A Full Plate

Yesterday I said that the plates of teacher's are at full capacity and, well, they are. There are many attendant problems with the plate being TOO full. Two major ones. First, with so many additional non-direct classroom initiatives added to the daily routine of actually teaching, less time is available for teachers to focus on lesson preparation, sharing materials with colleagues, writing lessons, formulating evaluation tools and meeting with students.

A second major drawback to the 'plate being too full' is the very real problem of retaining teachers, most of them quite capable of making a positive impact on the lives of children. Aside from the issue of teacher retention is the very real and growing problem of people not entering the teaching profession. This isn't some 'conspiracy' notion...it is happening all over the country.

Don't for a minute wonder if the above isn't taking place, at least in part, because of teachers being asked and told to do too much.

Dick