The Observer » teachers

Different teachers + same class = unfair advantage

eplesset — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:44:39 +0000

Every year when students receive their schedule cards, the first thing they do is eagerly scan the teachers they received. News of the “easy” teachers is greeted with shrieks of delight, while others groan at the disappointment of a “hard” teacher.

Unfortunately, as unfair as it may be, teachers who teach the same classes often teach completely differently, giving some students advantages and others disadvantages.

This is not to say that all teachers are easy, hard or teach differently compared to their counterparts. Most teachers who teach the same class as others have uniform assignments, quizzes, projects and tests.

According to social studies resource teacher Rodney Van Tassell, within each department teachers are further subdivided into professional learning communities (PLCs) based on what classes they teach.

Within PLCs, teachers then create lesson plans and assessments. Although tests do not have to be exactly the same, they must be based off common material, carry the same weight and be worth equal points.

All teachers should be required to give out the same tests. If teachers are teaching the same material, the tests on this material should be identical.

According to Principal Joan Benz, teachers do not have to give out the same tests in order to give teachers flexibility.

However, flexibility should be limited to lesson plans and styles, not assessments. When assessments are different, one is usually inadvertently harder.

According to Van Tassell, although tests should be given out on the same date, there is flexibility over when to give out quizzes.

Although some flexibility is needed, this can be especially frustrating when students feel unprepared for a quiz and see that their peers have the same quiz on a later date.

According to Benz, if the administration notices that a teacher is teaching differently, they will work with resource teachers and PLCs to figure out why and correct the problem. However, Benz does acknowledge that certain teachers receive more complaints of being hard or easy than others.

Although all teachers are different and have their own teaching style, there must be a balance between allowing a teacher to teach the way he or she wishes and keeping the difficulty level the same.

If students feel that their teacher is teaching differently than the rest, Benz advises them to anonymously drop a note in her mailbox.

Classes must be taught equally. In many cases, earning an A is easier with some teachers than others, and that is simply not right.

Student-teacher chemistry lacks bonding

Afanaroff — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:13:47 +0000

Robin William’s character in the film The Dead Poets Society, Jon Keating, not only teaches his students the beauty of the English language, but he also preaches the importance of “carpe diem,” or seizing the day. The sad reality of teaching in today’s world is that the only way a teacher can talk about carpe diem is if he teaches Latin.
Student-teacher relationships are restricted in the high school classroom, so students cannot truly experience the same relationships shared in The Dead Poets Society, a film that not only depicts how beautiful student-teacher chemistry can be, but according to one CHS teacher, one that is shown in graduate school to inspire teachers.
It is ironic how teachers look to this movie for motivation, but cannot truly achieve the same touching bond as the one depicted due to restrictive MCPS policies. Lack of trust and the brevity of student-teacher pairings plagues the potential for such chemistry.
In elementary school, unlike high school, it was taboo to interact with more than three teachers a day. This allowed for optimum bonding with teachers. By the end of the year, most teachers knew every student like family; they were familiar with their learning habits, study habits, social habits and even their parents. This partnership is severely lacking in high school.
It is possible, because of the course requirements, that a student can have 14 different teachers during the course of the year, and 56 teachers over their high school careers. Only someone as charismatic as Ferris Bueller could pull off a good relationship with 56 different people.
Furthermore, when the time comes to write college recommendations for a student that a teacher has known for a mere 18 weeks, is difficult for the teacher, and the inadequacy of the letter will only disappoint the student. Everyone’s main ambition at CHS, with the exception of a few, is to get into college. Thus, it would benefit most students to maintain strong relationships with their students.
If a student and a teacher had paired up for a bare minimum of two semesters, plus an educational field trip, then it would be easier for that teacher to write a rave review of that student’s potential and skills.
This leads into the other argument of non-educational activities. In today’s world of lawsuits and the risk of inappropriate behavior, a memorable field trip is out of the question. According to teacher Michael Carroll, who used to have an annual camping trip to Mount Vernon with 200 students, field trips are wonderful for student-teacher chemistry, but the lack of trust is a factor that prevents these team building activities.
The fact that trust is a one of the compromising issues for the chemistry of students and teachers is a sad reality. The bonds will never achieve their potential.
In The Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating challenges his students by daring them to refer to him as “O captain, my captain,” and breaks from the curriculum for their benefit. The product was arguably the best relationship in cinematic history. This could be the reality of CHS, but someone needs to break boundaries and be innovative in order to benefit students and teachers alike.

Do teachers have lives? They do! They certainly do!

mjacobs — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 15:13:18 +0000

When last bell rings and students rush out to catch the bus and start their afternoon, teachers calmly wait in their classrooms for the chaos to cease. But what do teachers do once they leave the building?
Some teachers have surprising hobbies and lead lives dedicated to their families.
Modern World History teacher Arthur Bescher combines his passion for travel with his love of photography.
“The day after school ends I leave to Bristol, England where I have friends and family,” Bescher said. “I live there for the summer and visit every Christmas or October.”
Bescher also makes shorter trips to indulge in his love for photography.
“Almost every Saturday, I do a day trip and take pictures,” Bescher said. “I load [the pictures] to my Apple computer and edit. It takes hours and hours —I’m a perfectionist.”
English teacher Kevin Brown takes a more low-key approach to his non-CHS life. He likes to come home from a school day and relax by playing his guitar.
“I got my guitar in 10th grade for Christmas, and I have been playing ever since,” Brown said.
Math teacher Curtis Southworth spends his afternoons chauffeuring his two sons to sport practices and music lessons.
“I’m like the typical soccer mom,” Southworth said.
However, Southworth’s kids don’t prevent him from having hobbies. He teaches himself to play tenor sax in his spare time.
“It would be a fun future goal to play with the pep band at a football game,” Southworth said. “Mr. Sanz gave me some sheet music to learn, but I have to practice more before I’m ready.”
Computer Programming teacher Hadley Steelman spends her out-of-school time cooking and gardening.
“It’s very calming [to stand] in my kitchen, chopping and mixing ingredients,” Steelman said. “Gardening, too, is very relaxing, just sitting there playing in the dirt.”
Social studies teacher Christopher Forney runs after school about three days a week for exercise and to get some peace of mind.
“Running is a way for me to stay fit,” Forney said. “I used to play basketball regularly when I was younger, but now [I don’t] play as much, and weights bore me. Running is a way for me to clear my head.”
Teachers have lives outside of school that can be surprising. The next time you go in for lunch help, ask the teacher about him or herself. What you hear might be suprising.

Teacher favoritism harms class dynamic

Afanaroff — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:12:45 +0000

When I was in fifth grade, my math teacher would reward students who participated in class with a piece of candy for a correct answer. Day after day, my little hand went up and I proudly announced the correct answer. Day after day, I never got a piece of candy. To the best of my memory, every student in the room got candy, some even multiple times, but I never got the loot.
Hold a grudge much? Yes, big grudge, and it has made me aware that most teachers clearly favor some students and clearly dislike others.
Let’s be honest: favoritism exists. There’s no denying it, everyone sees it every day, especially in the classrooms. On one hand, teachers are human. It is natural to not like everyone that one meets and some personalities just do not gel with others. However, human nature cannot excuse blatant favoritism because it leads to unfair grading and unequal treatment of students.
One classic example of favoritism is the good old due date extension. Many teachers extend the due dates of assignments for their favorite students, or rather the ones who kiss up the most.
There are two syndromes students show when they are trying to find a way to a teacher’s heart. There is the Martha Stewart Syndrome – the giving of food to teachers. Brownie points, let me assure you, do in fact exist. There is also the Overeager Student Syndrome – the willingness of a student to pass out papers and do other various labor intensive teacher tasks.
Teacher favoritism hurts those poor unfortunate souls out there, who are no Betty Crocker when it comes to the kitchen. This is not to say that kids get bad grades because they do not do certain things to become favorites; instead, kids who might actually deserve bad grades sometimes receive higher grades based on how well they can alphabetically sort a stack of 150 papers for a teacher.
We have all seen examples of teacher favoritism, the list goes on and on. The students who work the hardest deserve the best grades, not the ones who can best play the role of teacher’s pet.
On a personal note, I do not think that I have ever been lucky enough to be a favorite, but if any of my current teachers like me a lot, I have one request: could I have some candy?

Say Thanks

cbachrach — Thu, 06 May 2010 11:42:35 +0000

Congratulations to juniors Danielle Malament and Wendy Zhao who qualified as semifinalists in the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO). The USABO is a competition with three rounds of eliminations. Four students will go on to represent the United States in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). Malament and Zhao are in the Biology Club and meet almost every week to review biology concepts.

County should place priority on teachers

cbachrach — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:24:21 +0000

In a county known for the academic strength and dedication of its students, a budget plan for the coming year has been created that favors the priorities of MCPS executives and non-student related groups rather than those of teachers and students.

It is far from surprising that CHS and other Montgomery County schools will have to deal with budget cuts due to the economic strain placed on the entirety of the nation, but the unsettling issue of this situation lies within the budget plan itself which is full of appropriations of an already small budget toward frivolous aspects of the school’s needs, a misrepresentation of statistics leading to a misrepresentation of the needed money and an inadequate amount of money given to CHS in comparison to other schools.

The most important job of a school is to meet the needs of the individual students to foster academic strength, but the school budget proposed for the upcoming school year has completely failed at focusing on the components that adequately support the students.

According to the Churchill Cluster Testimony against the proposed 2011 operating budget, while the funding toward the communications and family outreach budget has been increased over 2800 percent from 2003 to 2011, the amount of the total number of MCPS staff positions, such as teachers who directly impact the academic success of the students, allowed by the budget has only increased by 12.75 percent. With an already dwindling budget, it makes no sense to grant the communications and family outreach programs, which consist of frivolous activities such as taking parents on tours of MCPS bus depots and food preparation facilities, with more money, attention and financial support than the teachers.

The proposed budget also reflects a complete misrepresentation of class size within MCPS, leading to ignorance toward the dire situation of out of control class sizes and a lack of attention to a necessary increase in teaching staff.

According to the proposed 2011 budget, the “projected average” of students per class in the coming year is 25.7. This hardly makes sense since several high school English classes are listed at 28 students while other are at 32. Not to mention that during this current semester alone approximately 80 percent of CHS classes have more than 26 students, and of the 300 Honors and AP courses, almost all have the maximum number of students.

According to the Churchill Cluster Testimony, the misleading average was concocted due to the averaging of the much smaller special education classes with the regular education classes, resulting in an optimistically low overall average class size.

In order to create an improved budget, the county must also put more money towards teacher salaries.

According to the testimony, while the number of MCPS executives, administrators and other support personnel who do not directly impact the students has increased by 513.6 percent from the recommended budget of 2003 to 2001’s, the number of teachers has only increased by 12.75 percent. Not to mention that the new budget plan runs the risk of losing teachers because of the salary differential between Montgomery County and other counties is decreasing while the cost of living in Montgomery County is much higher than that of most counties.

With an already dwindling budget, a focus on MCPS positions instead of teachers does nothing to ensure the academic success of the affected students. Instead of spending precious dollars on non-classroom positions, more money must be allocated to support teachers and student materials.

CHS and other Montgomery County schools did not attain Blue Ribbon statuses or academic renown because their students are geniuses. They did so because their schools have had well planned budgets that support the academic needs of their students. Without an improved budget plan students will suffer academically. Although no one wants to admit it, money really does make the world go round. The Board of Education can either accept that fact and create an adequate budget or lower the expectations for their students.

Staff members to retire this year

adviser — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:20:07 +0000

At the time this article was published, three staff members had announced their retirement.
Media specialist Kathy Boivin has worked at CHS for five years and in MCPS for about 18. She will be moving to South Carolina.

“I am looking forward to a new direction in my life,” Boivin said. “[I will be in] South Carolina, but not on the beach.”

English Composition Assistant (ECA) Barbara Goldberg has worked at CHS for over 11 years and has been an ECA in MCPS for 15 years. She will continue to teach piano and travel.

“I am very proud to have worked at CHS because this is one of the best schools in the county,” Goldberg said. “The teachers and students are top-notch.”

Math teacher Susan Foord has worked at CHS for 25 years and in MCPS for 27 years. She plans to golf, sail, play tennis and bridge and enjoy her two book clubs.

“The math department provides plenty of entertainment,” Foord said. “I can’t imagine spending that many years at any other school.”