Okay here is another issue I am dealing with. My son is in an Algebra class, the teacher is off on family leave for her new baby, and he has a long term substitute. I spoke to the sub, nice enough, she is a 35 year experienced teacher, but it is in elementary ed and not the higher maths. I am concerned that my son may not receive the foundation he needs for future courses, because of this block scheduling thing, the class will be about finished by the time the regular teacher returns. In my situation it appears that the school is trying to address the issue. But when I inquired I was told that because it was a substitute that the parents did not have to be notified of the out of field teacher.
And that is my issue. If the school district is trying to open up the lines of communication with parents and make everyone a part of their child's education, then why would they use a loophole and not notify parents of what is going on? This gives them an excellent opportunity to communicate with the parents as to how the situation is being addressed and to even ask the parents to participate by paying closer attention to what my be happening in that class.
Keeping in mind that the school is suppose to notify parents of out of field teachers that their child may have, or at least that is my understanding.
wrobertwrobertBeach FanaticDeFuniak Springs4,132 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
wrobertBeach FanaticDeFuniak Springs4,132 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic7,100 views
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43GoodWitch58GoodWitch58Beach Fanatic4,810 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
Robert, I did some substitute teaching at Walton High last year. My suggestion for all School Board members and candidates is to look closely into that program.
I won't be going back. IMO the district needs to have some training, orientation, and general attention paid to the sub. program. Right now, it seems all you need to do is to know someone in the school system, get your fingerprints taken, and you are good to go.
If you want more details send me a PM
I won't be going back. IMO the district needs to have some training, orientation, and general attention paid to the sub. program. Right now, it seems all you need to do is to know someone in the school system, get your fingerprints taken, and you are good to go.
If you want more details send me a PM
ShallowsNoleShallowsNoleBeach FanaticPt Washington4,279 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
ShallowsNoleBeach FanaticPt Washington4,279 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticUntil you get officially elected and are able to check into the sub program, monitor your son's progress closely. If he hits a roadblock, steer him towards www.math.com . We have used it frequently over the years - that is, until my math-challenged son stopped paying attention to my suggestions.
Note - don't know about Walton, but SW's progress reports are coming out Monday 9/15. :cool:
Note - don't know about Walton, but SW's progress reports are coming out Monday 9/15. :cool:
Beach RunnerBeach Runnerbeats on hoodNear the ATL and in SoWal as often as possible15,269 postsJoined View profileMessagebeats on hood
Beach Runnerbeats on hoodNear the ATL and in SoWal as often as possible15,269 postsJoined View profileMessagebeats on hoodI have taught some of these math ed majors at the University of Florida and the University of South Carolina. It is really scary how poor their math skills are.
Reminds me of the avatar that says, "Find x." The response is, "Here it is."
I have a math ed student in my calculus class. A calculus problem boiled down to computing 4 times 16. She said she didn't have a calculator. I said, "You don't need a calculator for this. You should be able to do this in your head."
So here's how she did it.
16
+16
___
32
+16
___
48
+16
___
64
She can't freakin' multiply!!!!! Obviously the kids from her generation are so dependent upon calculators that they don't know how to do simple multiplication.:bang:
Another student said he couldn't compute the square root of 9 because he didn't have a calculator. Jesus. :bang:
After that class I went to the bookstore. A calculus student from another class works there. When I walked in, the bookstore manager said, "Oh, there's Dr. BR. She'll know the answer." I said, "I'll be happy to help." She said, "What's the cube root of 150?" I said, "It's not an integer. You'll need a calculator or either use Excel." Well, first of all, she had no clue what the word "integer" means. Then she had a basic calculator that didn't do exponentiation. :bang:
Reminds me of the avatar that says, "Find x." The response is, "Here it is."
I have a math ed student in my calculus class. A calculus problem boiled down to computing 4 times 16. She said she didn't have a calculator. I said, "You don't need a calculator for this. You should be able to do this in your head."
So here's how she did it.
16
+16
___
32
+16
___
48
+16
___
64
She can't freakin' multiply!!!!! Obviously the kids from her generation are so dependent upon calculators that they don't know how to do simple multiplication.:bang:
Another student said he couldn't compute the square root of 9 because he didn't have a calculator. Jesus. :bang:
After that class I went to the bookstore. A calculus student from another class works there. When I walked in, the bookstore manager said, "Oh, there's Dr. BR. She'll know the answer." I said, "I'll be happy to help." She said, "What's the cube root of 150?" I said, "It's not an integer. You'll need a calculator or either use Excel." Well, first of all, she had no clue what the word "integer" means. Then she had a basic calculator that didn't do exponentiation. :bang:
Until you get officially elected and are able to check into the sub program, monitor your son's progress closely. If he hits a roadblock, steer him towards www.math.com . We have used it frequently over the years - that is, until my math-challenged son stopped paying attention to my suggestions.
Note - don't know about Walton, but SW's progress reports are coming out Monday 9/15. :cool:
The election is just going to delay my concern about this problem until November 5th. Then, win or lose, something is going to have to be done. Or at least we are going to spend an awful lot of time talking about it at board meetings.
30ARosie30ARosieBeach ComberRosemary Beach19 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Comber
Okay here is another issue I am dealing with. My son is in an Algebra class, the teacher is off on family leave for her new baby, and he has a long term substitute. I spoke to the sub, nice enough, she is a 35 year experienced teacher, but it is in elementary ed and not the higher maths. I am concerned that my son may not receive the foundation he needs for future courses, because of this block scheduling thing, the class will be about finished by the time the regular teacher returns. In my situation it appears that the school is trying to address the issue. But when I inquired I was told that because it was a substitute that the parents did not have to be notified of the out of field teacher.
And that is my issue. If the school district is trying to open up the lines of communication with parents and make everyone a part of their child's education, then why would they use a loophole and not notify parents of what is going on? This gives them an excellent opportunity to communicate with the parents as to how the situation is being addressed and to even ask the parents to participate by paying closer attention to what my be happening in that class.
Keeping in mind that the school is suppose to notify parents of out of field teachers that their child may have, or at least that is my understanding.
Being a retired teacher I understand in field/out of field reporting. Substitute teachers are not considered full-time employees therefore they do not have to be reported as in field/out of field under the No Child Left Behind Act. As a veteran teacher I can tell you that a teacher that has developed good teaching techniques can teach any subject once they have studied the content. Without strong techniques, in field/out of field, substitute, or full-time employee knowing the content doesn't matter. I think your concerns are unfounded and that probably comes from the fact that you don't have an education background, perhaps you should trust the professional educators that are making the decisions it seems to be working. It is my understanding that your opponent is a life-long educator.
NoHallNoHallhmmmm......can't rememberNorthern Hall County, GA9,032 postsJoined View profileMessagehmmmm......can't remember
NoHallhmmmm......can't rememberNorthern Hall County, GA9,032 postsJoined View profileMessagehmmmm......can't rememberIt is my understanding that, nationwide, there is a shortage of teachers, particularly in the middle and high school grades. In other words, you're stuck with what you can get.
CPortCPortBeach FanaticClearbranch, Miss1,791 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
CPortBeach FanaticClearbranch, Miss1,791 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticYour luck to have a certified person in the room!
It is my understanding that, nationwide, there is a shortage of teachers, particularly in the middle and high school grades. In other words, you're stuck with what you can get.
School board chairman tells me that we get 35 qualified applicants for each opening in Walton County.
NoHallNoHallhmmmm......can't rememberNorthern Hall County, GA9,032 postsJoined View profileMessagehmmmm......can't remember
NoHallhmmmm......can't rememberNorthern Hall County, GA9,032 postsJoined View profileMessagehmmmm......can't rememberSchool board chairman tells me that we get 35 qualified applicants for each opening in Walton County.
If that's true, you're lucky. I'm not trying to dispute you at all, but if you'll allow me to play devil's advocate: In the last several years around here, I've heard folks manipulate statistics according to the need of the day. A principal/school board will make a similar statement to the one you made and it turns out that "qualified applicants" is a matter of interpretation. 8 applicants are just putting out feelers because they're nervous/disgruntled with their current job. 7 live out of state, and are looking at options. 9 are 22-year olds who just graduated, but who will end up doing something different in the fall (move out of the area, go back to grad school full time, etc.) 11 are "qualified," but not at all appropriate--fired from previous jobs for inappropriate conduct or bad performance reviews, left because of rehab or other issues, etc. 35 degree-holding applicants, and still no one to teach algebra to Junior...
But then again, you live at the beach. Maybe you really do have that many good ones! 😀
Being a retired teacher I understand in field/out of field reporting. Substitute teachers are not considered full-time employees therefore they do not have to be reported as in field/out of field under the No Child Left Behind Act. As a veteran teacher I can tell you that a teacher that has developed good teaching techniques can teach any subject once they have studied the content. Without strong techniques, in field/out of field, substitute, or full-time employee knowing the content doesn't matter. I think your concerns are unfounded and that probably comes from the fact that you don't have an education background, perhaps you should trust the professional educators that are making the decisions it seems to be working. It is my understanding that your opponent is a life-long educator.
That she is. But my concern, for my child, actually came up when I was contacted by an educator that said I needed to be aware of the situation as it relates to my child.
Are we now going to go back to the discussion of just because it is legal, that makes it right? If any school district wants to reach out to parents, I believe it is better to go out of the way to let them know what is going on with their children. Not hiding behind rather or not the action is legally required.
And as far as working I see where Walton County, which was ranked 12th in the State of Florida in percent of students passing the 10th grade math standards in 2006/2007 appears to have fallen to the rank of 31st in 2007/2008. Not being a life long educator myself, maybe what they are doing is working. I am just not seeing it. And since you mentioned No Child Left Behind, Walton High School has failed to meet the standard of Adequate Yearly Progress since the standard was instituted from what I am reading. This recently resulted in the change of the Principal.
So yes, as a parent, I have a concern. Most of it was have been handled if they would have just let me know what was going on as it happened.
beachmousebeachmouseBeach FanaticBluewater Bay, FL3,499 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Fanatic
beachmouseBeach FanaticBluewater Bay, FL3,499 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach FanaticSchool board chairman tells me that we get 35 qualified applicants for each opening in Walton County.
Which doesn't really say much because you can easily be getting 100+ applicants for a middle school English position, and 5 applications for the higher level math position. And those five calculus teachers are probably getting a lot of hits from prospective employers elsewhere.
My Mom used to do a little on the hiring side of a mid-sized urban district. Even though they paid well, they were always having problems getting enough special education, bilingual, physics, and calculus/trig teachers. English and history were the ones where they'd get enough applications that they could be extremely picky; those hard to fill positions much less so. If you had the right bilingual endorsement on your degree and spoke passable Vietnamese, you'd get hired on the spot and pretty much never be fired no matter how horrible of a teacher you were because they knew the odds were against them when it came to finding another certified ESL Vietnamese-speaking teacher.
30ARosie30ARosieBeach ComberRosemary Beach19 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Comber
That she is. But my concern, for my child, actually came up when I was contacted by an educator that said I needed to be aware of the situation as it relates to my child.
Are we now going to go back to the discussion of just because it is legal, that makes it right? If any school district wants to reach out to parents, I believe it is better to go out of the way to let them know what is going on with their children. Not hiding behind rather or not the action is legally required.
And as far as working I see where Walton County, which was ranked 12th in the State of Florida in percent of students passing the 10th grade math standards in 2006/2007 appears to have fallen to the rank of 31st in 2007/2008. Not being a life long educator myself, maybe what they are doing is working. I am just not seeing it. And since you mentioned No Child Left Behind, Walton High School has failed to meet the standard of Adequate Yearly Progress since the standard was instituted from what I am reading. This recently resulted in the change of the Principal.
So yes, as a parent, I have a concern. Most of it was have been handled if they would have just let me know what was going on as it happened.
31st? Wow that means they are in the middle for the number of counties in the state, I am sure there are always ways to improve and no one said they were perfect. I am sure you are concerned about your child's education and the education that he/she is receiving at a Walton County School, but if you don't like it you can always check into homeschooling.
scooterbug44scooterbug44SoWal ExpertSowal16,706 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal Expert
scooterbug44SoWal ExpertSowal16,706 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal ExpertI thought there was a time limit for how long a class could be taught by an uncertified (in that subject) teacher. :idontno:
For example, a one day to one week sub didn't have to be certified in that subject, but anyone taking over the class or teaching it for longer than that did.
Or am I confusing Scooterbugland w/ reality again? ;-)
For example, a one day to one week sub didn't have to be certified in that subject, but anyone taking over the class or teaching it for longer than that did.
Or am I confusing Scooterbugland w/ reality again? ;-)
31st? Wow that means they are in the middle for the number of counties in the state, I am sure there are always ways to improve and no one said they were perfect. I am sure you are concerned about your child's education and the education that he/she is receiving at a Walton County School, but if you don't like it you can always check into homeschooling.
Touche'. No need to try to make the system better. I should just pay my taxes and learn to like it or go somewhere else.
I thought there was a time limit for how long a class could be taught by an uncertified (in that subject) teacher. :idontno:
For example, a one day to one week sub didn't have to be certified in that subject, but anyone taking over the class or teaching it for longer than that did.
Or am I confusing Scooterbugland w/ reality again? ;-)
Yep. I am afraid you are. I would like to see something similar to your thoughts implemented. That way the parents would be more involved. At least you would hope so.
scooterbug44scooterbug44SoWal ExpertSowal16,706 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal Expert
scooterbug44SoWal ExpertSowal16,706 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal ExpertWhat is the point of certifying a teacher in a subject if they can teach a class for months w/o being certified? :idontno:
A certification in the subject you are teaching seems like a pretty low/basic standard, so it concerns me.
A certification in the subject you are teaching seems like a pretty low/basic standard, so it concerns me.
What is the point of certifying a teacher in a subject if they can teach a class for months w/o being certified? :idontno:
A certification in the subject you are teaching seems like a pretty low/basic standard, so it concerns me.
The problem here is long term substitute teachers. The sub program has some loopholes from what I gather. Normally you are notified of regular ed out of field teachers at the beginning of each year. The teachers just have to work on getting the training needed to get into field. I think the best approach would be for us to give teachers monetary incentives to get in field. One of the biggest out of field problems has always been lack of English as a Second Language certification. So if this is something that is required from everyone, pay those that have it more, and the rest will surely want to get it.
paradiseat30aparadiseat30aBeach Comber21 postsJoined View profileMessageBeach Comber
Touche'. No need to try to make the system better. I should just pay my taxes and learn to like it or go somewhere else.Do you know if there have been any formal parent organizations formed out at SW High to address the above discussed issues here?
JdargJdargSoWal Expert18,040 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal Expert
JdargSoWal Expert18,040 postsJoined View profileMessageSoWal ExpertDo you know if there have been any formal parent organizations formed out at SW High to address the above discussed issues here?
I haven't heard of any sub problems at SWHS, but I also don't think we currently have a long term sub that is teaching out of area.
To me this is an issue that needs to be addressed at the school board level.
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