No Child Left Untested: Fall of the Educational System

For some time now I have slowly felt myself losing the passion to be in the classroom. When I went to college my first major was Health Care Management, I wanted to go into a field where I knew I could get some money knowing in the back of my head I wanted to do education, but I knew there was a lack of respect and definitely a lack of a good paying salary in the field. I completed my first year of college in my original major but something wasn't clicking I didn't like it...so I followed my heart and changed my major to Elementary Education. As soon as I changed I was a brand new person I enjoyed attending class and my grades went up a great deal. I couldn't wait to graduate so I could go out and touch all the young minds out there. I truly wanted to work in struggling schools because I knew they needed teachers like me the most.

Fast forward 6 years after college and here I am now, sitting here writing this blog unhappy with my career. I love education, yet the educational system around me has slowly snatched my joy and passion for teaching each year I have been in the system. May it be by changing teaching standards, constant changes to curriculum, numerous irrelevant assessments, FCAT driven schooling and the list goes on. If you ever look at our local, state, and nations Departments of Education where on that panel or in that final decision room do you see a current classroom educator helping them make decisions? Oh yes, they give us the big and played out "I've been in the educational system ___ years I was in the classroom ___ years and I am fully aware blah blah blah blah blah....." speech but they all start to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher to me now. They were in the classroom probably before I started elementary school. As they keep reminding educators yet forget themselves is that education is something that is constantly changing and it is very visible that it is having a hard time keeping up with our ever-changing world. Too often the powers that be in the Department of Education are so quick to make sudden changes based on different educational trends they hear buzzing around.
Often changes are proposed and supported through research do indicate the innovations are beneficial. So they move forward implement the innovations and before results are in if they worked effectively in the classroom or not they have already moved on to another idea. Aren't teachers constantly chastised for not aggregating and disaggregating data? So School Board, where is your data analysis of all these techniques that you strongly suggest we use?

They keep pushing this No Child Left Behind when really it should be called No Child Left Untested. Our students are being thrown into the fire, constantly being set-up to fail in life. I could have sworn the educational system was supposed to do the complete opposite. Being adults now and some of you are also fellow educators I want you to take a minute and honestly think back to when you were in school/college.....there was big test you know you should have been studying for and it’s a day or two days before the big exam and you are cramming away trying to take in as much information as you can.....test comes....you take it....now how much of that information did you actually retain that you crammed? Come on now be honest, probably 1% of that information and half of that % was information you already knew. Sound familiar to any of my educators reading this. Well it does to me you may know it as “Crunch time” a term used by many administrators in Broward County. With that being said to effectively teach our students the skills better yet the foundation for them to CONTINUE to build on when learning, we must effectively teach skills over a period of time. However, the sad thing is we are currently in what is referred to as "Crunch time" and people are running around going crazy. It’s still funny that they would use those words to describe teaching students. What about education should be rushed? We have 180 days to teach key elements, skills, strategies, and life skills for students to develop yet approximately 125 of those days are used just worrying about teaching students for the FCAT. I don't care how much they try to say they do not want us teaching for the test and that we are building skills it is a bunch of crap. Simply stated they want educators to teach students how to answer questions. All the evidence of what we are required to do proves my point. Long story short from August -March we are required to everything except actually teach. We are to drill different skills and strategies into students and program them on how to answer certain types of questions and then wonder why so many don't know how to function independently in the world, why they have trouble filling out job applications, writing essays, resumes, and in the future some have trouble being successful on college level, if they are lucky enough to make it that far. To top it off teachers are being told, “grow or go!” meaning if your students scores don’t grow or increase it’s a strong possibility your job will be in jeopardy. Well if my job is on the line so are the teachers who had that student from Kindergarten to 4th grade because the foundation they laid apparently wasn’t effective enough for me to build on but wait they taught to the test and the kid passed so I guess that was good enough.

Another reason I know we are failing students is that we don’t teach them the fundamental skills anymore. For example Language Arts is something foreign in the school system, constantly educator hear "we don't have time for Language Arts" we must keep our attention on covering all the Instructional Focus skills and beating students over the head with mini assessments and small group instruction and pull outs so administration, the school board, and DOE can take credit for things they did not do. So parents don't be surprised if you child doesn’t know what a verb, sentence subject and predicate are, or how to effectively write essays because grammar was over looked because the FCAT was more important. Language Arts is something that goes with us for the rest of our lives may it be at your job when your boss asks you to draw up a proposal, write grants, etc. What company wants to take something that has run on sentences, verb incorrectly conjugated, wrongly abbreviate words , and the list goes on. However, I'm sure that DOE knows best we are just to sit tight-lipped and do our job, well what they consider our job to be and that is prepare for the FCAT.

Moving on with all this assessment our students are continuously slipping through the cracks. Administration let’s their pride get in the way and there is no way they can let the school board see that they really have a lot of students who should be retained in their current grade. So the solution to that problem…you got it assess some more and keep doing it until they pass. I won’t go into detail or explain the whole conversation that is had between administration and teachers but in some point of the conversation it is either said or implied “make sure the student passes” how you go about it on you but they want the student to be promoted. Yep, they are promoted and become next year’s teachers problem and then on to the next one. Now we wonder why our drop out rate is so high students are being moved along and placed in environments where they don’t know what is going on. Many may argue holding students back can cause them to drop out as well but I believe there should be some alternative. The student repeats the grade but a different curriculum should be used on that grade level because of course I wouldn’t want to come to school if you are covering and teaching me with the same materials. Obviously those didn’t work the first time. Once again proof we are failing our students and setting them up for failure.

In several different trainings I have attended it was said that the FCAT came into existence because different businesses were saying that our students were not coming out of school prepared for the real world. How is this test going to effectively prepare them I have no idea. I know my generation and the ones before me came out just fine being taught the "old school way" yes we can continue to teach that way and still be effective we can still put those lessons on Promethean boards, use laptops for research projects, have students review Language Arts, Math, and Science podcasts to help foster learning. There is no excuse to why we could not keep what we had and improve it. We took the Stanford Achievement Test and we weren’t even “prepped” for it our teachers taught us all the basics and gave us the foundations we needed. We only heard about the test at the most a week before we took it. We have totally messed up the educational system and I honestly believe it needs to STOP NOW!!

As I hasten on I was trying not to make this too long, however, there is another issue I have and that is the "who you know" disease taking over our school system. Granted the disease is about as big as HIV/AIDS because its everywhere, one place it definitely does not need to be is in our school systems. There are so many UNQUALIFIED people in classrooms, working as curriculum support, serving as principals, and holding school board positions because of who they know. It hurts to know that I bust my behind to move up in the world and they take their position for granted and fail to use it in a positive and more importantly effective way to stand up and right what is wrong because 9 times out of 10 they have no idea what the heck is going on. Which also brings me to the recent cuts of over 300 teachers this summer in Broward County and many more all over the U.S. Call me rude if you must, but I believe the first to be cut should have been non educational degree holding teachers. Yeah you have a certificate saying you are certified because you took the test but where is your foundation? Do you really know how to "teach" or are you a teacher's guide pro? I am aware some non-educational degree educators have been successful but there are just a handful.

I had a conversation with a friend last night that use to be a fellow co-worker. We both agreed that we are failing our students and that we are not focusing on developing our students as a whole. Do our students really know why education is important; do they really understand how much they need it to succeed in life? What about building character, making the right choices? They don’t help get the overall school grade given by DOE so I assume they are no longer relevant for us to teach students. Overall, I can honestly say I no longer enjoy my career I no longer want to wake up and come to work. I keep hearing oh it’s all about the kids, but when you have to endure what comes with actually “not teaching” students it drains me. I cannot stand to know that I am hurting and hindering students I joined this profession for to help. I plan on homeschooling my student whenever that time comes. I just pray that I can find others like me, parents and whoever else is willing to stand up and get these changes made. There is little that can be done by just talking but action is needed.
One challenge I have for my friends who are in higher positions in the area of education is, are you content and happy knowing that you help support the DOE in failing our students? Are you willing to step up for what is right, or is having that position title more important? I just ask everyone in education, take a step back and evaluate why you entered this field of work. Was it for the money (I doubt it) was it because you couldn’t find a job in your original area of study and this would have to do? When you get your answers do what you feel is right so we can stop failing our students and continue to help build a promising future because they will be the adults of the world sooner than we know and that is a scary thing to think about….

Chris Brown Redemption

Ok, first let me start off by saying I truly believe that Chris Brown should have been apart of the so called tribute to Michael Jackson at the BET Awards. At this point in the music industry he is the only one that could have done justice on the stage for a MJ tribute. It's about MJ not what people think or how people feel about Chris Brown because honestly I feel what they had at the awards show was a slap in the face to MJ. I have seen Chris Brown in concert and during each show he does a tribute to MJ and the boy is EXCELLENT!! All these people are out here saying oh he's a woman beater no way no how should he be able to perform or he's a woman beater and he needs to learn a lesson. I'm going to simply say this "let he who has not sinned cast the first stone" also we must remember that no sin is greater than another. I don't think we should put Chris in a separate category wrong is wrong, yes he messed up but God is the only one to judge him and should be the one he needs to confess to.
At the same time people would rather see people Lil Wayne on stage who sleeps with multiple women, does drugs, and who knows what else perform on stage singing about fu**ing every girl in the world and keep in mind most of his performance was bleeped out, and we also heard artist who degrade women and brag about killing people, the guns they have, fighting someone etc.
Our world and some of our views are truly messed up. We all deserve second chances and I in no way am saying that I condone domestic violence (let's also keep in mind men are victims as well and we all know Rhianna's history of being violent) but I am saying get off the man just like we would like a second chance he deserves one too.

Many have said what type of example would BET set if they let him perform? Others say BET would be condoning domestic violence etc. First off BET is already crap and feeds into the stereotypes of blacks in generals. BET does not represent me, it is no longer known as Black Entertainment Television but as CET (Connery Entertainment Television). I believe having Chris Brown on would of been one of the few positives things BET could of done right. Yet, having us act ignorant on College Hill and condone shows like Toya & Tiny, and Keiysha Cole's family getting their own show is what some consider setting a good example???
Boy BET's priorities and views are soo out of wack. Let me just say no one better say one word when MTV scoops Chris up for their tribute. I don't want to hear anything about him being a sell-out or anything of that nature. Unlike BET, MTV knows how to do things right and have no hesistation in giving others a second chance. Like I said before we all need a second chance, but you know black people tend to have trouble bringing up their own they just want to keep them down. This could have been a prime time to honor Michael and at the same time bring up and support Chris Brown when he needs it the most. We must look beyond things and move forward in life, this is something he has to live with and we don't need to feed in to the crabs in a bucket saying.
If no one else supports Chris Brown I do, I hope he's coming to a city near me because I will be there with bells on to see what I'm sure will be a new and improved MJ tribute. Keep ya head up Chris!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py0vpVkMCx4&feature=related
**This is a link for the doubters, Chris Brown would of tore up the stage at the BET Awards!**

Fade into the Background

Even though it is so hard to do, I have realized at times it is just best to fade into the background in some situations. Sometimes we just can't make things better for others no matter how hard we try. We never know what is REALLY going on with someone, we only get the front page or cover story of the issue not the in depth interview.

Today I had to make the choice to fade into the background of one of my friend's life until they feel the need to bring me back into the light.
Assumption is not my game and I truly don't like to continuously ask someone what is wrong or guess what the problem is and they say nothing yet mope around bringing other's spirits down.

So we must go ahead and let those people feel sorry for themselves, heck we all get a day or two to do so but no more than that. After your pity party brush ya self off and get back in the game. Just remember once someone starts fading into your background if you don't restore them in enough time they just might fade away forever.....

God Bless

Just Wanna Be Loved

"I just wanna to be loved like everybody else does, I just wanna be loved.... I just want to be loved..."

Am I the only one who is looking for something better, bigger, wider, and higher when it comes to love? I have opened so many doors that were falsely labeled loved and I can honestly say I've had some regrets, but in the end regrets are a part of life and should only serve as learning experiences not something to beat yourself up over.

Now those of you who really know me, know that my saying is " I keep it breezy" which I do, I need to feel the breeze because if I stand still long enough I may end up feeling the heat of pain and I don't want to go through that again, once is clearly enough for me. I honestly thought that my first boyfriend out of college was going to be my husband and I would be working on my first child right now, but God pretty much laughed in my face and reminded me that I don't run anything, I may run in this world, but he clearly runs the world. Who was I to tell God that I was going to be married at 25 and have my first child at 27 and my second at 29. Reality in my eyes is sour and in the end can end up being sweet, just depends on how you "taste" it when you get your taste of reality.
I will always have love for that man that's a given fact but I am no longer "in love" with him. I feel that the 31/2 yrs it took me to get over him shook my whole concept of love and being wanted by someone and really needed. I can say I have issues with love, one little thing can go wrong and I automatically think its over or think I am to blame, never once listening to my instincts or having the common sense and say that the other party was wrong and I didn't do anything but love with ALL of my heart. I know I give all of me quickly (mentally and emotionally) holding nothing back, now I have this ugly shield up scared to let a man know I care deeply for him or that I do want a future with him in fear that those feelings will be taken for granted or abused. I have a lot to deal with when it comes to love, but I do know one thing I WANT IT.
I have a family that I know loves me without a doubt but for some reason and I know I'm not the only one, but I crave for that outside love, love from someone who isn't in a sense "obligated" to love me, not that I think my family feels they are obligated but you feel me. I care too much at times for others when even when things are not being reciprocated, and it hasn't stopped me because we shouldn't care and give in hopes of getting something in return we should do it because we want to yet not be foolish with it . I keep wondering will the day ever come when a man falls in love with me before I fall in love with him, and also how many have I turned away that truly did love me but my shallow ways got in the way. As I get older I just started to live in the moment, and it has seemed to working just fine with me. I am keeping all options open I know what I want and I do my best to think with a clear not lustful head when weighing options and placing men in certain positions in my life. I do know I need to find a God fearing man who knows the Lord, with that being said I need to continue to work on me from the inside out "a woman must be so hidden in Christ, that he must seek him to get to her" each day I do my best to build my relationship with God he is the first on my list of men I love. I have also thought that maybe I have not been blessede with a man yet, because we serve a jealous God and he does not want anyone to come before him and my whole mission on finidn a "husband" hindered me from remembering God is in control.....in the end God will bring the man I am suppose to be with into my life and I pray I am able to see God point him out to me and not get blinded by the outside world or my own judgements. Patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait. God knows I have been patiently waiting so I know I will be receiving a GREAT man from God.

Dreams....

Genesis 37: 5-20 is what sticks in my head since church service on Sunday. I was just thinking the same thing in my mind about sharing dreams. Not everyone has my best interest in hand and on purpose many will try to sabotage what I want to achieve in life.
The only thing is others weren't the only ones I was afraid of, I was afraid of ME. As funny as it seems I was afraid that I could succeed and afraid of where my wealth of knowledge and ability could take me in life. I kept telling myself that I wanted to advance within my career, yet kept holding myself back scared not of rejection but of receiving. I am so quick to tell others to go for their dreams and supply that system of support that they need to move up but have yet to follow my own advice. I am a strong believer that God will only move us when he sees fit, and I feel that he was giving me that budge to start warming up to move as I sat in church on Sunday.
I came across a great opportunity recently to advance my career and thought about all the great things that would come from it, but at the same time froze in my dreams and had sleepless nights thinking of all that could go wrong instead of right.
I know we all judge ourselves harder than others but I have to keep reminding myself that how can I expect to win if I never try. With that being said, I'm holding on to God's hand and chasing that dream. Along the path to the finish line I have seem to have formed a chain of friendship along the way, they have grabbed onto my hand and have chosen to not let go no matter how shaky things get. You know who you are, your kind encouraging words, your constructive criticism and providing me with ways to make myself better to "sell" myself so I can cash in on my dreams has not gone unnoticed.
God will see me through and allow the others who want my dream deferred like Joseph's brothers to sit in the background, little do they know my blessing may end up being a blessing for them as well in the end.