Thread by @DCWard7teacher

I was going to let it go but I was triggered as HELL by the interaction with my Ward 5 SBOE member. I won't be tagging him so that he doesn't get bombarded w/messages, since he is right and I entered his feed to begin with.

I have survived (yes survived) 12 years under the Rhee/Henderson/reform era system in DCPS as a teacher that came through their own program - DC Teaching Fellows. This means I was hired by their HR machine, "trained" by them and went through their version of "accountability"

Their theory of change was unabashedly based on the idea that teachers are lazy/bad/don't care about kids and if we just replace them with "better" teachers then the whole system will improve. I never believed it, but I have benefited off that system and I am not proud of that.

I have been told that if I, as a teacher, just did X, Y and/or Z that everything will magically change. I was handed Teach Like a Champion and a xeroxed copy of DCTF training materials. Looking back 9/10 things I was "taught" was PURE garbage.

Luckily I had enough experience with students before I started (and a rebellious streak) that I intuitively rejected most of what I was being trained to do. My courses at @AmericanU were much better and helped me develop a theoretical framework within which to build my practice

My first years of teaching were amazing and my students and I developed incredibly close bonds, but I was not the teacher I am today. It simply isn't possible. It takes years to develop your craft.

It doesn't mean I was garbage or that my students did not learn a lot, but I wasn't who I am today. And today I AM an artist. I have my approach, I put SO much time in to it, it is frankly hard to quantify. I think about it all the time. When I go to sleep, when I rise.

I am NEVER satisfied with what I did the year before. I am CONSTANTLY deconstructing, reflecting, reconstructing and trying to get to exactly where I want to be (which lets be real I never will be, because ARTISTS never settle).

I can't do canned lessons, (far too often written by corporations for profit who too often don't employ true experts in pedagogy). If I find something I love I still have to modify it beyond the point of recognition so that it fits my style and my students.

As an artist my PRODUCT is subjective. Some people come in and love it. I have been filmed, interviewed and yes, AWARDED, by organizations from local to national, including my most proud moment of having been voted most inspirational educator by my students.

I also have been panned by kids who don't always like my approach/style/content you name it and evaluators. One year it was so off the wall that DCPS came in and filmed me for norming purposes for a WHOLE MONTH because my scores were all over the map.

There is NOBODY more critical of my art than myself. It is not possible. That doesn't mean I shouldn't be evaluated, but artists don't fit in oversimplified boxes that focus on outputs and observable behaviors in an effort to be "fair."

Now to the reason I was triggered (post life story): Too often the evaluation systems that are used to measure teacher "effectiveness" are based on an assumption that I am not doing my job well on a regular basis.

That if you "catch" me not doing amazingly well it is better to get rid of me quickly and replace me with someone better. That there is somehow a magical pool of amazing top-of-the-line educators out there just waiting to take my "only ok" self.

Now this may not be a popular opinion, but I would rather have an OK educator who loves and cares for their kids and wants to work to improve get the coaching and support they need to do that then to fire them and replace them with... wait for it... NOBODY.

How many classes are UNFILLED right now? Too many. Far far too many in DCPS. We have a turnover crisis. And it is fueled by this mentality that we all suck and need to be evaluated in a super strict manner and that will fix it. Heads up, we have HAD THAT for 10 years in DCPS.

As an educator I would rather have a stable community of people working to improve their practice in targeted and sustainable ways in conjunction with their administration rather than a bunch of 1-2 year "highly effective" teachers who are in and out in record time.

My guess is most of my students want the same, having spent 12 years working alongside them and keeping in touch over the years. Ultimately they, and only they, can tell me I'm wrong.

We lose far more focusing on ultra-accountability for teachers than we gain.

This does not mean ZERO accountability but it does mean INPUT and SMART accountability and we are so far from that in the ed reform movement it is not even funny. In fact it is infuriating. I could go on for ages and ages but nobody wants to read that so I'll stop.

I am trying to maintain my patience, but the idea that I, or frankly ANY, DCPS teacher is somehow "coddled" is ludicrous. We work in one of the poorest managed and most punitive districts in the country and we STILL manage to do amazing work with our students day in and day out.

We have almost zero MEANINGFUL support, and really what we have are close to unworkable conditions. Caseloads and class sizes that are too large, cutbacks in supplies, a multitude of preps and accountability measures...

...constant churn of employees, students, systems, policies, bosses, and more. We are treated as if WE are the problem and not the powers and consultants that come in and provide their drive-by assistance from on high. I could go on allllll day about this.

And when we HAVE tried to be constructive, for, oh lets say the past 10 years, and work within the system, advocate outside the system, try every avenue we can to make meaningful changes we are turned away, told we aren't doing it right, ignored, called complainers...

...told we don't believe in children, that we are making excuses, and now we can add coddled. People are quitting on our children CONSTANTLY because they can't take the conditions. Those of us who stay and survive the relentless adult bureaucracy sure as shit aren't "coddled".

I just can't take this level of disrespect anymore. I don't owe anyone another "solution" that will just be argued down or twisted in to something I clearly didn't say, and if we were having an honest conversation I obviously didn't mean.

How many hours of my life have I tried to be constructive to get ZERO results? Too many. I've served on every task force, panel, cabinet, you name it. I have been there. Where have those who seek to criticize been? Not by my side trying to make changes that's for sure.

So just because you didn't see it in that particular twitter exchange doesn't mean it hasn't been done. That we haven't tried. We have. You may not have been there, but I don't have to start from scratch every time a new player enters the scene that I have BEEN IN.