Yesterday I was at local coffee shop trying to get ahead on some planning when I happened to overhear a conversation going on next to me. Okay fine! I was eavesdropping, but they happened to be talking about one of my favorite topics LOs, DOLs, and students. Here we were, two DISD teachers that had never met, at different schools, with very different levels of experience, but with the same issues. Time and time again I seem to find we all have the same issues. We are all frustrated by the obstacle course that DISD makes us go through just to teach our students. We are tired of looking at our classrooms as a checklist of requirements not a place of learning. We want our spots to be an opportunity to grow and not a gotcha. So what did this veteran teacher say she had learned to do? Beat the system.
She got a spot observation once on an exam day. Her LO said something like SWBAT show mastery on the following, and her DOL said given 15 problems on… To me that seems like an appropriate LO and DOL for exam day. The problem though is that the DOL has to be completed in 5-10 minutes, so a test cannot be a DOL. So what was the alternative? Not list one? The school had no answer, 15 minutes they still had no answer, we still don’t have an answer, yet here we are being evaluated on it. This brings to me my question that I ask AGAIN, how did that conversation help students learning? Its day one of week three and I am getting so frustrated already in the number of conversations happening rooted in the dog and pony show and not student learning.
She did tell me one thing that got me up this morning. No matter who the superintendent or who the principal, there will always be something. We put up with it and struggle through it for the kids. They will always be there too. We have to learn how to deal with the other stuff but the kids need us in the classroom giving them the best lesson possible. So welcome back after Labor Day. It’s always hard to come back after a break, but the kids do need us. It is hard putting up with it all, but the kids need us. Some days or even some weeks, it is harder to remember that. Maybe you are like me today, and you need to take some time to remember because we can’t keep letting the other stuff get us down. We have to be the best for our kids.
She got a spot observation once on an exam day. Her LO said something like SWBAT show mastery on the following, and her DOL said given 15 problems on… To me that seems like an appropriate LO and DOL for exam day. The problem though is that the DOL has to be completed in 5-10 minutes, so a test cannot be a DOL. So what was the alternative? Not list one? The school had no answer, 15 minutes they still had no answer, we still don’t have an answer, yet here we are being evaluated on it. This brings to me my question that I ask AGAIN, how did that conversation help students learning? Its day one of week three and I am getting so frustrated already in the number of conversations happening rooted in the dog and pony show and not student learning.
She did tell me one thing that got me up this morning. No matter who the superintendent or who the principal, there will always be something. We put up with it and struggle through it for the kids. They will always be there too. We have to learn how to deal with the other stuff but the kids need us in the classroom giving them the best lesson possible. So welcome back after Labor Day. It’s always hard to come back after a break, but the kids do need us. It is hard putting up with it all, but the kids need us. Some days or even some weeks, it is harder to remember that. Maybe you are like me today, and you need to take some time to remember because we can’t keep letting the other stuff get us down. We have to be the best for our kids.
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