"I have to say I think the mood is upbeat. I think my tone is one of forward thinking, one of optimism, and I absolutely believe that the leader of the school district has to promote more than what we've done and give the supports needed to create the conditions (so) that it can happen." - Dr. Pia Durkin
13 comments:
Her public words are winning over the local radio station. Her workplace words show a disconnect with the very staff she needs to make her vision a reality. A true leader recognizes the previous struggle of those under them...and seeks to lift them up-not assume they are worthless dimwits that need prodding like cattle to perform.
Is she a leader or a bully that hides it well? Ask the teachers of Attleboro and you 'll get an earful.
All that consumption of rigor may have left one, cold and heartless.
I guess $185,000 keeps you warm and cozy.
She is not cognizant of her own affect: the way she presents herself to others. It doesn't register with her. The responses to her actions do not sink in. The lights are on, but nobody is home. Same with the mayor.
From a clinical and psychological perspective, she has a deprivation. Seriously, call in the white coats before they take us away! Stress related, breakdowns...
She is a bully and one of the BIGGEST mistakes the SC has made!!! They way school is now the dropout rate will surely increase!!! Kids will HATE school if things continue the way they are.....but I guess that's what $185,000 of forward thinking will get you.
The fact is the mood is not upbeat. We have heard about how Dr. Durkin leads a district and as stated in N.B.E.A.'s Blog "8 Surefire Ways to Demotivate your Employees" on 9/16, this is exactly what we are living with and more. Do we need to do more? Educators in New Bedford are not disputing that, and we are ready, willing and able to do more, once again. We are forever hopeful, that our administrators will finally get their act together and give us the necessary tools to hone our craft. We should be doing more for our students to succeed. Not mountains of useless paperwork to try to prove we are doing what we should. We are so buried in paperwork, that we cannot see the forest through the trees. The countless hours of paperwork to prove we are doing our jobs, should be unnecessary, if we were allowed to teach and focus our energies on just that! Working smarter, not to a breaking point should be our goal. With training, materials and support, this would be possible. This district, for as long as I can remember, implements changes each year, without the appropriate components. We receive mandates for changes without training, incomplete materials and left to implement them on our own. We scramble to read, reflect and implement them as best we can under these circumstances. Each classroom and school has different materials available to them. Some have more, while others have none. Then, we receive criticism when the changes are not as effective as expected. The following year we repeat the process. Can I please buy a vowel? If I implemented changes within my classroom this way, 80% of my students would be failing! Anyone who has taken a basic management course should realize, we have been set up for failure, time and time again. Is our morale low? You better believe its low! It is low because we are once again living with empty promises for support, materials, technology and training. All the while knowing, the teachers will be the scapegoats once again for our failing district’s plan that is out of our control.
Beware of things that go bump in the night with this one!
I believe the administrators of this district have either never been in the classroom or have not taught for so long, that they have lost sight of what it really is like. Each year, for countless years, we have been asked to do more. We have done just that and gladly because it would benefit our students. It is unrealistic for our administrators to expect that they can add more to our work load, year after year and it not reach a breaking point. We are at that breaking point! Those that administrate should participate and I would challenge them to spend one day doing what we do. They had the time to come around and evaluate us. Use that time to walk in our shoes! Try to plan for a week to teach students while following the state strands, district map, post objectives for each lesson that are measurable and child friendly, look for meaningful rigorous lessons, photocopy on broken machines, correct papers, readjust lessons that did not meet the objective, order lunch and collect the money, take attendance, read and write parents' notes, administer DIBBLES, DRA's, Benchmarks, look for rigorous lessons and read information on line to figure out what rigor means, read the Daily 5 and pay for materials to be able to implement it in your classroom, look for lessons on line that are rigorous, fill out schedules, buy books to be able to implement the Daily 5, buy listening centers to be able to implement the Daily 5, review DIBBLES, DRA's and benchmark score results to adjust lessons, reorganize reading groups, and re-teach objectives that were not met(Oh, too late the district map dictates "move on"), deal with behaviors, missed assignments, hurt feelings, illnesses, abuse, disrespect, constant interruptions, look for rigorous lessons, clean up the falling ceiling, try to use the restroom, read mail, notices and e-mails, correct papers, work through lunch, bring work home, put together assignments for students who are late absent or falling behind, tutor and STILL there is always something that isn't done, turned in late, not good enough. I am sure I have failed to include at least a few dozen other tasks we complete on a weekly basis. For the love of Pete, can I please focus on teaching my students? Could I focus my time and energy on planning meaningful curriculum? Really, after all, isn’t this what you hired me to do? I wonder if the school department could now be held liable for manslaughter under the new amendment to the Massachusetts Senate’s bill? They certainly are killing us.
On the same day that Durkin said that the students were nothing but respectful to themselves, one another, and their teachers and staff members but were in fact suffering from boredom, a student told me to "f#$! off".
This happened as I began to pull together a variety of manipulatives including my own personal technology for the days lesson which sought to increase engagement and rigor.
While most students are respectful and willing to participate in their own learning, we can't discount the issue of discipline as a district and blame teachers for their poor classroom management skills and lack of engagement and rigor.
Discipline and disrespect are real issues that need to be addressed in this district without scapegoating teachers for lacking quality lesson plans. Rigorous Lesson plans aren't the problem: a variety of individual student needs without adequate resources and consistent, sustainable, authentic support systems is at the heart of the matter.
I wish the current administration would allow us to look carefully at the issue of discipline as a district. Simply saying that we are going to cut suspensions by 50% is not a plan; it's an empty promise.
We should be looking at our systems and processes; not our teachers.
Fridsy's "learning walks" revealed that 93% of 15 teachers are not presenting enough "rigor" in their classrooms, and they will be addressed!! There are not enough "student led" discussions going on! IT'S THE SECOND WEEK OF SCHOOL!! CAN WE TEACH THEM SOMETHING FIRST? Or should the student led discussions consist of how to roll the perfect blunt, and how to incorporate the F bomb as every part of speech??
Too much "chalk talk"??? How are teachers supposed to teach if they aren't allowed to talk and instruct?? Let's just throw the kids into groups or "centers" as Durkin calls them and let them teach themselves!! Is this woman for real??? Where is Ashton Kutcher I think I have been punked!!!!!
Does she know what goes on in the most prestigious learning environments? You don't send the unknowing out to instruct the unknown. At the very least, at the start of a school year, the teacher must establish their role as the instructor with SOMETHING to offer in the way of knowledge. "This is madness." C3PO
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