danger: crazy PMS rant

1. Our car is not totaled.. just $11k worth of damage. Awesome.

2. I'm in a school funk again. If you're not a teacher, you probably have one of two reactions to teachers. a) how in the hell do you do it? i'd kill a kid. or b) you're off by 3 and don't have to work in the summer. shut up.

But lately, my frustration is more with the education system as a whole. I feel so pointless. In the day and age of Google and iPhones.. why do they need me lecturing about photosynthesis? I watched a video tonight that pretty much summed up my thoughts but in a much smarter way. They said that the current education system has not changed much since it was established, yet our students and our society has made leaps and bounds. I feel like my students are no more prepared for life than when they walked into my classroom.. and that's not knocking my science teaching skills.. I mean, I hope they have at least learned what a cell is, but as far as LIFE knowledge.. yea, not so much. We give them so many chances.. re-tests, late work, tutoring during OUR lunch break..

..and for what?

a bonus for good standardized test scores? ..nope..

a raise each year? ..not in the last 3..

a salary more than a mcdonald's manager ..i wish..

I hate to make it all about money, but it is. The root of all teacher frustration can all be traced back to money. "let's save money and not hire subs, and just have teachers cover classes on their planning periods." Sure, because I don't need that time to actually plan lessons when worksheets are so easily copy-able.

"let's raise a fuss about taxes and not hire more teachers, or build more schools, and just cram as many kids as we can into one classroom." that'll help the achievement gap.. less individualized instruction.. great idea.

"let's put more and more on teachers and take the blame away from students and THEIR parents." HEY, NEWS FLASH. MAKE SURE YOUR KID COMES TO SCHOOL. If they're not in school, they're not learning and then WE have to somehow figure out how to catch them up to reach that magical "100% graduation rate." <-- great joke, Wake County.

It's complete bull.

So, why do I do it?

Because there are days when that one kid lets you know what you are doing matters. That one student who defies the norm and actually cares. That one kid who actually wants to be a success story. Those days are few and far between, but I love teaching and seeing that light bulb when it finally goes off. I just wish that we could change our system to reflect the current student. If I were in high school now, I'd want to be on my phone too.. I'd come home and be on facebook instead of doing homework.. why not? A lot of their role models didn't go to college and yet, are successful. In today's economy, a college degree doesn't guarantee you a job, so why bother? I almost feel sorry for our students.. why should a future mechanic be forced to pass Biology?

So, ugh. It's hard going to work every day when you don't believe in the over all scheme of things.. especially when you are encouraged to use "higher order thinking questions," yet our robotic students can only answer simple multiple choice.

It's our fault. That's what we have trained them to do. Congratulations, standardized tests and No Child Left Behind. We teach to the tests, not the students.

I apologize for my rant.. I really didn't intend for it to be like that..haha. I think I should end on a positive note..

3. I put my underwear on correctly today.. I can't say that about yesterday. I'd call that an improvement. :)