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Saturday, September 14, 2013
Rigor in the Classroom
21 comments:
Anonymous
said...
There is no doubt in my mind that Pia Durkin is the queen of rigor.
In May 2003 she was given a 3-year contract in Narragansett and resigned in May 2004. Apparently, she had “repeated conflicts with that town’s school committee.”
In 2006, the queen of rigor and excellence, served as Superintendent of Attleboro. In 2013, our queen was shown the door. "I think the school committee has made it clear that my time in Attleboro is up." "There are clearly philosophical differences between me and the school committee as well as differences in what they value and what I have set as priorities as a reform-minded leader," Durkin said.
Her “philosophical differences” were not just with the school committees where she worked. She was also “criticized by some parents in connection with a high turnover rate among principals and the reporting of incidents at schools, including an alleged student-on-student rape at Coelho Middle School”.
She was also “perceived by some as harsh or even mercurial in relating to subordinates. A principal accused Durkin of "micromanagement." She denied the charge but most of us in New Bedford who have already enjoyed the pleasure of her wrath and condescending attitude would probably agree with the principal.
Let’s face it, the New Bedford School Committee is not very smart. If they were, they would have investigated this woman and she would never have been given the job here. It makes one wonder, why would they hire someone with her background?
We already know that Jon Mitchell, Marlene Pollock and Jack Lavimento don’t have a clue but the two that surprise me are Larry Finnerty and Jack Nobrega. What were they promised by the mayor for their blind support of this woman? Should we follow the money?
I want to know how rigor applies to Special Ed...how can we provide rigorous instruction (at or above age expectations) to students who are, by definition, NOT functioning at age expectations?
You know what else this system had? Teachers that were examples of organization, leadership, and had the time to listen and care about students. Now, we are pushed to the edge of sanity, frazzled, degraded and significantly impaired by harmful stress--not the type that ignites success. I am bracing myself for the abuse we will face next week when the scores go public.
That video on Rigor is great and so true. We are all treated like crap from administrators that couldn't possibly believe the bull they are trying to feed us.
The best part of this video is that it contains a lesson. The young teacher repeatedly says that her students don't care about the parts of speech. The inspiration, the motivation, the "why" are we learning this is missing. We all play a role in this as parents and educators, but teachers can have the greatest impact because in many cases you're the only one conveying this to the children of our city. Please don't lose hope, we've all been inspired by a teacher in our life, be that one! Ron Melbourne
21 comments:
There is no doubt in my mind that Pia Durkin is the queen of rigor.
In May 2003 she was given a 3-year contract in Narragansett and resigned in May 2004. Apparently, she had “repeated conflicts with that town’s school committee.”
In 2006, the queen of rigor and excellence, served as Superintendent of Attleboro. In 2013, our queen was shown the door. "I think the school committee has made it clear that my time in Attleboro is up." "There are clearly philosophical differences between me and the school committee as well as differences in what they value and what I have set as priorities as a reform-minded leader," Durkin said.
Her “philosophical differences” were not just with the school committees where she worked. She was also
“criticized by some parents in connection with a high turnover rate among principals and the reporting of incidents at schools, including an alleged student-on-student rape at Coelho Middle School”.
She was also “perceived by some as harsh or even mercurial in relating to subordinates. A principal accused Durkin of "micromanagement." She denied the charge but most of us in New Bedford who have already enjoyed the pleasure of her wrath and condescending attitude would probably agree with the principal.
Let’s face it, the New Bedford School Committee is not very smart. If they were, they would have investigated this woman and she would never have been given the job here. It makes one wonder, why would they hire someone with her background?
We already know that Jon Mitchell, Marlene Pollock and Jack Lavimento don’t have a clue but the two that surprise me are Larry Finnerty and Jack Nobrega. What were they promised by the mayor for their blind support of this woman? Should we follow the money?
at least that teacher was able to use pudding in her "rigorous" classroom to make it fun..lol.
I want to know how rigor applies to Special Ed...how can we provide rigorous instruction (at or above age expectations) to students who are, by definition, NOT functioning at age expectations?
I'm glad I'm way past the whole school part of life, because schools sound like a whole lot of bull$$it these days.
I turned out fine in the same system and there was no mcas, mastery objectives, common core, etc.
You know what else this system had? Teachers that were examples of organization, leadership, and had the time to listen and care about students. Now, we are pushed to the edge of sanity, frazzled, degraded and significantly impaired by harmful stress--not the type that ignites success. I am bracing myself for the abuse we will face next week when the scores go public.
OMG....NBPS now has a Rigor Rubric!
No way. Ridiculous. We just found out we need syllabi. I bet burying us in work will help our kids.....
looks like some unpaid trainings on RIGOR are headed your way.
Comatose Student = 1
Brain Dead Student =2
Dead student =3
Rigored Student =4
The educators are becoming chronically constipated like geese for Foie Gras!
After the "rigor" we will "grapple" with all the "innovation".
I wish they would just let teachers teach.
Instead of rigor the catch word should be socio-economics. Nothing will change until that word is dealt with. Teachers are not miracle workers!!!
I am so speechless after two weeks I don't even know what to say. Not many things make me speechless.
If they are not careful with all this "rigor" they could wind up with some "mortis" as well!
That video on Rigor is great and so true. We are all treated like crap from administrators that couldn't possibly believe the bull they are trying to feed us.
Why does New Bedford school committee always hire these people who have failed in other districts? Fools!
The best part of this video is that it contains a lesson. The young teacher repeatedly says that her students don't care about the parts of speech. The inspiration, the motivation, the "why" are we learning this is missing. We all play a role in this as parents and educators, but teachers can have the greatest impact because in many cases you're the only one conveying this to the children of our city. Please don't lose hope, we've all been inspired by a teacher in our life, be that one! Ron Melbourne
But, where does that get us, Ron? Inspire students? We have, and still do! It wasn't enough. They squashed it, and hurt the students in the meantime!
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