Teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

[Igel]

20. You're ignoring what's behind the curtain.

I've heard dozens of kids in the last week complain about a project they have to do. They're usually hard-working kids and do their work in my class on time, and judging from their grades, the same is true in other classes.

The project requires a number of steps. They have to have a rough draft of the outline. They have to document their research. They must have a minimum number of references. They have to have a polished outline with a minimum number of top-level, secondary, and tertiary entries. Each top-level entry must include a minimum number of examples. They have to have a rough draft of the project that mirrors the outline. They have to have a polished project. They have to revise their project.

Every step is graded for points that contribute to the final result. If you don't document your research by the deadline you can get a B, but not an A. If you don't have the rough draft of the outline done on time, you can be a B but not an A. The system is set up for the kids who have never done a serious project, who need to be not only guided step-by-step but seriously motivated by grades to do each step in a timely manner.

The A students are bored to tears. B students sort of see the reason for all the steps, but find the specificity of the requirements anal retentive. The F students are slacking off. It's a project geared for the D- and C-students to make sure that they can succeed, so they are led by the hands through each step, monitored at each step, and shepherded to the final conclusion. The class isn't for the good students. It's taught to the low-achieving students who can still succeed. It's a safety net that catches the low-achieving student and ties down the high achievers.

And that's level classes in public education. If you want to find the kinds who aren't bored, go to pre-AP, AP, pre-IB and IB classes. (But even then, in many states pre-AP is just the old academic/top-tracked classes because the ranks of the terminally bored descend not just through the ranks of proper pre-AP students but down into A and B level students.)