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 * __EDINA STAFF CONCERNS ABOUT BRRRG ISSUES - SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS__**

This page has been created in order to allow Edina Staff to share their concerns about the current BRRRG process. Feel free to add your thoughts. Simply click on the "Edit This Page" button above, add your input, and click on the "Save" button on the toolbar that pops up. There is no need for logins/passwords - anyone can edit this page. I have begun 3 categories of concerns, but feel free to add others.
 * __Elimination of the Copy Center__**


 * OK - should I cut and paste and send this in an email to Bruce? I'll plan to do that tomorrow AM, and I'll present it as a group deal. I notice that an English dep't. member contributed, which is fine, except that I'm supposed to be soliciting Social Studies feedback. How do you want me to handle that, department? I switched the first two paragraphs so that it had more of a topic sentence to start off the feedback. Also, I thought that I had put the stuff I wrote back in, but it's still not here. Is someone trying to tell me just how lame a duck I am? Or am I just paranoid? Or both? Or did I accidentally eliminate my own changes (more likely)? EG**

Elimination of the copy center at EHS would be an enormous setback to the teaching profession. As teachers, we can devote 100% of our time on a daily basis to our kids because of support services like the copying center. Taking away the copy center is like taking away my right arm. Unless you use the copy center on a regular basis, you have no relevant connection and/or appreciation of its significance to a teacher.

I dread this. I cannot even begin to calculate the number of (wasted) hours this will add to my workload. The prospect of standing in line in anticipation to use what will likely be often broken machines is daunting. If this actually comes to pass, the school will need to implement some streamlined process for scanning so that waiting for photocopiers does not translate into equally long waits for scanning machines. Additionally, computer accessibility will become essential, so that students can have access to the documents posted online - both accessibility while in school (the media center labs will be even harder to reserve, I would guess), as well as accessibility for those students who do not have computer access at home.

The loss of the copy center will take an already at times daunting job and make it even more so. In social studies especially, we use the world around us and its resources to motivate, inspire and reach our students. The loss of a significant means of presenting real-life, relevant materials to my students in a timely manner for discussion and /or reflection will make subject matter even drier and more arcane.

If the copy center must go, then I ask this: give all staff access to the rooms with copiers in them. To not be able to enter the teacher work/mail room at our professional discretion is really backward. It makes us feel even further marginalized, and that will only get worse since we will likely need weekend time or significant time after school beyond when the doors are currently locked to fully serve our studnets. There is significantly more to this issue than the counting of beans.

Honestly, I think eliminating the copy center will have far reaching implications that will undoubtedly affect the quality of our teaching. Precious time that could be devoted to students, directly and indirectly, will be compromised by the time it takes to stand in line to make the necessary copies to deliver a quality lesson. I think teachers will become more dependent on textbooks and forego the opportunity to bring outside articles and resources which invariably enrich the classroom experience. Not only that, but I think we will see teachers more harried and stressed without the copy support. For example, a lot of teachers spend a lot of time at night preparing or revising lessons for the next school day. Every morning there is a flurry of activity in the copy center as teachers are trying to get things copied for first hour. I cannot imagine this morning scene without the expert "can do" copy center personnel, who, I believe, do a lot to make things run smoothly at our school.

This would be a huge mistake that would destroy a lot of goodwill among the teaching staff. Though most of us do not write the letters because we get the comp time, we do appreciate either the cash at the end of the year or the ability to use that day or days as we see fit. Each letter we write typically takes between 1 and 2 hours. We get 1 comp day for 12 letters so its already a great bargain for the school district. Moreover, many of us go beyond the number (24) for which we are comped. Eliminating the comp days would create a disincentive and will lead to fewer teachers writing fewer recommendations. I can't emphasize enough how damaging this would be to teacher morale and how risky this would be for our students.
 * __Elimination of Compensatory Time for Writing Letters of Recommendation__**

As to letters of recommendation/compensatory time,I prepared approximately 50 letters of recommendation last semester for my students. Everyone knows how much time and effort this process takes. I look forward to the two days off, as a token of appreciation from the District for a job well done, that goes beyond the normal teaching duties. Losing the compensation time would be a disincentive.

I can state firmly that the loss of comp time for recommendation letters will cause me to at minimum greatly reduce the number I write, or perhaps stop entirely. Not because my only motivation was additional cash or time off, but because it is a time and energy consuming task that will need to be given up for practical considerations-- I already have a lot to do, and will not see the point of doing more for essentially nothing.

At our English department meeting, we talked about how the compensatory time for letters of rec is one of the few examples of our professional time being valued. It acknowledges the demands on our time are great, and that the extra time and effort spent on this task that is so important to our students is appreciated. It's obvious that the district believes there will be no disruption to the letters of rec process. I believe that we need to make the powers-that-be see that should this proposal pass, it's not teachers who will suffer the most -- it will be the students. And when that happens, they will hear from the parents. To which I would say, good luck with that.

__**Class Size Issues**__ Personalized learning is about knowing enough about students to coach and facilitate their learning. The larger the class size, the less this will happen. Also, learning differentiation is more difficult. Last, the time spent grading additional student work will also eat into teacher time. Is there any value being placed on teacher work time and availability to students, not to mention overall morale, in this process? Class size is an easy target, but the implications are far greater than just the number of desks in a classroom.