Thursday, August 20, 2009

Professional Development.. Whatever!!!

I have seen this model in my stint in corporate America.. pay some company a ridiculous amount of money to produce beautiful slide presentations and binders, add a "knowledgeable" facilitator and the world will change. Right? .......NO!!
I received this training the Institute and the condensed version at the Freshman Orientation, so I will admit I wasn't excited at the prospect of attending another training... in the space of six weeks. While the PD course was a waste of time and money by DCPS, it served as a cautionary tale about how NOT to teach as a new teacher. Differentiated instruction was limited to content areas (sit at the maths or SPED table etc). My group consisted of two teachers receiving the training for the first time and two others like myself who recieved the training before. Needless to say this made for interesting group dynamics. The facilitator jumped from one instructional strategy to the next, I felt dizzy on several occasions. In addition, the facilitator had great difficulty truly engaging the teachers...there were the bathroom breaks, chatting, and texting. My recommendation is this cut the training to a day and a half and have DCPS teachers facilitate smaller group sessions. I trust the vet. teachers who always impress me with their know-how and experience than some former-teacher-cum-corporate suit. There was an inherent lack of effectiveness with this PD. I found it very odd that the new evaluation system was tucked into the seminar without any real clarification from the administrators about how it will be implemented at my school.

I was happy meet quite a few veteran teachers who gave great advice about "real life" in DCPS versus the PR version. However, the bitterness and resentment towards the Rhee/principals with regards to their treatment was both palpable and sad. Their attitudes reinforced the notion that most new teachers who remain in teaching are unlikely to remain with DCPS.


I LOVE my new school. The teachers/custodian/support staff/principals have been extremely welcoming and helpful. However, the amount of paperwork expected on a daily basis is horrifying.

The new DCPS rule about decreased suspensions while admirable has left me with quite a few ethical and liability concerns. I don't think students should be marked present if they are sent home. There will be no distinction in the official record book/Stars between those students who are present in school and those sent home yet present because they have the in class materials. This policy change was communicated verbally with no written documentation.If that student leaves school and is injured or cause harm, I still legally responsible. When is a lie a lie?

PS. Stipend not received.. another day with PBJ. Still can't log into PeopleSoft because of other HR issues.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Things I found out today about my school and DCPS

Like any new employee and DCTFers I decided to attend the employee benefits session. The good news I get benefits, however the bad news is they really are not that great. I am a former state employee and the health and medical by Blue Cross Blue/Shield was far superior. In addition, I paid LESS for more coverage. State also had a lot of extras thrown in like discount shopping at specific stores in county and city. Let's not talk about the pension and absence of a matching 401k.. oops no 403b, yes big distinction!!!!

The benefits specialist inform us that we could sign up for the Peoplesoft on DCPS site instead of waiting to go to our schools, however, we had to use a DC government computer at a school or library etc. Sounds easy. So silly me head over to the library at Eastern Market this morning in the hot sun, signed up for the library card and waited 45 minutes to use the computer. Surprise, the links don't work. I called DCPS main office who then referred me to IT helpdesk, who sent me an email link to the websites that don't work, who then referred me back DCPS HR. Got the HR voice mail that states it takes 24 hours for a response, so called the main DCPS office number, which is the Chancellor Rhee and got a receptionist who seemed truly perplexed by my question and put me hold for five minutes before directing me to the payroll office. The payroll receptionist explained that her training with PeopleSoft dictated that she directed all inquiries back to the help desk.At this point I hung up because I had my quota of "round and round" we go for the day

While in the DCPS website, I stumbled across the budget for the school for the 2010. Wow the principal makes each make over $100,000. The clincher is these two salaries alone represented 30% of the total instructional personnel budget and when I added in the custodian/foreman who makes close the $100,000 also, it rose to 42%. Yes, I rechecked my calculations!! Other interesting tidbits were the monies allocated for classroom supplies only $5000 for the entire year for 18 teachers at the minimum and 24 staff members if other instructional staff is included!!!!

Speaking of money.. I have yet to hear from DCTF on the status of the stipend checks. I planned on doing several dry runs of activities associated with my lesson plans, however, need $$ to buy basic materials. After not having a steady paycheck for four months, I am definitely not about to use personal funds at this point. In addition, I am still trying to get the teacher edition text for my class, however, the book room clerk has informed me they don't can't locate it because it is assumed to be in A box in the book room. In attempts to elicit information about when these boxes will be identified and unpacked, I was met with evasion and you just need to wait.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Random Thoughts,

Done with the Institute last week and trying to catch myself before the "fun" starts.
Still waiting on the stipend check. It has only been four days but funny how no updates were provided by the Institute managers, only a vague " we will work closely with DCPS to make certain that you get the checks before you start teaching". I wonder if my landlord will accept this excuse in lieu of a check or money order.

Finally got sorted out with the Central Office about position, pay, and IDs etc. The Central Office without a doubt is a little disorganized (lol). Nobody seemed sure what was going on. Individuals kept walking into personnel because they were told to report there by school personnel. Problem was the school personnel never informed the Central Office about who/when, or what they were sending these employees to them for. I was only sitting in the waiting area for about thirty minutes!! Why are the personnel office staff so glum? Everyone I had interaction with seem either unhappy or disgruntled. I went to wakes that were a lot more fun!!!
It is never a good idea to complain about your coworkers or management in earshot of strangers btw.

Saw on several other blogs about the Teacher Development workshops slated for week after next. I have yet to receive any correspondence from principal. Maybe I will get more info at the new teacher orientation next week. No word on when funds to buy supplies will be forthcoming.

In the interim, I will start working on the unit plan. Since I might be the only teacher for this subject,I guess I might as well have a plan in place.

PS. Willing to accept donations to my charity!! PBJ and tuna greatly appreciated