We are hearing from teachers in multiple schools for the first time in the COVID-19 era complaining about administrators starting to act in a pre-pandemic abusive way. Before the last week or so, it was rather rare since March for our blog at least to hear about a principal or assistant principal acting in a tyrannical way. We can no longer say that. Crazy letters sent to teachers are again being forwarded our way and we are hearing about ridiculous observations.
The multiple "nonevaluative" remote observations that include post-observation conferences from administrators, some of whom have never taught a remote class in their lives, is concerning enough. But hearing how teachers are receiving one or two "glows" and multiple "grows" (areas in need of improvement), is very disturbing. This is particularly worrisome because it is conscientious teachers who are concerned about these nonevaluative observations and these teachers already have enough to be concerned about while teaching in a pandemic.
A couple of points to keep in mind:
1-There is no evaluation agreement between the UFT and DOE currently so these observations cannot be placed in any personnel file and they shouldn't carry a rating.
2-Teachers are telling me that they are worried that these observations are being used as a set-up and that they will be referred to once the DOE and UFT agree to an evaluation system. Respond to emails if necessary. Keep a record but don't be overly concerned. It's a pandemic. It's more concerning that school buildings are open, teachers are getting infected and passing away. We can keep it all in perspective.
We think teachers should not be intimidated. Call your chapter leader and district rep and file operational complaints if this continues. A supervisor visiting a Meet for a few minutes to see what's going is acceptable but full-scale observations where every communication a teacher has with a student is scrutinized seems more like harassment.
By the way, when will the grievance process start again UFT?
We would recommend that because of the many oversize remote classes, every administrator from the Chancellor on down to principals and assistant principals to UFT officials should contribute by teaching remote classes every day. It helps with two issues as it could reduce class sizes a little and the administrators who are mainly not experienced in remote instruction might learn a little about it and may have some empathy with classroom teachers, most of whom are working their butts off trying to make remote learning succeed.
46 comments:
A new CDC weekly COVID survey and a whopping 14.5% of school-aged children tested positive, a much higher rate than other age groups. School-aged children (5-17) have now had the highest positive test rate for 31 straight weeks.
Yeah, with no attendance or camera policy. Uft at its best
Excellent post.
It's true. I teach a special needs 6:1:1 Remote class in District 75 and have had multiple classroom "Non evaluative" visits complete with written feedback this year.
Never mind my students have very limited communication skills and are easily distracted, it's amazing how they show everyday, participate, sit for 40 minutes at a time 3x a day, do assignments, know how to mute and unmute the audio and follow leveled group schedules, there always seems to be a long list of things I am not doing.
And yes, anything you say will be used against you via references from previous feedback. If you have a genuine conversation about something new you are thinking about doing it is documented and will follow you the whole year in writing. This tactic does not promote collaboration and discussion among teachers in sharing new strategies. Teacher's want to be free to try new things without follow ups and sneaky Danielson survey questions. (The what and how, and who and when, next steps)
So teacher's, go ahead and try new things and have fun, make your own observations and tweak where you think it best and don't tell anyone. Make your own professional decisions that serve the best interests of the kids.
This is all maddening. Everyday it just gets worse and I’m afraid what tomorrow will bring. Yesterday, more threats of layoffs come March if city and state funding does not come via federal stimulus. Not sure how this will affect educators. For those of us who are the end of our careers, perhaps hope of an early retirement incentive will keep us going. For the others, I don’t know what will keep them motivated in the coming year.
I'm confused. I'm getting about 10% attendance. I'm getting work
submitted 66 days late. These are 5 minute assignments. I'll then get told that students don't understand why they're failing. When I push, students say I am the only one enforcing deadlines and giving work. Who is the problem?
How about trying to do the best job we can to educate the kids.
America's most precious asset is their kids.
You accepted the most important job in America making sure the country in the future has teachers, doctors,mechanics, public servants etc. etc. etc
This is what should keep us motivated in these difficult times.
The biggest issue in the doe is the superintendents in my mind.
Most superintendents are or were doe shills who have risen to positions of power and salaries between 200-250 k per year and they do not want to give this up. The pandemic has shed a light on useless positions and if you really think about it, superintendents in the city and suburbs really are not needed.
The principals who want to be superintendents are the next problem. To appease their superiors, they go along with the abuse of staff. Hey, it makes a great story and they can tell city hall that the teachers stink.
Unfortunately, mulgrew does not go after the abusive leaders. I am a pro-union person, but mulgrew operates on hand shake deals all too much and gets burnt with what the doe has in high power spots.
In my school, the superintendent and deputy superintendent along with several administrators are observing classes. the teachers know ahead of time and the teachers are pre-selected based on the attendance of the classes, so we can again put on the dog and pony show. I can't believe how stupid these sups are to think they are seeing reality when they aren't.
Our stupidintendent sent out a letter to us all saying how if only our lessons were more engaging student attendance would be better!!! She is dumber than a box of rocks.
8:57: I've heard that argument before especially when I was teaching live. If your lessons are interesting, students will want to come to class. Basically the principals are enabling the kids telling them you have a right to cut class if the class is boring. I don't care if you're the most boring teacher in the world, that doesn't give you a right to cut class. When I was a Senior in High School, my Economics teacher was the most boring teacher in the school. He would give us assignments out of the text book and barely even spoke to us. Yet, we were all there when class started 5 minutes before 8. Why? Because we wanted to graduate. We never said, I'm not going to his class because his class sucks. We did what we were told and that was it. Stop enabling the kids.
8:57AM: Stupidintendent! I love it!😀
This data is as of last night: since Nov. 18th we've almost DOUBLED in
@NYCSchools
student and staff confirmed #COVID19 cases! And yesterday NYC caught 130 student/staff cases which make up almost 3% of all confirmed cases across the DOE. https://schools.nyc.gov/school-year-20-21/return-to-school-2020/health-and-safety/daily-covid-case-map
857,
Great sense of humor!
That’s what the superintendents do. City hall goes,”why are the kids not learning?” They say,”I’ll get back to you.” Then, they yell at the principals and the principals throw the teachers under the bus and the superintendents tell city hall,”the principals say the lessons aren’t engaging enough.” Then, city hall takes a dump on the teachers and tells the public that we suck as teachers and on goes this thing of ours.
12:20
If only teaching was like "this thing of ours" lololol We could send Paulie to get the kids out of bed and onto zoom...
So according to what 12:15 posted, closing schools accomplished nothing. City Hall had no proof when Joe Borelli held a hearing that gyms and restaurants increase sickness, "Test and Trace" had no data.
Meanwhile, I went to the building today to teach and work. Called parents, as often is the case due to the language barrier or parents at work, talked to students who've been missing class since we went remote. Got more than one student who said sorry I like your class but I have my younger sisters/brothers here who play with toys, cry, etc. and I can't focus on class. These kids should be in school. Sure some just don't try but I feel for these students, I can't get anything done at home with my wife around either, and if my kids were home, forget it.
Also, 14.5% of school children did not test positive. 14.5% OF THOSE TESTED. So, if you have 1 million kids, and 1000 get tested, with 145 positive, there's the big scary 14.5% rate they publish on the Fake News, but the actual rate of positive kids is .0145%.
TJL...
You are not a math / science teacher. You failed to mention that those tested were of a "random sample" and representative of their cohort population. Thats why we have covid clusters in populations with multiple people living together in a single apartment.
Why risk health if students can pass with 0% attendance?
@7:26 Since Mulgrew made some sort of deal with DeBlasio—no teacher layoffs till July 1 and there could be several thousand getting pink slips at that time — maybe some sort of early retirement incentive. However, come March—there could be massive transit worker layoffs and service cutbacks along with other city and state municipal workers.
Sooooo if we then scale and x 145 by 1000 we get 145000 positive per million. That’s a lot of kids testing positive. Close them!
Mulgrew?
Texas bride-to-be dies from COVID-19 days after she was set to wed https://trib.al/0QbIA1o
I love how people think that the teaching profession is going to "reset" after the pandemic. That kind of thinking is total bullshit here in NYC. The Leadership Academy principals are still alive and lurking and will be here for years to come. The whippings will continue as scheduled.
A school in Howard Beach was forced to close after 5 staff members and a student tested positive for Covid. Also a 29 year old healthy woman from Texas died of Covid 5 days after the day she was supposed to get married, but idiots still think it's safe to have gatherings and keep bars and restaurants and schools open.
4:36 People who have to earn a living need bars and restaurants open. How many of you would be screaming to shutdown your school if you’re paycheck got shutdown with it?
True. Bloomberg’s left over superintendent and principal dirtbags will be in for 10-15 more years. We need a Mayor / DOE that removes them completely not just takes them out of power. It should not take an Earth moving effort to remove them and they should not then be promoted or given an easier gig as is the case now. Way different than what happens to a removed teacher. It needs to change!
That’s why fed government should float these people during a shutdown. Everything should shut for 2 months. Government floats people.
4:17 that's not how it works. The 1000 are not a random sample representative of all students. As far as I know the DOE is the only agency doing this kind of surveillance testing. Everywhere else the 1000 kids are kids who are actually sick whose parents bring them to the Dr., Rite Aid or Quest to get a test.
2:40 I actually am in fact I teach Statistics. JD who is here from time to time will tell you the same thing. When you hear "percent positive" that is out of those tested, they're not randomly selected from the population. Even the DOE testing giving the close to 0% hasn't actually used random samples of students and staff (only those who give consent, sick kids will be kept home, etc.)
The Superintendent in D08 Bronx is the worst!!
Does PR on Twitter mostly, like visiting 37 schools in 1 day.
She also pre covid made a thing of getting 1 million pencils donated to the district.
Imagine you make 200k and you do PR stunts and pencil fundraising....
How do either help learning?
All sizzle , no Steak!!!
D08 Bronx
Super Tobia
Grand opening, grand closing.
A Queens elementary school was forced to close just one day after resuming in-person classes this week due to several COVID-19 cases, sources told The Post.
@ TJL
We would be finding the positivity rate by using 145/1000 - # tested positive/# tested, not # test positive/total number of students.
You don't include those that DIDN'T GET TESTED! That is just bad math.
That is like saying a spinner has the numbers 1 to 8, what are the chances of landing on an even number, and then writing a ratio of 1/infinity because you want to include all the integers, not the data you are working with or is in the sample space.
Probably not the best analogy, I admit, but clear to say the math skills are not there. That is not how statistics and data works. However, people will fudge the numbers to support their story.
They aren't kidding when they say American's are bad at math. Go 'merica!
5:54: That's the risk you take when you open up a business. Also, they can do take-out. If it's dangerous, it's dangerous. Covid doesn't care if you want to make a living or not.
5:54 Until the virus is under control, everyone is screwed and most people will have to do their eating and drinking remotely—that is take out.food and drinking with friends via Zoom. Most of the scientists say that the bar restaurants are a breeding ground for spread. Even outdoor bars have been a concern. However to your point about schools shutting down and loss of paychecks—there will be a massive layoff of teachers by the summer—and the schools will be kept open come September -if it’s safe—or else remote learning will continue with several thousand less teachers come September -either way.
554 that's why we have a government and don't live like the cyclops'; when something like this happens, the community should take care of the displaced workers. This culture of do nothing government and laissez faire political cowardice is literally killing us and turning us against one another when we should be cooperating.
Mulgrew hides in his million dollar house, but keep paying dues...
Positives in NYC Schools
Today*
Total: 113
Students: 55
Staff: 58
Closed:
Buildings* (14d): 7 (today), 16 in effect
Buildings (24hr): 11, 13 in effect
Classrooms: 77, 352 in effect
*according to the sit. room
**buildings can house multiple schools
promise he can't fulfill:
@nycmayor
oversold the ability of schools to offer in-person classes five days a week, principals union president
@cannizzarocsa
told
@leoniehaimson
on her WBAI “Talking out of School” podcast. via
@selimalgar
https://nypost.com/2020/12/10/principals-union-chief-city-oversold-full-time-learning-return/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons via
@nypmetro
Lol. Grade fraud.
AS MORE STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY UNVEILS '2021 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT PLAN'
1) Get a baseline of what ground we lost
2) Increasing high-quality digital curriculum available for every school
3) Launching a one-stop digital learning hub
4) Deepening professional development
5) Expanding "Parent University"
6) Confronting the trauma and mental health crisis faced by students
How many were tested? There are many many more infected than that 113. The testing is a joke and will continue to be.
If I can do PD from my home during ‘work’ hours, sign me up.
However, if the doe is going to offer useless PD and other for it and lay off teachers, then we need to take this to court.
Hiring virtual content people and PD is a waste of money
The government should float businesses? That's our tax dollars., not magic money. Let businesses open. The medically vulnerable should stay home. Everyone else should not be stopped from going to work. When teachers agree to an additional deduction in pay to help float people, I'll take their shutdown cries seriously.
10:31: I read about De Blassio's plan to help students catch up, but again it is only going to work if the students want to do the work to catch up. Those behind, will just fall more behind. It's like when they added 1 hour instructional time onto schools in the Renewal program. It only gave students an extra period to cut class.
Also regarding layoffs. I agree to layoff the young teachers first. It's like puppies, kittens and babies. They have a much higher chance of getting adopted than an older child or dog or cat. A younger teacher has a much higher chance of getting a job somewhere else. Most teachers I know that get jobs somewhere else are young and have only a few years experience. An older teacher with 20 plus years has almost no chance of getting a permanent job except maybe subbing.
Yes use the tax money. They use our taxes for bullshit all the time. So helping people would actually be a good use. Why should teachers pay additional? Use the taxes like you said.
I'm not too concerned about layoffs but concerned about givebacks to prevent layoffs because the last thing Mulgrew wants is less dues payers. He'd have us licking covid infected doorknobs if it meant keeping dues.
Give me a resignation (not retirement) incentive just like the ATRs and I'll jump ship right now. If not, I'll resign this summer anyway.
I'm done with the criminal organization known as the DOE and their myriad of enablers.
I can no longer in good conscience continue being at the mercy of such disingenuous slimeballs, the paycheck be damned.
At this point, I'm a man with nothing left to lose, and if any AP or administrator comes at me with BS, I'm going to respond like in a ruthlessly aggressive fashion.
Forget givebacks. What are they going to say, no raises for the next 5 years? I don't consider those raises anyway, but just cost of living increases. With raise, you make more money, I feel all we do is break even.
What do you think observations will look like this year once the UFT and city agree to one?
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