The latest issue of the NY Teacher came in the mail over the weekend. On the cover is a picture of an eager first year teacher. Inside is her story of how much support she receives as a new pedagogue and there other stories about the benefits of being in the UFT.
The new teacher states:
I didn't have support when I worked in a non-union private school in New York City for three years when I first started teaching. I used to go to school trembling. I don't have that nervous feeling in my stomach anymore. Now my mentor from the UFT Teacher Center comes in my room once a week...
Is this how it is in NYC public schools?
Are new teachers supported?
Are veteran teachers supported?
I have heard that there are new teachers who haven't received a mentor. I have heard that others are being forced to teach out of license. I am told still others are quitting in part because of a lack of support.
As for veteran teachers, many have that nervous feeling in their stomach every morning when they go to school because of either abusive administrators or students who can do anything they want without any ramifications or both.
I am grateful be in a union and agree it is better than not having one, however I have an issue with the UFT making it look like conditions are so wonderful in the schools when for many members they are not. It looks like the union in their propaganda campaign to show how wonderful it is working in the schools under Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Carmen Farina will do anything to accentuate the positive and bury the negative.
Personally, I am glad for the young teacher and others who feels supported but the union should only consider gloating when virtually every teacher feels this way.
11 comments:
Love the uft newspaper. Burns well in my fireplace. Kept my family warm as I wait for my retro next year.
We'd appreciate it if you'd stay off these topics and stick to arguing with that guy from the other caucus.
Thank you. That will be all.
When I had a mentor in 1990, Mr. Adams(thank you), mentored me once a day and co-taught with me twice a week. I was young and started resenting him because I thought I knew what was best for my students. Sorry, Mr. Adams, you helped me immeasurably. I don't see anything even close to that happening in schools now. I try to help, but I'm looked as a lowly sub. That UFT paper works great for my cats litter box.
The paper is a great example of propaganda. It should be studied in all High School classrooms. Spin everything into a positive and blackout the negative. A work of art. Your dues at work, chumps.
In NYC, all new teachers (first year) teachers are mandated by law to have a school based mentor for one full school year (or 10 continuous months-approximately 40 hours)in order to get their professional certificate. This mandate has been in effect since 2004. From 2004 to 2007-the city and the UFT worked together to support all new teachers by training mentors from city schools all across the city using the Santa Cruz New teacher Center Model. But in 2007, Klein did away with the program (budget cuts) and the matching of a school based mentor with a new teacher became the responsibility of the principal. All mentor/new teacher interactions must be logged in on a mentor log website which part of a Teacher Effectiveness Office at Tweed. But very often, this task is not taken very seriously by the principal as they have too many things on their plate. You would think if the principal hired the new teacher-then mentoring and support would be a priority.
Just got the NY Teacher today. It has an article about some PE teachers who use IPAD's in their PE program. The NY Teacher says that between two teachers they have up to 160 kids in a class. (That means each teacher is responsible for 80 kids each) The current UFT contract says that PE teachers can only have 50 students per teacher. I am a PE teacher and I too have tons of overcrowded classes that violate the contact. The NY Teacher does not even mention this blatant contract violation. Sickening if you ask me.
The whole thing is sickening and the fact that Mulgrew nobody will vote Mulgrew out is more sickening.
I feel awful for new teachers. I have seen one quit this year already. And, several others told me they are leaving as soon as they can line something up.
I had a lot of people supporting me when I started. I felt like people wanted me to succeed. But, this evaluation system is making it feel like they're out to get *everyone* at all times. These are good teachers, but, they are totally demoralized. Admins are head hunting. The gotcha drop ins and demands for excruciating detail included in lesson plans are too much. It's like we have to write dissertations for every class we teach. This is insane and counterproductive. But, many Sup's are now bucking every observation. They are evaluating us by remote control, basically telling our APs what to write. Then, when the test scores come in, it's a total crap shoot. Wild swings in "growth" scores are the norm. mine have fluctuated by two categories, year over year. Of course, your current year's observations are essentially correlated to the previous year's test-based growth score.
No. Teachers are not supported.
If we had a REAL union, a STRONG one, our message would simply be: You want detailed Danielson lesson plans for every class? We need one less class to teach and one more prep to prepare. PERIOD. If we had a smart leader, not this jughead who currently holds the position, we would turn it back on them.
Also, we'd like the curriculum you promised us. DOE still hasn't approved *any* textbooks for common core math. Not one. Also, AMAPs have not released a single pacing calendar. Yet, they want detailed lesson plans and unit maps from us. They're running blind, basically trying to crowd-source a curriculum. This is the worst transition in the history of public schools.
The stuff they want in lesson plans is completely irrelevant. Problem with promoting every special Ed teacher to AP is they know nothing about content, and thus evaluate every teacher on mindless arcane trivia that they mandate must be included in every lesson plan. Fulfilling your AP's trivial requirements ends up taking longer than planning content relevant student specific instruction.
We are being over managed. And our managers aren't even allowed to use their discretion. I know for a fact that Sup's are pressuring APs to give certain ratings - Danielson-Be-Damned.
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