We need to give Stan Rounds a chance. He may not be the best out there, but he has been around the state and knows the players. We have two new Board members and an interim now. Maybe we can settle down and get back to the business of teaching kids.
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If my kids are required to do research on a paper they are turning in, shouldn't the school board do their research before choosing someone? If the earlier blogger was correct about Alamogordo and Hobbs, isn't the district moving backwards instead of forward? This school district is in shambles, I for one hope that the state takes notice and takes over SOON!!!
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It's truly sad, but this district is hopelessly in shambles right now. The board and those downtown have proven that they don't care what their employees or the citizens of Las Cruces think, central office has proven their incompetence in everything that they've done, and now we're facing candidates for superintendent that, if you google each one, aren't exactly top choices. Let's just say that I would welcome a state takeover at this point, how much longer can we work under such idiots?
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Central Office Job Security?Fix a problem with a simple solution, nobody notices.Exacerbate a problem, blame others, apply the same simple solution and become a miracle worker.
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Well, here we go again! The new board members are in a conspiracy with the old ones. They went along with hiring Mr. Rounds who is obviously in the pocket of Mr. Briseno. I say we start the recall of the new board members
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Wow, its almost sad how many people are on this site complaining. Grow some balls and do something instead of bitching over the internet
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Guided reading has changed me as a teacher for the better. I had no idea how much I didn't know about my students reading abilities until now. There are a few teachers in my school that are still complaining about having to do guided reading. They are the same people that HATE everything new, and just want to teach the same old lessons for 25 years. I honestly think some people are afraid that they don't know enough about reading to do guided reading. I hear you say that you have asked for research and have been denied it. Have you heard of the internet? How about the library? I googled guided reading just now and pulled up over 2.5 million sites. Our PLT always give us articles and things to read, so I don't know why you haven't gotten any. You really need to just jump in and try it. I think that is what the PLT meant by "fake it". I think they meant that you try it and do it until you get good enough at it to really be a reading teacher. I don't think anyone can honestly dispute it balanced literacy the best thing for students. It is more work for teachers, but it is necessary.
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The other evening, at a local store, I happened to meet, and visited for a long while, with an old friend who's worked for many years in this school system... in a non-professional position. He's a very intelligent older gentleman, quite personable, and continues his interest in the school district... and in its service to our young people. At one point in our conversation, he asked, "Why don't they teach the kids to read and write, anymore? Why, when I was in school, I had to learn about the parts of speech, and how to put sentences together. The kids, now-a-days, have no idea about those things, anymore."My friend also expressed concern about our younger generation. "These kids," he said, "have little knowledge, and no skills, to make good lives for themselves."In this school district, he's absolutely right. Maybe it would be good if the teachers would learn, and be able to teach, parts of speech, declension of the personal pronoun, conjugation of verbs, and a lot more good, necessary stuff about our language. But then, of course, at this time in U.S. history... we're not even sure if we have one language that we can all agree to use.So many children are lost in the system. They have no motivation to learn, and little success in acquiring essential skills.What has happened to basic, necessary skills in teaching... and in helping kids to learn? Have we forgotten that we must teach each child at a level at which he can learn? Why can't we motivate kids by creating pride in learning? A good teacher capitalizes on any bit of positive learning that a child achieves, and praises the child's effort and success... in order to build the kid's confidence and eagerness for learning.In order to gauge the success, or failure, of the educational process in this school system, all one needs to do is to observe the large percentage of reluctant, non-learners that populate our high schools in Las Cruces.Guided Reading? If it's 'Back to Basics', it's a great idea. If it's another Foolish Fad... forget it.We realize that many young ?teachers? haven't been taught the content and skills that are necessary to succeed at teaching. What's going on in our teacher preparation programs?School principals find a great opportunity to enhance their own security... by exploiting this field of uncertain, ineffective, insecure young teachers. "How," you may ask, "could ineffective, insecure teachers help a principal to build his/her own security?"Very simple, and widely practiced in this district. The principal builds a power base by giving lavish, but superficial, attention and a feeling of security to the least effective teachers. This disastrous process leaves the experienced, effective teachers far out on a very loose limb. Such a principal says to himself/herself, "Gotta get rid of those old so-and-so's... they may know more than I do."Have you noticed, in the past few years, the unusually large number of experienced, excellent teachers who have retired, or left our district? Now, you know why.