[Ansteorra] OT: evaluating teachers

[Celeste Shelton]

Mahee,
As a teacher with 15 years of experience and 7 different principals, I must
agree with you here.  I have been observed teaching every year, and have
been told I excel in different areas by each principal and yet they never
agree as to what those areas are.  (I don't THINK I have lost my ability in
those other areas.  LOL) As many have stated, it isn't as if we can choose
who we teach or even what we teach.  If it were a perfect world, we would be
judged by how well we present the curriculum mandated by the state and by
how much a child grows in the single year that we have them. Instead we are
judged by failure rate, regardless of whether or not a student studies,
comes to tutorials, etc.  We are judged by success on a state given exam
which the students have come to know doesn't "really" count for anything
except to give the school a report card.  We are judged by whether or not
the parents think we give too much homework or not enough.  We are judged by
how many students are able to answer the questions we ask when the principal
is "observing" us, but then if the questions are simple enough for all
children to be successful, we are told there are not enough higher lever
thinking questions being asked.

Now that I have had a chance to rant (thank you all for listening <g>), I
would also like to say that I have never had another job that provided as
much personal satisfaction.  When you reach that one child that is labeled
"unreachable", your world just seems to have perfect meaning.

Saundra
KMoC
High School Math Teacher
Daughter of a 30 year army vet


>You can not objectively evaluate a teacher, only subjectively through
>continuous personal observation. And then you must teach to what the
>observer thinks is excellence.
>
>your servant,
>mahee
>


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