This is a FB post by a friend of mine who teaches in WI.. Some of what he writes maybe why the teachers don't want to be evaluated in a certain light. At any rate it was the best post on FB to date.
Ed:
Well teaching is back in the news. A lot of opinions about education. Weird. I know nothing about medicine, law enforcement, fighting fires, or plowing streets. However, it seems most people know everything about my job. Anyway, what I want people to know (especially Romney and Obama who both don't have a clue about teaching) is that the scariest thing on the horizon for all educators is merit pay based on standardized tests. NOT BECAUSE WE ARE LAZY OR INCOMPETENT. I plan my lessons/units around the curriculum that is based on the state standards written by the brightest minds in the state. I link them to reading, writing, and math whenever possible. I plan them to highlight or showcase a students strengths like working with others or applying artistic abilities (just as an example). I incorporate a way to challenge their weaknesses not to humiliate them but for growth. I use humor as an attempt to entertain, I tie in technology to make it more relevant, and evaluate on the skills that have been identified by employers as necessary for a job in the 21st century. I always try to differentiate my lessons so that I hit four or five intelligences and at least two of the learning styles/modalities. But I still can't "make" a child recall information at such a success rate that they fill in all the right bubbles on a scantron sheet once a year. Even if my means of living depended on it.
This is what I strive to do everyday. It took years to get my lessons to this point and I'm still learning from my colleagues (that share because were are partners instead of competitors that want to steal your piece of the public school dollars pie). I promise to keep on learning. Redo everything I've built if another/better way comes along. It's called being a professional. Today's teachers are pretty good at it.
