Teacher support Group

Roguerivergirl

This is the first year since I started that we have no new staff. The last three years, we have had as many special ed teachers. I was beginning to think the position was cursed like The Dark Arts Professorship in Harry Potter. We will be hiring another part time aid in the next couple of weeks.

LifesPilgrim

Started the new year with a completely new Admin at my school (last year was so bad, they booted the whole lot of them out :sick: ) The whole campus feels like a totally different place and I love my sixth graders so far. They are well behaved overall and so cute

We have a LOT of brand new teachers this year because so many staff members left after last year. Guess those of us who know the ropes will be busy helping them out.

Roguerivergirl

Did the former staff members leave because of retirement or frustration?

Georg

Did the former staff members leave because of retirement or frustration?

Both. The admin (been there for 2 years) makes life miserable for those she'd like to see move on. It doesn't make me feel very confident.
One teacher took a disability retirement (which was good,) but she didn't really want to.
One retired because it was time, but he didn't really want to. He wasn't willing to follow her direction. It was ugly.
One was completely incompetent & in her 2nd year, so she was encouraged to resign or be pink slipped. Another was completely frustrating to work with & when required to toe the line, made a big fuss about it. He took another job thinking he was irreplaceable, but apparently not.
Another needed more money to pay his child support, but told the community he wasn't appreciated. Maybe because he always sat in meetings with his phone out texting & surfing. :huh:
Some of the support staff left for various reasons. Most had been there for 6+ years.
One of the new hires has office experience, so the sect'y was told that she can train the new gal so when she's ready to retire, the new one will be ready...& by the way, how much longer are you staying?
:noway: :frown: :ohwell: :noway:
That's the way it's going.

Roguerivergirl

I am so grateful to be teaching where I'm teaching, although we do have a few animosity issues. We also get involved with some of the issues of the government agency that runs the facility. Like most other states, Oregon had a budget crisis last spring. The state wanted to close down our facility giving one of the reasons that we weren't a real school. When questioned why they didn't believe our school was real, it boiled down to the fact that we don't have a separate building. It didn't matter that our youth scored the highest in math and English of all the facilities in the state. Fortunately, the legislature felt we were worth saving.

The hardest part is the high student turnover. About every couple of weeks, 2 or 3 students leave and 2 or 3 students come into the facility. We have about a 100% turnover every 6 months. I may only have a few of the kids I have now next spring. It is challenging to reach them all.

LifesPilgrim

What kind of site are you? That sounds a lot like a program I worked at which was funded by the Dept. of Juvenile Justice.

It is really hard to reach students when they are with you a short time like that.

Ahmee2034

Did the former staff members leave because of retirement or frustration?

Both. The admin (been there for 2 years) makes life miserable for those she'd like to see move on. It doesn't make me feel very confident.
One teacher took a disability retirement (which was good,) but she didn't really want to.
One retired because it was time, but he didn't really want to. He wasn't willing to follow her direction. It was ugly.
One was completely incompetent & in her 2nd year, so she was encouraged to resign or be pink slipped. Another was completely frustrating to work with & when required to toe the line, made a big fuss about it. He took another job thinking he was irreplaceable, but apparently not.
Another needed more money to pay his child support, but told the community he wasn't appreciated. Maybe because he always sat in meetings with his phone out texting & surfing. :huh:
Some of the support staff left for various reasons. Most had been there for 6+ years.
One of the new hires has office experience, so the sect'y was told that she can train the new gal so when she's ready to retire, the new one will be ready...& by the way, how much longer are you staying?
:noway: :frown: :ohwell: :noway:
That's the way it's going.

OMG! Sounds like my school! I work at a high school in Louisiana. We have assistant principals that have been there for 9+ years and one thinks he is 'ALL THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS!" He is very sexist and passes comments demeaning to women. Anyway, we do have a new principal that's been in place for about 2 years. He is really changing things up! The complacent people are really scared.

My school has 1600+ kids. I love everyone of them. I handle the kids who are assigned to P.A.S.S. so I see a mish-mash of personalities. I wish people would understand that some of these kids are just looking for someone who shows they care.

We started on 8/7. The faculty and staff are already drained and frustrated. We've had one "riot" and arrested 4 kids. It is very disheartening.

LifesPilgrim

I have a 8th grade intensive reading class, if you take the top 10 behavior problems in the entire class, you have half of my roster.

They refuse to do anything and talk so much that I can hardly get through my lesson, much less let them go through the rotational model I am required to do.

Do you have any suggestions on how to help them. They constantly tell me they are stupid and can't read, when actually they are really smart and their reading just needs a little help.

I'm thinking about random raffle tickets for being in dress code, following directions, things like that; but the ones who are the worst behaved typically behave worse when they don't get a raffle ticket because they didn't do anything to earn it.

Ahmee2034

Well, our school has initiated a behaviorial encentive program. It requires that student's who behave as expected (like the young adults they are), they receive points by their teacher. At the end of a pre-determined period, the students who receive the most points are rewarded with a "Bash!" We have pizza delivered, music, and skits. They all meet in the gym about 30 minutes before dismissal. We have had great results with that. It requires students to work on their behavior, something that EVERY student has within their power to control. That way, they don't feel "stupid" for not getting the right answer to any school work. You know what I mean?

LifesPilgrim

That is very similar to what we used at the DJJ site I worked at. Unfortunately it is much harder to implement in a "regular" school.

Guess I'll try sticking to my raffle.

Georg

My students are much younger, but I've had success with a ticket/drawing system. I have a box with little slips of scrap paper. Throughout the day/period I give tickets out for correct answers, cooperation, good test scores, good attitudes, etc. It's very arbitrary - whatever needs work. Whatever I want to reinforce. They write their name & date on the ticket.
Then at the end of the month we draw out 1 ticket & whoever's name is on it gets to choose a prize. I got some great deals on discounted sports equipment. You could try to get something big donated like a TV or dvd player or gift card, whatever will work for your kids.
I found that it's much cheaper than the little silly prizes I had been buying & giving out more often.

Ahmee2034

We have a couple of teachers who issue "free passes" to student exhibiting good behavior. The pass allows the student to not do one homework assignment, only if the student has a certain GPA when he/she wants to use the pass.

Roguerivergirl

The school I work has a complicated funding process. We are in an Oregon Youth Authority facility, our money comes from the Oregon Dept. of Education, but we are employed by the local school district.

Even though it is a prison with guards, we still have some behavioral problems. I got tired of threatening them with correctives and failed shifts and then I discovered Math Bucks. They earn math bucks by doing assignments and getting good grades. Each assignment earns them 1 math buck. An A or B on a quiz or test earns them 5 bucks and a 100% on a test earns 10 bucks. They use the bucks to buy a piece of candy, get a free day, etc. We show a movie on the last two days of the quarter, if they want to see the first day of the movie, they have to pay me 20 bucks. They also pay penalties. They pay 1 buck for incomplete and missing assignments. 1 buck for D's on quizzes or tests and 5 bucks for F's.

The kids love it. I have never seen them work so hard. The English teacher is going to implement a similar program.

Georg

That's really cool.
I had a great day until the afternoon. :grumble:
The bright spot:
a mom told me her child has never liked school until this year in my room. :bigsmile:

Roguerivergirl

That's the greatest feeling. That's what we teachers live for.

LifesPilgrim

I use mainly free computer time, homework passes, and Oriental trading is my best friend for pens, pencils, notepads. I also love the Target dollar racks- Hanna Montana stickers, M&M pens all kinds of stuff like that.

Unfortunately the ones I'm really trying to reach, I'm beginning to think, are unreachable. 15 - 16 years old and still in the 8th grade. I haven't given up yet though. Just trying to come up with new approaches.

Georg

anderson- Try my ticket drawing system. You'll save money in the long run because you could spend the same amount on a really attractive big prize instead of a bunch of little doodads. Try a CD player or a video game or a gift card to somewhere. You may even get a local store to donate something.
When I started it I was trying to hook a really tough (unmotivated) crowd of 4th graders & they were completely into it. They weren't impressed by stickers & pencils, but the bigger prizes got their attention. I offered a football, a board game, soccer ball & a homemade gift certificate to the Halloween Carnival or next Book Order.
Good luck.

Roguerivergirl

I think the best incentive for kids is success. I get so many kids who have given up on themselves. That's probably why they have resorted to crime. They just don't believe they are smart. I have to pretty much brow beat them into doing the assignments. Sometimes it is tempting to believe that they can't do it either, but I won't let myself believe it. It is amazing how they change, when they get their first A. Suddenly, they want to do the assignments.

The teacher I replaced kept telling me how low skilled the kids were and how I was going to have to give them really simple short assignments. I refused to believe they couldn't do it. When I started, I only had 2 or 3 algebra students. Now I have a full class of algebra 1 and above and our math scores are the highest of all the youth facilities in Oregon. It is very rewarding.

Georg

That's great!
Isn't it interesting when the opinion from a teacher before you totally conflicts with your results?
:huh:
Who's looking forward to a long weekend?!
:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
Have a good one!

Roguerivergirl

I am. I was planning to raft down the river, but it is predicted to be cold and rainy.

Who is going to show Obama's speech on Tuesday? Hopefully, I'm not opening a hornet's nest. Just curious. We're planning to show it. Parent's can't object at our school.

LifesPilgrim

Luckily for me, it's not in my curriculum, so I don't have to worry about it.

Thanks for the advice for the prize box, the 6th grader loved the pens, pencils and stuff. I won't see my 8th graders on a Friday until next week, so I'm looking for some cheap stuff for them as you suggested.

I did get some computer free time passes, that I know they will like.

I don't have my usual free McD's small french fry coupons this year, but my husband does the computer work for the owner of several of the stores, so I'm going to see if I can get some coupons donated.

Food is always a good motivator, I just feel like I'm condoning poor eating habits.

LuckyLeprechaun

Who is going to show Obama's speech on Tuesday? Hopefully, I'm not opening a hornet's nest. Just curious. We're planning to show it. Parent's can't object at our school.

that is kinda worrisome in my opinion. Everybody who looks at my posts knows I am not a fan of the President's policies, but that's not why that bothers me. Shouldn't parents have the final decision about the things their children are exposed to?

That said, I watched the speech, and as much as I wanted to find flaw with it, I couldn't. It wasn't political, it was just a "go education" pep talk for kids.

But I do think parents should have the final say....

Roguerivergirl

I know that sounded a bit crass, but where I teach parents don't get a lot of say because the students are basically wards of the state. Parents do participate in IEP meetings, etc, if they so choose. Some don't and the students have surrogate parents in those cases. But when it comes to the nitty gritty of daily life, OYA has the final say. Therefore, if the teachers chose to show the speech, the students had to watch it.

I was impressed with the attention the students gave President Obama. They agreed that what he had to say was important. We had a little chat and they were quite enthusiastic about giving their opinions. I am really enjoying this year with the kids. They really seem to want to learn.

Georg

rogue- How nice that the kids recognized the importance of what was said. That's cool.

funo145

i know you all started this a long time ago.. but can I join? I'm a 2nd grade teacher and the testing coordinator at my school. With the majority of our students being ELL... CELDT is a HUGE headache right now.. I was able to lose 5 pounds the first two weeks of school. This third week I haven't lost anything... urg...

iRun4wine

I'd like to join, also. I'm a certified kindergarten through grade 6 teacher, and am currently the Director of an After School Program for grades 5 through 8. I'd love to chat with you all :flowerforyou:

Georg

Welcome!
:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
We aren't nearly as chatty as some other groups - go figure - everyone is busy, busy, busy.
:grumble:
Back to School Night was tonight & everyone in my class came. It was a complete success.
wahoooooo!!!!!!!!
:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Roguerivergirl

Welcome. :drinker:

It seems we don't talk much about losing weight. This is more of a forum to vent, praise and congratulate ourselves for a job well done.

When friends are supporting you, anything is possible.

Good luck. :flowerforyou:

LifesPilgrim

Congrats on the good parent turn out. My school's open house was Wednesday night and I may have had 5 parents out of my 65 students show up. Guess that kinda figures into the stereotype for the low level readers though.

During a brief bout of insanity, I agreed to take on the school's yearbook. Should be fun, but I know it will be a lot of hard work.

Does anyone have any advice on how or where I should start? I've never done this before.

Georg

This company has an easy to use system. You contract for your selected book - style, size, etc. Then they send you a CD & you just drop in your photos & content. They publish & send it back. It's pretty cool.
http://www.inter-state.com/
I'm sure there are others.