TEACHERS CAN'T SEE

Are Teacher Evaluations a sinkhole for children?

     Most of us set goals that are attainable and clearly defined with a definite outcome. Society and our government have set goals for teachers that are described in teacher evaluations. Test scores allegedly reflect the outcome of the teacher's efforts to educate children. Test scores are easy to see, growth in a child isn't always easy to see. Over the course of a teacher's lifetime, thousands of children will pass through their classroom. Over the course of a teacher's lifetime, thousands of children will pass through the heart of a teacher. The majority of those thousands of children will fade from the teacher's eyesight - the teacher can't see what these children will accomplish because of their efforts.

     We're living in the days of evaluations and reevaluations. Everything we do seems to be evaluated, rated and judged by somebody. Folks in romantic relationships judge love by our attitudes and actions. Our employment performances are always under review, sometimes the reviewer has no clue what our job is. Teachers are evaluated primarily on the results of test scores.

Evaluations don't consider the
 effect of heart-sores on test scores. 

Children who haven't learned how to deal with the social and emotional upheavals in life are less likely to do well on tests. Those same students will cause turmoil in the school that can affect the academic achievement of other students. Sometimes they're suspended and end up unsupervised at home or in the street. Gangs are waiting to make them feel special and invite them into a life of carnage that steals, kills and destroys potential. The teacher can't see the potential in a child who is removed from their classroom.

     Here are some platitudes that someone constructing Teacher Evaluations may want to consider.

• Evaluations based on test scores do not reveal the healing of heart sores.
• Encouragement creates an environment of emotional safety.
• Compassion  is a cultivator of potential - just believe in somebody.
• Children removed from the classroom should not be removed from the building.
• All children are gifted.
• Emotional and Social learning affect the very core of a child's heart which directly impacts potential.

     To all of the Teachers in the world, I say thank you for agreeing to forgo the right to see. You have accepted blindness as a part of your calling in life. I encourage you to overcome your exhaustion and lack of appreciation with faith. Your faith in each child and your belief that every child is gifted with potential will create sight for thousands of children. 

The children once were blind to potential and now they see - because of you.

Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.

JLYASDW

Bob Kuebler

Founder/Director

Youth With A Purpose Inc.

youthwithapurpose.org

716-830-8240

YWAP - Teaching Leadership to Students, Teachers and Mentors.