Should I lose hope?

This past Wednesday, I attended an articulation meeting at a college by my school. We actually did have a lot to do since the curriculum did not improve and that some of the college courses were more or less of the same thing from last year. It has always been a pleasure to attend these types of professional development because it gives me the opportunity to talk to colleges professors and see what they expect our students to know before they get to them. I was glad to see that what I am teaching does really prepare the students for the next level if they do take the subject seriously on top of their core subject classes and that is where my concern comes into play. I always knew of a high dropout rate in college but to learn that the students coming from my school system and others from another county which I would not name are just not prepared for college. The professor was expressing his disappointment at the students' lack of work ethics, absences, study habit and on top of everything , the freshmen are very poor in problem solving skills, maths and writing.
As we continue the conversation I could just see the future for some of kids who struggle with in class on daily basis; those kids who everything to given to them, those want free points or somebody to do the work for them. I know somebody will tell me that if I teach them right , they should be able to do it themselves and become independent learners but we dealing with a generation of kids who want everything free and anybody can argue that but the reality is that they are more and more high school students who cannot read, write and spell properly at their grade level. What happened to those when failing was not an option?
Nowadays, you have students joking about failing a test, not studying for an exam, not worrying about a failing score.
My friends, we are in trouble>>>>>>>>..

Finishing Line

It has been a restful week, no referral to write, no announcement from the PA system and "fresh mouth" back talking to hear from the students. I do not if this is the same thing in your school but I have always observed that once we return from spring break , students have the tendency to get out of control as the weather warms up. You will see more absences, tardy and class cutting. I remember that last week before we left that our Principal was reminding teachers about teaching from bell to bell and that we still have 8 more weeks to go (my school system); Therefore my friends from NTI, do expect unannounced visits from your supervisors just to check what is going on. As far as my program is concerned, I plan to finish 3 long chapters that I have left and mostly work with my advanced class to prepare them for the A+ certification. I hope we will get enough time because we should not forget all the tests and exams that will take place within the next 5 weeks to come.
So my friends let 's lose track and focus and buckle up !!

Spring Is Here

I do not know if that is the case in your schools but lately and particularly during this week that just ended, there has been more than 5 fights. As the weather starts to get warmer, students start to get excited are ready to do anything to get attention or stay outside. I am at my 6Th year teaching and every time Spring approaches it is the same situation. As a consequence of this situation, students are getting to class tardy, more are getting suspended or sent to ISS. Over the last 3 weeks I have 4 students who got more than 30 days OSS. Even though these students are going through some kind of social or emotional crisis (I believe) some needs to be done to address these issues. One particular thing that I see particularly across my district ( because my school is not the only one going through these latest situations) is that some of the new administrators are "too young". If age can not be used as a factor to determine once capacity to get the job done properly, in a high school environment, i believe that age, couples with experience does matter. Students nowadays do not want to listen, they don't care therefore they need somebody with experience in education (not less than 10 years and this is my personal opinion) and authority and who can get things moving!
Enough of the politics, the dysfunction and the promotion of some sorority friends

New Curriculum

I was reporting last week that that my lab was being upgraded. It is finally done and my students and I finally had a chance to start using the new equipment this past Thursday. During the installation process, I had a conversation with the vendor who renewing not only the equipments but also most of the software that we currently use and I asked him about the new Georgia GPS for IT; he appears not to be concerned at all and simply said that “I am doing what I have been paid for".
I actually was not surprised by that response because some of our leaders in those main positions do not know what is going on in our classroom. Here we are with less than three months in the school year, a new GPS which by the should be implemented starting next fall (but changes have already been made on the course name by the guidance office) and I am foreseeing already a lack of resources for the upcoming year. I thought the decisions makers will kill two birds with the same bullet to same time for the next school year but apparently not. Hopefully the issue will be address during the training sessions and that I will get some type answer that will quiet my concern.

STAY STRONG.

New computer lab

Over the winter break I have been assigned a new set of computers. I've finally, after two years of complaining and dealing with false promises, gotten new computers for my lab. My lab was the oldest in the county. We were the first to have the IT and Information Technology program in the county. The county delivered and has set up 26 computers. I am excited about it and have big plans for using these computers to the fullest. Now, while I'm excited about the lab, I also know that the state is changing the curriculum in the IT department. It appears that we will need to get training in programming. The whole situation is confusing because as I was preparing one of the NTI assignments, I went to Griffin Tech (one of the technical schools in the Southeast) to interview one of the administrators and the lady in charge of the articulation program between the high schools and Griffin Tech is herself lost in the new pathways. Enough of this! I'm just happy about my new lab. With new computer materials everything needs to be labeled and properly set.

Program Accreditation

This week had been a happy one as one of my colleague got his program accredited. As I celebrate this success, I am still asking myself some questions about the true meaning of the program certification. My first thought goes to the students. I value the fact that parents, political leaders, businesses need to be certain the students that they will be hiring are being well-taught and are getting the best education through the programs that we are teaching; but what about providing the kids with the opportunity to prepare for the real test, exam or certification required by the same industry or business?
The healthcare science teachers prepare their students for CNA exams with the support of types of funding but about the other programs? Why should students have to leave our programs and go pay tremendous amount of money for certain programs?
I know that everything can not be done but a little certified paper attesting that the student has successfully accomplished the training in a particular area would be better than a mere letter of recommendation.

New Curriculum

As it has been done in the core subject areas, DOE started to change our curriculums. Some curriculums are either being rearranged or simply deleted for the school year 2007-2008. We have been told some programs either will be closed or will go on probation because some teachers don't have enough students in their area. Now the pressure is been put on teachers to recruit more students (I don't know how?). My concern is what the counselors will be doing then? Isn’t their reponsibility for assigning students to our programs instead of creating dumping grounds or placing the wrong people there? Another issue these changes are some people might be losing their jobs without knowing it.
Stay alert and check the new curriculum in your area to learn about what you will be teaching next year!

Hopeless

I have been a teacher for 5 years now, and I keep sensing a great deal of hopeless among this new generation of students that we are having. I fear for them knowing what lies ahead of them and most of all, the complete lack of clue. I do not know if it is because of their age or part of growing up, but the kids do not care about anything. If there is something that they do care about, it is about how to get an A without doing anything that would involve critical thing and writing. I have a student who even questions the necessity of going to school. It happened one time when I spoke to them about the importance of getting good grades in school, but as I am finding out that some of the parents are getting younger and younger, I keep wondering about what actually happens at home after school: tv shows? or videos games?I-Pod? cell phone conversations? . Does anybody have a better clue to address this generation of students? What i have been hearing is that, there you have them figure it out ( be a teacher, a mentor, a baby sitter, a counselor, sometimes play the parents role)

Gerard's 1st Entry on the Blog

After our first weekend class and along the same line of reflection with what has been very dear to me since I have been teaching information technology is: be able to get some of my students certified in the field.Our county does not have a clear directive regarding the program only that high school students need to be exposed to various types of IT programs and hardware. With the understanding of another colleague and our advisory committee; I decided to push for a certification preparation for my advanced class. Even though I have explained to my students the importance of getting certified, I am looking for ideas for incentives to prepare the students; how to raise money etc....Any idea and tip will be very helpful