Schmoker

What a great name

But anyway, buffers exist all over schools, whether you want to believe it or not. A teacher might get defensive and say that he teaches every minute of every period, and he covers the curriculum, and his kids are constantly engaged..... and my response is "Bueller, anyone, anyone."

Any person would get defensive if it came to a question of whether they worked all the time, and how effective they are. Just look at NCLB. Besides all the reasons to dislike it, the underlying response from all teachers is "Why should I be held accountable?" This is just another way of saying that I do my job well, and you should not have to observe me doing it to believe me, take my word.

I am sorry if I am offending teachers, that is not my purpose. We need to really look at ourselves. I think we all take breaks, and give worksheets, and do puzzles. I also think we are a breed set apart from everyone else. REMEMBER! NOT EVERYONE CAN TEACH.

Back to Schmoker... I think buffers definitely exist, right up the ladder of education. I mentioned teachers, but departments will constantly publish the good the school is doing, with pictures of kids doing community service. A school is often measured by how successful its sports program is. Back to school night- the entire janitorial staff works overtime to beautify the school. Teachers hang tests with "A's". All this is done for the sake of the parent? Wrong. All that is done to defer the parents thoughts. Johnny is always doing great on back to school night. Buffering is rampant. When was the last time that a school voluntarily admitted to its failures, or its discipline problems.