tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post7410177590600880947..comments2024-03-26T04:19:38.862-07:00Comments on kitchen table math, the sequel: Former Public School TeacherCatherine Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347093496361370174noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-56754032528385318832009-06-21T17:50:17.792-07:002009-06-21T17:50:17.792-07:00I'm putting this in here twice, just to make s...I'm putting this in here twice, just to make sure. This is the county that did not renew me. No wonder. I GET IT!<br /><br />I couldn't believe it when my mom called and said, "I don't want to upset you, but..."<br /><br />Just in case I wasn't sure that being "quit" was the right thing for me...<br /><br />THANK YOU CATHERINE. THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED. SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!<br /><br />BTW: I'm selling most of my teaching library that I've acquired over the years. So many books are from NCTM. So fuzzy!! HA HA! Maybe I can make one mortgage payment!<br /><br />Former Public School Teacher<br /><br />--------------------<br />New math adds confusion to teaching equation <br />--------------------<br /><br />By Dave Weber<br />Sentinel Staff Writer<br /><br />June 21 2009<br /><br />SANFORD -- Take thousands of students, add a new method of math instruction and what do you get? <br /><br />The complete article can be viewed at:<br />http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-asecfuzzy-math-seminole-062109062109jun21,0,6702949.storyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7691251033406320222.post-87969585991799582172009-06-20T18:00:59.769-07:002009-06-20T18:00:59.769-07:00>>I know that the emotion and frustration yo...>>I know that the emotion and frustration you are reading here are not very productive, but I have been dying inside for a long time.<<<br /><br />I get this.<br /><br />I, on the other hand, have the opposite problem. I talk and talk and talk, and people respond to what I'm saying and they talk and talk - so much frustration, so much desire to adopt proven methods over the wishy-washy curriculum we're given. They want titles of books I've read, they want websites and blogs...but it's difficult to collaboratively discuss change. There is fear. All is well in the whisper campaign (it is cathartic, to say the least) until it comes to reaching consensus and pushing for change. Group recommendations, collaborative ideologies in support of best practices, are seen, simply, as a mutiny of defunct, elderly Luddites who cannot hack it in the 21st century, nor teach to 21st century skills. <br /><br />There is a true danger of non-renewal. I'm in a state that doesn't have union representation like others (TX). I'm also in a very small district with outlying districts hard to get to - long travel (no public transportation out here, not even buses), tiny districts hard to break into as a teacher, etc.<br /><br />Dying inside is a constant side-effect of teaching in public schools with poor administration and faulty curriculum - especially when it's a cobbled-together version where teachers are xeroxing the equivalent of a textbook every Monday morning because there is no textbook. You die inside, you work the summers that everyone says you have off, you teach another year.<br /><br />Wash, wince, repeat.Redkuduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756085609311571044noreply@blogger.com