I Would Rather You Give Me a Script to Follow Than Hire a Consultant
Just Give Me a Script to Follow
Teaching has become a procedural nightmare. “We need you to do one more thing,” says the principal. “It will only take you ten minutes out of your time in class,” says the instructional coach.
“You need to follow the curriculum with fidelity,” says the teacher who left the classroom to work in the office but gets paid as a teacher.
The non-teaching duties are a pain in the …, but it is part of the job. The section of “part of the job” is causing more stress. Below is a list of “part of the job” things teachers do.
Part of the Job
1. Work with disruptive students whenever it comes up.
2. Directives and Mandates from administration
3. Attend parent meetings to address disruptive student behavior
4. Attend meetings to address why student state test scores are not increasing.
5. Sit in useless workshops and meetings.
6. Attend workshops to listen to a sales representative (consultant) tell teachers they are doing it all wrong.
There are many things teachers go through, but nothing is more tiring than being the scapegoats of students having low standardized test scores.
Because we did a great job with the test scores during the pandemic, the principal decided to purchase the services of the same consultant the school had been using for another year.
The Subjective Parts of Teaching
The most useless contract in the world is a teacher or principal-created contract. Student behavior problems exist in every school; the school rules are set differently for each school. I used to give student contracts to students.
The student contract is an agreement acknowledging school and classroom rules. The school and class rules have become a “CYA” rule. If there is no rule enforcement, it’s useless.
Subjectivity is the secret ingredient to making it seem like everything is working out well on campus. Here is how it works.
Classroom Rules
1. 1st disruption in class — Student receives a warning.
2. 2nd disruption in class — Student receives a second warning.
3. 3rd disruption in class — Student is sent to the office for a referral.
There used to be classroom detention between number 2 and number 3, but because of all the directives and mandates from the administration, most teachers skip the in-class detention and send the student to the office.
Variation of rules existed over the years. The one common thing I noticed from all administrators at my school is that they don’t like receiving referrals; they would rather have the teacher deal with the discipline issue.
If the teacher handles the discipline, it takes at least 20 minutes out of the class time. It is 20 minutes less of instruction time.
Students are sent to the administration office for hopefully corrective action that the student does not misbehave the next time. Sometimes a contract is created to help the students with whatever things they are going through.
The student signs the contract. If the student misbehaves again, the teacher sends the student to the administration office, and the class rules process starts again.
Sometimes the process continues, and it seems like there is no end in sight. What is worse is if a parent gives up their responsibility to an older sibling for guardianship. More meetings occur to address the issue.
“We cannot kick out the student from school,” says the counselor.
I don’t see this type of student behavior too often, but when it does, it just drains every ounce of energy in me.
Signed Contracts Between Student and the Administration
Signed contracts are necessary to say that the administration did something for the student. However, the student contracts are nothing more than a paper trail because it is never binding.
Students know expulsion from school is for the more serious offenses and crimes. Student behavior issues vary from school to school and from district to district. It’s a side of the school that the school system does not want the public to know.
Directives and Mandates
Other areas that are hard to overlook are the mandates and directives to do “one more lesson to turn in,” which is a concern. It adds up.
I once was told by the sped education department head that I had to have another person to help out with the students in class. I said, “great, when can this person start?”
Not to my surprise, because I already knew it, the person they sent to my class was a person barely out of high school. He met the requirement of having an extra person in the classroom.
I had to teach my class and supervise the person brought into my class to help me with teaching the students. I later found out the person didn’t have a college degree.
The person met all the requirements to be an educational assistant in my class. The only requirement was to be able to convert oxygen into carbon dioxide.
Takeaway
I would be okay at this time in my career if the school gave me a script to follow. I had proctored the SATs, ACT’s, and other standardized tests on Saturdays before the SATs made a deal with the public schools to use the teachers as free labor to administer their useless tests.
I can easily read from a script. I’ll be the best script reader at my school.
Final Thought
The one course I wish I had taken in college is Introduction to Acting 100. I wear my feelings on my sleeve, and sometimes it shows. If I had taken acting classes, I probably would be better at accepting everything from my current administration.
I should have agreed with everything even though I know some of the things done at school are a waste of time. I was never good at “playing the game.”
The “part of the job” thing in teaching is terrible. To quote one of the teachers in my building, “crap flows downward.”
The Things I Like to See Changed.
1. Give me a script to follow; that includes all material on content.
2. Give me a checklist before the start of the school year. It will help me focus on all the directives and mandates I need to turn in.
3. Make it in writing — Teach to the test.
Two years ago, the teachers in my district agreed to a 0% pay raise for the next two years. The contract is up for negotiation again. I am almost sure we will receive another 0% increase for the next two years. For a 0% increase in pay, I am willing to follow a script.
Don Sabado
Teacher | Author | Writer
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