Comments on: Word to your AYP http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/ "Maybe all we can hope to do is end up with the right regrets." Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:04:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: angie http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92742 angie Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:11:55 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92742 Those kids who don't make it school might have to deal with parents OD'ing on their way out the door. Or they may have to get themselves and their little siblings to school because of working or distracted parents. And the school probably throws a lot of incentives at parents like yourselves so you will keep your children in the school. My daughter went to a school like that many years ago. Those kids who don’t make it school might have to deal with parents OD’ing on their way out the door. Or they may have to get themselves and their little siblings to school because of working or distracted parents.

And the school probably throws a lot of incentives at parents like yourselves so you will keep your children in the school.

My daughter went to a school like that many years ago.

]]> By: Dave http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92628 Dave Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:59:42 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92628 AYP: All Your Parents Are Belong To Us My son just turned four. I dread his entry into the public school system, although our town's schools are supposedly very good. I'm glad I didn't know what AYP stood for. All too soon, I'll be there. AYP: All Your Parents Are Belong To Us

My son just turned four. I dread his entry into the public school system, although our town’s schools are supposedly very good.

I’m glad I didn’t know what AYP stood for. All too soon, I’ll be there.

]]> By: kate http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92538 kate Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:22:47 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92538 As you can see, NCLB brings out lots of feelings in people. Anger in me, it's all about the almighty dollar, I'll leave it at that. In a country where celebrity is, well, celebrated and rewarded with fortune, is it really surprising that reading and education has become unimportant? As you can see, NCLB brings out lots of feelings in people. Anger in me, it’s all about the almighty dollar, I’ll leave it at that.

In a country where celebrity is, well, celebrated and rewarded with fortune, is it really surprising that reading and education has become unimportant?

]]> By: nan http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92537 nan Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:12:24 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92537 People! You can make a difference. Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. The kids who need your help will be the same generation as your own kids, for ever. If you can enrich their lives somehow, you are helping your own childrens' future. People! You can make a difference. Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. The kids who need your help will be the same generation as your own kids, for ever. If you can enrich their lives somehow, you are helping your own childrens’ future.

]]> By: amy http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92503 amy Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:04:37 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92503 I am a very involved parent (former teacher too) who has just started sending our 16 year old to the local public school (we were private all the way with our oldest and private until high school by his choice with our youngest). This is also a diverse school. I have found however that it is not that parents do not care in general, but they are tired in the evenings. They often work two jobs, have many kids, and some do not speak English as a first language so it is extremely difficult for them to attend the meetings, read to their kids,etc..Although most of us in the blogging world would not dream of not attending a meeting about our children's school or of not reading to our kids or not insisting on something for them re: gifted programs or special needs or what have you, the rest of the world does not necessarily put their energy into those things. Often they find teachers intimidating, and they are not confident themselves about what questions they should ask. I am trying to figure out a way to get them more involved myself -but not sure of the best approach. I can say however that they do care and love their children as much as we all do. I think it is more a matter of how to get them to understand that the world of a child's school is a very important world to get involved in more so than maybe anything else. I am a very involved parent (former teacher too) who has just started sending our 16 year old to the local public school (we were private all the way with our oldest and private until high school by his choice with our youngest). This is also a diverse school. I have found however that it is not that parents do not care in general, but they are tired in the evenings. They often work two jobs, have many kids, and some do not speak English as a first language so it is extremely difficult for them to attend the meetings, read to their kids,etc..Although most of us in the blogging world would not dream of not attending a meeting about our children’s school or of not reading to our kids or not insisting on something for them re: gifted programs or special needs or what have you, the rest of the world does not necessarily put their energy into those things. Often they find teachers intimidating, and they are not confident themselves about what questions they should ask. I am trying to figure out a way to get them more involved myself -but not sure of the best approach. I can say however that they do care and love their children as much as we all do. I think it is more a matter of how to get them to understand that the world of a child’s school is a very important world to get involved in more so than maybe anything else.

]]> By: Jen http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92496 Jen Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:43:16 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92496 Ok, I'll admit it. I loathe reading. I read a great deal to find information but just reading for fun? Naah, I'd rather go to the dentist. I remember when I was young enjoying it but as I got older and began to have required reading in school, I started to hate it. Maybe I just don't like being told what to do ... :) Ok, I’ll admit it. I loathe reading. I read a great deal to find information but just reading for fun? Naah, I’d rather go to the dentist. I remember when I was young enjoying it but as I got older and began to have required reading in school, I started to hate it. Maybe I just don’t like being told what to do … :)

]]> By: stace http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92495 stace Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:55:11 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92495 I am also a teacher and I concur with your other teacher-readers about what NCLB is doing to our schools. The formula used for test scores and annual improvement is mathematically impossible to sustain. Many of my co-teachers feel that NCLB is the federal governments' plan to dismantle public schools...after all, so many people don't vote and so many vote against their own economic self-interest...there is a certain political party that benefits from keeping people ignorant and down. Did anyone see the article recently about liberal vs conservative reading rates? I am also a teacher and I concur with your other teacher-readers about what NCLB is doing to our schools. The formula used for test scores and annual improvement is mathematically impossible to sustain. Many of my co-teachers feel that NCLB is the federal governments’ plan to dismantle public schools…after all, so many people don’t vote and so many vote against their own economic self-interest…there is a certain political party that benefits from keeping people ignorant and down. Did anyone see the article recently about liberal vs conservative reading rates?

]]> By: Megan http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92494 Megan Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:52:20 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92494 Oh, you're singing my song. We moved from a super-fabulous school in Alaska (so good I STILL bore people with stories about it, and that was years ago) to a school in Virginia where... well, I had never, ever heard of teaching to a test before we got there but MAN did these people open my eyes. See, the teachers were paid (even hired/fired) on the basis of their class's test scores. So when we arrived (mid-year) the principle was so amazingly rude, so incredibly unwelcoming and inhospitable I nearly cried when I realized my children were going to have to go there. It wasn't for a day or two I realized it was because my kids were UnTested and therefore a potential danger. It was very funny when we moved out only a year later to encounter the same rudeness and unhappiness, this time because three teachers were counting on my kids to help raise the darn average! Oh, and I normally don't do this, but I did post about this very thing only a couple of days ago: http://missinginiraq.blogspot.com/2007/08/relief.html Oh, you’re singing my song. We moved from a super-fabulous school in Alaska (so good I STILL bore people with stories about it, and that was years ago) to a school in Virginia where… well, I had never, ever heard of teaching to a test before we got there but MAN did these people open my eyes. See, the teachers were paid (even hired/fired) on the basis of their class’s test scores. So when we arrived (mid-year) the principle was so amazingly rude, so incredibly unwelcoming and inhospitable I nearly cried when I realized my children were going to have to go there. It wasn’t for a day or two I realized it was because my kids were UnTested and therefore a potential danger. It was very funny when we moved out only a year later to encounter the same rudeness and unhappiness, this time because three teachers were counting on my kids to help raise the darn average!

Oh, and I normally don’t do this, but I did post about this very thing only a couple of days ago:
http://missinginiraq.blogspot.com/2007/08/relief.html

]]> By: Barb http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92493 Barb Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:25:56 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92493 I teach kindergarten in a mid-sized public school in the middle of Missouri. NCLB and AYP hang over me every minute of every school day. Missouri developed a set of guidelines for what every child should be learning at each grade level called the Grade Level Expectations, or GLEs. Every single thing I do with my kindergarteners MUST be related directly to a GLE or I cannot justify doing it. Rephrase - my administration cannot justify me doing it. Do you have any IDEA how NCLB, AYP, and the GLEs have just sucked the fun right out of kindergarten? I didn't even order any construction paper this year, because I no longer have time to do those fun and cute craft projects that used to be a hallmark of a kindergarten classroom. I'm too busy teaching them to read, add, subtract, and (according to one of my social studies GLEs) understand the concepts of opportunity costs and scarcity. Did I mention they are kindergartners, for crying out loud? As for the reading to your kid thing - we participate in the Pizza Hut Book It reading program. Our expectations are pretty low and only ask each family to read FOUR books in a month to their child in exchange for a free pizza. You would not believe how many families can't seem to manage this! Four books a stinking month! I often read four books a night to each of my boys! Every year I pray for just a few parents like you Mir, who care enough to show up to meetings and conferences and who actually understand that what I do with their children is valuable and worth supporting. Instead I get a depressing majority who view my classroom as a free daycare and any problems that occur with their child between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm as strictly MY problem. I teach kindergarten in a mid-sized public school in the middle of Missouri. NCLB and AYP hang over me every minute of every school day. Missouri developed a set of guidelines for what every child should be learning at each grade level called the Grade Level Expectations, or GLEs. Every single thing I do with my kindergarteners MUST be related directly to a GLE or I cannot justify doing it. Rephrase – my administration cannot justify me doing it. Do you have any IDEA how NCLB, AYP, and the GLEs have just sucked the fun right out of kindergarten? I didn’t even order any construction paper this year, because I no longer have time to do those fun and cute craft projects that used to be a hallmark of a kindergarten classroom. I’m too busy teaching them to read, add, subtract, and (according to one of my social studies GLEs) understand the concepts of opportunity costs and scarcity. Did I mention they are kindergartners, for crying out loud?

As for the reading to your kid thing – we participate in the Pizza Hut Book It reading program. Our expectations are pretty low and only ask each family to read FOUR books in a month to their child in exchange for a free pizza. You would not believe how many families can’t seem to manage this! Four books a stinking month! I often read four books a night to each of my boys!

Every year I pray for just a few parents like you Mir, who care enough to show up to meetings and conferences and who actually understand that what I do with their children is valuable and worth supporting. Instead I get a depressing majority who view my classroom as a free daycare and any problems that occur with their child between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm as strictly MY problem.

]]> By: Cele http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92492 Cele Thu, 23 Aug 2007 05:19:46 +0000 http://wouldashoulda.com/2007/08/22/word-to-your-ayp/#comment-92492 I think a large part comes down to how we were raised ourselves and how much emphasis was put on education and being everything you can possibly be. For the most part I was a single parent. I sometimes worked three jobs, but my daughter's well being, happiness, and education were always first in my thoughts. It was because that was how I was raised, I passed it on. I see so many people (aka parents) who put themselves first and their children...on a list...somewhere...next Tuesday. I think a large part comes down to how we were raised ourselves and how much emphasis was put on education and being everything you can possibly be.

For the most part I was a single parent. I sometimes worked three jobs, but my daughter’s well being, happiness, and education were always first in my thoughts. It was because that was how I was raised, I passed it on.

I see so many people (aka parents) who put themselves first and their children…on a list…somewhere…next Tuesday.

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