The State of the Classroom (teaching)

This morning, I took some time to look at blogs of other teachers, read a little propaganda about NCLB, and scanned some articles about the general state of education. As a country, we are falling further and further behind with each passing year. High stakes testing is being referenced in so many headlines as real insight into the abilities of students. And, there is a first year teacher in New Mexico crying everyday. What is going on?

When I decided to teach, I knew that I was deciding to become a part of something insane. The education system, as a whole, is so misguided. Unfortunately, this reality has a major impact on the reality of my classroom. We conform to systems because we are told to conform. We attempt to teach 180 minutes of literacy curriculum in 45. We go against our instincts because we are told to. And, we must, above all, have wonderful bulletin boards (don't worry if the work is not reflective of the students' ability and makes them cry because they have to do it over so many times to get it perfect).

I told a new teacher that she needs to be Zen about everything. That she will see crazy things happen and she needs to just say okay. I need to take my own advice. I am not in a position to change so much of what I see is wrong. And, if I was in that position, I'm not sure what I would see as the answer. It's more than just my school, district, region, or city. Better systems must exist. Education is failing. So many people are trying. But, education is failing. What should we do?