Education Nation

What a touching video!!!!!!! I loved this, all the teachers with raw and real concerns that they actually get to voice and be heard. Amazing! I also would have to say i agreed with the majority of teachers at that confrence. I do believe that less then 1/3 of test scores should reflet on us as teachers. Like they were saying... with such high poverty issues and things going on at home how can we force these children to stay tuned to what we are teachign 100% of the time, when all their worrying anout is where they can sleep tonight. As a lady mentioned in the video "factors outside the classroom effect factors inside the classroom. I couldnt agree more, ive seen this first hand many times and im sure it wont be the last time. As it stated in the confrence 1 in every 5 children in living in poverty. thats 16 million of ours students sitting in our classrooms. In examples like 2 counselors to 450 students, or 3 counselors to 1700.... these numbers are outstanding and unethical... How can we possibly have 3 people help 1700 students at one time. These children need us they need outside hekp and resources they need their parents help they need tutors and community help, not a one size fits all standardized test. We went from spending 70 million dollars on testing to 700 million dollars on testing... why not take that money from those tests that arent doing any good anyways and putting that money back into those kids... afterall they are the future. Tests that some students cant even comprehand are being shoved in their faces on empty stomachs and no homes... Does anyone else see where these teachers are coming from? They need the help, they need the money to take care of these kids by enableing them a safe place food to eat and an education that will take them places they never imagined or thought they could get to. As one of the teachers mentioned teaching is a labor of love... this is true i dont know how many times i had to bring clothes or jackets to school because kids didnt have them. Or snacks for them to take home incase they wouldnt get dinner... its sad, but we cant pretend its not happening. Wheather its a high poverty school or not there will always be one child less fortunate then the others how do we help them? How do we get them to succeed as their peers are doing?  Less testing and more wrap- around resoucres in and out of the classroom. As most teachers can say its not a typical 9-3 work day... its a early morning of 7:30 to a late night of almost 5:00 if not longer depending on circumstances... teaching is not an easy thing to do , mentally and physically its exhausting but we do what we do because we love it, and we love our students. Just seeing one of them graduate or go to college lets us know all those late work days and paychecks we didnt get to keep were all worth it.