Central Kansas Hates Me!

I just received an e-mail from BER telling me that my seminar in Wichita has been cancelled because only one person had signed up for it! Why do they hate me in Kansas? Actually Kansas City liked me a lot last November, so it must just be the western part of the state that hates me.

Now I know that they don't really hate me in Kansas. BER is feeling the effect of the economy just like everyone else and it's also very possible that there is something else preventing teachers from attending a seminar on March 2

Actually, March 2 is Casimir Pulaski day which is, in fact, a holiday for Illinois school children! Pulaski was a Polish hero in our Revolutionary War. Evidently his descendants in Illinois were not content with his name being immortalized on one of Chicago's longest streets and demanded a holiday of their own. Wonder if there are lots of Polish Kansans? But I digress....

One of the reasons BER is known for quality seminars is that the instructors are evaluated EVERY SINGLE TIME they present. Participants grade us on "content of the seminar" and "contribution of the presenter". We have to get 6.5 out of 7 on both. If a presenter gets a 6.4 average, there is conversation with his/her supervisor. If there are several days of 6.4s, the presenter may be asked to move on.

Participants also write comments. I really agonize over these even though the negative comments often make no sense. "I was looking for new technology" (not one mention of technology in the brochure). "Curriculum Compacting is NOT Differentiated Instruction" (in spite of my learning about it in several books on differentiated instruction). "I wanted more theory" which came right after "I'm glad it was practical.". Some Latin teachers complain that the seminar stresses conversation too much (The title of the seminar is "Active Conversation"). Then there are the German teachers who complain about student made samples in Spanish and French, even though all examples and directions are in English. Interestingly, Italian, Arabic, Navajo, American Sign Language, Chinese and Japanese teachers have NEVER complained. Why do I agonize over such silliness?

Because I'm being graded, that's why! Yes, I was observed throughout my public school teaching career but never had every student write a comment every day. I'm sure I'll continue to grab the evaluation sheets from my "program manager" as soon as we get in a taxi after a seminar and I'll not breathe comfortably until I've finished reading them. I hope, however, that I'll get better at forgetting the weird comments. I know I'll be a lot more generous whenever I'm in the position of writing an evaluation!

Is this posting at least at 6.5???????