Teachbad Differentiation Video

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Mr-QUhZ9A


http://teachbad.com/2010/10/26/teachbad-differentiation-video/

From Mr. Teachbad's Blog of Teacher Disgruntlement



I've watched this about 5 times today and it is still cracking me up. The film-maker left the link on the Washington Post article about another teacher video, which is also funny, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVXhA_hs2J8

[Starry Messenger]

1. Oh man, another one, different teacher.

This one lampooning KIPP:

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7457647/

:rofl:

[Hannah Bell]

2. what is "differentiation"? i have no idea what some of the jargon means,

but the stink of every stupid management fad i've ever lived through is strong.

when i was a young person, i thought it was just me not understanding the purpose.

now i realize there never is one.

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. It means that if you have a class of thirty kids....

.... you have to * tutor* thirty kids. Individually.

If it's a 45 minute class... then each kid gets 45 divided by 30 minutes of direct *individualized* instruction. That would be....... well..... do the math.


Seriously, HB, you've gone this far; do you really WANT to know?

[Hannah Bell]

5. lol.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Smarmie told it true.

It wouldn't be so bad except that our classes are usually insanely large and the time is too short. I have kids who are ready for college level art, and I have kids who honestly have trouble measuring with a ruler. But we're expected to make the material relevant to everyone in the class. Bridging that "gap" is differentiation.

[Hannah Bell]

8. yes, pretending that what is clearly impossible, is possible, & not only that, pretending that

everyone is actually doing it as a matter of course, is the essence of modern capitalist bureaucracy.

it's some kind of mass insanity. that if you don't go along with publicly, gets you labeled as insane.

[Starry Messenger]

12. I never thought of it that way, but it's true.

All sectors of work seem to be like this here now. They keep us so tired and overworked that we barely have the energy to resist. If at all. The author in the OP has another entry that really spells it out.

http://teachbad.com/2010/10/11/how-many-hours-should-i-work/

How Many Hours Should I Work?
Posted on October 11, 2010 by mrteachbad

I spend 26 hours per week in class, including monitoring and greeting during passing periods, and in mandatory meetings of the utmost importance. (First, let’s not minimize the physical and pychological toll it takes to be “on” that much, especially when your audience is captive and, for the most part, doesn’t really care about what you are saying.)

I usually get to work about a half hour early…plus 2.5 hours per week.

I work through lunch without eating 3 or 4 days per week…plus 3 hours per week.

I stay until 4:30-5:00 every day and then go pick up my kids…7.5 hours per week.

I do a little grading while at the same time taking care of the kids and making dinner until the wife gets home…plus 4 hours per week.

Two or three nights a week I will work for a couple of hours after the kids have gone to bed…plus 5 hours per week.

I work on average 8-10 hours over each weekend. About half of that time is always while my wife takes the kids somewhere fun so I can sit and do the most mind-numbing shit imaginable that doesn’t even get me any exercise or fresh air…9 hours per week.

That’s 57 hours per week. That’s about all I’ve got for this. I know a lot of teachers work a lot more. They are engaged in some combination of wasting their time, burning themselves out, or just plain being stupid. Particularly when most of the out-of-class time requires brain function, to quote myself, “only a notch or two above blinking and digestion“. And then you have diminishing returns. How much time should I spend on the kid who has already failed this class once, failed another of my classes and gives no indication that he intends to come to school much or do any work?

...more at link.

[Smarmie Doofus]

14. "She certainly has a way of getting at things." LIFEBOAT:

>>>>Yes, pretending that what is clearly impossible, is possible, & not only that, pretending that

everyone is actually doing it as a matter of course, is the essence of modern capitalist bureaucracy.>>>>>



Alfred Hitchcock , John Steinbeck, circa 1943.


That sentence is riveting. Utterly to the heart of the matter.

[Catshrink]

10. Unless you have an IEP that states you will

"sit with the child and show him how to edit his work." This happened to a teacher in our school - as the IEP was written, and what the task actually meant, was that she would have to take 10 minutes to sit with one student in a class of 37 kids . She asked "what about the other 36 students?" and was told in the IEP meeting that wasn't part of the consideration as if they didn't matter. She refused to sign the IEP, raised holy hell, and forced the case manager to change the IEP to read something like she would be available before or after school to help him. (The case manager shut down the meeting when asked if she'd ever had a class of 37 students - the "joke" is that she's never had more than 10-12 students in a class and has no clue about regular education.)

Imagine being told in a legal document that you must interupt your class to tutor one student while the rest of the class did something else. This particular teacher is well-loved by students and colleagues and has over 30 years in the biz. She knows how to teach students of all levels and manage a classroom. The whole thing was incredibly condescending and to her the differentition toon echoed much of her experience.

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. "Differentiation" run amuck.

Another example of a basically sound, common- sense insight being perverted by educational bureaucracy into something impractical, political, unreasonable, and ultimately... *evil*.

Even in self-contained special ed (i.e. small classes) the idea has LIMITED practical application. It ( differentiation) is now being used as an excuse by admins to NOT organize class groupings by learning characteristics.

I had 9 kids when school opened this year. Four of the nine had last names that began with the letter G. Plus one E , one F and one H.

They are grouping the classes based on ALPHABETICAL ORDER! Rationale? I haven't confronted them directly yet but I guarantee you this is what they'll say: " differentiated instruction". Doesn't matter what their learning characteristics are.... since ALL kids are different anyway and we must "differentiate" regardless of the difficulties involved.

Immediate consequence: the class is like herding squirrels and ... basically... unteachable.

Retirement. Soon. Soon. Soon. Retirement. Soon.

[Catshrink]

17. The teacher I mentioned actually told the case manager

to "call your lawyers" when threatened with "you can be sued."

We're having so much criticism thrown at us but no one is listening! And now with "tenure" protections gone, fewer are willing to speak up for fear of losing their jobs. I know I'm preaching to choir.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. It means they are too cheap to do it right

Differentiation is just the new buzz word that rationalizes not spending money to teach kids so they really learn.

It's just the new replacement for 'least restrictive environment', another stupid buzzword that no one understood.

[Smarmie Doofus]

4. "Differentiation" is *incredibly* good.

Everyone in my chapter will find out about Mr. Teachbad, starting manana.

[Starry Messenger]

7. I've been reading Mr.Teachbad all evening.

*Great* blog, I'm glad you liked it. :D

[LWolf]

9. I saw the "collaborative planning" video yesterday at work.

We had a school wide "data team" meeting before school, where an "instructional coach" gave us a massive pile of paperwork due by Dec. 7th; something different than the other massive pile of paperwork our "team leader" was just given at a meeting the day before.

"Team Leaders" are mandatory. There's a small stipend, a bunch of days pulled out, needing lots of sub plans, and a very large binder of documents to complete and maintain. There is no answer for what happens when no one offers to be the "team leader," which is a duty outside of our contract.

Of course, all of the extra paperwork and documentation is outside the contract, as well.

With perfect timing, a colleague sent us the "collaborative planning" video after the meeting.

I couldn't decide whether to laugh, cry, or throw something.

Would the general public "get" these videos?

[Starry Messenger]

11. I think the general public would get them.

I'm thinking of the popularity of a film like "Office Space" which spoofs the same kind of trendy micro-managing idiocy in the cubicle world. LWolf, here is another one called "Focus Walk": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAbEqIZ1baA Slightly NSFW. I hope teachers make more of these. :D They capture the insanity perfectly.

[LWolf]

16. "Focus Walk:"

We did these last year. We called them "Walk Throughs." 3 admins from various places in the district outside of our regular school site would show up with a form, observe for about 3 minutes, fill out the form, and leave a copy. We were told repeatedly, it wasn't an evaluation, no one was being scored, they knew they weren't seeing a complete picture, etc., etc., etc.. We had three visits.

They noted what they saw teacher and students doing. They asked passive-aggressive questions: "What do you think the result would be if you did it this way (insert some buzzword for the favorite strategy flavor of the month) instead of what you did?" They noted, sadly, that the objective was not posted on the wall so they couldn't tell if students knew what they were supposed to be learning. I tossed my copies into the recycling bin within 30 seconds of their departure.

At one point, one man approached a student and started to question him, which was not part of the "walk through" protocol. I stepped between him and the student, smiled, and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know who you are." He looked flustered and introduced himself as a principle at a school on the other side of town. I commented, "The students don't have any idea who you are, either." He left.

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. We do those stupid walks

And yes we were TOLD they weren't part of our evaluation. Then thus year we got a new evaluation and guess what's included? :)

[LWolf]

19. I got added to another committee this year.

Our districts CLASS project, which needs reps from each school. I took it on because they are going to be coming up with new evaluation procedures. I wanted to make sure we don't go down without a fight.

More meetings, more sub plans.