorsement, with which I have taught high school chemistry. Right now, I am working as a substitute teacher at a high school. I also want to be able to teach middle school science at some point. I have taken the 2 additional required courses needed for a middle school endorsement, which I have...See More

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T Just send your transcripts to ISBE and apply for the endorsement! I don't think you need to take a test, as you would have already taken it prior to your certification. You are certified 5-12 right? So if you've taken the middle school endorsement classes then you just need to apply for it so it's on your certificate.

On 8/23/10, Shah wro...See More

Aug 23, 2010

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sped On 8/23/10, Shah wrote:

>Do I also need to take an > ISBE test...if so, which one?

No, not for middle school endorsement.

> I know I need to send my transcripts to ISBE, but what are > the other requirements I need to complete to have that > middle school endorsement?

You'll need to fill out an ...See More

Aug 25, 2010

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Is it possible to take Online Spanish for Graduate Credit

by KC

Sep 10, 2010

I have my master's degree and am looking to take beginning Spanish. I want to know if anyone knows of any way to do this online for graduate credit, so that I can apply it to my salary lanes. Thanks in advance!

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Author Wants to Help You and Your Students

by Tena

Sep 12, 2010

Hello, Here's wishing you a great year in teaching! I have just published my first children's book, and using my talents as a Reading Specialist have developed interdisciplinary activities, as well as before, during, and after reading activities for the classroom. There are vocabulary activities and opportunities for your students to write to me ab...See More

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Alternative vs Traditional Route to Teaching in IL

by Quincy University or Saint Xavier University?

Sep 12, 2010

Hello,

I am interested in becoming a middle school science teacher. I have enough credits from my undergraduate degree to apply towards an endorsement, i hold a BSN. I have been accepted into two programs. One is the traditional route, Masters of Art in Teaching. The other is a Alternative Certification program offered through Quincy Univ...See More

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sped On 9/19/10, Hollywood wrote: > Jobs are not impossible to find. I work for CPS, and several > teachers were laid off from my school in June. All of them were > called back, but some of them had already found other jobs. Of > the teachers hired to fill those empty spots--including one > science position--three are first-year teachers....See MoreOn 9/19/10, Hollywood wrote: > Jobs are not impossible to find. I work for CPS, and several > teachers were laid off from my school in June. All of them were > called back, but some of them had already found other jobs. Of > the teachers hired to fill those empty spots--including one > science position--three are first-year teachers.

Despite the fact that I have a job as an administrator, and a tenured teaching position waiting for me if my position is eliminated, I have never been more discouraged on the job front in Illinois. It's probably because I now actually see the budget and have an idea of what we're looking at next year and for the foreseeable future... It ain't good. > > Yes, the job market is grim right now, but someone considering a > career change to teaching isn't going to be looking for a job > right now. It took me a year and a half of taking courses > part-time before I was ready for student teaching; we have no idea > what things will be like 18 months from now, or well into 2012.

Ah, but I do. Most of us admin types start seriously looking at our schedule and staffing needs for next year starting in October. Sure, they shift, but was start looking at them very early on. I've always been vague about where I work, but maybe not vague enough..., so I'll just say that I've already been told to prepare to cut several staff, and most other administrators in the district have been told to expect another round of budget cuts. > > You are correct to be realistic and say that teaching jobs aren't > as easy to come by as they were just a few years ago. I don't > know what your district is like; you might know a lot more > unemployed teachers, or people who weren't as lucky as my friends > in obtaining new jobs. But I think we're undercutting ourselves > to discourage people who may very well be talented and have > something to offer from going into the profession at all.

Basically, this last year was a nasty year of lay-offs and blood-letting, and next year is going to be much worse. Quite frankly, look at the state's financial situation, with a massive deficit and political gridlock, and state money will continue to be cut or never arrive. Believe it or not, the state has been putting a band-aid on a nasty, deep wound, and the cuts made in the state budget last year are just a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done. Locally, districts will not be able to get passed the level of funding required to make up for the upcoming state shortfalls. It would require large tax increases that I just don't see most communities accepting.

I don't like being so discouraging. Trust me. Just a couple of years ago, I had a shortage of qualified special ed teachers. Now, I know special ed grads who can't get an interview at a private, alternative school paying $20K per year.

While you're right, some first years do get jobs and others who were laid off do get called back, I just can't, in good conscience, advise anyone to go into any type of teaching in Illinois at this time. You will live with an ax over your head for several years and deal with job insecurity constantly. This is especially true if that person is a nurse, which is a field with good job prospects. My opinion and I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. There is no shortage of people willing to invest the time and money to become teachers, so we will have our pick of educators for many years to come.

Sep 19, 2010

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Quincy or Saint Xavier Thank you very much for your honesty and advice. I will contemplate this further and will be in touch with administrators in my area, I plan on making a final decision before the end of this year. It's a shame that Illinois is in the situation, many highly qualified prospective teachers will be turned away. This is a huge disservice to our children...See MoreThank you very much for your honesty and advice. I will contemplate this further and will be in touch with administrators in my area, I plan on making a final decision before the end of this year. It's a shame that Illinois is in the situation, many highly qualified prospective teachers will be turned away. This is a huge disservice to our children, and consequently to our nation's future. On 9/19/10, sped wrote: > On 9/19/10, Hollywood wrote: >> Jobs are not impossible to find. I work for CPS, and several >> teachers were laid off from my school in June. All of them were >> called back, but some of them had already found other jobs. Of >> the teachers hired to fill those empty spots--including one >> science position--three are first-year teachers. > > Despite the fact that I have a job as an administrator, and a tenured > teaching position waiting for me if my position is eliminated, I have > never been more discouraged on the job front in Illinois. It's > probably because I now actually see the budget and have an idea of > what we're looking at next year and for the foreseeable future... It > ain't good. >> >> Yes, the job market is grim right now, but someone considering a >> career change to teaching isn't going to be looking for a job >> right now. It took me a year and a half of taking courses >> part-time before I was ready for student teaching; we have no idea >> what things will be like 18 months from now, or well into 2012. > > Ah, but I do. Most of us admin types start seriously looking at our > schedule and staffing needs for next year starting in October. Sure, > they shift, but was start looking at them very early on. I've always > been vague about where I work, but maybe not vague enough..., so I'll > just say that I've already been told to prepare to cut several staff, > and most other administrators in the district have been told to > expect another round of budget cuts. >> >> You are correct to be realistic and say that teaching jobs aren't >> as easy to come by as they were just a few years ago. I don't >> know what your district is like; you might know a lot more >> unemployed teachers, or people who weren't as lucky as my friends >> in obtaining new jobs. But I think we're undercutting ourselves >> to discourage people who may very well be talented and have >> something to offer from going into the profession at all. > > Basically, this last year was a nasty year of lay-offs and > blood-letting, and next year is going to be much worse. Quite > frankly, look at the state's financial situation, with a massive > deficit and political gridlock, and state money will continue to be > cut or never arrive. Believe it or not, the state has been putting a > band-aid on a nasty, deep wound, and the cuts made in the state > budget last year are just a drop in the bucket of what needs to be > done. Locally, districts will not be able to get passed the level of > funding required to make up for the upcoming state shortfalls. It > would require large tax increases that I just don't see most > communities accepting. > > I don't like being so discouraging. Trust me. Just a couple of > years ago, I had a shortage of qualified special ed teachers. Now, I > know special ed grads who can't get an interview at a private, > alternative school paying $20K per year. > > While you're right, some first years do get jobs and others who were > laid off do get called back, I just can't, in good conscience, advise > anyone to go into any type of teaching in Illinois at this time. You > will live with an ax over your head for several years and deal with > job insecurity constantly. This is especially true if that person is > a nurse, which is a field with good job prospects. My opinion and I > hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. There is no shortage of > people willing to invest the time and money to become teachers, so we > will have our pick of educators for many years to come. >

Oct 5, 2010

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