Lousy Teaching Materials for Robot-Teachers

As the above suggests, this post may be about lousy teaching materials. I'm not going to say the teaching materials teachers must use are unhelpful, just that they are often inadequate.

They are adequate from the perspective of uniformity and teaching to Common Core Standards or state standards perhaps. That often appears to be the aim of the consultants or curricular experts, to provide teachers with minimal subject matter competence who are at a loss in being able to compose their own unit plans something to rely on.

In fact, you don't need to be competent in the subject matter really anymore. This is why there are Masters in Teaching, but less emphasis these days in Masters in Subject Matter (Math, Science, English, History, Art, etc). With the Masters in Teaching, you can teach anything with competency so long as the instructional materials are adequate. You are trained to do one thing well: TEACH.

That's the goal (gall) of the program provided by the school texts, according to Peg with Pen. Worried that her Writer's Workshops would be mauled by having to follow the Springboard script she wrote:

 Best practices, such as Writer's Workshop, will be destroyed at the hands of Common Core because it simply will not fit into the mold needed to create measurable data.

Of course, by now, she is probably using the texts just like any other teacher, which is fine, because any other teacher can use the texts and replace her if need be, which might be one of the unstated goals (galls) of corporate drive to control all aspects of public education:

There will be more tests - many more tests - as Common Core infiltrates our schools and profits billionaires while privatizing public education. The expense will be immense and will assist in the profiteers' plans to starve the public schools while using our tax dollars to dismantle what is left.

 Some students test well, and others don't, but mastery learning is the rage. I don't mind Common Core Standards per se. The standards appear to support cross-curricular standards, learning, enrichment, and uniformity in thought-development. But what about the fact that students are individuals, and individuals think and develop at different rates and in different capabilities?

The best teachers choose and craft unit plans to meet their students needs and interests, not cram unit plans down their throats as swiftly as they can in order to quiz them and generate hope-for test results.

Unfortunately, in Bozo School District, the drive to uniformity has reached an all time high this school year. So far my observations include, as other entry has already noted, no real recess.

Schedule for secondary schools is five class periods (8:00-9:00, 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-1:00) are scheduled before lunch at 1:00pm. There are 10 minute transit times to walk between class periods. There might be a fifteen minute transit time instead of 10 minutes 10:45-11:00. Administrative staff uses intercom at 11:00 to offer flag salute and pep-talk. Class resumes at 1:30pm after a half hour lunch. School is officially over at 2:30pm, but most schools have clubs or extracurricular programs between 2:30-3:30pm.

All the security guards at all the secondary schools wear bright polo shirts and drive around in golf carts. The gates are locked at 8:15am and stay locked until 2:30pm. At some schools there are separate gated entry to teachers' parking lot.

What's not to like about school, after all the meals are free?

Just be forewarned you can't go to the bathroom except either before class (you better pee quickly) or ten minutes after class starts but not ten minutes before class ends.

Back to the uniformity of lousy teaching materials. They are pretty much forcing all K-6th teachers to use a set of standard unit plan materials that basically teach to the tests. So for reading, you may be forced to use a 12 page packet of readings with all kinds of comprehension exercises (spelling, matching definitions, fill-in-the-blank, sentence composition, paragraph composition, tests on multiple definitions, synonyms, and antonyms, and summarizing). These exercises are sandwiched between every two pages of reading, and the 12 page packet must be completed in an hour.

So a 5th grade teacher, never mind if she has thirty students or more in her class, never mind if about ten of them are struggling with the most rudimentary reading and spelling challenges, has to work through that packet. That's her goal (gall), she can't slow down, she can't say, well, let's just do half of it, she has to go through the whole packet, and talk the entire class through it.

Do you see what I am getting at here? In the (mad) march to instill uniformity and meet competency levels, the teacher is being forced to do exactly what the district orders them to teach. She has no choice in choosing a different lesson or slower pace to meet her students needs. This is what every teacher in the school uses are these pre-prepared packets and lessons ordered by the school.

Now these packets are based on Pearson texts (developed by them), and if you have ever been forced to buy Pearson texts for college, you know what I am talking about when I say information overload.
 These ridiculous compendiums usually costs nearly a hundred dollars brand new, and no matter if the professor only teaches about half the book, you are stuck with buying that text, because every two years Pearson is sure to come out with a new edition, just different enough you can't do without.

In a Special Education resources class, the pace is slower, but the workbooks are inadequate for a different set of reasons. If they are English language development, they usually appear replete with teacher guidance, unit suggestions, all kinds of (meaningless) exercises, and lots of repetition. Who the mystery writers are often are deliberately obscured but the stories are often filled with baseless claims and of uncertain moral aptitude. For instance, there is the story of "Chee the dog" trying to get a job at a "brick factory" but being turned away. If it's math, the level of arithmetic is maintained at a piteously slow pace that supports attention deficit disorder. Your 3rd math student will have done the same number line exercises at the beginning of the workbook as at the end. Identical number line exercises; count-the-coins and add-the-sum; tally up the lines and group the boxes. These exercises guarantee that even if your math student had more innate ability, by the end of the semester, he will most likely still only be able to barely count to one-thousand and not know how to solve anything but the simplest multiplication problems. The teachers work through such books one at a time, of course.

At a higher level of Special Education, such as English Language Arts Development with technology use of zero, for 9th grade, the class might be taught by special education instructors who double as P.E. teachers. These are usually the most half-hearted teachers when it comes to special education, since that's just something they are filling in for. As such, for instance, if your teacher is given an English lesson with a reading from Kathleen Barlow, like "Coming of Age Ceremonies" with Dutch anthropologist Arnold Van Gennep, he will have no idea how to juice it up at all. Instead, his limited understanding encourages a formalist reading and writing approach, which is sure to alienate the students. Most trained English teachers would realize that these kinds of readings, coming from the Victorian era, are filled with colonialist perspective; the explorer was selling his exploits; he could barely contain his disdain for the peoples he wrote about; he would never disclose the abuse or savagery of the Dutch in taming these colonies.

A trained subject-area teacher often brings to their specialty an idealism and enthusiasm that cannot be simulated by a robotic imitation who has merely passed the credential exam. Because they love the subject that they teach, they hope to transmit their knowledge and understanding; it goes beyond simple testing and rote-mastery. In contrast, the teacher who is only trying to enhance their responsibility and pay level does not care if his students perceptions become warped. They will use the Springboard book as an authority without any effort in providing historical context, background reading, alternative perspective, perspective looking back, or the feelings of people of color.

Just as Peg with Pen expressed her anger about having to use "nonthinking, soul destroying worksheets such as these," Storm also conveys concern over the loss of autonomy---not being able to use the units one takes time to develop over the summers:

I think many of us who are or were teachers have a sense that what we are losing is a kind of "risky autonomy," a space of possibility that can prompt the wholly untutored "self-discovery" by the students (and that reveals an opportunity for growth in the teacher as well).

The scripts are simply getting tighter and tighter and straying from the script is no longer acceptable and instead is punishable.

So, what this, again, as you know, is another method of control to reduce the "unknown" that might happen in a classroom, in a relationship, between student and teacher.

The blog entry was written in 2012, and with a contracting middle-class, with more temporary teachers than ever, and the education mill cranking out Masters in Teaching experts, we are at saturation point. With so many part-timers, maybe it is time we think about guaranteed Basic Income and time-share arrangements. We don't all have to aspire to do the same thing when what they really want are flesh-covered robots.

Getting Rid of School Recess

Photo from Wikimedia.org

Getting Rid of School Recess

At most middle schools in Bozo School District, there are no morning recesses. Recesses are an option at the school district and most secondary schools have opted to have none. This must have been allowed through the Bozo School District Board; nevertheless it violates federal and state law, not to mention that it hurts the developmental well-being of the student and student-body.

There are many "reasons" which have helped rationalize away school recesses. Even at elementary schools, free play time has been reduced, and the extent of creativity, as far as I can make out, physically, is also less motivated because the students are relentlessly watched and monitored.

Children who grew up during an earlier generation remember long morning and afternoon recesses, in addition to school lunch hour. During these times, the staff would hardly ever be present; these were times when children learned to play games and negotiate their play territories. Of course there were fights and small intrigues, but these were accepted as part of growing up. Even if they seemed long and boring sometimes, school recess and lunch hour were formative parts of my life.

We did not grow up being watched by security guards driving around in golf carts, using their walkies-talkies to relay anything they suspect they see which they think is out of the norm.

When I remember the fun and exciting parts about schools in general, they are never about what happened inside the classroom. They are mostly about what happened on the playground, day to day. Even if there were school yard bullies, I would still prefer that over no recess at all.

Recently, a school official cryptically explained why there is no morning recess at her middle school:

Students at this age don't really need a break. It's not necessary.

Of course there are short-term advantages for not having school breaks. Due to austerity measures, school districts are finding new and creative ways to cut corners. Maybe there is some trade-off between being offered free or reduced breakfasts and lunch, and even afternoon snack. Maybe there's no need to offer students the motivation to get rid of extra carbohydrates they gain.

Seriously, reduced school times mean a shorter school day. 8:00 to 2:30 is the new norm at many schools, with extracurricular activities or after-school programs being optional. Activities after 2:30 depends on what is allotted for each school with regard to extracurricular programs. With only a lunch break, students receive 6 hours of class time. Teachers, especially substitutes, don't qualify for  benefits that come with a full 8-hour day. Aides and clerical staff can be scheduled for 3-1/2 hour work shifts which circumvent the labor laws on mandatory rest breaks.

With a more intense schedule, and more technology in the classroom, one would expect more quality school time, however my observations at various schools prove otherwise.

My work mostly involving learning challenged students, such as those with dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, slow learner, English Language Learner, these students definitely become restless, fidgety, and inattentive without routine breaks. At the middle school level, that energy becomes disruptive, particularly when there is no other time to expend it. This happens regardless of how creative or technologically advanced the teaching tools are.

The class clown, the rebel, the misfit, and the sociopath are subselves which in normal environments are not the dominant personality of the student. Without recess, these students resent having to sit still, focus on the teacher, and other routines which disfavor their latent interpersonal auditory kinesthetic learning styles. Without the benefit of a natural sociological setting, they become the victims of the school system favoring quietly competitive learners.

In the larger picture of the school-prison pipeline, the security fine-tune the implementation of routines for clamping down on, reporting, suspending, or expelling students who are repeatedly disruptive. Studies show that disaffected students don't realize that suspensions and expulsions are designed to further weaken their performance levels. These students often become labeled by the teachers to the extent that they never get the attention that they need to learn.

In Bozo Land, our school board president, who is the executive administrator of Bozo School District, has cleverly gotten around having to be held accountable for poor school performances. Thus, these students are graduated from one grade to the next, but in fact, their ability to read and their reading problems only compound over time.

Purposely Undermining Teacher Morale

Bozo School District has a vested interest in undermining the morale of unionized teachers. It's been at odds with the teacher's union for a long time and the negotiations have been protracted and painful. They don't want to have to pay the costs of long-term unionized teachers whose health and retirement costs are weighing down the state system.

Hiring many younger substitute teachers, the school district has developed a new system for at-will employees, employees who are easily driven to the extreme ends in neurotic behavior and with unquestioning conformity. The long-term teachers openly regard them as scabs who don't believe they have any kind of employment rights beyond the well-advertised decent pay. (They even collude among themselves and stage conflagrations that help get substitutes poor evaluations on purpose.)

But even normal adults need rest breaks to attend to physiological, biological, or psychological needs. Breaks allow the main consciousness to rest and recuperate; it enhances creative thinking skills. There is a reason for the federal labor law mandating a minimum 10-minute break every two hours.

Online legal experts at Nolo.com describe the law on how workers should receive rest breaks which should be scheduled "to the extent possible be in the middle of each work period." Thus every four hours, there should be a ten- to fifteen- minute paid break for working adults at the two-hour mark.

Federal law requires employers to pay for short breaks an employee is allowed to take during the day. Breaks lasting from five to 20 minutes are considered part of the workday, for which employees must be paid.
 

Unfortunately the law is increasingly ambiguous due to attrition among the unionized labor force.

With the new army of lockstep substitute teachers, why should anyone believe that students actually have any real rights? Once they pass through the gates of the school, whose borders are bounded by iron-fencing, the students are regarded as institutional property. Parents no longer have rights over their children; cell phones must be turned off. The parents are politely but firmly pushed out of the gate or herded to the front office where they are told what suitable activities they may participate in.

 Folsom Prison Photo by S. Worrell

Students are not voluntary workers

    
Apparently learning and classroom work is not very hard work at all, and since the students are unpaid, they are not statutory employees, therefore, recess has become optional. Isn't it more likely, however, that from the standpoint of Bozo School District, giving the students and teachers recess may pose a kind of danger to the security state?

Students and teachers may become capable of independent nonconformist judgment and questioning. They may even become capable of independent organizing. Never mind that it might be for the sake of improving the community, of which the school is a legal part of, but which it often presumes that it is operating as a privileged government franchise. Anything not sanctioned by the school, even a club to pick up litter, has to be viewed as a security threat.

Thus, it's not surprising that some of the permanent teachers, driven to the brink by the threat of the substitutes, by the administrative demands, and by a crowded classroom of learning challenged and bored, restless teenagers, have become so mad, that they accuse anyone offering to actually help the students with their challenges, of being mad.

My opinion is that security risk or not, all schools K-12 should have mandatory morning and afternoon recess. Here is one expert who agrees with me. Caralee Adams writing about "Recess Makes Kids Smarter" at Scholastic.com:

Research shows that when children have recess, they gain the following benefits:

•     Are less fidgety and more on task
•     Have improved memory and more focused attention
•     Develop more brain connections
•     Learn negotiation skills
•     Exercise leadership, teach games, take turns, and learn to resolve conflicts
•     Are more physically active before and after school

[Georgia State's Olga] Jarrett maintains that recess has benefits over gym class. "With recess, children have choices and can organize their own games, figure out what's fair, and learn a lot of social behavior that they don't learn in P.E.," she says.

The supporters of recess are many. NASPE recommends elementary school children have at least 20 minutes of recess daily. The American Academy of Pediatrics says play is essential to children's development and cautions against decreased time in school for recess. Three out of four parents say recess should be mandatory, according to a survey by the National Parent Teacher Association. Eight of 10 principals polled in 2009 say recess has a positive impact on academic learning.

In addition, Liz Weaver, founder of Learning Success, a program to help dyslexic students learn, offered a free hour long video "Three Strategies for Overcoming Dyslexia"  explaining why cross motor skills, activity, and coordination are found to be beneficial especially for students with dyslexia. The philosophy of providing training to stimulate cross-brain growth is related to not just knowledge acquisition, but physical movement and coordination, such as learning new sports. In fact, this explains why several friends I know who are dyslexic enjoy outdoor sports so much. They are unconsciously seeking to stimulate and better develop the kinds of cross-brain connections that help them learn better, whether it is through ping-pong, basketball, fencing, or martial arts training.

 Summary

The doing away with school recess is a district policy that is counterproductive from the standpoint of beneficial long-term development. It further handicaps students experiencing learning challenges. It creates class divisiveness because good students suffer as well. It inhibits any kind of independent thinking and nonconformist discursive formations. It deters teachers from following healthy practices in conformance with federal and state labor laws. It lends credence to the idea that the schools and district can enact draconian school monitoring and surveillance, punishing and clamping down on anyone they feel is a threat to their power. Finally, it stifles parental involvement and discussion about what ought to be an essential part of their neighborhood community, instead enhancing the image that schools are gated communities above and beyond reproach. It curtails honest sincere connection with the concerns and needs of community neighborhoods whose children the teachers serve.

Thumbs down on no school recess!

Photo Credit: The Daily Call.org

Dynamic Schools is set in Bozo Land, 

 a wasteland in a valley that turns beautiful when it rains, but even if it doesn't, it bears a lot of potential.

Because I don't dare name the school district, it's just called Bozo.

Why am I doing this? First, no teacher respects any person beneath them. It doesn't matter if the person beneath them has a ph.D. If you are working for a teacher or working as a substitute, nobody pays you any quarter, because you are hired and fired at will.

Second, to give an example, we pay dues to SEIU, but in fact SEIU has become like a building in need of serious renovations, but all the absentee owners care about is dues because they have a huge burden paying all the retirees. I mean, if you think you are going to get representation over an issue, such as a wrongful evaluation, it won't really happen. How do I know? A big hint is they won't list any email address except email addresses for Bozo School District Human Resource specialist. That's a big help, sending your issue back to HR, when in fact HR is the one taking the evaluation and putting it in your file.

Third, the hubris in Bozo Land about who is a teacher is astonishing, but not really. Everything in this land is breaking down, because the system is overloaded with debtors and all our manufacturing takes place overseas. Under the rentier economy, unions have shrunken to the point that teachers are about one of the last remaining middle-class strongholds. Being a teacher, you are identified as middle-class and respectable.

I saw a couple teachers this summer in a van driving back to the airport in the Southwest. These teachers had discovered they were teachers (one to another) and all the way back, they jabbered endlessly about their exciting jobs. Little did they know or care that there may have been more than one qualified teacher present. Their narcissism really showed because this quasi-homeless person claiming to be a lawyer sat in the front seat. They warmed up to his clever talk, never dreaming he might not be whatever he said he was. Again, all they care about is the appearance of success.

So this exemplifies quite clearly what is symptomatic throughout the nation (even the capitols), that people are behaving more and more like rats running inside the Labyrinth called Play to Eliminate.

This make more-brag more-spend more-display more-identity formation is sort of an obsessive-compulsive manifestation of capitalist braggadocio that leaves all working professionals like ghosts. Teachers and principals, especially, are completely out of touch with other human beings, especially homeless people, who they blame for their problems. Their consciences are assuaged once a week when they attend church.

Fourth, in Bozo School District, it's very hard for parents and outsiders to monitor or change anything. Parents are herded into "coffee time" or "open-house." They are not invited to actually sit and watch in the classroom, ever, and they have all kinds of reasons they give, such as all the red-tape it takes even to become a school volunteer. Those inside the system, like the temporaries, low-grade staff, or maintenance types, are relegated to niches so narrow that no one recognizes them for anything beyond their proscribed duties. (An exception is an Intern, who being managed by university institution, is awarded credit). Is this really how an open organization is supposed to work?

In an open organization, everyone in the community contributes to the welfare of the children, and all the functions attendant upon fostering a warm, caring atmosphere. Communes and communities are supposed to function like that because we are all born with and have many gifts that we develop throughout our lives. Sure, we may not be experts, but in a real community, the citizens jams.

Bozo SD, like Bozo Land, and like the nation in general, uses specialization as an excuse to confine individuals to specific functions. That's why schools are not communities anymore; they are institutions.

Once an institution becomes a proto-fascist, semi-martial law organized bureaucracy, only those at the top, those in the know, people in privileged cliques, have a say in what's going on. This scenario sort of reminds you of the movie, Shawshank Redemption, where the top brass are really into corrupt things like embezzlement, or other disgusting things like drug running.

In places like Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and anywhere the mob can infiltrate, schools, particularly middle and secondary schools have become training grounds. How many of the teachers and administrative staff are knowing participants in the school to prison pipeline is a guess. But there are clearly marked stations, and it includes criminal classifications and police participation as well.

Maybe that's why they work so hard to keep people in their places and suffocate the voices of those who have not only legitimate academic qualifications but street-wise experience. They really don't want people like me who can see and identify and figure out what is going on behind the scenes.