They said to use standards-based grading, but they never explained how.
Through the decades, "they" said this and "they" said that, but they rarely made sense.
It has truly been a struggle for survival. Admittedly, there have been times when persisting to retirement seemed unlikely. And I was not alone. In Joplin Schools, I am among a handful of teachers who have over 25 years of experience. Many have opted out, retired at the first opportunity, or moved to other districts. I'm not editorializing about the causes, but simply and truthfully stating my own situation.
I cannot say I have positively supported every initiative our district has attempted to advance. There have been, at times, periods of flailing and plunging. I suppose that can be said of most careers.
Happily, barriers are made to be busted (Well, that's probably not their actual purpose, but it sounded good when it was rolling around in my noggin.). What I mean to say is that when one hits a wall, one must stand back up, dust off one's backside, and press on. When you get burned out, you can stay on the ground, or you can punch through the storm.
Finding my own path has always been one of my strengths, and when I started changing the things that worked for me in my classroom to attempt to comply with someone else's ideas of successful strategies, I found myself on the ground more and more often. After a while, it gets comfortable down there, and you get tired of pulling yourself back up.
Now, I want to improve, specifically, many things:
- I need to stay on the path improve Reading instruction.
- I need to harness technology tools in a way they are useful and consistent for my students.
- I need to teach Math with rigor, using well-planned lessons to improve the thinking in my students.
- I need to reorganize my cross-curricular units to address new directions in standards.
I know what I want to do, but it's going to take time to get there. Just as I've taken 26 years to get to this point, it may take a few more years to achieve perfection (I just said that because it sounded like a high goal. Perfection? Who does this guy think he it?).
who are compassionate, productive citizens.