Re: Building classes for the next school year

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I appreciate your interest in fairness. What I as a rookie teacher
experienced was that ALL of the behavior problems were dumped on
me, a new hire who had less experience than anyone else, was hired
in late August so had little time to prepare, etc. Brilliant plan!
Inspired leadership! So convenient for the veteran teachers!
I agree that the only fair thing is to divvy up the most difficult
kids,and no one teacher should have all his/her class periods be a
horrible ordeal, or feel like they are being "punished."
A strong administrator should expect all the teachers to take their
share.
It certainly stands to reason that the more experience a teacher has
the more capable they should be expected to be in dealing with
difficult kids. BUT, rather than say that if they can't take the
heat they should get out, why not show some strong leadership by
initiating some means of helping everyone improve? It need not mean
hiring expensive consultants. Dr. Fred Jones has a whole thick
manual free online for in-school "teacher study groups" to use with
his book, Tools for Teachers. As far as I can see, the only expense
would be copies of his book for each teacher. Why not do this, as
opposed to having teachers competing for the "easy" classes and
dumping on the rookie teachers or on each other? Kind of like a
rising tide lifts all boats, as opposed to shape up or ship out. The
students would likely benefit, and maybe teacher collegiality would
improve, although there would undoubtedly be some griping from some
about having to attend the study group. Do the principal/leaders
have the authority and/or the backbone to make this happen?
I would really love to hear principal replies on this.

On 4/21/12, Marla wrote:
> KK,
> I appreciated your response and thoughts. One problem that has
> happened in the past (and I'm trying hard to avoid that problem)
> is placing too many students of one category in any one class.
> For example, the previous administrator would put the most
> difficult behavior problems in one classroom. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY
> NOT FAIR TO THE TEACHER or THE STUDENTS. I simply won't allow
> that. What happened was the most skilled teachers were PUNISHED
> for competence! My feeling is that if other teachers can't
> handle challenging kids, they are not real teachers. Why should
> the most skilled teachers have to take on more than his/her share
> of discipline problems because the teacher next door doesn't have
> a clue as to how to handle them?
>
> Another thing, is that difficult assignments need to be passed
> around. No teacher enjoys combination classes especially a K/1
> or 3/4 combo. However, if one teacher has to do that SO do the
> others. I'm not worried about why this one can't, or that one
> can't, FAIR IS FAIR! I realize I can't legally say what's really
> on my mind. That is if a teacher can't take the heat, he/she
> should get out!!!! It's safe to say that here.
>
> First, we are there for the kids. I feel if the teachers are
> happy and treated FAIRLY, a better enviroment is created for the
> kids. Stress doesn't help anyone and why should any one teacher
> take more than his/her fair share?
>
> Also, I believe in as equal as possible, division of the
> workload. If one class has more behavioral problems, language
> issues, etc. etc., then there are many more SST's and IEPs.
> These meetings cut into planning time. The load should be as
> balanced as possible.
>
> Funny thing, I have learned in my few years as an
> administrator, the most competent teachers are also the most
> willing to go the extra mile. They are the ones who volunteer
> for difficult assignments when there is only one of those per
> grade level. Someone has to do it. Yet, my least competent
> teachers are always in the background finding reasons that they
> can't take that combo. or whatever.
>
> It's a tough call. I can understand some of what you are saying,
> but fairness is a huge issue with me.
>
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>> In our school, classes are not created randomly. Parents may
>> make requests, which may or may not be honored. Teachers meet
>> as grade levels with administration to create the classes, and
>> administrators make the final decisions.
>>
>> A lot of the placement issues depend on your school situation.
>> For example, if you have several English language learners and
>> most of them speak Spanish at home, and one teacher in a
>> particular grade level speaks Spanish, it can be helpful for
>> the students and parents to have a cluster of those students in
>> that teacher's classroom. Some students have extreme
>> behavioral needs and would not do well in a classroom with
>> several students who also exhibit those needs. Highly advanced
>> students should have a peer group within their classroom (if
>> you have a cluster of 3-4 highly advanced students in a grade
>> level, put them together, and ensure each of the other
>> classrooms in that grade level also have a group of
>> high-achieving students--this avoids the problem of "the smart
>> class" label. Many teachers would prefer to work with
>> motivated, above-average students than with highly advanced
>> students, who require more extensive differentiation and
>> compacting, and sometimes, social skills interventions).
>>
>> Even in kindergarten, when the staff isn't familiar with
>> individual students, you can anticipate needs with thoughtful
>> grouping. For example, I have seen class groupings where 80%
>> of the students had birthdays in March or later (this made for
>> a rough September and October!), or classes where the majority
>> of kindergarten students were only children.
>>
>> I think it's more important to be thoughtful and do your best
>> to set up students and teachers for the most successful year
>> possible than it is to be able to say "It's completely fair,
>> because all the assignments were random."
>>
>> On 4/21/12, Marla wrote:
>>> How are classes assigned at your school? Are they done
>>> randomly? Do teachers build the classes for the next grade
>>> level? I have always been against that practice becauuse
>>> politics enters in. Also, do you honor parent request?
>>> I personally feel it should be done randomly--high,
>>> medium , low, behavior, special issues etc. I feel parents
>>> should wait 10 days after the school year starts to change
>>> to the preferred teacher. Nine times out of ten, a change
>>> won't occur and the child does not want to be moved. Too
>>> many times when teachers build the classes and too many
>>> parent requests are honored, classes become stacked. OI
>>> want a fair system across the board. Please tell me how
>>> you accomplish this. Thanks for your help.

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