Teaching in the Twenty-First Century

Why? Why did I go? Why did I stay? Why did I bother to waste my time?

As teachers, we are expected to attend the staff professional development on campus. Our district even insists on district p.d. four times a year, plus one day for a countywide p.d. day. I have sat through many a meeting wondering why I was wasting my time, however, yesterday’s meeting with the headhunters honchos from the state department of ed. gifted department was by far the worst I have ever attended.

Since I became the gifted coordinator at my campus (three years ago), I have been to a handful of meetings with the state reps. All the prior meetings had been about the new gifted endorsement (that still has not been let out of committee review at the state level!), the new gifted law, and the new gifted scope and sequence process. In fact, the last meeting was held in August and was berating all the schools across the state for not quite completing the new scope and sequence properly. How we did so poorly, when they (the state) provided us outlined questions to simply answer and submit, is anyone’s guess, because we still do not have the “recommendations for improvments” back from the state. Yesterday’s meeting was advertised as a way to cultivate and grow a 7-12 gifted program.

The state is big on getting away from AP & IB constituting a gifted program. Okay, I get that, I think it’s wrong and that’s one of the reasons I was hired for the position. However, once being placed in the position of gifted coordinator with little district support and no money (because our gifted monies go to pay for the AP exam we require ALL students to take!), I have found it difficult to find the time or other resources to grow the program. I don’t expect a good program to sprout overnight, either, but I do expect the state to offer real support when they say they are going to. I went to the meeting looking forward to new information on how to grow the program.

For three hours I listened to the same theoretical nonsense that has been spewed at me since taking on this position. AP and IB were a large part of the program. Not how to grow a successful AP program (besides the phrase “create a culture of college access”), just start one if you don’t have one. Well, buddy, we have one. So what? Not all students in AP are, nor should they be, labeled as gifted. Then the guys talked about differentiation, bloom’s, and clustering. Clustering is impossible in our current setting–we are on a block schedule and too many courses compete in too few spots. Bloom’s and differentiation are nothing new. I work with the teachers on my campus to try to differentiate the curriculum for our gifted kids, but in reality the planning involved makes it a difficult process to implement.

Worst of all, when we were asked to complete an activity on the barriers to growing our programs and my table was called on to share out, I mentioned the two major roadblocks for his list of “proven steps” is time and money. His reaction was an attack on me and my answer. Why aren’t you trying to do what you can, he asks. I do, as does my district, but that’s where we are now–we have no time or money to do more. That’s not true, he states, your district has money, they just need to figure out how to get it to you. When do I get to create individual IEP’s for these students? (Don’t worry, he was smart enough NOT to use the IEP word, but that is what was meant when he stated “Create individualized learning goals and objectives and share these with the gen ed teachers.) When do I share this info with the teachers? When do I work one-on-one with the students? I do what I can, when I can, but when I have a full course load to begin with, my time is limited.

I am angry about yesterday’s meeting because it was advertised as new information to really help us move our programs beyond the simple ID, place in AP, and forget. What it was, was just that. The state is demanding different programs, yet is offering no ideas or support on how to change the program. At least my former Assistant Principal, who is now at the district level, walked away with the same feelings and thoughts as I did.

Advice to State Department of Ed: If you wish to create a mandate asking for bigger and better things–provide (not just offer) the support necessary to do it. When you hire someone to hold such a position, make sure they can answer questions, not gloss over them because they don’t understand it or know what an answer should be. When you send speakers, make sure follow proper etiquette protocol (starting on time, not 1/2 an hour late and no personal attacks) and that they don’t sound like Hank Hill or look like Deputy Dog–we will take them more seriously.