So yesterday I, along with my coworkers, were introduced to this concept that even though the school district paid tens, or hundreds of thousands of dollars to a corporation to create and maintain a system for students to test on called LEAP 360, and that we were responsible for grading the assessments. That unfair amount of tedious work is to be done by Friday, or, tomorrow. The state has no sense of time and they must think that we’re on the clock 24/7.
I am also the coordinator for my school’s grade recovery program. Grade recovery, for you older folks, is a system that allows for students to recover one F they’ve earned on their report card. A very good program for students to take advantage of. The problem is, I always have a LOT of names to fish through each grading period. Stack on top of this, we are at midterms. I am now also obligated to mail letters to a very large number of parents to inform them their child is in danger of failing 7th or 8th grade, whether it be from absences or grades.
I am also an uncertified, semi-knowledgeable, slightly under trained special education teach with a few big IEP deadlines to hit by next week and a HUGE deadline to hit by the end of the month (literally 2 months of work to be done in a matter of 3 or so weeks.)
I am also an English teacher. So you know my job is already hard as that, but stack on the fact that the expectations of my state employers believe it’s okay to hold these lofty, unreasonable expectations. “You have to raise all of your 8th grade students to a mastery on their state test.” I teach students who read on a first and second grade level, and they can barely scrawl a legible, sensible sentence.
Wow, I sound bitchy this afternoon.