Empty Classroom by jeffjones

Empty Classroom

The 2014-2015 school year contract ended today. Before leaving I had to clean out my room and pile the desks and chairs to help the janitors get in over the summer and redo the floors.

It has been a challenging year on many levels. The hardest thing about being a teacher is not dealing with the students - not anymore. Instead it is trying to figure out how to keep your job when the government keeps coming up with new ways to prove that you are ineffective, and constantly changing how they evaluate you.
There is something very sad about a silent empty classroom. It's just not supposed to be so eerily still. I taught for fifteen years in the Houston area, before I left the profession. Each year testing, practicing for tests and taking tests to prepare for tests stole valuable learning/teaching time. I still miss the kids, but I do not miss the politics.I actually got into photography because I would keep a small digital camera in my pocket, and when I would spot a student doing something good I would snap a picture and send it home to the family. It was a valuable way to establish relationships with the families of my students. It helped to stay focused on the positive.
Sorry to ramble on, but this image really captured me and brought back memories.
June 4th, 2015  
Being a photography and yearbook teacher I am a little bit insulated from the testing, but not the effects. For the last 8 weeks of the school year I had one group of students or another missing from my classes. The New Mexico Governor and secretary of education are doing all they can to make things miserable for teachers - not only testing, but a very unfair evaluation system - leading to what I fear will be a mass exodus from the profession here.
June 5th, 2015  
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