History repeated itself yet again!!! Today, I received my teacher rating. Think of it as a teacher's report card given by Principal's to teachers. A teacher can received one of three grades:

S = Satisfactory
D = Doubtful
U = Unsatisfactory

My rating is - D

I was not happy. The form was blank except for a generic comment in the comment box. The "D" rating was written over a whited-out mistake. I don't pretend that I am perfect, because I am not. I just did not like the situation. At the very least, if I am not satisfactory, it would have been nice to have been told before that moment. Also, up until that moment, most of the vibes I was getting was that I would be satisfactory. I was observed 4 times this year, each of the 3 times AP 1 ended with the, "you have a great teacher speech to the students". In the hallway over the months, there have been several times, AP 1 has commented about how the students had better not be messing with this good teacher. The observations that I've received were always generic strengths with a weakness comment with the strength to balance things out.

I came to get my rating this morning during my preparation period. The secretary puts the papers at the end of her desk. She said this (sheet) is your rating for this year sign here (without even the suggestion that I should look it over). Once she sees that I am looking at the sheet front and back, then she said, "this is the rating that all first year teachers receive". I told her that I wasn't signing it. She said that that was my choice and took the papers. After speaking with a couple of teachers and trying to calm down. I spoke to one of the APs who suggested that I make an appointment to speak to the principal. As I was making the appointment, the secretary asked if I would have the union rep. in the meeting. She told me that she could not make the appointment until she knew if the union rep. would be attending the meeting or not. After letting the secretary know that the union rep. would be attending, she said that she would make the appointment and let me know when the appointment would be. About an half an hour later, the principal called me on the class phone to tell me the reason for the "D" rating was that the students' portfolio were not satisfactory when she last visited last month. Actually, it was two or three months ago that she last checked the portfolios. What is bothering me is that my positives outweigh my negatives (in no particular order):

1. I have near perfect attendance. Two unofficial latenesses(about 5 minutes) that were not recorded.
2. I have never missed a day of work.
3. I have dressed professionally every single day (white button-down shirt, black slacks, and a tie)
4. I have a fairly neat classroom. However, I have an extremely well organized teacher area. On day one, I cleaned out every closet and cabinet (not locked), grouped and organized the materials according their purpose.
5. Hallway bulletin boards always has most (if not all) of my students' work samples, not just a few samples of my top students.
6. I have a well-planned out plan book, color-coded boxes. Each box is usually filled-in even if the activity is repeat from day to day. I don't draw arrows symbolizing repeating activities, I write the activity out. Observed by the AP on 3 or 4 occasions throughout the school year.
7. I have a grade book packed-full of grades to support any grade written on any report card.
8. Students' Standardized test scores. 22 (out of 23) students passed both the Math and the ELA (English Language Arts) New York State Tests. That includes the 5 limited English speaking students, and it also includes the 2 IEP (learning difficulty students receiving "special" services).
9. I've invested over $1500 out of my own pocket this year on materials for my students and my classroom.
10. I've received 4 observations from the APs. Nothing verbal or written expressing doubts about me, my students, my teaching ability, or my classroom management.
11. Since the Math Coach reviewed a few of my students' portfolios, I've been working with my students improving their portfolios.
12. About 1/3 of the school year, I've eaten lunch with my students in the student cafeteria when the school aids complained about my students behavior. More that a few times, I've been the one to wipe down the tables when I arrived to pick up my students, and the tables were a mess, but most of the students had already been allowed to go outside.
13. I got about 12 students to type their personal poems on the classroom computers, the rest did it at home. In total, I had 22 third grade students submit a typed assignment.

Does the above list give doubts about my ability to teach and/or manage my students?

And what was the reason for the principal giving me a "D" rating:

1. The students' portfolios were not satisfactory.
2. I refused to attend in-house professional development even though, I was not required to attend due to being on a first-year teacher's pay scale. I won't even waste a minute explaining most of the "professional development" that has been offered.

Needless to say, this ruined my day. And almost as if on cue, my kids turned super hyper, my name-sign fell off my door, Hyper Screamer forgot to take his medicine, he was out of control.


Another incident that annoyed me.
Hyper Kid 1's mother came to pick him up (about 2:20pm -- yes, school ends at 3:00). Since he wanted the gum that his uncle had given him (I took it this morning after I told him I would if he started chewing it), he kept his mom waiting about 15 minutes in the hallway. I explained to the mom why her son was keeping her waiting, and....

...she continued to wait. I gave the gum to the mom, then Hyper Kid 1's uncle came in the room. HK1's 13 year old uncle! The uncle came in wanting HK to point out who was "bothering him". I told HK to tell his uncle of the kids, he has, kicked, hit, stolen from unprovoked. HK smiles. Uncle smacks him in the back of the head. And mom said nothing.

Earlier, the science teacher stopped by my classroom to drop off some certificates, and read Hyper Kid 1's personal poem on the bulletin board. She commented about the strangeness of a line "I'm afraid of tigers, bugs, and my uncle's darkroom at night". Since his uncle did not live with him, I really didn't think much of the line. The science teacher commented that some that hyper might have some issues that need to be addressed. I been putting off filling out the initial forms for months now. By the end of today, I was feeling like a total loser.

I could write more, but it is late.

Post Date - Wednesday, June 20, 2007 9:06pm