Who are your allies in your quest to get that which you really, really want?

Who are the people who actually want for you what you want for you?

And who are those that stand in your way?

Why do they stand in your way? Why do you permit them to stand in your way? Do you know anyone who stands in your way but presents themself to you as if they are really an ally? (Goodness, I can’t stand that.)

True allies are there… but they are a tad bit rare. Best way to find them, I have discovered, is to be one to someone else. That’s because the world of allies is built on reciprocal relationships. And in a world of me, me, me many, many people are concerned with them, them, them.

So if you are still seeking your true allies on this journey, you now know where to start: in the mirror.

How can anyone be expected to manage a situation that they do not really understand?

And how can anyone really understand a situation unless they are actually in that situation?

It is for this reason that I believe ALL school administrators should be required to teach at least one class in K-12 schools.

Yep, the Principal needs to teach a class.
The Vice Principals need to teach a class.
The Superintendent and their cabinet of decision-makers need to teach a class.
The School Board personnel need to teach a class.

If they can, that is.

And by “if they can” I don’t mean “if they can carve out the time in their schedule to do so.” School meets with clockwork regularity. (Most start by 8:15 a.m. I am not even sure if half the people on the aforementioned list are actually working by this hour.) By 9:30 or so they’ll be done and the insight they’ll gain from actually being in a room with real kids — ones they are responsible for “academically elevating” — will trump any study they could ever hope to not read. (Come on, we all know they have people summarize this stuff for them in mono-syllabic terms.)

BTW, I am not even sure if all of these people I mention even hold a teaching credential. Hmm, what does it say about people who sit in positions of policy making power when they do not even have the certification to legally give them the right to do the job over which they lord.

Come on, slum with the plebeians. Let’ em all teach 1 period. Why not?

Are they too busy?
Are they unable to perform?
Are they scared?

And just because they “used to do it” 17 years ago doesn’t mean they can do it now. It’s an iPod, google, hit me on the cellie with a txt message world and these folks think that just because they stood at a chalkboard when Ronald Reagan was president they can still strap it up and deliver real results?

Ba-hum-bug-bullshit!

Make ‘em do what they mandate us to do and watch what they mandate morph.

Cuz ya know that when you have to eat the food that you are cooking, the meal always becomes more palatable.

Has anyone ever noticed that for a non-profit ETS sure seems to be making a lot of money? I mean look at that line-up they offer.

They “sell” (that’s right, they “sell” these tests… we rarely think of them that way though, do we?)…

They sell the SAT. They sell the PSAT.

I could stop right there. Does that sound to anyone else like a pretty good business to be in? I mean if people don’t want to buy your product, they can always… not apply for college.

Yet, the hits continue.

They sell the AP exams.
They sell the Praxis. (And boy don’t I feel that paying for and suffering through the Praxis really proved to be a critical part of my teacher preparation. I mean where would I be without it?)

They sell the CAHSEE. (For those of you not in my state, that’s alphabet soup for the California High School Exit Examination.)

ETS sells other stuff too but I am not really sure why. I mean it’s time to cry “Mercy!” ETS, you win. You are the best at what you do and you are doing it better than anyone else has ever done it before.

We give. Please respect our cries for “Uncle!”

In education, financial times have never been more dire. Yet in the testing industry, times seem to have never been more robust. And no one sees a relationship?

Call off the dogs, dudes… we’re dying on the vine out here. And if your mission really is to advance learning, then please recognize the stranglehold you have over us right now. We’re flailing out here. Flailing quite badly.

BTW, if a poison blowdart hits me in the neck next week — or suddenly you start to hear some mudslinging impugning my character, like how I was caught sleeping with Tiger Woods (hey, there’s gotta be another twist to the story, doesn’t there?) don’t say I didn’t warn you.

For anyone who says that class size does not matter, I say to them…

Well, this is a civil conversation so I’ll bite my tongue. But come on, in the rush to hoist the notion of “teacher quality” to the top of the educational flagpole, we are allowing ourselves to pretend truthful things are not really truths.

And one truthful thing is that class size does matter. A lot.

Here’s an article from the Los Angeles Times about how some classes at Fairfax High School have 50 students crammed into classrooms built for 30. When kids sit on the floor, on filing cabinets, and the such, is anyone really going to say that “teacher quality” trumps all other factors when it comes to successfully educating students? My second period class this year has 43 kids while I only have 34 desks. (I do have some chairs however and right now, no one is sitting on the floor.) But am I the same teacher I am in my 8th period class where there are only 29 students on the roster?

The answer is, I try to be but no, it saddens me that I am not. I believe I am a better teacher in the class where there are less students.

Why? (Like you have to ask.) Because at a certain point the volume becomes unmanageable to individualize and attend to the unique needs of all students. With 29 it’s hard. With 35 it’s threshold. With 43, it’s approaching ludicrous. I get spread too thin and they get less and less and less of me. And with 50, as they cite in the article mentioned above where kids are sitting on the floor, let’s be honest, those kids are being short-changed.

And so is the teacher. And so is the school. And so is the community. And so is our country. Do kids have to sit on the floor for us to recognize that we are heading towards rock bottom?