tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post3370502369354506065..comments2024-03-28T19:47:39.985-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: Helping the NewbPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-37066185719531208312015-09-05T22:13:04.668-04:002015-09-05T22:13:04.668-04:00I just wanted to drop a line and say that I have a...I just wanted to drop a line and say that I have appreciated this post. I don't know how many times I've reread it in the past month.<br /><br />Our high school has been hit hard by the retirement/leaving wave. This year 1/3 of our staff is new and less than 50% of the teachers have been there over 5 years. (I'm in my third year, and I'm department chair) Because we are a rural school in a time where teachers are hard to find, our hires are really green.<br /><br />Your article has been priceless in focusing my efforts to help the newbs.Detankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04708585324454510284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-38348495382937131792015-07-23T13:40:48.603-04:002015-07-23T13:40:48.603-04:00I have found that the faculty in post secondary in...I have found that the faculty in post secondary institutions still cooperate well with each other even though they might be in competition for limited resources. This cooperation extends to people like myself who are non-tenure track faculty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-57284516515285023742015-07-23T11:59:05.216-04:002015-07-23T11:59:05.216-04:00I did too, and if I believed that I was training m...I did too, and if I believed that I was training my replacement for when I am ready to retire, I would happily work with new teachers. But when tenure is gone, and the new teacher is several thousand dollars cheaper than I am, and the mantra of this movement has become "cheaper is better", I cannot afford to coach new recruits.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-89223265044794257232015-07-23T11:54:53.085-04:002015-07-23T11:54:53.085-04:00Perhaps, but putting food on my table trumps that ...Perhaps, but putting food on my table trumps that concern. I can be of no use to my students if I am not there. Teaching is a calling, sure, but I am very tired of people expecting that because of that calling I should be willing to accept all the crap thrown at me. In the hierarchy of needs, I need to be safe and fed and comfortable enough to give my all to my students. Plus, I am not doing that new teacher any favors if I aid a system that is designed to pull him or her into the same system of insecurity and and high stakes testing. Cooperating with this system by bringing others in to it is assisting in the take down of public schooling. The sooner that reformers see it as an unsustainable model, the sooner we can all move on to something that actually helps children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-43774528829169883382015-07-23T01:57:28.150-04:002015-07-23T01:57:28.150-04:00This is great. I had the best mentors.This is great. I had the best mentors.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15712186284543293308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-58513374320769800992015-07-22T23:28:42.699-04:002015-07-22T23:28:42.699-04:00Perhaps you would want to train future teachers be...Perhaps you would want to train future teachers because you care about the students in your school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-47347493968087348802015-07-22T21:47:03.093-04:002015-07-22T21:47:03.093-04:00Except that, because of our VAM sauce evaluation s...Except that, because of our VAM sauce evaluation system, I no longer want to help newbies because we all know that the ultimate goal of this new VAM sauce evaluations overhaul is to do an end run around tenure, and why would I train someone to be my younger, cheaper replacement without the job protections I need to be sure I keep my job.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-36921613820174749692015-07-22T13:18:26.460-04:002015-07-22T13:18:26.460-04:00Another interesting bit of news I just read: busin...Another interesting bit of news I just read: businesses are finally figuring out that rank-and-stack annual performance reviews are counterproductive. Microsoft, Adobe, Expedia, Medtronic, Gap, and Motorola have already stopped using them, and the latest company to abandon them in favor of a more "fluid" system of timely, ongoing feedback is Accenture. They've found that the performance reviews don't have a good cost/benefits ratio, and several psychology and neuroscience studies back up the fact that they aren't useful to improve performance. The studies say that the Bell Curve does not accurately reflect the way people perform. Negative evaluations cause a restriction in creativity, and often a self-fulfilling prophecy where even the best employees, who desire to learn and grow, do worse on the next evaluation and may ultimately leave the company. Especially where employee contributions are more qualitative and difficult to measure, rankings are unreliable and arbitrary and lead to destructive internal competition, making it difficult to build a culture of knowledge sharing. More useful to improve performance are collaboration, professional development, coaching, and empowerment.<br />http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/accenture-performance-reviews_55af4a14e4b07af29d56d134? Rebecca deCocahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13168718846105012814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-73690078530330426112015-07-22T01:07:51.436-04:002015-07-22T01:07:51.436-04:00All of this is a good idea.All of this is a good idea.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com