Let Them Be Little!

 

     I began working on progress reports ( I refuse to call the report cards) for my preschoolers today. Our progress reports are "standards-based," meaning that they address the most important skills a child should be learning at their particular grade level.  The purpose of such grading is to give a clearer picture of a student's learning progress.  Students are graded by goals, not their assignments. Got the picture? Good!

     Now. curiosity got the better of me, as I was entering the marks for my 19 students, and I decided to count the number of standards I am asked to quarterly assess my students on. Bad idea...  Read the above quote from Heather Shumaker again regarding preschool. I'll wait.  Guess how many standards there are on the preschool, four-year old progress report. Go ahead.  Keep in mind, they're four years old.  FIFTY FOUR! There are Fifty four standards my little people *should* be proficient at before entering kindergarten!  

     From the above quote:  "Don't foist academics on him... When children gain social and emotional skills and confidence in the preschool years, academic learning naturally follows."  Friends and followers, I can't even!

     On top of the quarterly progress reports, we are also asked to assess these young learners on a standards-based assessment called My IGDIs. This stands for Individual Growth and Development Indicators.  There are four assessments in math and five in literacy. Each of these assessments needs to be assessed on an individual basis.  Time-consuming. Right? Plus, in the picture naming assessment, what kid knows what an eggplant looks like? Good grief!

     Oh, and let's not forget the monthly math and literacy assessments required by the district. Assess. Assess.  Assess.  They are not little machines! They are children! We need to allow them to be children!  "A four-year old will only be a four-year old once."
 

Make It STOP!

 School shootings!  Something needs to be done. It needs to be stopped!   

Since 2000, there have been 68 school shootings. The list I am about to share does NOT include the following:

1. Incidents that occurred during wars.

2. Incidents that occurred as a result of police actions.

3. Murder-suicide by rejected lovers or estranged spouses.

4. Suicides or attempted suicides involving only one person

5. Shootings by a school employee where the other victim(s) were also school employees. These are covered under workplace killings.

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The 68 school shootings are as follows:

Year                                    #of deaths    #of injuries

2000                                           6                    3

2001                                           5                    20

2002                                           8                    7

2003                                           6                    7

2004                                           1                    6

2005                                           13                 11

2006                                           15                 19

2007                                           36                 30

2008                                           16                 30

2009                                           2                   12

2010                                           7                   12  

2011                                           7                   16

2012                                           40                 17

2013                                           17                 33

2014                                           14                 37

2015                                           23                 41

2016                                           10                 26

2017                                           18                 30

2018                                           43                 78

2019                                          20                  81

2020                                          10                  11

2021                                          16                  61

2022                                         48                   93

2023                                         6                     11  (In the first 48 days of this year)

Totals                                    387                692

     Seeing it in black and white is pretty shocking, isn't it?

     1,079 lives forever changed. Not to mention the lives of all of their loved ones!  And what has been done to stop these kinds of things from happening? Absolutely nothing!  Why?  

     One reason is the power behind the NRA. Don't get me wrong. I'm all about the right to keep and bear arms. I, myself, have taken a gun safety class and hold a Conceal & Carry permit. I'm okay with youth taking hunter safety classes and hunting with family member and family friends.  What I am not okay with is common people having access to assault-style weapons.  For real!! What everyday citizen needs an assault rifle?  

     It also concerns me that some families don't have the common sense to lock up their weapons so their kids can't gain access and hurt themselves or someone else.  Look at that SIX year old who shot his teacher. That gun was not secured where he couldn't access it. So many of the school shootings have been made possible by the use of unsecured guns that the shooter, who isn't old enough to get a permit, has taken from his/her home.

     I will also stand firm on my belief that schools need to do more, even at the elementary level.  Schools should regularly practice Intruder Drills with different scenarios. We stared doing this many years ago, when I taught in another district, and then it went by the wayside. Why?? We need them now, more than ever. It's the world we live in, unfortunately.

     Schools should also have metal detectors at the main entrances and all other doors should be locked at all times.  On top of this, school districts should spare no expense when it comes to staffing all buildings with full-time mental health professionals. This should not be a one-per-building fix, but based on a per capita formula. For example, a building of 600 students would have a greater need than a building of 45 students.  I also believe that every that houses students should have it's own school resource officer.  Schools should spare no expense to keep the students safe!

     But schools can't, and shouldn't have to, do it alone.  What is needed is legislation to ban assault rifles from being purchased by every day citizens. There's no reason anyone needs that kind of weapon unless they are in active service for our military or law enforcement.