1/2/25

I recently received some feed back emails from teachers that I need to share with the group. This letter is in regards to the Middle School. Teachers at this school have to deal with the following problems that they would like to have fixed so that they can be more effective in their jobs. I'm sure that the same problems exist at each school yet I have only heard from AMS teachers so far.  have added my comments to each paragraph in the parenthesis.

1) One of the biggest problems at AMS is the schedule we have is not good for middle school students in general. The current schedule also causes a lot of gridlocking, which prevents students from taking elective classes they want. In turn, only 8th graders and band students get to choose their elective courses. Many teachers have issues keeping students engaged during the long blocks of time. It has been the belief of the downtown administration that a common planning by subject is beneficial, but this is what is causing the problems with our schedule. Moving to a 7 period day with grade-level based planning would be much more beneficial for both teachers and students. This may cause additional work on the part of administration and guidance to schedule these students accordingly, but instructionally, this would be a huge improvement. (CAN WE MAKE SCHOOL MORE INTERESTING AND PRODUCTIVE BY CHANGING TO A 7 PERIOD DAY IN ORDER TO GIVE ELECTIVES BACK TO THE STUDENTS? i BELIEVE THIS IS A GOOD IDEA)

2) Another huge struggle we have as teachers is there is no anonymous feedback mechanism. Each teacher has a leadership representative for their department that they can share concerns with, and there is a Teacher Advisory Committee that meets with the superintendent to do the same. These groups do not take anonymous suggestions. Often the concerns are swept under the rug or dismissed as problems that "can't be solved." (WHY NOT ACCEPT "ANONYMOUS" FEEDBACK? IF TEACHERS ARE CONCERNED TO SPEAK OUT TO MAKE THINGS BETTER, WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM THEY WORK UNDER? THESE IDEAS WERE RECEIVED BY ANONYMOUS TEACHERS AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED EVEN WITHOUT A NAME ATTACHED TO THEM))

3) As to the question you raised with money and supplies to teachers, we are prohibited by the county's policies to solicit donations (money or objects) "on school property during school hours." Some teachers have made amazon lists in the past but were told not to post or share them due to this policy. However, if the group were to ASK teachers for their Amazon wish lists and post them somewhere and encourage donations of any kind (gift cards or items), that could be a way around the policy. Amazon wish lists would be easier than donating money as it would allow teachers to choose what they need/want and get them shipped directly to them. (I WILL DEDICATE A PAGE ON THE WEBSITE FOR TEACHER'S TO SUBMIT THEIR AMAZON WISH LISTS FOR PUBLICATION. PLEASE EMAIL THOSE LISTS TO ME FOR INCLUSION. IF THIS IS A PROBLEM FOR THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR SOME REASON, WE CAN FIGURE OUT A 3RD PARTY ORDERING SOLUTION IF WE HAVE TO).

4) A growing problem at the middle school (and perhaps all of our schools, but I am not sure) is that behaviors are left to the teachers to deal with in the classrooms. There's no option to "send a kid out" without first documenting multiple attempts over many days to correct the behavior and confirmed parent phone calls about the behavior. In theory this sounds like it is a great idea, keeping kids in the room learning and ensuring that communication with parents is happening. However, in practice, the disruptive students are preventing the entire class from learning, the teacher is having to focus most of their class time on correcting behavior, and then, at the end of the day, if they can remember all of the students and incidents that occurred, they have to call home about each one and document it to administration to be able to move to any "bigger" consequence. Middle school is a time that students need to learn to be accountable for their behaviors and how they impact others. We are missing this opportunity at the expense of our entire school population, and wearing out our teachers by preventing them from being able to actually teach the students who are ready to learn. We can't continue in this way and think that our students will benefit. (ALLOWING TROUBLE STUDENTS TO STAY IN THE CLASSROOM & DISTRACT THOSE TRYING TO LEARN IS UNACCEPTABLE IN MY OPINION. STUDENTS WHO CAUSE TROUBLE SHOULD BE SENT TO THE OFFICE WHERE THEIR PARENT(S) ARE CONTACTED AND INFORMED IMMEDIATELY. PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE DOLED OUT AS NECCESSARY. PARENTS NEED TO BE COMPLETELY INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS SO THEY ARE AWARE OF THE TROUBLE THEIR CHILD IS CAUSING AND WORK TOGETHER WITH THE SCHOOL TO REMEDY THIS BEHAVIOR. IT IS UNFAIR TO THE OTHER STUDENTS WHO ARE BEHAVING PROPERLY AND TRYING TO LEARN. YEARS AGO, IF YOU WERE SENT TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE YOU KNEW YOU WERE IN TROUBLE AND MOST KIDS WERE AFRAID OF THAT POSSIBILITY BECAUSE THEN THEY HAD TO GO HOME AND EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO THEIR PARENTS WHO ALSO PUNISHED THEM. WE NEED TO BRING SOME OF THESE THINGS BACK TO KEEP KIDS IN LINE, AND IT CAN ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED WITH MUTUAL COOPERATION AND RESPECT BY THE SCHOOL AND PARENTS).

These are some good points brought up by these teachers and to me, it doesn't look to be that difficult to implement these types of changes to help improve the school day for everyone involved. Hopefully these concerns will be taken seriously and action on solving them forthcoming!