Write Back Weekend "Rage Against The Machine"
Last week I went on a bit of a tangent TITMT wise. I took the long road, with detailed inspiration, to get to this question, Did you ever fight back against something you thought was wrong? What was it you fought against and why were you fighting? Do you feel your efforts were in vain? Why or why not?
Obviously, with the impending re-cancellation of a hard to find program, I showed my cards somewhat. Many, many times shows have been canceled that I have been in to and nothing that viewers do or say seems to be good enough to get it back. The best you can hope for nowadays is that old programs will surface online or or on a sister network that may or may not be created. It's all about ratings and shares and other things I don't understand. I have contributed to many a petition in the past and will continue to do so I'm sure, for many in the future.
But TV show cancellations, while they do infuriate me, only represent the bigger picture. On the whole, I'm pretty much a "go with the flow" type of person. But when I whole-heartedly disagree with something I do my part to make that known. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I'm a rebel, but I have found ways to make my voice heard over the years.
I think it's a particularly frustrating position to be in when you are working. This is because you are often not your own boss and while you may have the better ideas, you have to answer to a higher power. When I first started working in insurance, it didn't take long for me to "crack the code" of how to make my department more efficient. I was twenty-two and knew what to do. Those in charge were fifty-two and hadn't a clue. Who won in that scenario all depends on how you look at it. They got their way, but I got out. It was the only way at the time for me to keep my sanity.
But as we all know, running from every conglomerate, every brick wall doesn't serve any purpose either. So sometimes you have to learn how to play the game and hope for the best. It may not make a difference today, but you gotta believe that somewhere down the line it will.
When working in the corporate arena I noticed a lot of things that made my blood boil, but now that I'm working in the field of education, those things make me even angrier. This is because we are in the business of shaping future generations. One mistake that was avoidable might just be "one child" but it's one person's life which to me, raises the stakes. Unfortunately, while I'd like to believe that the corporate world is different in their approach then the education world, this is far from being the case most times.
Right now I'm in the midst of something at school that I am fighting against without causing too much waves. I have a child in my class who was retained once, but is eleven years old. To remind everyone, I teach third grade. Perhaps she started school late on top of being left back, I'm really not sure. Anyway, early on I saw that something wasn't right with the way this child was learning. She paid attention, always seemed to try her best, but she just wasn't catching on. I see this a lot in the beginning of the year but for some kids, it tapers off a bit once they get the hang of third grade work. Academically, second to third is a big leap for many of them.
But after teaching for a bit you learn to decipher the ones you aren't quick to the draw and those who will, never "draw". In my school, the next plan of action is to make a case for her and present it to a special team that "watches out for those types of kids". Now here's where we get to the blood boiling part one. Due to the No Child Left Behind Act, once a kid was retained he or she cannot be retained again. It's called social promotion. But when you see a kid has been retained and it still doesn't seem like they are where they should be, what should the next step be?
Logically many of you might say the next step would be to have the child tested for a learning disability. However in my district, a teacher cannot request that a child be tested. No, that sort of request has to come from the parent. Now considering I worked in an urban district where many of the parents are predominantly Spanish speaking, they do not know how to request such services or even if such services are necessary. My district understands this, but this is precisely why the system works so well, for them.
So I went through the motions and fulfilled the tedious process of paperwork to get this child resubmitted into the closer watch program. Yes, for those of you paying attention at home, I did say resubmitted. This is because another teacher had submitted her before. After awhile she was showing success, so they took her out, never thinking that the success she was showing might have indicated something was working for her.
Now when I say kids like these are added to a list to be more closely watched I have to be honest. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is done for them after this point. We meet with the parent a few times a year and I fill out monthly progress reports on said child, but as far as I can tell, when interventions fail, there are no interventions for those interventions. This child in particular has been receiving one on one services in mathematics for nearly six months now in addition to morning tutoring and classroom work, and she still isn't getting the concepts. If that's not a sign of a child in need, I don't know what is.
The problem is the at the end all be all is the standardized test scores. If a child does well on them, it doesn't matter what they did academically the whole school year. Their future worth rides on one day and one day alone. So somehow, someway last year this child took a standardized test. On the math portion she scored a 99% which would indicate she got everything right. Meanwhile, in my classroom, she has hesitated over questions such as "What's one more than six?"
No one questioned these test results last year.
What we can guess is that the test, which is in large part scored by a computer, malfunctions when someone gets everything wrong and instead prints out a perfect report in error. It makes sense when you consider there is another child who I had in my classroom briefly who is struggling with the same issues who also scored a "perfect" paper. There is no way these children did that well unless there was a mistake, a fluke or a case of a child who copied from the smart kid sitting next to them.
Still making a case against those test results is difficult, if not impossible, to do. I've seen my principal add students to the gifted classes on those types of test scores alone! Never mind teacher recommendation or a year's worth of work that says otherwise.
So last week we had another meeting to discuss this student's progress as per parent request. The Child Study Team would not budge in terms of evaluating her, saying they had "nothing to go on". Meanwhile NO ONE has been in to my room to observe her and I have a folder full of paperwork that anyone could ask to see at any time which would indicate her strengths and weaknesses. In the moment, they said this information was not enough. Only when another team member inquired and asked if I wrote things I tried on the papers I had, would that be sufficient, did they reluctantly agree they could work from that. Of course, this doesn't exactly make me feel confident that they are going to do everything they can for the student in question.
The worst part was that during the meeting the parent, in Spanish, actually came out and requested her child be evaluated. Where I teach, a request being made like that is like the Holy Grail or the Golden Ticket. The fact that mom sees it too and is concerned is proof enough for me. But she could tell, although she couldn't understand the language, that the team still was reluctant to push forward. And for the first time ever at one of those meetings I've attended, the parent cried. It was so heartbreaking to see, all because of a system that is set up that is allowing her child to fall through the cracks.
I continue to rage against the machine for this child and for others who come my way. Many people give up on filling out the paperwork, assuming why should they bother once they see what they are up against. I'm not going to to lie and say I haven't had moments of that frustration, too. But even if she doesn't get the help she needs this year, it will be documented that I tried. So one day when her file gets pulled again by another person who cares to question, all the effort for just "one child" was not made in vain.
Obviously, with the impending re-cancellation of a hard to find program, I showed my cards somewhat. Many, many times shows have been canceled that I have been in to and nothing that viewers do or say seems to be good enough to get it back. The best you can hope for nowadays is that old programs will surface online or or on a sister network that may or may not be created. It's all about ratings and shares and other things I don't understand. I have contributed to many a petition in the past and will continue to do so I'm sure, for many in the future.
But TV show cancellations, while they do infuriate me, only represent the bigger picture. On the whole, I'm pretty much a "go with the flow" type of person. But when I whole-heartedly disagree with something I do my part to make that known. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I'm a rebel, but I have found ways to make my voice heard over the years.
I think it's a particularly frustrating position to be in when you are working. This is because you are often not your own boss and while you may have the better ideas, you have to answer to a higher power. When I first started working in insurance, it didn't take long for me to "crack the code" of how to make my department more efficient. I was twenty-two and knew what to do. Those in charge were fifty-two and hadn't a clue. Who won in that scenario all depends on how you look at it. They got their way, but I got out. It was the only way at the time for me to keep my sanity.
But as we all know, running from every conglomerate, every brick wall doesn't serve any purpose either. So sometimes you have to learn how to play the game and hope for the best. It may not make a difference today, but you gotta believe that somewhere down the line it will.
When working in the corporate arena I noticed a lot of things that made my blood boil, but now that I'm working in the field of education, those things make me even angrier. This is because we are in the business of shaping future generations. One mistake that was avoidable might just be "one child" but it's one person's life which to me, raises the stakes. Unfortunately, while I'd like to believe that the corporate world is different in their approach then the education world, this is far from being the case most times.
Right now I'm in the midst of something at school that I am fighting against without causing too much waves. I have a child in my class who was retained once, but is eleven years old. To remind everyone, I teach third grade. Perhaps she started school late on top of being left back, I'm really not sure. Anyway, early on I saw that something wasn't right with the way this child was learning. She paid attention, always seemed to try her best, but she just wasn't catching on. I see this a lot in the beginning of the year but for some kids, it tapers off a bit once they get the hang of third grade work. Academically, second to third is a big leap for many of them.
But after teaching for a bit you learn to decipher the ones you aren't quick to the draw and those who will, never "draw". In my school, the next plan of action is to make a case for her and present it to a special team that "watches out for those types of kids". Now here's where we get to the blood boiling part one. Due to the No Child Left Behind Act, once a kid was retained he or she cannot be retained again. It's called social promotion. But when you see a kid has been retained and it still doesn't seem like they are where they should be, what should the next step be?
Logically many of you might say the next step would be to have the child tested for a learning disability. However in my district, a teacher cannot request that a child be tested. No, that sort of request has to come from the parent. Now considering I worked in an urban district where many of the parents are predominantly Spanish speaking, they do not know how to request such services or even if such services are necessary. My district understands this, but this is precisely why the system works so well, for them.
So I went through the motions and fulfilled the tedious process of paperwork to get this child resubmitted into the closer watch program. Yes, for those of you paying attention at home, I did say resubmitted. This is because another teacher had submitted her before. After awhile she was showing success, so they took her out, never thinking that the success she was showing might have indicated something was working for her.
Now when I say kids like these are added to a list to be more closely watched I have to be honest. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is done for them after this point. We meet with the parent a few times a year and I fill out monthly progress reports on said child, but as far as I can tell, when interventions fail, there are no interventions for those interventions. This child in particular has been receiving one on one services in mathematics for nearly six months now in addition to morning tutoring and classroom work, and she still isn't getting the concepts. If that's not a sign of a child in need, I don't know what is.
The problem is the at the end all be all is the standardized test scores. If a child does well on them, it doesn't matter what they did academically the whole school year. Their future worth rides on one day and one day alone. So somehow, someway last year this child took a standardized test. On the math portion she scored a 99% which would indicate she got everything right. Meanwhile, in my classroom, she has hesitated over questions such as "What's one more than six?"
No one questioned these test results last year.
What we can guess is that the test, which is in large part scored by a computer, malfunctions when someone gets everything wrong and instead prints out a perfect report in error. It makes sense when you consider there is another child who I had in my classroom briefly who is struggling with the same issues who also scored a "perfect" paper. There is no way these children did that well unless there was a mistake, a fluke or a case of a child who copied from the smart kid sitting next to them.
Still making a case against those test results is difficult, if not impossible, to do. I've seen my principal add students to the gifted classes on those types of test scores alone! Never mind teacher recommendation or a year's worth of work that says otherwise.
So last week we had another meeting to discuss this student's progress as per parent request. The Child Study Team would not budge in terms of evaluating her, saying they had "nothing to go on". Meanwhile NO ONE has been in to my room to observe her and I have a folder full of paperwork that anyone could ask to see at any time which would indicate her strengths and weaknesses. In the moment, they said this information was not enough. Only when another team member inquired and asked if I wrote things I tried on the papers I had, would that be sufficient, did they reluctantly agree they could work from that. Of course, this doesn't exactly make me feel confident that they are going to do everything they can for the student in question.
The worst part was that during the meeting the parent, in Spanish, actually came out and requested her child be evaluated. Where I teach, a request being made like that is like the Holy Grail or the Golden Ticket. The fact that mom sees it too and is concerned is proof enough for me. But she could tell, although she couldn't understand the language, that the team still was reluctant to push forward. And for the first time ever at one of those meetings I've attended, the parent cried. It was so heartbreaking to see, all because of a system that is set up that is allowing her child to fall through the cracks.
I continue to rage against the machine for this child and for others who come my way. Many people give up on filling out the paperwork, assuming why should they bother once they see what they are up against. I'm not going to to lie and say I haven't had moments of that frustration, too. But even if she doesn't get the help she needs this year, it will be documented that I tried. So one day when her file gets pulled again by another person who cares to question, all the effort for just "one child" was not made in vain.
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