Calling all teachers, admin, etc. If your school uses Standard Base Report Cards, please let me know. I am doing my final 80 hour practicum on this topic and would like to use some examples of schools that use them to further my research. I am focusing my research on grades 1-2 and will be piloting the report cards to go along with their regular report cards. I want parents to be able to understand why their child got an "unsatisfactory" in spelling, math, etc. with the help of this Standard Base Report card. I will be gathering information from the grade level teachers on what they would like and then create a report card to go along with the regular report card that is sent home. I will then survey the parents on what they liked and did not like about the report, was it helpful for you, and so on.
If your school uses this form of grading please leave a comment with your school's website or your email address so I can further discuss with you how your school uses these report cards.
Thank you!
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Definition
I taught for three years at a high school in Southern Illinois, before I was forced out by administration. I am a teacher, a crafter, a wife, a lover of history and much more, but these words do not define me. I suffer from a mental illness and that seemed to define who I was to the administration. I have been dealing with my illness for about three years now, some days are better than others.
I say that these words do not define what I am, they only give you a glimpse into what I love in this world. When I started to inform my employer what was going on with my in my last year teaching there, they seemed supportive, but then the ambush came. (By the way, you are in no way obligated to inform your employer that you suffer from a mental illness.!) I was letting them know that I might need to take some time off to get better and they seemed to support that. I should have played my cards closer to my chest thinking back on it, but I felt that I was going to be supported. I was thinking of my students and not being in the classroom for an extended period of time and how that would effect them. I had been suffering major panic attacks from the start of my last year there and they were only getting worse. The day that I was told that I was non-tenured and that the "board likes to get rid of problems before they become bigger." I crumbled and this triggered a panic attack from hell. My husband works at the same school and was brought in. They knew what they were doing. They knew I suffered from panic attacks, they knew that I would panic, they had a sub already lined up...basically I was ambushed and forced to resign because of something I had very little control over. Yes, medication and therapy were helping, but this is not something that just goes away. It stays with you. In my mind, I see my illness as not only mental but physical. Some only see it as an "invisible illness." not realizing that it takes a toll on your physical health as well. Would they have done this to someone who was non-tenured that had cancer? Probably not. Who knows with this school, they might have. (they are by no means a standard to reach towards.)
My point is, putting words on a person that define who or what they are can be damaging. I was defined by what my doctor notes to my employer was getting from me almost on a weekly basis. I was not looked at as someone that engaged her students, had a wonderful relationship with her students, and had an overall great evaluation history. I was defined by two words and those two words only: mental illness.
Once I was gone from the school I had students emailing me asking when I was coming back and that they hated the sub. All I could do was say to them, that it was not my decision that I was not there and they just needed to do well in school. Did the admin think about what it would do to the students. Did they once stop and think about how the students would react when they came in next Monday and the room was stripped of all the wonderful things I had filled it with to make it warm and inviting? NO! They did not think of any of that. They saw me as a liability-even though they were not following the letter of the law at all-but I fought that and eventually that was taken care of. But what it boils down to is, that they did not think how this action would define my students semester or how it would define my confidence in myself.
It has been two years this February that I haven't had my own classroom. I have come to terms with that. I started my Specialist program in the Fall of 2014 and will be completed with the my Specialist Degree this Fall. (then I start my Doctorate in the Spring of 2017) I have come a long way. I know that my purpose is bigger than being at that school. I know that I am not defined by what medical issues I deal with. I do know that I was meant to have an impact on the education system in someway-that has yet to be revealed. I know that I am a great teacher and love my students.
I also know that I have a platform to speak out about my experience and help others have an open dialogue about mental illness...it is not something to afraid, it can be scary, but you CAN live with it and that's just it, you live with it, it is NOT who you ARE! I am a teacher, a student, a wife, a sister, the lady that has a pretty tichel to wear on her head for every outfit, I am a woman that is confident enough to talk about my experience and assure people that I am doing just fine!
Go out and learn something new today!
I say that these words do not define what I am, they only give you a glimpse into what I love in this world. When I started to inform my employer what was going on with my in my last year teaching there, they seemed supportive, but then the ambush came. (By the way, you are in no way obligated to inform your employer that you suffer from a mental illness.!) I was letting them know that I might need to take some time off to get better and they seemed to support that. I should have played my cards closer to my chest thinking back on it, but I felt that I was going to be supported. I was thinking of my students and not being in the classroom for an extended period of time and how that would effect them. I had been suffering major panic attacks from the start of my last year there and they were only getting worse. The day that I was told that I was non-tenured and that the "board likes to get rid of problems before they become bigger." I crumbled and this triggered a panic attack from hell. My husband works at the same school and was brought in. They knew what they were doing. They knew I suffered from panic attacks, they knew that I would panic, they had a sub already lined up...basically I was ambushed and forced to resign because of something I had very little control over. Yes, medication and therapy were helping, but this is not something that just goes away. It stays with you. In my mind, I see my illness as not only mental but physical. Some only see it as an "invisible illness." not realizing that it takes a toll on your physical health as well. Would they have done this to someone who was non-tenured that had cancer? Probably not. Who knows with this school, they might have. (they are by no means a standard to reach towards.)
My point is, putting words on a person that define who or what they are can be damaging. I was defined by what my doctor notes to my employer was getting from me almost on a weekly basis. I was not looked at as someone that engaged her students, had a wonderful relationship with her students, and had an overall great evaluation history. I was defined by two words and those two words only: mental illness.
Once I was gone from the school I had students emailing me asking when I was coming back and that they hated the sub. All I could do was say to them, that it was not my decision that I was not there and they just needed to do well in school. Did the admin think about what it would do to the students. Did they once stop and think about how the students would react when they came in next Monday and the room was stripped of all the wonderful things I had filled it with to make it warm and inviting? NO! They did not think of any of that. They saw me as a liability-even though they were not following the letter of the law at all-but I fought that and eventually that was taken care of. But what it boils down to is, that they did not think how this action would define my students semester or how it would define my confidence in myself.
It has been two years this February that I haven't had my own classroom. I have come to terms with that. I started my Specialist program in the Fall of 2014 and will be completed with the my Specialist Degree this Fall. (then I start my Doctorate in the Spring of 2017) I have come a long way. I know that my purpose is bigger than being at that school. I know that I am not defined by what medical issues I deal with. I do know that I was meant to have an impact on the education system in someway-that has yet to be revealed. I know that I am a great teacher and love my students.
I also know that I have a platform to speak out about my experience and help others have an open dialogue about mental illness...it is not something to afraid, it can be scary, but you CAN live with it and that's just it, you live with it, it is NOT who you ARE! I am a teacher, a student, a wife, a sister, the lady that has a pretty tichel to wear on her head for every outfit, I am a woman that is confident enough to talk about my experience and assure people that I am doing just fine!
Go out and learn something new today!
Updates
I have been updating my TPT store slowly, and creating new lessons to get ready for the next school year. I hope that I will have time to get enough new lesson completed before the end of July. I know teachers have already started looking! Please check the store and tell your history friends about the FB page and my store. Sharing is CARING!!!
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