A Moment to vent

Its been far too long since I've blogged and its actually not a good thing that today's events have led me to blog. Today was a totally frustrating day and the students weren't the source of my frustration.

Sure I was disappointed that my students didn't do well on a difficult test, but I had to look at myself and realize that even though the computer-generated test asked 7th grade questions, the level of questioning was advanced for even my highest students. That was an easy fix, and something that didn't weigh on my mind for very long.

However, my interaction with the adults in my school is what has me feeling upset, sad, and frustrated all at the same time. I know that educating a school system's lowest students is a challenge, but I don't understand how reasonably intelligent adults can sit around and listen to administrators talk out of both sides of their mouths.

They say they want to close the achievement gap, but yet we constantly never have real conversations about what that means. We just try all these programs and programs, and shift children around but the problem is never addressed. And where I teach at, the kids are 'socially promoted' without them receiving the skills. So if this starts when they are in the 1st or 2nd grade, by the time they reach me, they're so far behind that getting them to their current grade level that they need more time than I can offer them. (Especially if they aren't working at home, which MANY of them aren't)

Before I continue, let me say that I'm not blaming the kids at all. I'm not upset that the kids don't know the information. I love teaching them and watching them learn. I'm frustrated that they'll been allowed to move year after year without knowing this information. I'm not even blaming the teachers before me, because I know kids often say 'I wasn't taught this' when they don't remember something. My students this year told I didn't teach them something, even though it was written on my 'daily subject' calendar. My anger comes from when teachers KNOW a subject hasn't been mastered, try to retain a student and are rebuked by administration.

I know this has happened, and lets just leave it at that.

I don't see how having a kid repeat a grade level is really going to cause many problems. Many students one grade level apart hang out together anyway, and maybe the supposed public humiliation that they'll receive will spare them the public humiliation of not being able to get a job because they didn't get a diploma, they just got a certificate saying they came to school all 4 years.    
(-__-) << blank stare (Another pet peeve of mine, but that could be another post)

I say if they aren't progressing normal in elementary school, then it has to happen there. The wake up call needs to happen for all parties. The kid, the parents, the teachers (who wouldn't miss a kid repeating a grade), the administrators (who could now see if its a learning disability or if the kid was just lazy), everyone. If it's in middle school then it needs to happen there. It already happens in high school. Well, you just don't graduate in those cases.

I don't know see why this is so a hard concept to follow especially since we see what the alternative is. We see how ill-prepared some of the kids end up being for the real world. Whether its college, or a job straight out of school they don't know what to expect., but we as teachers and administrators do know. We've been there. I've been laid off, fired, and left a job. I've worked in 3 different fields before teaching. I know what its going to take for them to really succeed in the ways they want do. And yes, it will be hard for them to repeat a grade. However, if the choice is having it hard now or REALLY hard later on, is there really a choice?