#poor teaching

fuck America for many reasons all the time but for now bc of public schools lack of education

I took a creative writing class. one assignment involved MLA format. multiple freshman (ninth grade, first year of high school) didn't know what that was, let alone how to do it. the teacher had to take the day to teach them. I learned MLA in 6th grade, at a charter school (which is still technically a public school just better).  

I am going into my senior year (12th grade, last year) of high school. I was required to take one health class, which I took in freshman year. it was a 45 day class. the only time women were referenced was when we were talking about birth and pregnancy. my teacher said abstinence was “the only 100% foolproof way not to get pregnant”. I missed half of the time we talked about pregnancy because me and two other classmates were in the library printing out our work for another assignment in that class. we only saw the last 5 or 10 minutes of “the miracle of life”, a video about birth from 1982. we did not have to make it up in any way. I have never be told anything about whats in my body or how anything works. ive never heard anything about the female body that wasn't ‘you can give birth, heres a video from 20 years before you were born”. 

in honors biology, we learned how the body breaks down food, which I learned in 7th grade. we learned about dna and rna, which I learned in 8th grade. we learned about how cells work, which I learned in 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th grade (I did go to different schools for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade though (catholic school, catholic, charter school)). a classmate and I were on a field trip the day we dissected frogs. we did not have to make it up. we talked about it once the next day and moved on. we learned about extra chromosomes and missing chromosomes. we did not learn which gender went with x and which went with y. we did not learn about primary sex characteristics, let alone secondary ones. we did not learn that women store fat differently than men. we did not learn about the different organs females have. we did not learn that those very important organs are the reason we have a little pouch by our belly. we did not learn that it is impossible to have a flat stomach because of this. 

I learned all of that off of various things that have happened onto my path on the internet. ive learned so much more about my body through offhanded comments and random posts then I have learned and will ever learn through the American public school system. 

everyone knows the signs of a heart attack. not everyone knows those are the signs for men. not everyone knows the signs of a heart attack are completely different in women. the only reason I know, is because I happened to have a female first aid teacher who made sure we knew, even if the textbook didn't tell us. 

I took child development because I work with kids and though it could help. we spent like 3 weeks on pregnancy and birth. the class was 9 weeks long. we didn't talk about how painful birth can be. we didn't talk about how the mother being in that position for hours can be damaging. we didn't talk about having to get stitched up. we didn't talk about how some male doctors will unconsentually add an extra stitch, nicknamed the ‘husband stitch’, so the vigina is tighter. we didn't talk about how painful this can make things for the woman. the teacher had us try on a pregnancy belly to simulate “what it will be like when youre pregnant”. I don't want to have children and I never have. I got out of it because I went to the bathroom. the final was in part a project and part written test. our final project was to take care of a mechanical baby for 15 hours. I asked what would happen if the baby cried during the night and I didn't wake up. she said “you will”. the baby cried ten times at night. I was awake for two of them. I failed that part of the final. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know.

CONSECRATED FOR GLORY

There are doctrines today that allow Christians to sit back and do nothing. They defend this cool, casual leave-it-all-to-God attitude with Bible passages. Such an outlook is entirely foreign to the spirit of the New Testament. The ultimate purpose of ministry should not be to teach people how to get things from God. The aim of the Christian life is to give and to equip fellow Christians to advance the Kingdom of God, thereby bringing forth the Great Commission.

GOD OF THE BREAKTHROUGH

"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon him while He is near." - Isaiah 55:6

The first step to getting out of the box is to fellowship with the God of the breakthrough. The Holy Spirit will charge you with fresh vision and boldness. Choose today to align yourself with God. Choose today to "turn aside into the flame" of God's presence and receive fresh encouragement, fresh vision, fresh energy, and fresh oil.

It's more important to operate at maximum efficiency in the Kingdom than ever before -- that is, getting up each day and asking Him to help you be aware of the Kingdom-current of activity going on around you -- and jumping into Gods PURPOSE for your life.

Ask God for a revelation of your Christ calling. You carry the heart of a lion. You are made fearless in His image. You are created for an extraordinary life. Pray and soak in His plans for you. Open the door to your future.

THE CRUCIAL DAYS AT HAND

God is looking about the entire earth, searching for the upright in heart. To them, God will prove Himself strong and sure (2 Chronicles 16:9). The Sons of Issachar had an understanding of the time in which they lived, the season at hand, and were well aware of what the people of God should be accomplishing (1 Chronicles 12:32).

WHAT IS THE TIME IN WHICH WE NOW LIVE?

The Scripture declares that the entire earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God (Habakkuk 2:14). The Kingdom of God is not advancing commensurately with the earths population growth. This is due to inadequate teaching and preaching that keeps believers stagnate in their spiritual life.

This is the time to walk with true goals, aims and divine purposes, not drift about in an endless circle.

Ephesians 5:14-17 -- "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from the dead! And Christ will shine on you. So pay close attention to how you live. Don't live like ignorant men, but like wise men. Make good use of every occasion you get….try to find out what the Lord wants you to do."

These are days of DESTINY, filled with wonder and excitement, as the works of God are being displayed (Psalm 90:16-17). The awe of God is returning to the people of God, filling the hearts of God's people with great expectation (Isaiah 64:1). Expect to bring forth great and mighty things accomplished for the advancing of the Kingdom of God (Jeremiah 33:3).

CONCECRATED WITH UNSTOPPABLE AUTHORITY

The Spirit of God is anointing and empowering dedicated, consecrated Believers with unstoppable authority (Luke 10:19). These are ordinary people who do extraordinary exploits for the glory of God (Daniel 11:32b). They have embraced the promise from Christ concerning their Christ identity and what they can accomplish by His Spirit (John 14:12).

As followers of Christ, we are to be bold, brave, and extremely courageous. Scripture declares in the book of Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

WE ACCOMPLISH EXPLOITS THROUGH OUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST

This revelation is essential: we must embrace an understanding our identity in Christ and believe that we can accomplish exploits by His Spirit. This confidence can only come from factual, experiential union with Christ. By abiding in His manifested presence, we become bold and are able to stand firm; knowing our Christ identity.(Proverbs 28:1 and Colossians 2:9-10). God's Word declares that the fullness of the Godhead is in Christ and that we are complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10) and, therefore have a passion to disciple, equip, and send out others to move forward the Great Commssion.

Rejoice, for you can know for certain that the Kingdom is in you for such a day as this! Be confident: you are born for this day. Do not delay to move forward by faith, walking in victory and taking your place as an overcomer, embracing fully the DESTINY God has planned for you (see Ephesians 5:14-17 above).

AFFIRMATION:

I arise to the occasion and take my place as a victorious overcomer, standing strong and bold in God's CALLING on my life, declaring that the Kingdom of God is manifesting through my fruit bearing that remains as I disciple, equip, and send out others with an understanding of their Christ identity in obedience to Jesus (Matthew 28:19).

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

Statement of Faith https://www.nf127.org/statement-of-faith

Now, this isn't your typical "too much homework" or "I hate school" rant. I have legitimate reasons for not liking this course.

1. The final assignment has no rubric.

I repeat. Students do not have a copy of the grading rubric. This is a huge part of our grade, and we have zero idea how it will be graded.

Not that I know how that will impact my grade, because...

2. There isn't a reasonable grading scale.

The syllabus says that there are 40 points for all discussion posts combined (fine) and 60 points for all quizzes AND the final combined. Then it says that each quiz is worth 11 points. Unless the final grade is worth negative points, this is impossible. We have eight tests. 8 X 11 is more than 60.

3. Communication skills leave something to be desired.

I realize that this is a semester-long class crammed into four weeks. And I know some of the faculty very well, so I realize that my university sucks ass with how some of their staff is treated and how much warning and say they're given over the creation of their material, so I'm not going to gripe and moan about small things. But when I take a class, I expect a comprehensive syllabus, explanations for the relevance of assignments, and, you know, complete sentences.

This is a sixteen-week class crammed into four. Clear, concise communication between teachers and students is vital. It's also incredibly difficult when the teacher doesn't seem to proofread or plan anything she writes, and doesn't explain what she wants.

4. The extra-credit opportunities? Yeah. They're not possible.

They are nowhere on the syllabus, so I didn't even know they existed until we were sent an email. There are two of them. I can't do them because I don't have the materials. I have zero clue what one is, the other is a book. At this point, I won't have time to order it, have it shipped, and read it before I would need to submit the project, because this email was a reminder, not an announcement.

Secondly, the syllabus' very first line is that there are no required materials, and that all texts will be provided via Internet.

5. Articles and modules are disproportionate and disorganized.

I have two major qualms with this part.

The first is that there are modules where we have to read all the articles, and most of them are redundant. It's like reading the same things over and over, just published by different websites. Sometimes, one is an audio copy and the other is text. Sometimes they're the exact same thing, but one's .docx and the other is .pdf. We already have almost fifty articles to read in a span of three days, lady. Stop adding unnecessary material - if you must, at least organize it in folders or give them names like "Article 3 Audio" and "Article 3 Text."

Secondly, we have had more than fifty articles to read in one lone module before. When it came to the LGBT+ module? Six. And trust me, it's not because there's a shortage.

6. There is some ignorance in what she teaches.

She addressed a module as the LGBT+ section - fine, yes, it involved LGBT+ issues. But she claimed that it focused on sexual orientation, and asked questions in our discussions about sexual orientation. The articles she gave us said literally zip about sexual orientation. It was mostly about gender identity and legal/social struggles for transgender people.

Don't get me wrong, gender identity and transgender issues are all very serious and very important, but so is sexual orientation, and if you don't know the difference between these three terms, you should not be teaching about any of these three terms.

I was reading through some of my prior blogs and realized I never updated this one so here is the update.

Update:  ***This principal was no longer the principal in the fall and my understanding was given her retirement from the school district.***

The following is my assessment in the failure of Cooleemee Elementary school. This year is by far the worst I have had the unfortunate pleasure of dealing with this school system. Before I get into the problem and my conversation with the school principal and also the district superintendent, I will give you a few numbers and stats to back up my questioning of this school as to “What is the problem?”. Last year this school had 479 students in their school with an average of 511 students in the district for the elementary schools. The average class size for the 4th grade level was 23 in the district, while this school only had 22. Last year this school had a total of 37 classroom teachers which was 1 more than the district and state average. 100% of these teachers were fully licensed equal to the district and 2% higher than the state. Of these 37 classroom teachers 19% of them had advanced degrees which is far less than the district at 27% and the state at 28%. However, this school has 9 national board certified teachers which is 2 more than the average in the district and 4 more than the average in the state. With this it also has the highest turnover rate at 13% which is 3% higher than the district and 2% higher than the state. For the past two years our daughter has had problems with the end of year testing in the reading category. Last year in this school the 3rd grade class end of year test scores for reading were at 61.6% while the rest of the district was at 74.6%. The 4th grade class scores were at 65.2% while the district was at 82.6%. If this school has less students than the average in the district and less students per classroom than the district then the teacher interaction with each individual should be better. i would think that teachers would be able to have a better recognition of the students needs and fix any problems arising before that student gets behind since 100% of the teachers in this school are fully licensed with 9 of 37 teachers being national board certified. However, this is not the case and probably because only 19% of the teachers in this school have advanced degrees and there is a 13% turnover rate. If the teachers that teach in this school couldn’t apply themselves enough in their chosen profession to go on and get their advanced degrees and get national board certified to better teach our kids and prepare them, then how can we hold the child accountable for not knowing what is needed to pass the test given by the state. The overall reading scores for grades 3 thru 5 for this school was 68.5% while the entire district was at 79.7%. These numbers all mean something leading up to the end of year testing this year with my 4th grader. She got A’s, B’s, and C’s all year. A good student and never in trouble. She applies herself but just doesn’t test well. The reading test at end of year she had trouble with scoring the same on the re-test as the original test. As of the last day of school we still have not heard whether she would move on to the 5th grade. I called the school to speak with the principal that morning, however, she was not available to talk. She thought it was more valuable to hand out some awards at an assembly than to make sure that each of her students were set academically and knew before they went home if they passed or not. I left a message for her to call me back as soon as she was available. I then called the district superintendent to speak with him about this situation. My daughter was at home now sick to her stomach. She hadn’t slept well in couple days worried to death about her test and if she passed. So, I called the district office to speak to the school superintendent about the situation and to fined out why these kids and parents don’t know by end of school year. He was not available due to graduation rehearsal and I left message to call me when he got in. Around lunch time is when I really got upset with this school and has led me to ask the question “What’s the problem?”. I received a call back from the principal. She said that I must have talked to the superintendent because he called her. I advised her no but I did leave a message with my concern and I am awaiting his call. I then proceeded to ask her why we don’t have an answer as of now which was within the last hour or so of school on the last day when the conversation went down hill fast. She informed me she was awaiting all the test results back. I advised her what the score was and she sounded a little shocked that I knew and she said “Oh you have it?” I advised her yes we have them so why do we not have an answer yet and why is my daughter sick and worried not knowing. She then began to tell me she got the scores late the previous night and hasn’t had time to talk to the teachers yet because of her handing out awards that morning. I then proceeded to ask when we would know and she said monday they would hold a review board in which we could come talk for 10 minutes and tell them why our daughter should move on to the 5th grade. Are you kidding me? Is this how the education system works? The child can get good grades all year and because of one test at the end of the year we have to go to a review board so that this principal can play ruler of the school and say yes or no. I had already done my research before I called her. One thing I can guarantee if i’m going to grill you and question your decisions or choices or lack their of I will guarantee you I already did my research and know the answers to my questions. i asked her how many children were in her school. She told me 479 (I believe is the number she told me). I asked her how many of her students had to retest. She said she didn’t know how many in the district and I corrected her with I asked you about your school and again asked her the question. She tells me 25%. My response was so you don’t think there is a problem with 25% of your student body having to retest because they failed the test. Of the 479 students K thru 2 don’t test so only 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders test. So the total number of students testing was less than the 479 and 25% of them failed. Are you kidding me you really don’t think you have a problem in your school with that much failure. This principal really hit me wrong when she immediately responded to my question with the statement that 83% of her student body is on free or reduced lunch program and the teachers are teaching them the best they can. OH HELL KNOW!!! Did you really make a reference implying my child is a slow learner or stupid. I immediately responded “I don’t give a dam if your whole school is on free lunch program, you teach those kids the same way and make sure they know the material”. Who the hell is this person? Obviously she is about to know my name really well. So back to my question of “What’s the problem?”. I believe it probably starts with the profiling that this principal is doing. She basically implied since my daughter is on a reduced lunch program she is not capable of learning and the teachers are teaching her best that she can learn the material because she can’t afford to pay full price for lunch. Are you kidding me? So a school that has a 13% turnover rate and only 19% of the teachers with an advanced degree and the fact that you profile the kids wouldn’t be the problem in the low testing scores compared to the district and the state? I called the superintendent back immediately and caught him just walking into his office. I advised him again of the situation and also advised him of my conversation with the principal and that I was pissed. He told me that she should probably not have said teaching them the best they can. I went off immediately and said that no your statement should be that she was wrong and should have never made a statement like that. I reiterated my position on every kid in that school. He said that he would talk to her. I am still awaiting a phone call back on that matter. Today my wife went and sat at a review board to get our daughter into the 5th grade. After waiting over 1 1/2 hours with many angry parents she finally got to speak. The principal advised her they decided to place her in the 5th grade because they believe she can do the work. The didn’t pass her but they placed her. Again, who the hell is this principal trying to play the almighty. (you may go on and no you can’t). What happened to school conferences with the teacher and parents sitting down and discussing it. The teacher is with the student and knows them and what they can do and the parents also know this. They should decide what is best not some principal that profiles a child’s intelligence by whether they pay full price for lunch or not. When she mentioned the test score the principal did tell my wife that she had a conversation with me already. My wife advised her oh yes you did and he is not happy. I will be in contact with the superintendent again over her statements and when I get done I will be in touch with the state. This matter will be done when her resignation is read at a school board meeting. You will not profile my child or any other kid in this school. Free and reduced lunch program are not synonymous with slow learner or stupid.