You know the overwhelmed feeling you get when tears seem to be ready to flow at any given moment? Today was one of those days. Who I am kidding, this school year has been one of those years!
Today, I had grade level meetings with all the grade levels to discuss supplemental groups/tier 2. Response to instruction. RTI. Yep, I said it. R.T.I.
You know 3 letter acronyms in the education world are far worse than certain four letter words? Generally speaking, I can say RTI and you can see the teachers scatter. And trust me, I get it.
The sad part is it really has nothing to do with RTI though. Response to instruction. That’s what we as teachers do EVERY day and have been doing all along. If a student is not responding to our instruction, guess what? We try something else. If it is working, guess what? We keep doing it. I know RTI is nothing new. However, dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s is new. Translation: paperwork. I know, I know. “It’s not about the paperwork.”
I wish I could believe it wasn’t about the paperwork. But it is. Teachers are actually now spending more time proving they’re teaching than they are teaching! Someone please tell me how this is helping our students. I’m all about accountability. However, I’m also ALL about treating our teachers with respect and as professionals and…allowing them to TEACH. Shocking, I know. Allowing a TEACHer to teach! (I apologize for the sarcasm. This is what happens after an entire day of shuffling papers.)
It is just so frustrating to sit and watch phenomenal teachers so overwhelmed, so beaten, so defeated that they start to question why they are even there in the first place. It is so disheartening to watch them crumble. And I feel so helpless. I try so hard to make meetings like today beneficial and as painless as possible. But when teachers are getting hit from every direction, it all just seems impossible.
And I should clarify. It is not just RTI. It isn’t RTI or PEPs or AMOs or MSLs or IEPs or PEPs or EOGs or PDPs or PLCs or TRC or…I could go on and on. It isn’t one single thing. It is the combination of it all. Enough is enough. When do we get to say enough is enough? When do we get to say, please, let us do what we love? Let us do what we know how to do. Please just let us TEACH.
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Parents, please understand that our hands are tied in many situations that you probably are not pleased with. So many things are mandated now. People in offices that haven’t set foot in an elementary school since they were in grade school are making decisions for us…for your children. Please know that we as teachers always have and always will have your child’s best interest in mind.
Red Fern Teacher 
When Good News Really Isn’t…
Unfortunately, I had to take my son to the doctor the other day. While we were waiting (and waiting), my son played on the ipad to help pass the time. No worries, they were all phonics apps. 🙂 When the nurse finally came back in, we tucked the ipad away giving her our full attention. She says that she has good news and bad news. The bad news – he has strep throat. Ugh, I’m thinking to myself…what in the world could the good news be? She delivers the good news directly to my son with a smile. “You don’t have to go back to school until Friday!” I tried really hard to bite my tongue. I was unsuccessful. “Actually, ma’am, we really enjoy school.” She looks at me with a quizzical expression, turns to my son, and says “oh really, so you like school..?”. My son returns the quizzical look and said, “of course”. That’s my boy! She then PROCEEDS to explain how she didn’t like elementary school at all and would pretend to be sick just so she could miss school. Really?! I was giving her my teacher look but apparently it wasn’t working. After a few other choice comments from educator momma, we left the doctor’s office.
As we are walking to the car, I’m trying to understand why I’m so upset. I didn’t want my son to see that I was upset. We try really hard not to speak negatively about others, especially out loud in front of the kids. So I take a few deep breaths. I think to myself, I know I’ve heard similar comments before but why did this one upset me so much. My only conclusion…as an educator today, I just feel defeated. Everyday seems like an uphill battle and this was the last thing I wanted to hear after tending to a sick child all day.
While waiting for my son’s prescription, my son and I were discussing the doctor visit. He was truly upset about missing school for two days. And I thought to myself, why and how does this love for learning, this love for school change dramatically as our students get older. Unfortunately, from my experiences it seems the transition is happening sooner and sooner. And unfortunately, I believe that it is accelerated by comments such as those from our nurse. I know that our nurse meant nothing disrespectful by her comments. However, these nonchalant comments by adults shape our children’s views on school. Our children then think, oh, I’m supposed to dislike school. Of course, I know other variables contribute to a student’s attitude about school as well. However, I just wonder what would happen if we no longer heard…”Man, I sure hated school when I was your age.” “I hate math; I’m horrible at it.” “I hated my third grade teacher.” “I sure am glad I’m out of school.” And I could go on and on…
My two boys LOVE school. My two boys LOVE learning. I do not want this to ever change. I believe that their teachers have a lot to do with this but I also believe that their father and I have a lot to do with it too. My boys have never heard us speak negatively about their teachers or about school in general. We’ve molded them to love school. We’ve set them up to succeed as have their teachers. So, please, do not share your negative comments/memories/reflections about education with my children. I’m busy cultivating life-long learners here at the Smith household.
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