Most school districts are rather lenient when it comes to new teacher mistakes. However, because of a lack of experience, there are several things that can and do get new teachers fired. This article is about one specific action by one specific teacher; although I'm beginning to wonder if he is one of those Urban Legends.
First, some background. A couple weeks ago I was doing some research for an article about UCSMP (University of Chicago School Mathematics Project) and trends in mathematics. I taught high school math in a school district that started using UCSMP (we referred to it as the Chicago Series) in 1988.
My feelings about the Chicago Series will be in another article, but overall, I considered it to be an excellent math series with tremendous potential for improving student understanding of mathematics but with a couple major flaws that always seemed to lead to its demise.
For my research, I just wanted to know if it still existed. I came across an article that I thought was written this year by a 23-year-old, male, 3rd grade math, 1st year teacher. My immediate reaction to his article was that he should be fired for several reasons.
I'm ashamed to admit that I have just spent almost five hours trying to find his article again so that I could verify my facts. I was never able to find it again. (Did he get fired and remove it?) However, I found articles referring to a 23-year-old 1st year math teacher who taught 4th grade math in 2006; and I found a similar article referring to a 23-year-old female math teacher who was being praised for what she did.
This is probably a good example of how stories change in the retelling. What I finally decided about the story was that it really doesn't matter whether it is true or not. Either way, it is a wonderful example both of something a new teacher absolutely should never do, and it is a good example of both of those major flaws in the Chicago Series.
In his article, this brand new teacher--straight out of college--was hired by a school district to teach 3rd grade math. This school district was using the elementary school version of UCSMP--Everyday Mathematics. I can't remember whether he wrote the article in September or October (one of the facts I wanted to check), but the point is that it was very early in the school year.
He had already run into some problems: his students didn't understand anything they were being taught and their parents were all mad. He decided that the problem was the textbook and its approach, so he made a unilateral decision (no discussion with the department head or Principal) to stop using the district-chosen series and, instead, teach his 3rd grade students the way he thought they should be taught.
And not only that, but he was so proud of his decision that he put it on the internet. No discussion with his Principal, but he writes about it on the internet. The arrogance of youth!
So, what's wrong with this picture? It certainly seems that he cares about his students and wants what is best for their mathematical futures.
If you have read any of my other articles, read my bio, or have been to my website, then you know how important mathematics education is to me; and this situation quite literally appalls me on many levels.
New teachers! Are you paying attention? When you get hired by a school district, you are agreeing to teach what they want you to teach, when they want you to teach it, and how they want you to teach it. If you don't want to do that, then you go teach elsewhere. You do not get to unilaterally decide to go off on your own. The school district chose that math series for a reason. This teacher deserved to be fired for breach of contract at the very least. If he was so troubled by the math series, he should have talked to his supervisor immediately.
There were solutions to his problems that never got explored because he was so sure he knew better than anyone else. And FYI: Those older teachers have survived in the teaching field because they are wiser and have lots of valuable experiences and lessons to teach you. Take advantage of them. (I am pretty sure that his problems resulted as much from his lack of experience as from the textbook series. The first year of teaching is difficult for everyone.)
Next. New Teachers Beware! The INTERNET is a living growing thing. What you write is there for everyone to see, and it is forever. Think long and hard before you put anything on the INTERNET. It can come back to bite you quickly or many years later. (How dumb do you have to be to secretly go against the desires of the school district and then brag about it online? Yet another reason he deserved to be fired.) Always remember that wherever you go and whatever you do, you are first and foremost a teacher. You are held to a higher standard. You have a responsibility to be a good role model for your students. Never forget that.
What I consider to be his worst mistake, and this is again an inexperience issue because he hasn't yet seen this happen, is that he didn't consider the mathematical harm that he would cause his students. They won't experience the harm until next year when their 4th grade teacher expects certain knowledge that they won't have.
I have no doubt that this young man can teach mathematics to 3rd graders. But I know from many years of experience with UCSMP, that the terminology used and the methods used vary greatly from what is found in a more traditional text. Unless he has been fired or put back on the district path, his 3rd grade students will have a difficult time in 4th grade math. His students deserved better from him.
I know that I seem pretty harsh on this young teacher, but his actions indicate a couple of character issues that make teaching a poor career choice for him. Having said that, his situation does point out the two major flaws of the UCSMP program. Because the series is so very different in terminology and methodology, two things need to happen every year.
First, new math teachers need the same training all of the teachers received when the series was adopted. I can make a good guess at what happened here. When my district adopted the UCSMP series, we received a great deal of training in the philosophy of the series, lots of teaching help, and even training in teaching reading in a math class because UCSMP is very dependent upon student reading. But that only happened the first year. After that, it became the responsibility of each math department to train new teachers.
Sometimes this new teacher training is too hurried or maybe even non-existent. And because we are such a mobile society, it is not at all unusual for the entire department to have completely changed within a very short time. I suspect that this young teacher got little if any instruction into the differences in UCSMP or why it was chosen. UCSMP requires yearly teacher in-servicing.
The second major problem deals with the parents.
Because the series is so different, parents quickly find that what they are seeing in their child's textbook doesn't look like anything they ever called math. They quickly discover that they are unable to help their children with questions, and they don't understand the spiraling concept of UCSMP so it seems to them that their child is weak in basic skills. They don't know that their child will have better retention and understanding of mathematics at the end of the year than the students of a traditional text.
They don't know because no one explained anything to them. UCSMP requires an enormous amount of explanation and training for the parents. (I'm sure you can foresee the problems of having poorly prepared teachers trying to explain UCSMP to frustrated parents. It's not a pretty sight.)
With the problematic issues surrounding UCSMP, does this young teacher deserve to be fired?
Absolutely! He made very poor choices based on his own arrogance. He broke his contract with the school district and, thus with the students and parents. He used the internet for his own purposes. (I suspect to garner support for his decision.) And he was setting up his students for future failure. Unforgivable.
Hey new teachers! I hope you realize that the reasons stated above have nothing to do with mathematics. They apply to all of you, regardless of subject or grade level. We need good teachers. If you are one, welcome to the profession!
First, some background. A couple weeks ago I was doing some research for an article about UCSMP (University of Chicago School Mathematics Project) and trends in mathematics. I taught high school math in a school district that started using UCSMP (we referred to it as the Chicago Series) in 1988.
My feelings about the Chicago Series will be in another article, but overall, I considered it to be an excellent math series with tremendous potential for improving student understanding of mathematics but with a couple major flaws that always seemed to lead to its demise.
For my research, I just wanted to know if it still existed. I came across an article that I thought was written this year by a 23-year-old, male, 3rd grade math, 1st year teacher. My immediate reaction to his article was that he should be fired for several reasons.
I'm ashamed to admit that I have just spent almost five hours trying to find his article again so that I could verify my facts. I was never able to find it again. (Did he get fired and remove it?) However, I found articles referring to a 23-year-old 1st year math teacher who taught 4th grade math in 2006; and I found a similar article referring to a 23-year-old female math teacher who was being praised for what she did.
This is probably a good example of how stories change in the retelling. What I finally decided about the story was that it really doesn't matter whether it is true or not. Either way, it is a wonderful example both of something a new teacher absolutely should never do, and it is a good example of both of those major flaws in the Chicago Series.
In his article, this brand new teacher--straight out of college--was hired by a school district to teach 3rd grade math. This school district was using the elementary school version of UCSMP--Everyday Mathematics. I can't remember whether he wrote the article in September or October (one of the facts I wanted to check), but the point is that it was very early in the school year.
He had already run into some problems: his students didn't understand anything they were being taught and their parents were all mad. He decided that the problem was the textbook and its approach, so he made a unilateral decision (no discussion with the department head or Principal) to stop using the district-chosen series and, instead, teach his 3rd grade students the way he thought they should be taught.
And not only that, but he was so proud of his decision that he put it on the internet. No discussion with his Principal, but he writes about it on the internet. The arrogance of youth!
So, what's wrong with this picture? It certainly seems that he cares about his students and wants what is best for their mathematical futures.
If you have read any of my other articles, read my bio, or have been to my website, then you know how important mathematics education is to me; and this situation quite literally appalls me on many levels.
New teachers! Are you paying attention? When you get hired by a school district, you are agreeing to teach what they want you to teach, when they want you to teach it, and how they want you to teach it. If you don't want to do that, then you go teach elsewhere. You do not get to unilaterally decide to go off on your own. The school district chose that math series for a reason. This teacher deserved to be fired for breach of contract at the very least. If he was so troubled by the math series, he should have talked to his supervisor immediately.
There were solutions to his problems that never got explored because he was so sure he knew better than anyone else. And FYI: Those older teachers have survived in the teaching field because they are wiser and have lots of valuable experiences and lessons to teach you. Take advantage of them. (I am pretty sure that his problems resulted as much from his lack of experience as from the textbook series. The first year of teaching is difficult for everyone.)
Next. New Teachers Beware! The INTERNET is a living growing thing. What you write is there for everyone to see, and it is forever. Think long and hard before you put anything on the INTERNET. It can come back to bite you quickly or many years later. (How dumb do you have to be to secretly go against the desires of the school district and then brag about it online? Yet another reason he deserved to be fired.) Always remember that wherever you go and whatever you do, you are first and foremost a teacher. You are held to a higher standard. You have a responsibility to be a good role model for your students. Never forget that.
What I consider to be his worst mistake, and this is again an inexperience issue because he hasn't yet seen this happen, is that he didn't consider the mathematical harm that he would cause his students. They won't experience the harm until next year when their 4th grade teacher expects certain knowledge that they won't have.
I have no doubt that this young man can teach mathematics to 3rd graders. But I know from many years of experience with UCSMP, that the terminology used and the methods used vary greatly from what is found in a more traditional text. Unless he has been fired or put back on the district path, his 3rd grade students will have a difficult time in 4th grade math. His students deserved better from him.
I know that I seem pretty harsh on this young teacher, but his actions indicate a couple of character issues that make teaching a poor career choice for him. Having said that, his situation does point out the two major flaws of the UCSMP program. Because the series is so very different in terminology and methodology, two things need to happen every year.
First, new math teachers need the same training all of the teachers received when the series was adopted. I can make a good guess at what happened here. When my district adopted the UCSMP series, we received a great deal of training in the philosophy of the series, lots of teaching help, and even training in teaching reading in a math class because UCSMP is very dependent upon student reading. But that only happened the first year. After that, it became the responsibility of each math department to train new teachers.
Sometimes this new teacher training is too hurried or maybe even non-existent. And because we are such a mobile society, it is not at all unusual for the entire department to have completely changed within a very short time. I suspect that this young teacher got little if any instruction into the differences in UCSMP or why it was chosen. UCSMP requires yearly teacher in-servicing.
The second major problem deals with the parents.
Because the series is so different, parents quickly find that what they are seeing in their child's textbook doesn't look like anything they ever called math. They quickly discover that they are unable to help their children with questions, and they don't understand the spiraling concept of UCSMP so it seems to them that their child is weak in basic skills. They don't know that their child will have better retention and understanding of mathematics at the end of the year than the students of a traditional text.
They don't know because no one explained anything to them. UCSMP requires an enormous amount of explanation and training for the parents. (I'm sure you can foresee the problems of having poorly prepared teachers trying to explain UCSMP to frustrated parents. It's not a pretty sight.)
With the problematic issues surrounding UCSMP, does this young teacher deserve to be fired?
Absolutely! He made very poor choices based on his own arrogance. He broke his contract with the school district and, thus with the students and parents. He used the internet for his own purposes. (I suspect to garner support for his decision.) And he was setting up his students for future failure. Unforgivable.
Hey new teachers! I hope you realize that the reasons stated above have nothing to do with mathematics. They apply to all of you, regardless of subject or grade level. We need good teachers. If you are one, welcome to the profession!
A Singapore math article by Dougles Chan - Search Engine Guru - Best SEO companies in Singapore and globally.
Contact Dougles Chan @ +(65) 9388 0851 or email to dc@dougleschan.com for more information on how to make your website to be the top in Google.
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