Dreaded Inservice

Well, I thought I'd try to post this morning, but I have to warn you that Smokey the cat is sitting up here on the computer desk and is being very affectionate. He's in a great mood, having just eaten his breakfast, and he's wanting some attention. This cat, I tell you, he just wants to be with people. He's so different from my other cat of 20 years who was very much in control of the people she lived with. She was properly aloof a lot of the time. This cat, on the other hand, wants to be right in the middle of what you are doing. He follows me around the house like a puppy, and I think I mentioned earlier that he comes when ya call him. He's a dog in Turkish Van fur.

We have "inservice" today. I'm sure those of you who have kids in the school system are thrilled with inservice days, just like I was when my kids were small. At one school, I'm attending a morning session about implementation of a school-wide behavior plan (BIST). This afternoon I'm heading downtown for some additional training with other psychologists on mental health issues. I know inservice days are a pain-we seem to have one about every month-but they do provide staff with training and what the district calls professional development. They allow teachers especially, time to look over classroom data to see if objectives are being met, and to revise plans if that's what's needed. In case you've been buried under a rock recently, the federal government now drives the teaching profession. As a teacher, your classroom must meet federal mandates of competency, and getting your kids to achieve those standards on district and state assessments are what every teacher from third grade on up MUST do. If you don't, people notice. You are targeted for more training, more meetings, and more urgent "memos". You might be eligible for extra help in your classroom, depending. You might be tempted to bring "slow" kids to the Child Study Team for evaluation-these kids, if they are labeled special ed, might do better if they can take an alternative assessment. If things don't progress, then you might, in the end, be reassigned to another school, and another whole team steps into your school to fix the problems you created.

The teaching profession is not what it once was, although, not all change is bad. There are some very good things happening in our schools, especially for special ed kids, that didn't happen 30 years ago. Or even 10 years ago.

Well, it's off to meetings. And a good Friday to all of you!