“This is so frustrating!”
“It’s too hard!”
“I can’t do it anymore!”
“Why are you making us learn this?”
One would think those statements are coming from students in the classroom, but they are actually coming from the teachers.
Have you heard the saying, “They are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good”? How sad that this nation has become so fixated on “racing to the top” of the education mountain that we are blinded to the fact that we have caused anxiety, heartache, and disillusionment in our teachers.
At what point do we make the change back to the basics in education? How long before school district superintendents say “enough” and operate their district based upon the children’s needs?
Yes, we understand that funds are always the issue. Money is tight, classrooms are large, new curriculum is mandatory, and the only way to meet the budget is to cooperate with the powers that be. But with all these barriers, the policy makers say our children’s ability to score high on the standardized tests is the benchmark of how well a teacher performs his or her duties. Really!?
Personally, I know of teachers who identify learning issues in students but they are unable to address those issues due to time restraints in the classroom, lesson agendas that must be kept on schedule, and overcrowding. When does the teachers’ insight become a sensible avenue of pursuit? “Ahhh, this is so frustrating!”
Can you hear the teachers’ heartache? I can! But, more importantly, can you see the students frustrated, falling behind, having anxiety, disillusioned by school? What are we doing to these little ones?
SOI has a program called IPP that addresses sensory integration, vision, and intellectual abilities training, but the heavenly-minded do not see the need for this earthly good. All the same issues are there: no funds, not enough time, and not enough teachers.
So to the teachers, aides, and special volunteers who give their energies to making a student successful – thank you! We, the general public of parents and grandparents, appreciate all of your time and efforts into making our children’s school experience a satisfying and knowledgeable one.
written by: Jody Brooks, SOI Systems general manager
