FCAT Writes 2008

This year the state of Florida is requiring all high school students to pass the FCAT Writes test in order to graduate. I gave this test to my 10th grade homeroom and it's official. They are for the most part terrified at the prospect of having to pass this test. Parents have been building it up in importance to the point that many of them had that "deer in the headlights" look while testing. I really don't think they have anything to worry about as they seemed to try their hardest and took it very seriously. I do have qualms about putting this much pressure on them to succeed on a test that in my opinion has dubious value in actually demonstrating proficiency in writing. I think they would do better if parents and the state would tone down the pressure and let them show what they know without putting them through this ordeal.

My Rules Of Life

Sometimes I go back over some of my old posts and become very annoyed that much of what I write fits in the category of griping. I'm really not that negative in real life but I guess I use this blog to blow off steam so I won't go to school, strip off all of my clothes, and run screaming through the hallways.

Since I usually seem to spew about the things I DON'T believe in, I thought it might be refreshing to tell you the rules I follow for life that I DO believe in. In fact, these are my core beliefs that drive my insane life down whatever road it is going down.

1) Don't say anything behind a person's back that you wouldn't be willing to say to their face. As a result I am considered rather abrasive and too direct by some at work. What my fellow teachers consider tactfulness I consider dishonesty. I'm not a very tactful person and I don't hide my thoughts from others. That's why I have given the name of the school I work at and the real location. The only times I have held back actual names of coworkers it was to save them from hurt or embarassment in the unlikely event they actually run across this blog.

2) For the love of God, laugh! People take themselves way too seriously, especially in the field of teaching. Many of my coworkers write emails with "PhD" prominently displayed after their name, followed by a litany of accolades they have received. Unfortunately, this is usually the most entertaining portion of their emails! They would rather die than express any humor in their writing. A robot could have written most of the emails I read at work. This behavior extends to our staff meetings as well. Everything is serious, even the discussion about the students who snuck in one evening and placed a large boulder in the middle of the campus. We are expected to behave like robots in our duties, guarding the hallways between classes (are they afraid the hall will be stolen?), teaching the FCAT test so our school image will shine (let's be honest here and state that the FCAT test is one of the crappiest standardized tests I have ever seen), and never complain when our teaching is wrecked by the administration pulling out kids with little notice so a group can give them a one hour sales pitch on why they need to buy a school ring! (and I didn't even get a cut from this enterprise!) Loosen up, guys! Have a little fun and the teaching will be much more effective. Forget about the FCAT test and image for once. Our job is to teach the kids and get them excited about our disciplines. That's hard to do when they face a grumpy bunch of unsmiling teachers who only want them to cram for a stupid FCAT test.

3) Act in a caring, honest way towards students. They aren't stupid so treat them on as adult of a level as they can handle for their age. Don't talk down to them and don't ignore them.

Well, it looks like I've managed to complain again! Oh well. It's my nature to bring up those pesky little things that others don't want to hear. That's why I tend to get ignored a lot at faculty meetings. If I weren't right so often it would really hurt my feelings! *grin*. So I will continue to be the conscience of our school, using humor and "inappropriate" comments to point out where we need to change. If no one listens, at least I will know that I've made an effort to improve education.

As an example, the administrators have been patrolling the hallways with notepads in hand looking for teachers who are not standing at their doors between classes. Unbelievable treatment of professionals! I've made up a great little poster proclaiming the recipient is a "Handy Dandy Guard". It has an absolutely hilarious screaming cat photo on it as well. Impressed? I'm going to patrol the halls tomorrow with a legal pad and pen in hand and give these "awards" to all of the teachers I see standing at their doors. Sometimes you just have to laugh!

I am so tired of it all

The science and math departments were required to sit through a sales pitch by a statistician who is trying to unload her FCAT pretest and remediation questions to our county. Sound good? It's 26 science questions given to the kids. Now I'm not a statistician but I wonder how 26 questions can adequately measure all areas of science that a student should know! The results are analyzed out the wazoo and sets of science questions designed to remediate the potentially weak areas on the damn FCAT test are given to the students daily until they know everything they need to know to pass the test.

Let me point out two things. First, we are expected to teach all weak areas in all branches of science to do this. Frankly, I am not a chemist nor a specialist in physical science. I am a biologist and that is what my training has been in for the past 27 years. I have no desire to "teach" chemistry. The other thing is that the FCAT test is one of the worst tests I have seen for science. There are so many gaps in testing coverage of science areas that a student could do well on the test and still be practically illiterate as far as understanding science is concerned. Since the pretest is based upon the FCAT it is destined to have the same huge coverage gaps.

The students no longer need a teacher. They need a computer with a set of FCAT questions on it. I love actual teaching and would hate to be around to see its final death in Florida.

The Faculty Meeting

Yesterday morning we had our monthly faculty meeting. As we entered the auditorium bleary-eyed at 7:45 AM we received a packet detailing how we were going to be evaluated. You may ask why we are getting this so late in the year. Well, because of our state's glorious STAR plan that forces teachers to teach for the horrible FCAT state test our county had to revise their evaluation sheet to reflect the levels needed to implement the plan. Did I mention that a teacher can actually receive a mixture of mostly 'above average' scores and two 'satisfactories' and be out of the running for the extra money! Silly, isn't it? That's our wonderful educational system in action here in Florida.

The principal spent a lot of time explaining that parent comments, room visits, and verbal/written comments from those visits would be used as the basis of our evaluations. Though I've never received anything but great evaluations for 27 years now, the thought did worry me a little. Seeking clarification, I raised my hand and loudly asked "From what you are saying, would it be correct to assume that if no administrator has given a teacher any written or verbal feedback about their performance this year so far, this would mean that the teacher is doing a good job?" Loud laughter and applause from the teachers probably meant they were all thinking the same thing. The principal responded, "Well, yes. I mean, no news is good news." Guess what? The next day after my comment an assistant prinipal appeared in my first period Anatomy class and sat taking notes for over an hour. (heh, heh, heh!) Retaliation for my question or just coincidence? What do you think? He got to see me at my best all period interacting with groups deeply involved with making circulation drawings. They couldn't have been better behaved and more on-task if I had paid them!
When he left I patiently waited for written or verbal comments about the class. After a day I'm still waiting. You know, this old teacher hasn't stayed on the job this many years by being stupid.

I just wonder what insanity will follow this whole STAR plan. The school board met again yesterday and again they approved the plan. There is talk that the teachers will have to vote again whether or not to ratify the plan. There is a lot of pressure on us, mainly 'scare tactics', to vote yes to the plan. The truly ironic thing is that rumors are now flying that the state legislature in both houses are discussing a motion to scrap the STAR plan before it even begins and give the monies to the county for use in education. That sounds like a sane, rational approach so I'm almost certain our state representatives will not follow through with it. And life goes on.

The FCAT test

Well, we are halfway through that enormous waste of time and money called the FCAT. The kids just wasted 2 days with the reading and math sections. Next week is the science and norn referenced tests, which will waste 2 more days of teaching. Yes, that's 4 days of teaching lost to this pitiful excuse for a comprehensive test. I emailed 6 state representatives about this garbage test. Wouldn't you know that 4 of the emails bounced! They can't even keep their email buffers clear and we expect them to make decisions about education??

Our new governor Charlie Christ wants to bribe us further to teach the test by "rewarding" the 25% of teachers who best teach the FCAT with a 10% bonus. This is up from the 5% bonus that Jeb Bush wanted to bribe us with. I think I will tell Charlie where he can put my bonus. This simply disgusts me. Our county turned down the state bribe by 70% against, 30% for. In true democratic tradition we are now threatened with having to implement their program anyway, at our own expense. Why did we even bother to vote on it? When it comes to education Florida is rapidly becoming the fascist bubba mecca of the South. There's nothing like good old boy politics to completely screw up the educational system in a hurry.