Re: Jackie...No Child Left Behind etc. (long but hopefully good).

June 20, 2007

Jackie,

I was truly shocked when you wrote what your child's

teacher said. Each state develops their own learning

standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind comes

in when the federal government demands accountability

(which is a good thing, some other parts of the law

are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody would

argue that American schools need to increase

achievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideas

about how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,

like I said, is that states develop their own learning

standards. Different states require different things.

No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of students

will be 100 percent proficient on the learning

standards defined by the state.

Now, the federal government is not looking at each

paper or all the daily work the students are doing.

(That statement by your child's teacher that that is

WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo ridiculous).

The feds only look at the high stakes testing that

happens at the end of each school year. Some schools

do it in March, some in April, some in May. Schools

are supposed to meet individually defined levels of

proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is

raised. Schools get graded on whether or not they are

making " adequate yearly progress " --whether enough of

their students are " proficient " on the standards. I

teach at a " failing school " . Of course, my school has

100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92

percent of them speak Spanish as their first language.

Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they may

have arrived in the U.S. the day before standardized

testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th grade.

Let's also be real and say, they never went to school

before in their life (a very common problem at my

school). They are required to take the standardized

test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will be

in English, depending on the child. However, if they

are illiterate in both languages, you can imagine just

how " proficient " they are on anything. Then add in

the fact that my students are not only poor, and they

do not speak English. Mine are also all special needs

students. Some are learning disabled, some are fetal

alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and meth

babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have autism.

Many of them have learning issues because they have

never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of my

students live for the free breakfast/free lunch. Many

of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry they

are. The last time they ate was Friday's school

lunch. So my school struggles. However, my principal

is great and our staff is awesome and we believe our

students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off every

single day, we are accountable for each moment of the

day that our students learn, we assess every two weeks

to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till the

end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, that

strategy did not work. As grade level teams we

collaborate each week and there is no ego allowed.

Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with the

highest scores shares what they did to get their

students to do that. All other teachers immediately

adopt that practice with their students. In two

weeks, we check again. If our students are not

learning, we must change what we are doing. Our

students are literally on FIRE. If we do not work

this way, they will not learn. If they do not learn

how to read, they will not have a good life.

Everybody on the staff of my school feels this

accountability and pressure. So I am impatient with

the people at my child's lovely middle class school

who sit on their tushes because they teach middle

class children whose parents have fed them, loved

them, read to them....Those kids are ready to learn.

In my city, the " nice " schools are where the lazy

people teach. Their kids will make proficiency on

standards. They will. This is why I get so mad when

they warehouse my child. They do not try. I am

probably way off the track...But anyway..My point

is...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach 4th

grade and here are all the fourth grade books and we

are going through them. A competent teacher realizes

that he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special ed)

students and they are all individuals. They all learn

differently. They are all in different places. A

competent teacher knows, it is my responsibility to

take this child where he is right now, and move him as

far as his potential will take him. I am frustrated

with what I read in your post. In each grade level,

there is a WIDE variation of where students are

actually performing. Your child should be able to go

to school with his peers (kids of the same age) and

still have his academic needs met. That is, if his

teacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old or

whatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed he

is very gifted academically, he is performing 3 or 4

years above his chronological age. His teacher should

understand, this little person is ten years old. As

he has Aspergers, his social skills are probably below

his age level. The teacher should have an idea of

approximately where the skills are. And should work

on helping them get better. At the same time, your

child is not just a body or a brain. He is a whole

person. A competent teacher should address his needs

to be challenged academically. A teacher can assess

and determine what level your child is learning on.

It is so easy to see, the child has mastered such and

such a level. They are emergent on such and such a

level. That is where the teacher begins to teach

them. You may review once in awhile to make sure they

are not losing previously learned skills. You are

building on their prior knowledge. You as a teacher

study your student to know, what is this child's

strengths? What are his learning styles? What

multiple intelligences does he have? What traits in

his personality can I use to motivate him, discipline

him, make him feel happy as a learner? The teacher

should work on helping weaknesses improve. The

teacher should work on challenging the student but not

frustrating him. There should be data to show the

child's starting point, growth, and ending point. A

lazy teacher says, my class has to be proficient on

these standards. A lazy teacher says, oh, I don't

care that you already know this. It would be too much

work to actually address your needs, so sit in the

chair and do this work on this level that I am

teaching whether it fits you or not. What is so sad

about this, is we know that work fits the middle of

the bell curve. That teacher is boring the gifted

students to tears. She is also stressing out the

lower performing students, making them miserable,

making them feel stupid, causing behaviors in both

gifted students and lower students because their needs

are not being met. I am sure their parents are

hearing either what bad children they are, what dumb

children they are...or how " ok " they are. " OK "

because they are meeting the standards that the

teacher is getting graded on and that is all she cares

about. In truth they are not ok because they are not

being educated where they are ready to learn. Excuse

this book I wrote. It just drives me crazy whenever I

hear about lazy teachers like this. It is

unconscionable. No Child Left Behind law ends up

limiting gifted children when the teacher is satisfied

that they know the standards at grade level.

Especially if they are ready to learn 3 or 4 years

above that. And No Child Left Behind punishes

students like mine. It punishes their teachers,

making us look like we are incompetent, because they

are low performing even though we have moved them

MILES more than the middle class schools moved theirs.

The biggest problem I see, as the requirements for

each school increase each year, is that more and more

schools are going to be failing. Know why? The law

demands that 100 percent of the students will meet the

standards. Even the special ed students. I have seen

instances already where schools try to dump special ed

kids, or blame their failing status on special ed

kids. The truth is, human beings are not all the

same. They do not have the same potential. I wish

the law said, 100 percent of the students will be

educated to their potential. If that was the law, it

would not be ok to warehouse the gifteds and slam the

lower performers for not being " good enough " .

I hope you now understand why your child's teacher

failed your kids by making them do work they had

already mastered. I am so sorry that is happening. I

wish more parents understood what was really going on

in schools today.

Kaye

--- <hunebear3@...> wrote:

> Kaye,

> I really appreciate this information and I'm

> planning on checking on

> exactly what is required for my state. Do you have

> a recommendation on

> where I should start looking? Maybe the school is

> using the NCLB act

> as an excuse? I know I was told by someone in the

> school system that

> skipping grades was not allowed and that they could

> only let a child go

> so far ahead or the next year's teacher wouldn't

> have anything to

> teach. I didn't like the fact that I felt that they

> were trying to

> dumb my kids down! There's NO WAY that I would even

> suggest my AS son

> skipping a grade because of the social issues... but

> my NT gifted

> daughter would do just fine academically and

> socially if she were

> allowed to skip!

>

> I know within my children's school system they do

> break the kids up

> within the classroom on certain subjects based on

> what the skill level

> of the child is! SOmetimes my children are the only

> ones in their

> group... but they are still not getting the level of

> work that they are

> capable of doing. I have got a lot of information

> to process before

> school starts this fall!

>

> Jackie

> On Jun 20, 2007, at 12:49 AM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>

> > lol scuse me but your kid's teacher is FULL OF

> IT.

> > No Child Left Behind applies to me too since it

> is

> > national, so I know something about that! If your

> > child comes to school on the first day, the

> teacher

> > assesses him/her on the standards for your state,

> for

> > whatever they must be " proficient " in by the end

> of

> > the year...Let's say your kid tests " proficient "

> on

> > the first day. There is NO requirement they do

> work

> > on which they are already proficient! Any teacher

> > that had that situation would then

> > say...hmmm...obviously this kid needs to MOVE ON.

> And

> > they would design work that went after whatever

> > standards the child is not yet proficient in (even

> if

> > it was the next higher grade level standards).

> NCLB

> > can allow some teachers to just get lazy (no

> excuse

> > for this!) But their job is to get their whole

> class

> > proficient on whatever grade level standards. If

> they

> > are lazy, that's all they care about. If they are

> > TEACHERS, they take their students from whatever

> point

> > they are starting from and move them ahead. As

> far as

> > their potential and abilities will let them travel

> in

> > a year. Your kid's teacher is LAZY. UGH. There

> are

> > no two kids the same, they are all over the map

> > (especially in general ed classes, not just

> special

> > ed). Any competent teacher already knows this and

> > does not just do ONE THING. A good teacher meets

> the

> > needs of all students. (And that means, teaching

> in

> > multiple ways of learning styles and

> intelligences).

> >

> > Kaye

> > --- <hunebear3@...>

> wrote:

> >

> >> I was told by my NT daughter's 2nd grade teacher

> >> that by Law (No child

> >> left behind act) that all children whether they

> were

> >> gifted or not had

> >> to complete all current grade level work. So

> both

> >> of my children... my

> >> typical daughter and my AS son both had to do

> their

> >> current grade level

> >> before getting enrichment. They are both given

> PRE

> >> tests for spelling

> >> and given an alternative spelling list. They are

> >> supposed to do this

> >> with Math but I have not seen any evidence that

> my

> >> son or daughter for

> >> that matter gets a different math assignment. I

> >> know they receive

> >> enrichment ON TOP of their regular work. It's

> >> difficult for me as a

> >> parent no matter which of my children it involves

> to

> >> realize that they

> >> have to " dumb " themselves down and complete work

> >> that their peers are

> >> doing.

> >>

> >> Another think I just " love " (sarcasm here) is how

> >> excited the teachers

> >> get for my children to come to school during TCAP

> >> testing. One of my

> >> son's teachers actually told me that they needed

> his

> >> scores to benefit

> >> the class!! SO my smart children are used to

> make

> >> the overall test

> >> scores look better... disappointing to me!!

> >>

> >> Jackie

> >> On Jun 19, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:

> >>

> >>> This is the craziest stuff I have ever heard!

> >>> Teachers are SUPPOSED to assess children before

> >> they

> >>> start teaching them and TEACH THEM AT THEIR

> >> LEVEL!!!!

> >>> General ed or special ed, it doesn't matter,

> this

> >> is

> >>> what good teachers do. It is nuts to make a

> child

> >> do

> >>> tons of work on a level way below their ability.

> >> I

> >>> assess them before we start, every two weeks to

> >> make

> >>> sure we are making progress, and at the end to

> see

> >> how

> >>> far we went! There is not even a general ed

> class

> >>> that has all students on the same level (unless

> >> they

> >>> previously tested them and then grouped them

> >> according

> >>> to level!)

> >>>

> >>> WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THEY DOING TO YOUR

> KID?????

> >>>

> >>> I would go crazy too if it was me! I feel so

> >> sorry

> >>> for them!

> >>>

> >>> Kaye

> >>> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

> >> wrote:

> >>>

> >>>> Hi.

> >>>> My son was given the " right " to do extra work

> >>>> AFTER HIS GRADE-LEVEL work was done, too. He

> got

> >> so

> >>>> bored and mad that he had to do double the

> work.

> >> At

> >>>> first, we were all trying to figure out why he

> >> was

> >>>> getting so mad (and why he would simply shut

> down

> >>>> and suddenly wouldn't do either

> >>>> work),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,then it " dawned " on me and

> >> we

> >>>> chatted with the teacher.

> >>>> What they decided was that if he coud do the

> >>>> end-of-chapter " review " .............(usually

> >>>> 1sheet/2sheets),,,,,then he would simply do

> " his

> >>>> level " when everyone else did " their level " .

> >>>> ------------------------------

> >>>>

> >>>> He's always had a rough time with writing as

> >> well.

> >>>> He presses so hard that sometimes the sheets

> >> would

>

=== message truncated ===

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play

Sims Stories at Games.

http://sims./

June 21, 2007

Kaye,,,,, I gotta say it AGAIN - - - you are wonderful.I can only hope to be a teacher as wonderful as you!!!It makes me sad that you're getting out,,,,even though I understand it's for your daughter. PLEASE move here......and teach......hee hee. I'm keeping yet, another one of your emails because they motivate me to be strong and they keep my driven. Your're awesome!!!! RobinKaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote: Jackie,I was truly

shocked when you wrote what your child'steacher said. Each state develops their own learningstandards for each grade. No Child Left Behind comesin when the federal government demands accountability(which is a good thing, some other parts of the laware not so wonderful). I don't think anybody wouldargue that American schools need to increaseachievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideasabout how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,like I said, is that states develop their own learningstandards. Different states require different things.No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of studentswill be 100 percent proficient on the learningstandards defined by the state. Now, the federal government is not looking at eachpaper or all the daily work the students are doing. (That statement by your child's teacher that that isWHY they have to do it all is sooooooo ridiculous). The feds only look at the

high stakes testing thathappens at the end of each school year. Some schoolsdo it in March, some in April, some in May. Schoolsare supposed to meet individually defined levels ofproficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score israised. Schools get graded on whether or not they aremaking "adequate yearly progress"--whether enough oftheir students are "proficient" on the standards. Iteach at a "failing school". Of course, my school has100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92percent of them speak Spanish as their first language.Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they mayhave arrived in the U.S. the day before standardizedtesting. Let's say they are old enough for 5th grade.Let's also be real and say, they never went to schoolbefore in their life (a very common problem at myschool). They are required to take the standardizedtest. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will bein English,

depending on the child. However, if theyare illiterate in both languages, you can imagine justhow "proficient" they are on anything. Then add inthe fact that my students are not only poor, and theydo not speak English. Mine are also all special needsstudents. Some are learning disabled, some are fetalalcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and methbabies. Some are mentally retarded, some have autism.Many of them have learning issues because they havenever had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of mystudents live for the free breakfast/free lunch. Manyof my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry theyare. The last time they ate was Friday's schoollunch. So my school struggles. However, my principalis great and our staff is awesome and we believe ourstudents can learn. So we work our BUTTS off everysingle day, we are accountable for each moment of theday that our students learn, we assess every two

weeksto see, are they learning? We cannot wait till theend of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, thatstrategy did not work. As grade level teams wecollaborate each week and there is no ego allowed. Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with thehighest scores shares what they did to get theirstudents to do that. All other teachers immediatelyadopt that practice with their students. In twoweeks, we check again. If our students are notlearning, we must change what we are doing. Ourstudents are literally on FIRE. If we do not workthis way, they will not learn. If they do not learnhow to read, they will not have a good life. Everybody on the staff of my school feels thisaccountability and pressure. So I am impatient withthe people at my child's lovely middle class schoolwho sit on their tushes because they teach middleclass children whose parents have fed them, lovedthem, read to them....Those

kids are ready to learn. In my city, the "nice" schools are where the lazypeople teach. Their kids will make proficiency onstandards. They will. This is why I get so mad whenthey warehouse my child. They do not try. I amprobably way off the track...But anyway..My pointis...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach 4thgrade and here are all the fourth grade books and weare going through them. A competent teacher realizesthat he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special ed)students and they are all individuals. They all learndifferently. They are all in different places. Acompetent teacher knows, it is my responsibility totake this child where he is right now, and move him asfar as his potential will take him. I am frustratedwith what I read in your post. In each grade level,there is a WIDE variation of where students areactually performing. Your child should be able to goto school with his peers

(kids of the same age) andstill have his academic needs met. That is, if histeacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old orwhatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed heis very gifted academically, he is performing 3 or 4years above his chronological age. His teacher shouldunderstand, this little person is ten years old. Ashe has Aspergers, his social skills are probably belowhis age level. The teacher should have an idea ofapproximately where the skills are. And should workon helping them get better. At the same time, yourchild is not just a body or a brain. He is a wholeperson. A competent teacher should address his needsto be challenged academically. A teacher can assessand determine what level your child is learning on. It is so easy to see, the child has mastered such andsuch a level. They are emergent on such and such alevel. That is where the teacher begins to teachthem. You may review once

in awhile to make sure theyare not losing previously learned skills. You arebuilding on their prior knowledge. You as a teacherstudy your student to know, what is this child'sstrengths? What are his learning styles? Whatmultiple intelligences does he have? What traits inhis personality can I use to motivate him, disciplinehim, make him feel happy as a learner? The teachershould work on helping weaknesses improve. Theteacher should work on challenging the student but notfrustrating him. There should be data to show thechild's starting point, growth, and ending point. Alazy teacher says, my class has to be proficient onthese standards. A lazy teacher says, oh, I don'tcare that you already know this. It would be too muchwork to actually address your needs, so sit in thechair and do this work on this level that I amteaching whether it fits you or not. What is so sadabout this, is we know that work fits the

middle ofthe bell curve. That teacher is boring the giftedstudents to tears. She is also stressing out thelower performing students, making them miserable,making them feel stupid, causing behaviors in bothgifted students and lower students because their needsare not being met. I am sure their parents arehearing either what bad children they are, what dumbchildren they are...or how "ok" they are. "OK"because they are meeting the standards that theteacher is getting graded on and that is all she caresabout. In truth they are not ok because they are notbeing educated where they are ready to learn. Excusethis book I wrote. It just drives me crazy whenever Ihear about lazy teachers like this. It isunconscionable. No Child Left Behind law ends uplimiting gifted children when the teacher is satisfiedthat they know the standards at grade level. Especially if they are ready to learn 3 or 4 yearsabove that.

And No Child Left Behind punishesstudents like mine. It punishes their teachers,making us look like we are incompetent, because theyare low performing even though we have moved themMILES more than the middle class schools moved theirs.The biggest problem I see, as the requirements foreach school increase each year, is that more and moreschools are going to be failing. Know why? The lawdemands that 100 percent of the students will meet thestandards. Even the special ed students. I have seeninstances already where schools try to dump special edkids, or blame their failing status on special edkids. The truth is, human beings are not all thesame. They do not have the same potential. I wishthe law said, 100 percent of the students will beeducated to their potential. If that was the law, itwould not be ok to warehouse the gifteds and slam thelower performers for not being "good enough". I hope you now

understand why your child's teacherfailed your kids by making them do work they hadalready mastered. I am so sorry that is happening. Iwish more parents understood what was really going onin schools today. Kaye--- <hunebear3comcast (DOT) net> wrote:> Kaye,> I really appreciate this information and I'm> planning on checking on > exactly what is required for my state. Do you have> a recommendation on > where I should start looking? Maybe the school is> using the NCLB act > as an excuse? I know I was told by someone in the> school system that > skipping grades was not allowed and that they could> only let a child go > so far ahead or the next year's teacher wouldn't> have anything to > teach. I didn't like the fact that I felt that they> were trying to > dumb my kids

down! There's NO WAY that I would even> suggest my AS son > skipping a grade because of the social issues... but> my NT gifted > daughter would do just fine academically and> socially if she were > allowed to skip!> > I know within my children's school system they do> break the kids up > within the classroom on certain subjects based on> what the skill level > of the child is! SOmetimes my children are the only> ones in their > group... but they are still not getting the level of> work that they are > capable of doing. I have got a lot of information> to process before > school starts this fall!> > Jackie> On Jun 20, 2007, at 12:49 AM, Kaye Bates wrote:> > > lol scuse me but your kid's teacher is FULL OF> IT.> > No Child Left Behind applies to me too since it> is> > national,

so I know something about that! If your> > child comes to school on the first day, the> teacher> > assesses him/her on the standards for your state,> for> > whatever they must be "proficient" in by the end> of> > the year...Let's say your kid tests "proficient"> on> > the first day. There is NO requirement they do> work> > on which they are already proficient! Any teacher> > that had that situation would then> > say...hmmm...obviously this kid needs to MOVE ON. > And> > they would design work that went after whatever> > standards the child is not yet proficient in (even> if> > it was the next higher grade level standards). > NCLB> > can allow some teachers to just get lazy (no> excuse> > for this!) But their job is to get their whole> class> > proficient on

whatever grade level standards. If> they> > are lazy, that's all they care about. If they are> > TEACHERS, they take their students from whatever> point> > they are starting from and move them ahead. As> far as> > their potential and abilities will let them travel> in> > a year. Your kid's teacher is LAZY. UGH. There> are> > no two kids the same, they are all over the map> > (especially in general ed classes, not just> special> > ed). Any competent teacher already knows this and> > does not just do ONE THING. A good teacher meets> the> > needs of all students. (And that means, teaching> in> > multiple ways of learning styles and> intelligences).> >> > Kaye> > --- <hunebear3comcast (DOT) net>>

wrote:> >> >> I was told by my NT daughter's 2nd grade teacher> >> that by Law (No child> >> left behind act) that all children whether they> were> >> gifted or not had> >> to complete all current grade level work. So> both> >> of my children... my> >> typical daughter and my AS son both had to do> their> >> current grade level> >> before getting enrichment. They are both given> PRE> >> tests for spelling> >> and given an alternative spelling list. They are> >> supposed to do this> >> with Math but I have not seen any evidence that> my> >> son or daughter for> >> that matter gets a different math assignment. I> >> know they receive> >> enrichment ON TOP of their regular work. It's> >> difficult for

me as a> >> parent no matter which of my children it involves> to> >> realize that they> >> have to "dumb" themselves down and complete work> >> that their peers are> >> doing.> >>> >> Another think I just "love" (sarcasm here) is how> >> excited the teachers> >> get for my children to come to school during TCAP> >> testing. One of my> >> son's teachers actually told me that they needed> his> >> scores to benefit> >> the class!! SO my smart children are used to> make> >> the overall test> >> scores look better... disappointing to me!!> >>> >> Jackie> >> On Jun 19, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:> >>> >>> This is the craziest stuff I have ever heard!> >>> Teachers are

SUPPOSED to assess children before> >> they> >>> start teaching them and TEACH THEM AT THEIR> >> LEVEL!!!!> >>> General ed or special ed, it doesn't matter,> this> >> is> >>> what good teachers do. It is nuts to make a> child> >> do> >>> tons of work on a level way below their ability.> >> I> >>> assess them before we start, every two weeks to> >> make> >>> sure we are making progress, and at the end to> see> >> how> >>> far we went! There is not even a general ed> class> >>> that has all students on the same level (unless> >> they> >>> previously tested them and then grouped them> >> according> >>> to level!)> >>>> >>> WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE

THEY DOING TO YOUR> KID?????> >>>> >>> I would go crazy too if it was me! I feel so> >> sorry> >>> for them!> >>>> >>> Kaye> >>> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs >> >> wrote:> >>>> >>>> Hi.> >>>> My son was given the "right" to do extra work> >>>> AFTER HIS GRADE-LEVEL work was done, too. He> got> >> so> >>>> bored and mad that he had to do double the> work.> >> At> >>>> first, we were all trying to figure out why he> >> was> >>>> getting so mad (and why he would simply shut> down> >>>> and suddenly wouldn't do either> >>>> work),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,then

it "dawned" on me and> >> we> >>>> chatted with the teacher.> >>>> What they decided was that if he coud do the> >>>> end-of-chapter "review".............(usually> >>>> 1sheet/2sheets),,,,,then he would simply do> "his> >>>> level" when everyone else did "their level".> >>>> ------------------------------> >>>>> >>>> He's always had a rough time with writing as> >> well.> >>>> He presses so hard that sometimes the sheets> >> would> === message truncated ===__________________________________________________________Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Games.http://sims./

Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels in 45,000 destinations on Travel to find your fit.

June 21, 2007

Kaye,

All I can say is that I wish we could take you and copy you so that ALL

children would have teachers as passionate about teaching as you seem

to be! The NCLB act is very disappointing to my family because of the

implications that it sets forward on the standards! I do feel that my

children are being held back so that they can not learn at their full

potential! Both of my school age children are at least 2 grades ahead

on subjects and in my son's case... 3 or 4 on some! No wonder he's

bored out of his mind and gets into trouble!! My daughter will sit and

just do what she is told and then complain to me that she already knows

the work. I will be making sure some changes are made this year for

both of them and if the school can't/refuses whatever then I will take

it upon myself to make the changes. I have done the responsible thing

as a parent and I sent my children to school with more than the basic

knowledge to start with. They both knew how to read simple books...

but progressed really fast once they started!! The school that my

children go to is one of the Title schools in the district and has a

higher count of Spanish speaking children along with children that are

severe special ed. Don't know if that makes a difference in developing

a standard for the school or not! I do know this fact was brought up

to me during an IEP meeting. I had questioned the level of education

and the Principal let me know that they were held accountable for ALL

children whether they could learn past a certain point or not! It

infuriated me then and still does... but I didn't know then that I had

any other choices! I also wasn't sure about my rights as a parent...

I'm still unsure of some of these now! LOL I also let myself believe

that the school was doing ALL that it could with my children, but NOW I

know DIFFERENT!!!! Thanks so much for pointing this out to me!!

I have printed out this email because of the amount of information that

you have supplied me with! I have decided not only will I be fighting

for my AS son's rights, but for my NT daughter's academic rights! I

have always felt bad that they have been held back because they are so

smart but have not felt that I could handle home schooling them. My

husband and I supply them with TONS of enrichment at home and all of

our vacations have some sort of educational background built in. Next

friday we will be going to Washington DC and we will be touring Civil

War battlefields in VA!! We all look forward to these trips. My 4

year is obsessed with anything Abraham Lincoln and is learning the

Gettysburg Address!... It's so cute to hear her trying to say it! LOL

Once again Thank you so much for your encouraging words and your

willingness to Teach in such a passionate way!

Jackie

On Jun 20, 2007, at 2:57 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:

> Jackie,

>

> I was truly shocked when you wrote what your child's

> teacher said. Each state develops their own learning

> standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind comes

> in when the federal government demands accountability

> (which is a good thing, some other parts of the law

> are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody would

> argue that American schools need to increase

> achievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideas

> about how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,

> like I said, is that states develop their own learning

> standards. Different states require different things.

> No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of students

> will be 100 percent proficient on the learning

> standards defined by the state.

>

> Now, the federal government is not looking at each

> paper or all the daily work the students are doing.

> (That statement by your child's teacher that that is

> WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo ridiculous).

> The feds only look at the high stakes testing that

> happens at the end of each school year. Some schools

> do it in March, some in April, some in May. Schools

> are supposed to meet individually defined levels of

> proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is

> raised. Schools get graded on whether or not they are

> making " adequate yearly progress " --whether enough of

> their students are " proficient " on the standards. I

> teach at a " failing school " . Of course, my school has

> 100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92

> percent of them speak Spanish as their first language.

> Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they may

> have arrived in the U.S. the day before standardized

> testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th grade.

> Let's also be real and say, they never went to school

> before in their life (a very common problem at my

> school). They are required to take the standardized

> test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will be

> in English, depending on the child. However, if they

> are illiterate in both languages, you can imagine just

> how " proficient " they are on anything. Then add in

> the fact that my students are not only poor, and they

> do not speak English. Mine are also all special needs

> students. Some are learning disabled, some are fetal

> alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and meth

> babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have autism.

> Many of them have learning issues because they have

> never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of my

> students live for the free breakfast/free lunch. Many

> of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry they

> are. The last time they ate was Friday's school

> lunch. So my school struggles. However, my principal

> is great and our staff is awesome and we believe our

> students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off every

> single day, we are accountable for each moment of the

> day that our students learn, we assess every two weeks

> to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till the

> end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, that

> strategy did not work. As grade level teams we

> collaborate each week and there is no ego allowed.

> Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with the

> highest scores shares what they did to get their

> students to do that. All other teachers immediately

> adopt that practice with their students. In two

> weeks, we check again. If our students are not

> learning, we must change what we are doing. Our

> students are literally on FIRE. If we do not work

> this way, they will not learn. If they do not learn

> how to read, they will not have a good life.

> Everybody on the staff of my school feels this

> accountability and pressure. So I am impatient with

> the people at my child's lovely middle class school

> who sit on their tushes because they teach middle

> class children whose parents have fed them, loved

> them, read to them....Those kids are ready to learn.

> In my city, the " nice " schools are where the lazy

> people teach. Their kids will make proficiency on

> standards. They will. This is why I get so mad when

> they warehouse my child. They do not try. I am

> probably way off the track...But anyway..My point

> is...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach 4th

> grade and here are all the fourth grade books and we

> are going through them. A competent teacher realizes

> that he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special ed)

> students and they are all individuals. They all learn

> differently. They are all in different places. A

> competent teacher knows, it is my responsibility to

> take this child where he is right now, and move him as

> far as his potential will take him. I am frustrated

> with what I read in your post. In each grade level,

> there is a WIDE variation of where students are

> actually performing. Your child should be able to go

> to school with his peers (kids of the same age) and

> still have his academic needs met. That is, if his

> teacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old or

> whatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed he

> is very gifted academically, he is performing 3 or 4

> years above his chronological age. His teacher should

> understand, this little person is ten years old. As

> he has Aspergers, his social skills are probably below

> his age level. The teacher should have an idea of

> approximately where the skills are. And should work

> on helping them get better. At the same time, your

> child is not just a body or a brain. He is a whole

> person. A competent teacher should address his needs

> to be challenged academically. A teacher can assess

> and determine what level your child is learning on.

> It is so easy to see, the child has mastered such and

> such a level. They are emergent on such and such a

> level. That is where the teacher begins to teach

> them. You may review once in awhile to make sure they

> are not losing previously learned skills. You are

> building on their prior knowledge. You as a teacher

> study your student to know, what is this child's

> strengths? What are his learning styles? What

> multiple intelligences does he have? What traits in

> his personality can I use to motivate him, discipline

> him, make him feel happy as a learner? The teacher

> should work on helping weaknesses improve. The

> teacher should work on challenging the student but not

> frustrating him. There should be data to show the

> child's starting point, growth, and ending point. A

> lazy teacher says, my class has to be proficient on

> these standards. A lazy teacher says, oh, I don't

> care that you already know this. It would be too much

> work to actually address your needs, so sit in the

> chair and do this work on this level that I am

> teaching whether it fits you or not. What is so sad

> about this, is we know that work fits the middle of

> the bell curve. That teacher is boring the gifted

> students to tears. She is also stressing out the

> lower performing students, making them miserable,

> making them feel stupid, causing behaviors in both

> gifted students and lower students because their needs

> are not being met. I am sure their parents are

> hearing either what bad children they are, what dumb

> children they are...or how " ok " they are. " OK "

> because they are meeting the standards that the

> teacher is getting graded on and that is all she cares

> about. In truth they are not ok because they are not

> being educated where they are ready to learn. Excuse

> this book I wrote. It just drives me crazy whenever I

> hear about lazy teachers like this. It is

> unconscionable. No Child Left Behind law ends up

> limiting gifted children when the teacher is satisfied

> that they know the standards at grade level.

> Especially if they are ready to learn 3 or 4 years

> above that. And No Child Left Behind punishes

> students like mine. It punishes their teachers,

> making us look like we are incompetent, because they

> are low performing even though we have moved them

> MILES more than the middle class schools moved theirs.

> The biggest problem I see, as the requirements for

> each school increase each year, is that more and more

> schools are going to be failing. Know why? The law

> demands that 100 percent of the students will meet the

> standards. Even the special ed students. I have seen

> instances already where schools try to dump special ed

> kids, or blame their failing status on special ed

> kids. The truth is, human beings are not all the

> same. They do not have the same potential. I wish

> the law said, 100 percent of the students will be

> educated to their potential. If that was the law, it

> would not be ok to warehouse the gifteds and slam the

> lower performers for not being " good enough " .

>

> I hope you now understand why your child's teacher

> failed your kids by making them do work they had

> already mastered. I am so sorry that is happening. I

> wish more parents understood what was really going on

> in schools today.

>

> Kaye

> --- <hunebear3@...> wrote:

>

>> Kaye,

>> I really appreciate this information and I'm

>> planning on checking on

>> exactly what is required for my state. Do you have

>> a recommendation on

>> where I should start looking? Maybe the school is

>> using the NCLB act

>> as an excuse? I know I was told by someone in the

>> school system that

>> skipping grades was not allowed and that they could

>> only let a child go

>> so far ahead or the next year's teacher wouldn't

>> have anything to

>> teach. I didn't like the fact that I felt that they

>> were trying to

>> dumb my kids down! There's NO WAY that I would even

>> suggest my AS son

>> skipping a grade because of the social issues... but

>> my NT gifted

>> daughter would do just fine academically and

>> socially if she were

>> allowed to skip!

>>

>> I know within my children's school system they do

>> break the kids up

>> within the classroom on certain subjects based on

>> what the skill level

>> of the child is! SOmetimes my children are the only

>> ones in their

>> group... but they are still not getting the level of

>> work that they are

>> capable of doing. I have got a lot of information

>> to process before

>> school starts this fall!

>>

>> Jackie

>> On Jun 20, 2007, at 12:49 AM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>>

>>> lol scuse me but your kid's teacher is FULL OF

>> IT.

>>> No Child Left Behind applies to me too since it

>> is

>>> national, so I know something about that! If your

>>> child comes to school on the first day, the

>> teacher

>>> assesses him/her on the standards for your state,

>> for

>>> whatever they must be " proficient " in by the end

>> of

>>> the year...Let's say your kid tests " proficient "

>> on

>>> the first day. There is NO requirement they do

>> work

>>> on which they are already proficient! Any teacher

>>> that had that situation would then

>>> say...hmmm...obviously this kid needs to MOVE ON.

>> And

>>> they would design work that went after whatever

>>> standards the child is not yet proficient in (even

>> if

>>> it was the next higher grade level standards).

>> NCLB

>>> can allow some teachers to just get lazy (no

>> excuse

>>> for this!) But their job is to get their whole

>> class

>>> proficient on whatever grade level standards. If

>> they

>>> are lazy, that's all they care about. If they are

>>> TEACHERS, they take their students from whatever

>> point

>>> they are starting from and move them ahead. As

>> far as

>>> their potential and abilities will let them travel

>> in

>>> a year. Your kid's teacher is LAZY. UGH. There

>> are

>>> no two kids the same, they are all over the map

>>> (especially in general ed classes, not just

>> special

>>> ed). Any competent teacher already knows this and

>>> does not just do ONE THING. A good teacher meets

>> the

>>> needs of all students. (And that means, teaching

>> in

>>> multiple ways of learning styles and

>> intelligences).

>>>

>>> Kaye

>>> --- <hunebear3@...>

>> wrote:

>>>

>>>> I was told by my NT daughter's 2nd grade teacher

>>>> that by Law (No child

>>>> left behind act) that all children whether they

>> were

>>>> gifted or not had

>>>> to complete all current grade level work. So

>> both

>>>> of my children... my

>>>> typical daughter and my AS son both had to do

>> their

>>>> current grade level

>>>> before getting enrichment. They are both given

>> PRE

>>>> tests for spelling

>>>> and given an alternative spelling list. They are

>>>> supposed to do this

>>>> with Math but I have not seen any evidence that

>> my

>>>> son or daughter for

>>>> that matter gets a different math assignment. I

>>>> know they receive

>>>> enrichment ON TOP of their regular work. It's

>>>> difficult for me as a

>>>> parent no matter which of my children it involves

>> to

>>>> realize that they

>>>> have to " dumb " themselves down and complete work

>>>> that their peers are

>>>> doing.

>>>>

>>>> Another think I just " love " (sarcasm here) is how

>>>> excited the teachers

>>>> get for my children to come to school during TCAP

>>>> testing. One of my

>>>> son's teachers actually told me that they needed

>> his

>>>> scores to benefit

>>>> the class!! SO my smart children are used to

>> make

>>>> the overall test

>>>> scores look better... disappointing to me!!

>>>>

>>>> Jackie

>>>> On Jun 19, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>>>>

>>>>> This is the craziest stuff I have ever heard!

>>>>> Teachers are SUPPOSED to assess children before

>>>> they

>>>>> start teaching them and TEACH THEM AT THEIR

>>>> LEVEL!!!!

>>>>> General ed or special ed, it doesn't matter,

>> this

>>>> is

>>>>> what good teachers do. It is nuts to make a

>> child

>>>> do

>>>>> tons of work on a level way below their ability.

>>>> I

>>>>> assess them before we start, every two weeks to

>>>> make

>>>>> sure we are making progress, and at the end to

>> see

>>>> how

>>>>> far we went! There is not even a general ed

>> class

>>>>> that has all students on the same level (unless

>>>> they

>>>>> previously tested them and then grouped them

>>>> according

>>>>> to level!)

>>>>>

>>>>> WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THEY DOING TO YOUR

>> KID?????

>>>>>

>>>>> I would go crazy too if it was me! I feel so

>>>> sorry

>>>>> for them!

>>>>>

>>>>> Kaye

>>>>> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

>>>> wrote:

>>>>>

>>>>>> Hi.

>>>>>> My son was given the " right " to do extra work

>>>>>> AFTER HIS GRADE-LEVEL work was done, too. He

>> got

>>>> so

>>>>>> bored and mad that he had to do double the

>> work.

>>>> At

>>>>>> first, we were all trying to figure out why he

>>>> was

>>>>>> getting so mad (and why he would simply shut

>> down

>>>>>> and suddenly wouldn't do either

>>>>>> work),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,then it " dawned " on me and

>>>> we

>>>>>> chatted with the teacher.

>>>>>> What they decided was that if he coud do the

>>>>>> end-of-chapter " review " .............(usually

>>>>>> 1sheet/2sheets),,,,,then he would simply do

>> " his

>>>>>> level " when everyone else did " their level " .

>>>>>> ------------------------------

>>>>>>

>>>>>> He's always had a rough time with writing as

>>>> well.

>>>>>> He presses so hard that sometimes the sheets

>>>> would

>>

> === message truncated ===

>

> _______________________________________________________________________

> _____________

> Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your

> story. Play Sims Stories at Games.

> http://sims./

>

June 21, 2007

Robin, I gotta say it again. What makes a teacher

good is that they CARE. This is something anybody can

do. It is not that hard. You are already a wonderful

teacher. They just have to rubber stamp you. And I

am not getting out. I get home from school at 2:00 in

the afternoon. My grown married daughter is home with

her baby so she will support my homeschool kid in

doing her work and taking her to social activities

while I am at school. Then in the afternoon and

evenings when I get home, I will teach her. We are

busy making a room into our home classroom. It is

going to work out. I am lucky that my oldest daughter

can help me out.

Kaye

--- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...> wrote:

> Kaye,,,,,

> I gotta say it AGAIN - - - you are wonderful.

> I can only hope to be a teacher as wonderful as

> you!!!

> It makes me sad that you're getting out,,,,even

> though I understand it's for your daughter.

> PLEASE move here......and teach......hee hee.

> I'm keeping yet, another one of your emails

> because they motivate me to be strong and they keep

> my driven.

> Your're awesome!!!!

> Robin

>

> Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> Jackie,

>

> I was truly shocked when you wrote what your child's

> teacher said. Each state develops their own learning

> standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind comes

> in when the federal government demands

> accountability

> (which is a good thing, some other parts of the law

> are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody would

> argue that American schools need to increase

> achievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideas

> about how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,

> like I said, is that states develop their own

> learning

> standards. Different states require different

> things.

> No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of students

> will be 100 percent proficient on the learning

> standards defined by the state.

>

> Now, the federal government is not looking at each

> paper or all the daily work the students are doing.

> (That statement by your child's teacher that that is

> WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo ridiculous).

> The feds only look at the high stakes testing that

> happens at the end of each school year. Some schools

> do it in March, some in April, some in May. Schools

> are supposed to meet individually defined levels of

> proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is

> raised. Schools get graded on whether or not they

> are

> making " adequate yearly progress " --whether enough of

> their students are " proficient " on the standards. I

> teach at a " failing school " . Of course, my school

> has

> 100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92

> percent of them speak Spanish as their first

> language.

> Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they may

> have arrived in the U.S. the day before standardized

> testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th

> grade.

> Let's also be real and say, they never went to

> school

> before in their life (a very common problem at my

> school). They are required to take the standardized

> test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will

> be

> in English, depending on the child. However, if they

> are illiterate in both languages, you can imagine

> just

> how " proficient " they are on anything. Then add in

> the fact that my students are not only poor, and

> they

> do not speak English. Mine are also all special

> needs

> students. Some are learning disabled, some are fetal

> alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and meth

> babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have

> autism.

> Many of them have learning issues because they have

> never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of

> my

> students live for the free breakfast/free lunch.

> Many

> of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry they

> are. The last time they ate was Friday's school

> lunch. So my school struggles. However, my principal

> is great and our staff is awesome and we believe our

> students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off every

> single day, we are accountable for each moment of

> the

> day that our students learn, we assess every two

> weeks

> to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till the

> end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, that

> strategy did not work. As grade level teams we

> collaborate each week and there is no ego allowed.

> Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with the

> highest scores shares what they did to get their

> students to do that. All other teachers immediately

> adopt that practice with their students. In two

> weeks, we check again. If our students are not

> learning, we must change what we are doing. Our

> students are literally on FIRE. If we do not work

> this way, they will not learn. If they do not learn

> how to read, they will not have a good life.

> Everybody on the staff of my school feels this

> accountability and pressure. So I am impatient with

> the people at my child's lovely middle class school

> who sit on their tushes because they teach middle

> class children whose parents have fed them, loved

> them, read to them....Those kids are ready to learn.

>

> In my city, the " nice " schools are where the lazy

> people teach. Their kids will make proficiency on

> standards. They will. This is why I get so mad when

> they warehouse my child. They do not try. I am

> probably way off the track...But anyway..My point

> is...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach

> 4th

> grade and here are all the fourth grade books and we

> are going through them. A competent teacher realizes

> that he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special

> ed)

> students and they are all individuals. They all

> learn

> differently. They are all in different places. A

> competent teacher knows, it is my responsibility to

> take this child where he is right now, and move him

> as

> far as his potential will take him. I am frustrated

> with what I read in your post. In each grade level,

> there is a WIDE variation of where students are

> actually performing. Your child should be able to go

> to school with his peers (kids of the same age) and

> still have his academic needs met. That is, if his

> teacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old or

> whatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed he

> is very gifted academically, he is performing 3 or 4

> years above his chronological age. His teacher

> should

> understand, this little person is ten years old. As

> he has Aspergers, his social skills are probably

> below

> his age level. The teacher should have an idea of

> approximately where the skills are. And should work

> on helping them get better. At the same time, your

> child is not just a body or a brain. He is a whole

> person. A competent teacher should address his needs

> to be challenged academically. A teacher can assess

> and determine what level your child is learning on.

> It is so easy to see, the child has mastered such

> and

> such a level. They are emergent on such and such a

> level. That is where the teacher begins to teach

> them. You may review once in awhile to make sure

> they

> are not losing previously learned skills. You are

> building on their prior knowledge. You as a teacher

> study your student to know, what is this child's

> strengths? What are his learning styles? What

> multiple intelligences does he have? What traits in

> his personality can I use to motivate him,

> discipline

> him, make him feel happy as a learner? The teacher

> should work on helping weaknesses improve. The

> teacher should work on challenging the student but

> not

> frustrating him. There should be data to show the

> child's starting point, growth, and ending point. A

> lazy teacher says, my class has to be proficient on

> these standards. A lazy teacher says, oh, I don't

> care that you already know this. It would be too

> much

> work to actually address your needs, so sit in the

> chair and do this work on this level that I am

> teaching whether it fits you or not. What is so sad

> about this, is we know that work fits the middle of

> the bell curve. That teacher is boring the gifted

> students to tears. She is also stressing out the

> lower performing students, making them miserable,

> making them feel stupid, causing behaviors in both

> gifted students and lower students because their

> needs

> are not being met. I am sure their parents are

> hearing either what bad children they are, what dumb

> children they are...or how " ok " they are. " OK "

> because they are meeting the standards that the

> teacher is getting graded on and that is all she

> cares

> about. In truth they are not ok because they are not

> being educated where they are ready to learn. Excuse

> this book I wrote. It just drives me crazy whenever

> I

> hear about lazy teachers like this. It is

> unconscionable. No Child Left Behind law ends up

> limiting gifted children when the teacher is

> satisfied

> that they know the standards at grade level.

> Especially if they are ready to learn 3 or 4 years

> above that. And No Child Left Behind punishes

> students like mine. It punishes their teachers,

> making us look like we are incompetent, because they

> are low performing even though we have moved them

> MILES more than the middle class schools moved

> theirs.

>

=== message truncated ===

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

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June 22, 2007

Jackie,

One thing to remember is that school personnel will often say things that sound important and correct. Sometimes they even think it is true because that is just how it's always been done. But they might not know what they are talking about and/or they might be misleading parents for their own benefit. Always ask for the information in writing. When you ask a question and principal says, "This is because...blah blah blah" you should say, "Can I have that information in writing for my records?" or "I would like to see the school district's policy on (whatever) in writing, please." Even if they are correct, you will know it and not wonder if you're being lied to. And if the information is not correct or is only sorta correct, you can go back with the information and restate your request.

RoxannaAutism Happens

Re: ( ) Jackie...No Child Left Behind etc. (long but hopefully good).

Kaye,All I can say is that I wish we could take you and copy you so that ALL children would have teachers as passionate about teaching as you seem to be! The NCLB act is very disappointing to my family because of the implications that it sets forward on the standards! I do feel that my children are being held back so that they can not learn at their full potential! Both of my school age children are at least 2 grades ahead on subjects and in my son's case... 3 or 4 on some! No wonder he's bored out of his mind and gets into trouble!! My daughter will sit and just do what she is told and then complain to me that she already knows the work. I will be making sure some changes are made this year for both of them and if the school can't/refuses whatever then I will take it upon myself to make the changes. I have done the responsible thing as a parent and I sent my children to school with more than the basic knowledge to start with. They both knew how to read simple books... but progressed really fast once they started!! The school that my children go to is one of the Title schools in the district and has a higher count of Spanish speaking children along with children that are severe special ed. Don't know if that makes a difference in developing a standard for the school or not! I do know this fact was brought up to me during an IEP meeting. I had questioned the level of education and the Principal let me know that they were held accountable for ALL children whether they could learn past a certain point or not! It infuriated me then and still does... but I didn't know then that I had any other choices! I also wasn't sure about my rights as a parent... I'm still unsure of some of these now! LOL I also let myself believe that the school was doing ALL that it could with my children, but NOW I know DIFFERENT!!!! Thanks so much for pointing this out to me!!I have printed out this email because of the amount of information that you have supplied me with! I have decided not only will I be fighting for my AS son's rights, but for my NT daughter's academic rights! I have always felt bad that they have been held back because they are so smart but have not felt that I could handle home schooling them. My husband and I supply them with TONS of enrichment at home and all of our vacations have some sort of educational background built in. Next friday we will be going to Washington DC and we will be touring Civil War battlefields in VA!! We all look forward to these trips. My 4 year is obsessed with anything Abraham Lincoln and is learning the Gettysburg Address!... It's so cute to hear her trying to say it! LOLOnce again Thank you so much for your encouraging words and your willingness to Teach in such a passionate way!JackieOn Jun 20, 2007, at 2:57 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:> Jackie,>> I was truly shocked when you wrote what your child's> teacher said. Each state develops their own learning> standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind comes> in when the federal government demands accountability> (which is a good thing, some other parts of the law> are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody would> argue that American schools need to increase> achievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideas> about how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,> like I said, is that states develop their own learning> standards. Different states require different things.> No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of students> will be 100 percent proficient on the learning> standards defined by the state.>> Now, the federal government is not looking at each> paper or all the daily work the students are doing.> (That statement by your child's teacher that that is> WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo ridiculous).> The feds only look at the high stakes testing that> happens at the end of each school year. Some schools> do it in March, some in April, some in May. Schools> are supposed to meet individually defined levels of> proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is> raised. Schools get graded on whether or not they are> making "adequate yearly progress"--whether enough of> their students are "proficient" on the standards. I> teach at a "failing school". Of course, my school has> 100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92> percent of them speak Spanish as their first language.> Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they may> have arrived in the U.S. the day before standardized> testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th grade.> Let's also be real and say, they never went to school> before in their life (a very common problem at my> school). They are required to take the standardized> test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will be> in English, depending on the child. However, if they> are illiterate in both languages, you can imagine just> how "proficient" they are on anything. Then add in> the fact that my students are not only poor, and they> do not speak English. Mine are also all special needs> students. Some are learning disabled, some are fetal> alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and meth> babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have autism.> Many of them have learning issues because they have> never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of my> students live for the free breakfast/free lunch. Many> of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry they> are. The last time they ate was Friday's school> lunch. So my school struggles. However, my principal> is great and our staff is awesome and we believe our> students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off every> single day, we are accountable for each moment of the> day that our students learn, we assess every two weeks> to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till the> end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, that> strategy did not work. As grade level teams we> collaborate each week and there is no ego allowed.> Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with the> highest scores shares what they did to get their> students to do that. All other teachers immediately> adopt that practice with their students. In two> weeks, we check again. If our students are not> learning, we must change what we are doing. Our> students are literally on FIRE. If we do not work> this way, they will not learn. If they do not learn> how to read, they will not have a good life.> Everybody on the staff of my school feels this> accountability and pressure. So I am impatient with> the people at my child's lovely middle class school> who sit on their tushes because they teach middle> class children whose parents have fed them, loved> them, read to them....Those kids are ready to learn.> In my city, the "nice" schools are where the lazy> people teach. Their kids will make proficiency on> standards. They will. This is why I get so mad when> they warehouse my child. They do not try. I am> probably way off the track...But anyway..My point> is...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach 4th> grade and here are all the fourth grade books and we> are going through them. A competent teacher realizes> that he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special ed)> students and they are all individuals. They all learn> differently. They are all in different places. A> competent teacher knows, it is my responsibility to> take this child where he is right now, and move him as> far as his potential will take him. I am frustrated> with what I read in your post. In each grade level,> there is a WIDE variation of where students are> actually performing. Your child should be able to go> to school with his peers (kids of the same age) and> still have his academic needs met. That is, if his> teacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old or> whatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed he> is very gifted academically, he is performing 3 or 4> years above his chronological age. His teacher should> understand, this little person is ten years old. As> he has Aspergers, his social skills are probably below> his age level. The teacher should have an idea of> approximately where the skills are. And should work> on helping them get better. At the same time, your> child is not just a body or a brain. He is a whole> person. A competent teacher should address his needs> to be challenged academically. A teacher can assess> and determine what level your child is learning on.> It is so easy to see, the child has mastered such and> such a level. They are emergent on such and such a> level. That is where the teacher begins to teach> them. You may review once in awhile to make sure they> are not losing previously learned skills. You are> building on their prior knowledge. You as a teacher> study your student to know, what is this child's> strengths? What are his learning styles? What> multiple intelligences does he have? What traits in> his personality can I use to motivate him, discipline> him, make him feel happy as a learner? The teacher> should work on helping weaknesses improve. The> teacher should work on challenging the student but not> frustrating him. There should be data to show the> child's starting point, growth, and ending point. A> lazy teacher says, my class has to be proficient on> these standards. A lazy teacher says, oh, I don't> care that you already know this. It would be too much> work to actually address your needs, so sit in the> chair and do this work on this level that I am> teaching whether it fits you or not. What is so sad> about this, is we know that work fits the middle of> the bell curve. That teacher is boring the gifted> students to tears. She is also stressing out the> lower performing students, making them miserable,> making them feel stupid, causing behaviors in both> gifted students and lower students because their needs> are not being met. I am sure their parents are> hearing either what bad children they are, what dumb> children they are...or how "ok" they are. "OK"> because they are meeting the standards that the> teacher is getting graded on and that is all she cares> about. In truth they are not ok because they are not> being educated where they are ready to learn. Excuse> this book I wrote. It just drives me crazy whenever I> hear about lazy teachers like this. It is> unconscionable. No Child Left Behind law ends up> limiting gifted children when the teacher is satisfied> that they know the standards at grade level.> Especially if they are ready to learn 3 or 4 years> above that. And No Child Left Behind punishes> students like mine. It punishes their teachers,> making us look like we are incompetent, because they> are low performing even though we have moved them> MILES more than the middle class schools moved theirs.> The biggest problem I see, as the requirements for> each school increase each year, is that more and more> schools are going to be failing. Know why? The law> demands that 100 percent of the students will meet the> standards. Even the special ed students. I have seen> instances already where schools try to dump special ed> kids, or blame their failing status on special ed> kids. The truth is, human beings are not all the> same. They do not have the same potential. I wish> the law said, 100 percent of the students will be> educated to their potential. If that was the law, it> would not be ok to warehouse the gifteds and slam the> lower performers for not being "good enough".>> I hope you now understand why your child's teacher> failed your kids by making them do work they had> already mastered. I am so sorry that is happening. I> wish more parents understood what was really going on> in schools today.>> Kaye> --- <hunebear3comcast (DOT) net> wrote:>>> Kaye,>> I really appreciate this information and I'm>> planning on checking on>> exactly what is required for my state. Do you have>> a recommendation on>> where I should start looking? Maybe the school is>> using the NCLB act>> as an excuse? I know I was told by someone in the>> school system that>> skipping grades was not allowed and that they could>> only let a child go>> so far ahead or the next year's teacher wouldn't>> have anything to>> teach. I didn't like the fact that I felt that they>> were trying to>> dumb my kids down! There's NO WAY that I would even>> suggest my AS son>> skipping a grade because of the social issues... but>> my NT gifted>> daughter would do just fine academically and>> socially if she were>> allowed to skip!>>>> I know within my children's school system they do>> break the kids up>> within the classroom on certain subjects based on>> what the skill level>> of the child is! SOmetimes my children are the only>> ones in their>> group... but they are still not getting the level of>> work that they are>> capable of doing. I have got a lot of information>> to process before>> school starts this fall!>>>> Jackie>> On Jun 20, 2007, at 12:49 AM, Kaye Bates wrote:>>>>> lol scuse me but your kid's teacher is FULL OF>> IT.>>> No Child Left Behind applies to me too since it>> is>>> national, so I know something about that! If your>>> child comes to school on the first day, the>> teacher>>> assesses him/her on the standards for your state,>> for>>> whatever they must be "proficient" in by the end>> of>>> the year...Let's say your kid tests "proficient">> on>>> the first day. There is NO requirement they do>> work>>> on which they are already proficient! Any teacher>>> that had that situation would then>>> say...hmmm...obviously this kid needs to MOVE ON.>> And>>> they would design work that went after whatever>>> standards the child is not yet proficient in (even>> if>>> it was the next higher grade level standards).>> NCLB>>> can allow some teachers to just get lazy (no>> excuse>>> for this!) But their job is to get their whole>> class>>> proficient on whatever grade level standards. If>> they>>> are lazy, that's all they care about. If they are>>> TEACHERS, they take their students from whatever>> point>>> they are starting from and move them ahead. As>> far as>>> their potential and abilities will let them travel>> in>>> a year. Your kid's teacher is LAZY. UGH. There>> are>>> no two kids the same, they are all over the map>>> (especially in general ed classes, not just>> special>>> ed). Any competent teacher already knows this and>>> does not just do ONE THING. A good teacher meets>> the>>> needs of all students. (And that means, teaching>> in>>> multiple ways of learning styles and>> intelligences).>>>>>> Kaye>>> --- <hunebear3comcast (DOT) net>>> wrote:>>>>>>> I was told by my NT daughter's 2nd grade teacher>>>> that by Law (No child>>>> left behind act) that all children whether they>> were>>>> gifted or not had>>>> to complete all current grade level work. So>> both>>>> of my children... my>>>> typical daughter and my AS son both had to do>> their>>>> current grade level>>>> before getting enrichment. They are both given>> PRE>>>> tests for spelling>>>> and given an alternative spelling list. They are>>>> supposed to do this>>>> with Math but I have not seen any evidence that>> my>>>> son or daughter for>>>> that matter gets a different math assignment. I>>>> know they receive>>>> enrichment ON TOP of their regular work. It's>>>> difficult for me as a>>>> parent no matter which of my children it involves>> to>>>> realize that they>>>> have to "dumb" themselves down and complete work>>>> that their peers are>>>> doing.>>>>>>>> Another think I just "love" (sarcasm here) is how>>>> excited the teachers>>>> get for my children to come to school during TCAP>>>> testing. One of my>>>> son's teachers actually told me that they needed>> his>>>> scores to benefit>>>> the class!! SO my smart children are used to>> make>>>> the overall test>>>> scores look better... disappointing to me!!>>>>>>>> Jackie>>>> On Jun 19, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:>>>>>>>>> This is the craziest stuff I have ever heard!>>>>> Teachers are SUPPOSED to assess children before>>>> they>>>>> start teaching them and TEACH THEM AT THEIR>>>> LEVEL!!!!>>>>> General ed or special ed, it doesn't matter,>> this>>>> is>>>>> what good teachers do. It is nuts to make a>> child>>>> do>>>>> tons of work on a level way below their ability.>>>> I>>>>> assess them before we start, every two weeks to>>>> make>>>>> sure we are making progress, and at the end to>> see>>>> how>>>>> far we went! There is not even a general ed>> class>>>>> that has all students on the same level (unless>>>> they>>>>> previously tested them and then grouped them>>>> according>>>>> to level!)>>>>>>>>>> WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THEY DOING TO YOUR>> KID?????>>>>>>>>>> I would go crazy too if it was me! I feel so>>>> sorry>>>>> for them!>>>>>>>>>> Kaye>>>>> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs >>>>> wrote:>>>>>>>>>>> Hi.>>>>>> My son was given the "right" to do extra work>>>>>> AFTER HIS GRADE-LEVEL work was done, too. He>> got>>>> so>>>>>> bored and mad that he had to do double the>> work.>>>> At>>>>>> first, we were all trying to figure out why he>>>> was>>>>>> getting so mad (and why he would simply shut>> down>>>>>> and suddenly wouldn't do either>>>>>> work),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,then it "dawned" on me and>>>> we>>>>>> chatted with the teacher.>>>>>> What they decided was that if he coud do the>>>>>> end-of-chapter "review".............(usually>>>>>> 1sheet/2sheets),,,,,then he would simply do>> "his>>>>>> level" when everyone else did "their level".>>>>>> ------------------------------>>>>>>>>>>>> He's always had a rough time with writing as>>>> well.>>>>>> He presses so hard that sometimes the sheets>>>> would>>> === message truncated ===>>>>> __________________________________________________________ > _____________> Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your > story. Play Sims Stories at Games.> http://sims./>>>

June 22, 2007

Roxanna,

Great idea! It amazes me some of the ideas that you nice folk give

it... sometimes makes me feel silly that I didn't think of it before...

but then I quickly get over it and add to my growing list of things to

do!

Thanks for passing this along... I guess I just have tended to believe

what I was being told because they were " teachers " !

Jackie

On Jun 21, 2007, at 11:39 PM, Roxanna wrote:

> Jackie,

> One thing to remember is that school personnel will often say things

> that sound important and correct. Sometimes they even think it is

> true because that is just how it's always been done. But they might

> not know what they are talking about and/or they might be misleading

> parents for their own benefit. Always ask for the information in

> writing. When you ask a question and principal says, " This is

> because...blah blah blah " you should say, " Can I have that information

> in writing for my records? " or " I would like to see the school

> district's policy on (whatever) in writing, please. " Even if they are

> correct, you will know it and not wonder if you're being lied to. And

> if the information is not correct or is only sorta correct, you can

> go back with the information and restate your request.

>

> Roxanna

> Autism Happens

>> Re: ( ) Jackie...No Child Left Behind etc.

>> (long but hopefully good).

>>

>> Kaye,

>>

>> All I can say is that I wish we could take you and copy you so that

>> ALL

>> children would have teachers as passionate about teaching as you seem

>> to be! The NCLB act is very disappointing to my family because of the

>> implications that it sets forward on the standards! I do feel that my

>> children are being held back so that they can not learn at their full

>> potential! Both of my school age children are at least 2 grades ahead

>> on subjects and in my son's case... 3 or 4 on some! No wonder he's

>> bored out of his mind and gets into trouble!! My daughter will sit and

>> just do what she is told and then complain to me that she already

>> knows

>> the work. I will be making sure some changes are made this year for

>> both of them and if the school can't/refuses whatever then I will take

>> it upon myself to make the changes. I have done the responsible thing

>> as a parent and I sent my children to school with more than the basic

>> knowledge to start with. They both knew how to read simple books...

>> but progressed really fast once they started!! The school that my

>> children go to is one of the Title schools in the district and has a

>> higher count of Spanish speaking children along with children that are

>> severe special ed. Don't know if that makes a difference in developing

>> a standard for the school or not! I do know this fact was brought up

>> to me during an IEP meeting. I had questioned the level of education

>> and the Principal let me know that they were held accountable for ALL

>> children whether they could learn past a certain point or not! It

>> infuriated me then and still does... but I didn't know then that I had

>> any other choices! I also wasn't sure about my rights as a parent...

>> I'm still unsure of some of these now! LOL I also let myself believe

>> that the school was doing ALL that it could with my children, but NOW

>> I

>> know DIFFERENT!!!! Thanks so much for pointing this out to me!!

>>

>> I have printed out this email because of the amount of information

>> that

>> you have supplied me with! I have decided not only will I be fighting

>> for my AS son's rights, but for my NT daughter's academic rights! I

>> have always felt bad that they have been held back because they are so

>> smart but have not felt that I could handle home schooling them. My

>> husband and I supply them with TONS of enrichment at home and all of

>> our vacations have some sort of educational background built in. Next

>> friday we will be going to Washington DC and we will be touring Civil

>> War battlefields in VA!! We all look forward to these trips. My 4

>> year is obsessed with anything Abraham Lincoln and is learning the

>> Gettysburg Address!... It's so cute to hear her trying to say it! LOL

>>

>> Once again Thank you so much for your encouraging words and your

>> willingness to Teach in such a passionate way!

>>

>> Jackie

>> On Jun 20, 2007, at 2:57 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>>

>> > Jackie,

>> >

>> > I was truly shocked when you wrote what your child's

>> > teacher said. Each state develops their own learning

>> > standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind comes

>> > in when the federal government demands accountability

>> > (which is a good thing, some other parts of the law

>> > are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody would

>> > argue that American schools need to increase

>> > achievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideas

>> > about how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,

>> > like I said, is that states develop their own learning

>> > standards. Different states require different things.

>> > No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of students

>> > will be 100 percent proficient on the learning

>> > standards defined by the state.

>> >

>> > Now, the federal government is not looking at each

>> > paper or all the daily work the students are doing.

>> > (That statement by your child's teacher that that is

>> > WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo ridiculous).

>> > The feds only look at the high stakes testing that

>> > happens at the end of each school year. Some schools

>> > do it in March, some in April, some in May. Schools

>> > are supposed to meet individually defined levels of

>> > proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is

>> > raised. Schools get graded on whether or not they are

>> > making " adequate yearly progress " --whether enough of

>> > their students are " proficient " on the standards. I

>> > teach at a " failing school " . Of course, my school has

>> > 100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92

>> > percent of them speak Spanish as their first language.

>> > Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they may

>> > have arrived in the U.S. the day before standardized

>> > testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th grade.

>> > Let's also be real and say, they never went to school

>> > before in their life (a very common problem at my

>> > school). They are required to take the standardized

>> > test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will be

>> > in English, depending on the child. However, if they

>> > are illiterate in both languages, you can imagine just

>> > how " proficient " they are on anything. Then add in

>> > the fact that my students are not only poor, and they

>> > do not speak English. Mine are also all special needs

>> > students. Some are learning disabled, some are fetal

>> > alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and meth

>> > babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have autism.

>> > Many of them have learning issues because they have

>> > never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of my

>> > students live for the free breakfast/free lunch. Many

>> > of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry they

>> > are. The last time they ate was Friday's school

>> > lunch. So my school struggles. However, my principal

>> > is great and our staff is awesome and we believe our

>> > students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off every

>> > single day, we are accountable for each moment of the

>> > day that our students learn, we assess every two weeks

>> > to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till the

>> > end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, that

>> > strategy did not work. As grade level teams we

>> > collaborate each week and there is no ego allowed.

>> > Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with the

>> > highest scores shares what they did to get their

>> > students to do that. All other teachers immediately

>> > adopt that practice with their students. In two

>> > weeks, we check again. If our students are not

>> > learning, we must change what we are doing. Our

>> > students are literally on FIRE. If we do not work

>> > this way, they will not learn. If they do not learn

>> > how to read, they will not have a good life.

>> > Everybody on the staff of my school feels this

>> > accountability and pressure. So I am impatient with

>> > the people at my child's lovely middle class school

>> > who sit on their tushes because they teach middle

>> > class children whose parents have fed them, loved

>> > them, read to them....Those kids are ready to learn.

>> > In my city, the " nice " schools are where the lazy

>> > people teach. Their kids will make proficiency on

>> > standards. They will. This is why I get so mad when

>> > they warehouse my child. They do not try. I am

>> > probably way off the track...But anyway..My point

>> > is...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach 4th

>> > grade and here are all the fourth grade books and we

>> > are going through them. A competent teacher realizes

>> > that he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special ed)

>> > students and they are all individuals. They all learn

>> > differently. They are all in different places. A

>> > competent teacher knows, it is my responsibility to

>> > take this child where he is right now, and move him as

>> > far as his potential will take him. I am frustrated

>> > with what I read in your post. In each grade level,

>> > there is a WIDE variation of where students are

>> > actually performing. Your child should be able to go

>> > to school with his peers (kids of the same age) and

>> > still have his academic needs met. That is, if his

>> > teacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old or

>> > whatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed he

>> > is very gifted academically, he is performing 3 or 4

>> > years above his chronological age. His teacher should

>> > understand, this little person is ten years old. As

>> > he has Aspergers, his social skills are probably below

>> > his age level. The teacher should have an idea of

>> > approximately where the skills are. And should work

>> > on helping them get better. At the same time, your

>> > child is not just a body or a brain. He is a whole

>> > person. A competent teacher should address his needs

>> > to be challenged academically. A teacher can assess

>> > and determine what level your child is learning on.

>> > It is so easy to see, the child has mastered such and

>> > such a level. They are emergent on such and such a

>> > level. That is where the teacher begins to teach

>> > them. You may review once in awhile to make sure they

>> > are not losing previously learned skills. You are

>> > building on their prior knowledge. You as a teacher

>> > study your student to know, what is this child's

>> > strengths? What are his learning styles? What

>> > multiple intelligences does he have? What traits in

>> > his personality can I use to motivate him, discipline

>> > him, make him feel happy as a learner? The teacher

>> > should work on helping weaknesses improve. The

>> > teacher should work on challenging the student but not

>> > frustrating him. There should be data to show the

>> > child's starting point, growth, and ending point. A

>> > lazy teacher says, my class has to be proficient on

>> > these standards. A lazy teacher says, oh, I don't

>> > care that you already know this. It would be too much

>> > work to actually address your needs, so sit in the

>> > chair and do this work on this level that I am

>> > teaching whether it fits you or not. What is so sad

>> > about this, is we know that work fits the middle of

>> > the bell curve. That teacher is boring the gifted

>> > students to tears. She is also stressing out the

>> > lower performing students, making them miserable,

>> > making them feel stupid, causing behaviors in both

>> > gifted students and lower students because their needs

>> > are not being met. I am sure their parents are

>> > hearing either what bad children they are, what dumb

>> > children they are...or how " ok " they are. " OK "

>> > because they are meeting the standards that the

>> > teacher is getting graded on and that is all she cares

>> > about. In truth they are not ok because they are not

>> > being educated where they are ready to learn. Excuse

>> > this book I wrote. It just drives me crazy whenever I

>> > hear about lazy teachers like this. It is

>> > unconscionable. No Child Left Behind law ends up

>> > limiting gifted children when the teacher is satisfied

>> > that they know the standards at grade level.

>> > Especially if they are ready to learn 3 or 4 years

>> > above that. And No Child Left Behind punishes

>> > students like mine. It punishes their teachers,

>> > making us look like we are incompetent, because they

>> > are low performing even though we have moved them

>> > MILES more than the middle class schools moved theirs.

>> > The biggest problem I see, as the requirements for

>> > each school increase each year, is that more and more

>> > schools are going to be failing. Know why? The law

>> > demands that 100 percent of the students will meet the

>> > standards. Even the special ed students. I have seen

>> > instances already where schools try to dump special ed

>> > kids, or blame their failing status on special ed

>> > kids. The truth is, human beings are not all the

>> > same. They do not have the same potential. I wish

>> > the law said, 100 percent of the students will be

>> > educated to their potential. If that was the law, it

>> > would not be ok to warehouse the gifteds and slam the

>> > lower performers for not being " good enough " .

>> >

>> > I hope you now understand why your child's teacher

>> > failed your kids by making them do work they had

>> > already mastered. I am so sorry that is happening. I

>> > wish more parents understood what was really going on

>> > in schools today.

>> >

>> > Kaye

>> > --- <hunebear3@...> wrote:

>> >

>> >> Kaye,

>> >> I really appreciate this information and I'm

>> >> planning on checking on

>> >> exactly what is required for my state. Do you have

>> >> a recommendation on

>> >> where I should start looking? Maybe the school is

>> >> using the NCLB act

>> >> as an excuse? I know I was told by someone in the

>> >> school system that

>> >> skipping grades was not allowed and that they could

>> >> only let a child go

>> >> so far ahead or the next year's teacher wouldn't

>> >> have anything to

>> >> teach. I didn't like the fact that I felt that they

>> >> were trying to

>> >> dumb my kids down! There's NO WAY that I would even

>> >> suggest my AS son

>> >> skipping a grade because of the social issues... but

>> >> my NT gifted

>> >> daughter would do just fine academically and

>> >> socially if she were

>> >> allowed to skip!

>> >>

>> >> I know within my children's school system they do

>> >> break the kids up

>> >> within the classroom on certain subjects based on

>> >> what the skill level

>> >> of the child is! SOmetimes my children are the only

>> >> ones in their

>> >> group... but they are still not getting the level of

>> >> work that they are

>> >> capable of doing. I have got a lot of information

>> >> to process before

>> >> school starts this fall!

>> >>

>> >> Jackie

>> >> On Jun 20, 2007, at 12:49 AM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>> >>

>> >>> lol scuse me but your kid's teacher is FULL OF

>> >> IT.

>> >>> No Child Left Behind applies to me too since it

>> >> is

>> >>> national, so I know something about that! If your

>> >>> child comes to school on the first day, the

>> >> teacher

>> >>> assesses him/her on the standards for your state,

>> >> for

>> >>> whatever they must be " proficient " in by the end

>> >> of

>> >>> the year...Let's say your kid tests " proficient "

>> >> on

>> >>> the first day. There is NO requirement they do

>> >> work

>> >>> on which they are already proficient! Any teacher

>> >>> that had that situation would then

>> >>> say...hmmm...obviously this kid needs to MOVE ON.

>> >> And

>> >>> they would design work that went after whatever

>> >>> standards the child is not yet proficient in (even

>> >> if

>> >>> it was the next higher grade level standards).

>> >> NCLB

>> >>> can allow some teachers to just get lazy (no

>> >> excuse

>> >>> for this!) But their job is to get their whole

>> >> class

>> >>> proficient on whatever grade level standards. If

>> >> they

>> >>> are lazy, that's all they care about. If they are

>> >>> TEACHERS, they take their students from whatever

>> >> point

>> >>> they are starting from and move them ahead. As

>> >> far as

>> >>> their potential and abilities will let them travel

>> >> in

>> >>> a year. Your kid's teacher is LAZY. UGH. There

>> >> are

>> >>> no two kids the same, they are all over the map

>> >>> (especially in general ed classes, not just

>> >> special

>> >>> ed). Any competent teacher already knows this and

>> >>> does not just do ONE THING. A good teacher meets

>> >> the

>> >>> needs of all students. (And that means, teaching

>> >> in

>> >>> multiple ways of learning styles and

>> >> intelligences).

>> >>>

>> >>> Kaye

>> >>> --- <hunebear3@...>

>> >> wrote:

>> >>>

>> >>>> I was told by my NT daughter's 2nd grade teacher

>> >>>> that by Law (No child

>> >>>> left behind act) that all children whether they

>> >> were

>> >>>> gifted or not had

>> >>>> to complete all current grade level work. So

>> >> both

>> >>>> of my children... my

>> >>>> typical daughter and my AS son both had to do

>> >> their

>> >>>> current grade level

>> >>>> before getting enrichment. They are both given

>> >> PRE

>> >>>> tests for spelling

>> >>>> and given an alternative spelling list. They are

>> >>>> supposed to do this

>> >>>> with Math but I have not seen any evidence that

>> >> my

>> >>>> son or daughter for

>> >>>> that matter gets a different math assignment. I

>> >>>> know they receive

>> >>>> enrichment ON TOP of their regular work. It's

>> >>>> difficult for me as a

>> >>>> parent no matter which of my children it involves

>> >> to

>> >>>> realize that they

>> >>>> have to " dumb " themselves down and complete work

>> >>>> that their peers are

>> >>>> doing.

>> >>>>

>> >>>> Another think I just " love " (sarcasm here) is how

>> >>>> excited the teachers

>> >>>> get for my children to come to school during TCAP

>> >>>> testing. One of my

>> >>>> son's teachers actually told me that they needed

>> >> his

>> >>>> scores to benefit

>> >>>> the class!! SO my smart children are used to

>> >> make

>> >>>> the overall test

>> >>>> scores look better... disappointing to me!!

>> >>>>

>> >>>> Jackie

>> >>>> On Jun 19, 2007, at 6:46 PM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>> >>>>

>> >>>>> This is the craziest stuff I have ever heard!

>> >>>>> Teachers are SUPPOSED to assess children before

>> >>>> they

>> >>>>> start teaching them and TEACH THEM AT THEIR

>> >>>> LEVEL!!!!

>> >>>>> General ed or special ed, it doesn't matter,

>> >> this

>> >>>> is

>> >>>>> what good teachers do. It is nuts to make a

>> >> child

>> >>>> do

>> >>>>> tons of work on a level way below their ability.

>> >>>> I

>> >>>>> assess them before we start, every two weeks to

>> >>>> make

>> >>>>> sure we are making progress, and at the end to

>> >> see

>> >>>> how

>> >>>>> far we went! There is not even a general ed

>> >> class

>> >>>>> that has all students on the same level (unless

>> >>>> they

>> >>>>> previously tested them and then grouped them

>> >>>> according

>> >>>>> to level!)

>> >>>>>

>> >>>>> WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THEY DOING TO YOUR

>> >> KID?????

>> >>>>>

>> >>>>> I would go crazy too if it was me! I feel so

>> >>>> sorry

>> >>>>> for them!

>> >>>>>

>> >>>>> Kaye

>> >>>>> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

>> >>>> wrote:

>> >>>>>

>> >>>>>> Hi.

>> >>>>>> My son was given the " right " to do extra work

>> >>>>>> AFTER HIS GRADE-LEVEL work was done, too. He

>> >> got

>> >>>> so

>> >>>>>> bored and mad that he had to do double the

>> >> work.

>> >>>> At

>> >>>>>> first, we were all trying to figure out why he

>> >>>> was

>> >>>>>> getting so mad (and why he would simply shut

>> >> down

>> >>>>>> and suddenly wouldn't do either

>> >>>>>> work),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,then it " dawned " on me and

>> >>>> we

>> >>>>>> chatted with the teacher.

>> >>>>>> What they decided was that if he coud do the

>> >>>>>> end-of-chapter " review " .............(usually

>> >>>>>> 1sheet/2sheets),,,,,then he would simply do

>> >> " his

>> >>>>>> level " when everyone else did " their level " .

>> >>>>>> ------------------------------

>> >>>>>>

>> >>>>>> He's always had a rough time with writing as

>> >>>> well.

>> >>>>>> He presses so hard that sometimes the sheets

>> >>>> would

>> >>

>> > === message truncated ===

>> >

>> > __________________________________________________________

>> > _____________

>> > Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your

>> > story. Play Sims Stories at Games.

>> > http://sims./

>> >

June 22, 2007

People understand that mentally retarded children are

DIFFERENT than the general population. However, most

people don't seem to get it that GIFTED CHILDREN (the

other end of the curve) are also DIFFERENT from the

general population. You do not address giftedness by

making them do all the " regular " work and then dumping

extra work on top of it. You should be educating them

up where they are ready to learn and giving them all

kinds of ways to satisfy their giftedness. I really

think they need to be in some regular ed so that they

stay grounded in terms of life with peers, but I also

think they need more specialized instruction to really

meet their needs. They have needs every bit as much

as lower performers do but often nobody cares because

they are not " in trouble " academically.

Kaye

--- <hunebear3@...> wrote:

> Kaye,

>

> All I have to say is that you have given me so much

> to think about! I

> know I will not just take anything that is told to

> me by school

> personal as FACT anymore! I have a meeting with a

> Behavioral

> Specialists that also helps with IEPs and with the

> school system in

> general. I plan to bring up some of these points

> with her and see what

> all she can help me with also. Sounds Like I will

> have a busy start of

> the school year! I may need to make sure that I am

> more involved with

> my children's teachers and the classroom so that I

> know exactly what is

> happening with my children. It may sound selfish to

> say this but I am

> concerned that my children do not fall through the

> cracks just because

> they are smart! Those teachers should do just as

> much for my children

> as they do for the children that are behind! My

> children have high

> expectations for themselves and strive to succeed so

> that they can be

> whatever they want to be when they grow up! Right

> now (and since he

> was two) my AS son wants to be an Astronaut and my

> middle daughter

> wants to be an oceanographer! I plan to do

> everything in my power to

> see that they get the education that they need in

> order to accomplish

> their goals!!

>

> Jackie

> On Jun 22, 2007, at 1:11 AM, Kaye Bates wrote:

>

> > Jackie,

> >

> > It could be that your kids just didn't get the

> best

> > teachers this year. Or it could be the climate of

> > your school. From the school's point of view,

> they

> > are not worried about your kids because they meet

> the

> > standards for their grade level. The school is

> going

> > to be focused on those kids that are NOT making

> the

> > standards. No Child Left Behind should really not

> > impact kids like yours, the only problem is, the

> > requirement they set (grade level standards) is

> not

> > high enough for kids like yours. The school is

> off

> > the hook on your kids in terms of accountability

> to

> > the federal government. So they are not overly

> > motivated to do more. Your kids are " fine " . That

> is

> > what is so frustrating. If you land on good

> teachers

> > for your kids, it won't matter that they already

> met

> > standards because their teachers will care that

> they

> > are learning where they should be. That is why I

> say,

> > it does matter that a teacher is " highly

> qualified " .

> > But more than that, it matters that the teacher

> really

> > CARES. Enough to work harder and do more and meet

> the

> > needs. I truly don't know how they live with

> > themselves. They HAVE TO KNOW that kids in their

> > class are getting warehoused or getting pushed too

> > hard. I would not enjoy my job if I knew I was

> > screwing a kid over. I will never understand

> teachers

> > like that. THEY COMPLETELY STINK. However, my

> kid

> > has had teachers like that as well. And they are

> not

> > even motivated knowing my kid's mom is a teacher

> who

> > will not get off their backs. They look down

> their

> > noses at me because I teach in " that school " and

> think

> > they are superior. At my kid's IEP in May, I was

> > infuriated because her teacher was too lazy to

> even

> > document her present levels of performance. He

> just

> > copied off her last years IEP!!! I pointed that

> out

> > and nobody apologized, or squirmed, or was

> embarrased.

> > I could not believe it. They said Karissa read

> at

> > third grade level. Fortunately I had my

> documentation

> > with me---a third grade IEP that showed in that

> grade

> > she was reading at 8th grade level. So I told

> them,

> > you mean, after a year with you my kid is now five

> > years below where she was when she was in third

> grade

> > three years ago????? THANX SO MUCH. The teacher

> just

> > got annoyed and said Karissa cannot be assessed

> > because she doesn't cooperate with a test. I just

> > took that at face value and said, ok, but do you

> ever

> > read with her in class? What do you have her read

> > there???? He had no answer. YES there are

> teachers

> > that bad in this world. And they do not even

> > apologize for themselves. So I completely

> understand

> > the frustration you are having.

> >

> > On your trip to VA....You made me so homesick! We

> > lived in Newport News for 20 years! (About 16

> miles

> > from Colonial burg). Be sure to visit

> there,

> > and at Yorktown (my husband was stationed at the

> navy

> > base there)...And town (the original English

> > settlement in the new world)...I love Virginia and

> I

> > miss Virginia. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

> We

> > did not see everything there was to see in 20

> years.

> > Your kids will love it. (Take them to Busch

> Gardens

> > too!) (And the beach!!!!)

> >

> > Best to you!

> >

> > Kaye

> > --- <hunebear3@...>

> wrote:

> >

> >> Kaye,

> >>

> >> All I can say is that I wish we could take you

> and

> >> copy you so that ALL

> >> children would have teachers as passionate about

> >> teaching as you seem

> >> to be! The NCLB act is very disappointing to my

> >> family because of the

> >> implications that it sets forward on the

> standards!

> >> I do feel that my

> >> children are being held back so that they can not

> >> learn at their full

> >> potential! Both of my school age children are at

> >> least 2 grades ahead

> >> on subjects and in my son's case... 3 or 4 on

> some!

> >> No wonder he's

> >> bored out of his mind and gets into trouble!! My

> >> daughter will sit and

> >> just do what she is told and then complain to me

> >> that she already knows

> >> the work. I will be making sure some changes are

> >> made this year for

> >> both of them and if the school can't/refuses

> >> whatever then I will take

> >> it upon myself to make the changes. I have done

> the

> >> responsible thing

> >> as a parent and I sent my children to school with

> >> more than the basic

> >> knowledge to start with. They both knew how to

> read

> >> simple books...

> >> but progressed really fast once they started!!

> The

> >> school that my

> >> children go to is one of the Title schools in the

> >> district and has a

> >> higher count of Spanish speaking children along

> with

> >> children that are

> >> severe special ed. Don't know if that makes a

> >> difference in developing

> >> a standard for the school or not! I do know this

> >> fact was brought up

> >> to me during an IEP meeting. I had questioned

> the

>

=== message truncated ===

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June 24, 2007

Hee hee.Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote: Yeah, well the teacher shortage is way worse here thanthere so YOU MOVE HERE!!! :)Kaye--- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs > wrote:> But Kaye,,,,,,,,,can't you move here and do all> that? Ha ha.> Robin> > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003 > wrote:> Robin, I gotta say it again. What makes a>

teacher> good is that they CARE. This is something anybody> can> do. It is not that hard. You are already a wonderful> teacher. They just have to rubber stamp you. And I> am not getting out. I get home from school at 2:00> in> the afternoon. My grown married daughter is home> with> her baby so she will support my homeschool kid in> doing her work and taking her to social activities> while I am at school. Then in the afternoon and> evenings when I get home, I will teach her. We are> busy making a room into our home classroom. It is> going to work out. I am lucky that my oldest> daughter> can help me out. > > Kaye> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs >> wrote:> > > Kaye,,,,,> > I gotta say it AGAIN - - - you are wonderful.> > I can only

hope to be a teacher as wonderful as> > you!!!> > It makes me sad that you're getting out,,,,even> > though I understand it's for your daughter.> > PLEASE move here......and teach......hee hee.> > I'm keeping yet, another one of your emails> > because they motivate me to be strong and they> keep> > my driven.> > Your're awesome!!!!> > Robin> > > > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003 > wrote:> > Jackie,> > > > I was truly shocked when you wrote what your> child's> > teacher said. Each state develops their own> learning> > standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind> comes> > in when the federal government demands> > accountability> > (which is a good thing, some other parts of the> law> >

are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody would> > argue that American schools need to increase> > achievement. There are a lot of conflicting ideas> > about how to do that. But anyway, the commonality,> > like I said, is that states develop their own> > learning> > standards. Different states require different> > things.> > No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of students> > will be 100 percent proficient on the learning> > standards defined by the state. > > > > Now, the federal government is not looking at each> > paper or all the daily work the students are> doing. > > (That statement by your child's teacher that that> is> > WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo> ridiculous). > > The feds only look at the high stakes testing that> > happens at the end of each school year.

Some> schools> > do it in March, some in April, some in May.> Schools> > are supposed to meet individually defined levels> of> > proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is> > raised. Schools get graded on whether or not they> > are> > making "adequate yearly progress"--whether enough> of> > their students are "proficient" on the standards.> I> > teach at a "failing school". Of course, my school> > has> > 100 percent of the students living in poverty. 92> > percent of them speak Spanish as their first> > language.> > Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they> may> > have arrived in the U.S. the day before> standardized> > testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th> > grade.> > Let's also be real and say, they never went to> >

school> > before in their life (a very common problem at my> > school). They are required to take the> standardized> > test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it will> > be> > in English, depending on the child. However, if> they> > are illiterate in both languages, you can imagine> > just> > how "proficient" they are on anything. Then add in> > the fact that my students are not only poor, and> > they> > do not speak English. Mine are also all special> > needs> > students. Some are learning disabled, some are> fetal> > alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and> meth> > babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have> > autism.> > Many of them have learning issues because they> have> > never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most of> >

my> > students live for the free breakfast/free lunch.> > Many> > of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry> they> > are. The last time they ate was Friday's school> > lunch. So my school struggles. However, my> principal> > is great and our staff is awesome and we believe> our> > students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off every> > single day, we are accountable for each moment of> > the> > day that our students learn, we assess every two> > weeks> > to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till the> > end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH, that> > strategy did not work. As grade level teams we> > collaborate each week and there is no ego allowed.> > > Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with> the> > highest scores shares what they did to get

their> > students to do that. All other teachers> immediately> > adopt that practice with their students. In two> > weeks, we check again. If our students are not> > learning, we must change what we are doing. Our> > students are literally on FIRE. If we do not work> > this way, they will not learn. If they do not> learn> > how to read, they will not have a good life. > > Everybody on the staff of my school feels this> > accountability and pressure. So I am impatient> with> > the people at my child's lovely middle class> school> > who sit on their tushes because they teach middle> > class children whose parents have fed them, loved> > them, read to them....Those kids are ready to> learn.> > > > In my city, the "nice" schools are where the lazy> > people teach. Their kids will make

proficiency on> > standards. They will. This is why I get so mad> when> > they warehouse my child. They do not try. I am> > probably way off the track...But anyway..My point> > is...A competent teacher does not say, oh, I teach> > 4th> > grade and here are all the fourth grade books and> we> > are going through them. A competent teacher> realizes> > that he/she is teaching 25 (gen. ed) or 8 (special> > ed)> > students and they are all individuals. They all> > learn> > differently. They are all in different places. A> > competent teacher knows, it is my responsibility> to> > take this child where he is right now, and move> him> > as> > far as his potential will take him. I am> frustrated> > with what I read in your post. In each grade> level,> >

there is a WIDE variation of where students are> > actually performing. Your child should be able to> go> > to school with his peers (kids of the same age)> and> > still have his academic needs met. That is, if his> > teacher CARES. If your child is 10 years old or> > whatever, socially that is where he is. Supposed> he> === message truncated ===__________________________________________________________Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with FareChase.http://farechase./

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June 24, 2007

Robin, you have an interview on Tuesday at 10:00.

Kaye

--- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...> wrote:

> Hee hee.

>

> Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> Yeah, well the teacher shortage is way worse here

> than

> there so YOU MOVE HERE!!!

>

> Kaye

> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

> wrote:

>

> > But Kaye,,,,,,,,,can't you move here and do all

> > that? Ha ha.

> > Robin

> >

> > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> > Robin, I gotta say it again. What makes a

> > teacher

> > good is that they CARE. This is something anybody

> > can

> > do. It is not that hard. You are already a

> wonderful

> > teacher. They just have to rubber stamp you. And I

> > am not getting out. I get home from school at 2:00

> > in

> > the afternoon. My grown married daughter is home

> > with

> > her baby so she will support my homeschool kid in

> > doing her work and taking her to social activities

> > while I am at school. Then in the afternoon and

> > evenings when I get home, I will teach her. We are

> > busy making a room into our home classroom. It is

> > going to work out. I am lucky that my oldest

> > daughter

> > can help me out.

> >

> > Kaye

> > --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

> > wrote:

> >

> > > Kaye,,,,,

> > > I gotta say it AGAIN - - - you are wonderful.

> > > I can only hope to be a teacher as wonderful as

> > > you!!!

> > > It makes me sad that you're getting out,,,,even

> > > though I understand it's for your daughter.

> > > PLEASE move here......and teach......hee hee.

> > > I'm keeping yet, another one of your emails

> > > because they motivate me to be strong and they

> > keep

> > > my driven.

> > > Your're awesome!!!!

> > > Robin

> > >

> > > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> > > Jackie,

> > >

> > > I was truly shocked when you wrote what your

> > child's

> > > teacher said. Each state develops their own

> > learning

> > > standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind

> > comes

> > > in when the federal government demands

> > > accountability

> > > (which is a good thing, some other parts of the

> > law

> > > are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody

> would

> > > argue that American schools need to increase

> > > achievement. There are a lot of conflicting

> ideas

> > > about how to do that. But anyway, the

> commonality,

> > > like I said, is that states develop their own

> > > learning

> > > standards. Different states require different

> > > things.

> > > No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of

> students

> > > will be 100 percent proficient on the learning

> > > standards defined by the state.

> > >

> > > Now, the federal government is not looking at

> each

> > > paper or all the daily work the students are

> > doing.

> > > (That statement by your child's teacher that

> that

> > is

> > > WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo

> > ridiculous).

> > > The feds only look at the high stakes testing

> that

> > > happens at the end of each school year. Some

> > schools

> > > do it in March, some in April, some in May.

> > Schools

> > > are supposed to meet individually defined levels

> > of

> > > proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is

> > > raised. Schools get graded on whether or not

> they

> > > are

> > > making " adequate yearly progress " --whether

> enough

> > of

> > > their students are " proficient " on the

> standards.

> > I

> > > teach at a " failing school " . Of course, my

> school

> > > has

> > > 100 percent of the students living in poverty.

> 92

> > > percent of them speak Spanish as their first

> > > language.

> > > Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they

> > may

> > > have arrived in the U.S. the day before

> > standardized

> > > testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th

> > > grade.

> > > Let's also be real and say, they never went to

> > > school

> > > before in their life (a very common problem at

> my

> > > school). They are required to take the

> > standardized

> > > test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it

> will

> > > be

> > > in English, depending on the child. However, if

> > they

> > > are illiterate in both languages, you can

> imagine

> > > just

> > > how " proficient " they are on anything. Then add

> in

> > > the fact that my students are not only poor, and

> > > they

> > > do not speak English. Mine are also all special

> > > needs

> > > students. Some are learning disabled, some are

> > fetal

> > > alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and

> > meth

> > > babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have

> > > autism.

> > > Many of them have learning issues because they

> > have

> > > never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most

> of

> > > my

> > > students live for the free breakfast/free lunch.

> > > Many

> > > of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry

> > they

> > > are. The last time they ate was Friday's school

> > > lunch. So my school struggles. However, my

> > principal

> > > is great and our staff is awesome and we believe

> > our

> > > students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off

> every

> > > single day, we are accountable for each moment

> of

> > > the

> > > day that our students learn, we assess every two

> > > weeks

> > > to see, are they learning? We cannot wait till

> the

> > > end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH,

> that

> > > strategy did not work. As grade level teams we

> > > collaborate each week and there is no ego

> allowed.

> >

> > > Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with

> > the

> > > highest scores shares what they did to get their

> > > students to do that. All other teachers

> > immediately

> > > adopt that practice with their students. In two

> > > weeks, we check again. If our students are not

> > > learning, we must change what we are doing. Our

> > > students are literally on FIRE. If we do not

> work

> > > this way, they will not learn. If they do not

> > learn

> > > how to read, they will not have a good life.

> > > Everybody on the staff of my school feels this

> > > accountability and pressure. So I am impatient

> > with

> > > the people at my child's lovely middle class

> > school

> > > who sit on their tushes because they teach

> middle

> > > class children whose parents have fed them,

> loved

> > > them, read to them....Those kids are ready to

>

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June 26, 2007

Ha ha. Dammitt..........It's now Tuesday at 5:25 pm................hee hee. RobinKaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote: Robin, you have an interview on Tuesday at 10:00. :)Kaye--- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs > wrote:> Hee hee.> > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003 > wrote: > Yeah, well the teacher shortage is way worse here>

than> there so YOU MOVE HERE!!! > > Kaye> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs >> wrote:> > > But Kaye,,,,,,,,,can't you move here and do all> > that? Ha ha.> > Robin> > > > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003 > wrote:> > Robin, I gotta say it again. What makes a> > teacher> > good is that they CARE. This is something anybody> > can> > do. It is not that hard. You are already a> wonderful> > teacher. They just have to rubber stamp you. And I> > am not getting out. I get home from school at 2:00> > in> > the afternoon. My grown married daughter is home> > with> > her baby so she will support my homeschool kid in> > doing her work and taking

her to social activities> > while I am at school. Then in the afternoon and> > evenings when I get home, I will teach her. We are> > busy making a room into our home classroom. It is> > going to work out. I am lucky that my oldest> > daughter> > can help me out. > > > > Kaye> > --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs >> > wrote:> > > > > Kaye,,,,,> > > I gotta say it AGAIN - - - you are wonderful.> > > I can only hope to be a teacher as wonderful as> > > you!!!> > > It makes me sad that you're getting out,,,,even> > > though I understand it's for your daughter.> > > PLEASE move here......and teach......hee hee.> > > I'm keeping yet, another one of your emails> > > because they motivate me to

be strong and they> > keep> > > my driven.> > > Your're awesome!!!!> > > Robin> > > > > > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003 > wrote:> > > Jackie,> > > > > > I was truly shocked when you wrote what your> > child's> > > teacher said. Each state develops their own> > learning> > > standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind> > comes> > > in when the federal government demands> > > accountability> > > (which is a good thing, some other parts of the> > law> > > are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody> would> > > argue that American schools need to increase> > > achievement. There are a lot of conflicting> ideas> > > about how to do

that. But anyway, the> commonality,> > > like I said, is that states develop their own> > > learning> > > standards. Different states require different> > > things.> > > No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of> students> > > will be 100 percent proficient on the learning> > > standards defined by the state. > > > > > > Now, the federal government is not looking at> each> > > paper or all the daily work the students are> > doing. > > > (That statement by your child's teacher that> that> > is> > > WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo> > ridiculous). > > > The feds only look at the high stakes testing> that> > > happens at the end of each school year. Some> > schools> > > do it in March, some in April, some

in May.> > Schools> > > are supposed to meet individually defined levels> > of> > > proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is> > > raised. Schools get graded on whether or not> they> > > are> > > making "adequate yearly progress"--whether> enough> > of> > > their students are "proficient" on the> standards.> > I> > > teach at a "failing school". Of course, my> school> > > has> > > 100 percent of the students living in poverty.> 92> > > percent of them speak Spanish as their first> > > language.> > > Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and they> > may> > > have arrived in the U.S. the day before> > standardized> > > testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th> > >

grade.> > > Let's also be real and say, they never went to> > > school> > > before in their life (a very common problem at> my> > > school). They are required to take the> > standardized> > > test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it> will> > > be> > > in English, depending on the child. However, if> > they> > > are illiterate in both languages, you can> imagine> > > just> > > how "proficient" they are on anything. Then add> in> > > the fact that my students are not only poor, and> > > they> > > do not speak English. Mine are also all special> > > needs> > > students. Some are learning disabled, some are> > fetal> > > alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and> > meth> > > babies.

Some are mentally retarded, some have> > > autism.> > > Many of them have learning issues because they> > have> > > never had proper nutrition in their lives! Most> of> > > my> > > students live for the free breakfast/free lunch.> > > Many> > > of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry> > they> > > are. The last time they ate was Friday's school> > > lunch. So my school struggles. However, my> > principal> > > is great and our staff is awesome and we believe> > our> > > students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off> every> > > single day, we are accountable for each moment> of> > > the> > > day that our students learn, we assess every two> > > weeks> > > to see, are they learning? We cannot wait

till> the> > > end of the school year to find out, OH YEAH,> that> > > strategy did not work. As grade level teams we> > > collaborate each week and there is no ego> allowed.> > > > > Teachers pony up their scores. The teacher with> > the> > > highest scores shares what they did to get their> > > students to do that. All other teachers> > immediately> > > adopt that practice with their students. In two> > > weeks, we check again. If our students are not> > > learning, we must change what we are doing. Our> > > students are literally on FIRE. If we do not> work> > > this way, they will not learn. If they do not> > learn> > > how to read, they will not have a good life. > > > Everybody on the staff of my school feels this> > >

accountability and pressure. So I am impatient> > with> > > the people at my child's lovely middle class> > school> > > who sit on their tushes because they teach> middle> > > class children whose parents have fed them,> loved> > > them, read to them....Those kids are ready to> === message truncated ===__________________________________________________________No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with for Mobile. Get started.http://mobile./mail

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June 27, 2007

Shoot, Robin, just show up on the first day! (I moved

here in October and there were 100 special ed teacher

positions open at the time! IT IS TERRIBLE!!!!! Some

classes never get a teacher!!!)

Kaye

--- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...> wrote:

> Ha ha.

> Dammitt..........It's now Tuesday at 5:25

> pm................hee hee.

> Robin

>

> Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> Robin, you have an interview on Tuesday at

> 10:00.

>

> Kaye

> --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

> wrote:

>

> > Hee hee.

> >

> > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> > Yeah, well the teacher shortage is way worse here

> > than

> > there so YOU MOVE HERE!!!

> >

> > Kaye

> > --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

> > wrote:

> >

> > > But Kaye,,,,,,,,,can't you move here and do all

> > > that? Ha ha.

> > > Robin

> > >

> > > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> > > Robin, I gotta say it again. What makes a

> > > teacher

> > > good is that they CARE. This is something

> anybody

> > > can

> > > do. It is not that hard. You are already a

> > wonderful

> > > teacher. They just have to rubber stamp you. And

> I

> > > am not getting out. I get home from school at

> 2:00

> > > in

> > > the afternoon. My grown married daughter is home

> > > with

> > > her baby so she will support my homeschool kid

> in

> > > doing her work and taking her to social

> activities

> > > while I am at school. Then in the afternoon and

> > > evenings when I get home, I will teach her. We

> are

> > > busy making a room into our home classroom. It

> is

> > > going to work out. I am lucky that my oldest

> > > daughter

> > > can help me out.

> > >

> > > Kaye

> > > --- and/or Robin Lemke <jrisjs@...>

> > > wrote:

> > >

> > > > Kaye,,,,,

> > > > I gotta say it AGAIN - - - you are wonderful.

> > > > I can only hope to be a teacher as wonderful

> as

> > > > you!!!

> > > > It makes me sad that you're getting

> out,,,,even

> > > > though I understand it's for your daughter.

> > > > PLEASE move here......and teach......hee hee.

> > > > I'm keeping yet, another one of your emails

> > > > because they motivate me to be strong and they

> > > keep

> > > > my driven.

> > > > Your're awesome!!!!

> > > > Robin

> > > >

> > > > Kaye Bates <kcbates2003@...> wrote:

> > > > Jackie,

> > > >

> > > > I was truly shocked when you wrote what your

> > > child's

> > > > teacher said. Each state develops their own

> > > learning

> > > > standards for each grade. No Child Left Behind

> > > comes

> > > > in when the federal government demands

> > > > accountability

> > > > (which is a good thing, some other parts of

> the

> > > law

> > > > are not so wonderful). I don't think anybody

> > would

> > > > argue that American schools need to increase

> > > > achievement. There are a lot of conflicting

> > ideas

> > > > about how to do that. But anyway, the

> > commonality,

> > > > like I said, is that states develop their own

> > > > learning

> > > > standards. Different states require different

> > > > things.

> > > > No Child Left Behind says, 100 percent of

> > students

> > > > will be 100 percent proficient on the learning

> > > > standards defined by the state.

> > > >

> > > > Now, the federal government is not looking at

> > each

> > > > paper or all the daily work the students are

> > > doing.

> > > > (That statement by your child's teacher that

> > that

> > > is

> > > > WHY they have to do it all is sooooooo

> > > ridiculous).

> > > > The feds only look at the high stakes testing

> > that

> > > > happens at the end of each school year. Some

> > > schools

> > > > do it in March, some in April, some in May.

> > > Schools

> > > > are supposed to meet individually defined

> levels

> > > of

> > > > proficiency. EACH YEAR that benchmark score is

> > > > raised. Schools get graded on whether or not

> > they

> > > > are

> > > > making " adequate yearly progress " --whether

> > enough

> > > of

> > > > their students are " proficient " on the

> > standards.

> > > I

> > > > teach at a " failing school " . Of course, my

> > school

> > > > has

> > > > 100 percent of the students living in poverty.

> > 92

> > > > percent of them speak Spanish as their first

> > > > language.

> > > > Many of them are immigrants from Mexico and

> they

> > > may

> > > > have arrived in the U.S. the day before

> > > standardized

> > > > testing. Let's say they are old enough for 5th

> > > > grade.

> > > > Let's also be real and say, they never went to

> > > > school

> > > > before in their life (a very common problem at

> > my

> > > > school). They are required to take the

> > > standardized

> > > > test. Maybe it will be in Spanish or maybe it

> > will

> > > > be

> > > > in English, depending on the child. However,

> if

> > > they

> > > > are illiterate in both languages, you can

> > imagine

> > > > just

> > > > how " proficient " they are on anything. Then

> add

> > in

> > > > the fact that my students are not only poor,

> and

> > > > they

> > > > do not speak English. Mine are also all

> special

> > > > needs

> > > > students. Some are learning disabled, some are

> > > fetal

> > > > alcohol, I have taught a plethora of crack and

> > > meth

> > > > babies. Some are mentally retarded, some have

> > > > autism.

> > > > Many of them have learning issues because they

> > > have

> > > > never had proper nutrition in their lives!

> Most

> > of

> > > > my

> > > > students live for the free breakfast/free

> lunch.

> > > > Many

> > > > of my little kids tell me on Monday how hungry

> > > they

> > > > are. The last time they ate was Friday's

> school

> > > > lunch. So my school struggles. However, my

> > > principal

> > > > is great and our staff is awesome and we

> believe

> > > our

> > > > students can learn. So we work our BUTTS off

> > every

> > > > single day, we are accountable for each moment

> > of

> > > > the

>

=== message truncated ===

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Re: Jackie...No Child Left Behind etc. (long but hopefully good).

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