Depression

I'm happiest to live in complete ignorance about my students' personal lives. Teaching where I do, I often learn things that tear me up inside.

I'm out of my classroom for a few weeks while an intern student teaches. I walked back in the vicinity of my room this afternoon, something I've avoided doing, and saw one of my students in the hall crying, waiting to talk with our counselor. I pulled the student into the empty workroom and asked what was wrong. The story I got could have been a soap opera.

The father left the mother for her sister, the child's aunt. This happened some time ago. The father has been lying to the mother and child. Now the aunt is claiming that the student is calling and cursing at her. She is telling the father this is happening and doing all she can to turn him against his child. The aunt is also calling this student and cursing. Finally, the student says to me, "And I'm not doing well in school."

It was all I could do to not cry. I told the child that school is not always the most important thing (is that a cardinal sin for a teacher) and that taking care of oneself is critical. I just sat with the student until the counselor was finished with her previous group (two of my other students, no less). School counselors are saints.

I'm amazed at the strength and perseverance shown by my students. I learn so much from them.

Education through the Eyes of Mothers

DC Metro Moms spent yesterday blogging about education. I love reading this blog and was excited by the idea of them all focused on a topic so near and dear to my heart.

I think I posted comments on every single blog post from yesterday. And not for the reasons I had hoped. Again and again the posts were about parents struggling with the choice between public and private schools. I can understand that.
My issues with these various posts fell into two categories:

1. sadness for families because of their local schools
   
2. frustration with how public schools (and private) are judged

There are bad public schools; bad private ones too I'm sure. I sympathize with anyone whose neighborhood schools are not up to snuff.

However, many of these parents voiced frustration with the boring work students do in these schools, worksheet after worksheet. Then they also voiced disappointment with the test scores. My thinking is that those two things are closely linked. Schools begin to panic about test scores and resort to drilling students rather than teaching engaging, interesting lessons. Our focus, as a society, on test scores is resulting in mediocre teaching, at best.

There are a lot of ways to judge a school. I think that test scores is one of the least useful. The problem is, it is the easiest way.