Oops

Well, I had my blood work today.  I put it off because it was a fasting one and I can't fast for blood on a day I work and because I nearly faint.  I didn't faint, but I have a heck of a mark on my arm.  And it is Friday.  I don't want anyone thinking I am a junkie, so it will be sleeves for me tonight.

I just noticed that a lot of my Photo II kids posted on Pinterest today.  I was out and i pinned late - around 10.00 am.  The first pin fro a student was 15 minutes later.  Um, not during her class.  I noticed many of the pins were during period 8.  I have Photo I period 8.  While I love the enthusiasm for this kind of journaling, I think I need to address the time to do this.  I also have to guess most of them were doing it on their phones.  Yipes!  Again, love the diligence and enthusiasm, but we need to work on timing.

So I have noticed a trend among the younger teachers - or younger than my generation.  Many get their master's degrees in administration.  And some do so very quickly after getting their first teaching jobs, even starting the program prior to even getting tenure.  I see some problems with this.

One problem is that if you rack up the credits, that moves you across the pay scale.  People might see justification in paying top dollar for administrators, but if you are unlucky enough to be cut or RIF'd, you have just priced yourself out of the market, kiddo.  My college advisor educated us in such a way that she taught us all about these types of things.  We learned about hiring practices, pay scales, etc..  I think we are the only ones who learned this.

The second problem is that there seems to be a rush to go from the classroom to the administrative office.  I have a great deal more respect for the person who puts in 10-15 years in the classroom before looking to move up.  That is an individual that can make crucial decisions regarding policy with first hand knowledge.  In education, that is key.  There are already way too many people making policy decisions with no educational or pedagogical knowledge whatsoever.  Having an administrator who is merely hungry to climb the career ladder is not beneficial at all.  Mistakes are made.  Ill informed choices are made.  The teachers and students pay for those mistakes.  Trust me....  I am seeing this in action.

Another problem is similar to the law school problem.  Law schools have been graduating tons of kids over the past couple of decades.  One issue:  There are no jobs.  I had to recently show a student a Forbes article regarding the plight of the unemployed law school graduate.  Now, are there really enough education administration positions to accommodate all the kids going for these master's degrees?  Not that I can tell.  The number of applicants for admin positions is similar to the numbers for art jobs.  Not promising.  Too many qualified candidates, too few positions.  Many of them are qualified on paper, but...

Are they ready for the position?  I read.  I read a great deal.  One thing I have noticed:  Many people are ignorant of grammar, punctuation, even what are real words and what are not.  And I cannot stand when people give the excuse "Well, I'm not an English teacher."  No, you are not, but as a teacher with higher aspirations, you need to be able to write and speak well.  You will be engaging with the community and public, parents, guardians, town and state officials.  I am talking about the teachers with administrative certification who believe "supposively" is a word; whose who use the phrase "he did real good on the test"; those who mumble when speaking; those who use your, you're, they're, their. and there incorrectly.  And do not blame auto correct.  That excuse gets old.

We are a profession under fire.  When I was in school, teachers were still respected.  I thought of my teachers as so knowledgeable.  They were so smart.  They knew about so many subjects and when they did not have the answer, they admitted it and researched it.  We are now a profession that is picked apart for a myriad of reasons.  We need to show that we still deserve respect.  Rushing up the career ladder and out of the classroom with not a care for the students does not endear one to the public.  It just makes us look money and power hungry.  Poor grammar and speaking skills make all of us look stupid.  When a teacher's words are passed along or heard and there are those "supposively" and "they're/there/their" types of mistakes, they are noticed.  The thinking is that if you have no command of basic skills, how much do you really know?

And no, I am not being a "grammar nazi".  I am just reacting to the stupidity and foolishness I see -   actions that the teacher hating public will jump on with relish every chance they get...