You can't fool the principal

[snopes]

Comment: This rumour isn't new, necessarily. When I was a freshman my math
teacher concocted a plan that would make the Administration smile upon
him. Teachers have a higher chance of getting a raise if they are better
teachers. To prove this you have to have a high ratio of your students
raising hands to answer questions when the principal walks in.

My crafty math teacher told us that if the principal walks in we all need
to raise our hands. If we raise our left hand he won't call on us. If we
raise our right hand he will call on us to answer. That way even if you
don't know the answer it looks like you do.

The day comes when the principal walks in. Our teacher asks us a hard
question. A few people know the answer and raise their right hands. Some
of the dumber kids were looking at their hands in order to tell which hand
they need to raise. I'll admit that I had to look at my hand. Whatever. I
knew the answer.

The principal caught on quickly. He is one smart dude. He talked to the
teacher and he admitted his plan to our principal. Our math teacher never
got a raise. Instead he has to teach the kids who didn't pass math. Also
he has to teach kids who are unruly, it states so on your record.

I'm just telling this to you because it is a myth going around some
schools in our area. I just wanted to verify it as a fact. This actually
happened. I was there.

[Auntie Witch]

Yup, "Kids with hands raised" shows up on every eval I ever get. Right next to "Never has students earning a D or F in class".

[Beachlife!]

Yeah, those of use who have issues with Right and Left are just dumb, that's it.

[musicgeek]

Where are these teachers getting raises, anyway? I know a few systems are noodling with merit pay, but it's hardly a common practice in public education.

[franjava]

That is just stupid. I think in grade school, the principal *might* have come in our classes, but I don't remember. In Jr. and High School, the principal NEVER came in. I wouldn't have believed the op even when I was a stupid teenager.

[musicgeek]

Originally Posted by franjava

That is just stupid. I think in grade school, the principal *might* have come in our classes, but I don't remember. In Jr. and High School, the principal NEVER came in. I wouldn't have believed the op even when I was a stupid teenager.

Even in high schools, administration evaluations are real, usually scheduled in advance but potentially including drop-ins as well. There's at least a kernel of truth to the O.P. in that looking for engaged, responsive students is often a component of the evaluation process.

[LyndaD]

So the teacher NEVER got a raise? In all the districts that I know of, teachers' salaries are based on education and years of service, not tied to one evaluation. And, as mentioned before, I've never seen '# of hands raised' on any of my evaluations.

Principals and other admins spend much more time in classrooms now than they did even 10 years ago. Between on-site admins, district admins, county academic coaches and state people checking how many textbooks I have, there's someone coming through my classroom several times a week. I don't even blink anymore, just keep on teaching.

[Roadsterboy]

Ha. This reminds me of a teacher I had in high school. He was pretty young and had a pretty good sense of humor. Anyway, the principal and or the dean were giving a tour to some administrative bigwig, and there was all this talk about teachers getting everyone to raise their hands if these guys popped their heads in the door.

Our teacher told us that if the dean stuck his head in the door we should all look up from whatever we were doing and silently point at him. We did. The dean just backed out of the room slowly. It was awesome.

-RB

[Electrotiger]

I had a teacher in middle school tell us the story about a class of kids being told to raise their right hand if they thought they knew the answer and the left if they didn't, but he brought it up as a learning practice; if every single kid in class had to raise their hand for each question, then ostensibly everyone would need to be listening carefully for when questions came up.

Seems solid on paper, but for some reason I think it might be hard to truly implement.

[remigo]

I'm in a teacher education programme now, and we have 6 visits from inspectors over the year. I've heard variants of this story about half a dozen times this year. Lots of "this guy who did the course a few years ago", which is the college version of FOAF.

By the way, I had a class supervised last week and as the students were packing up to go, one cheeky chap independently thought it would be a good idea to go talk to the inspector and tell him that I was a great teacher. I got in lots of trouble for that.

[LyndaD]

Originally Posted by remigo

I'm in a teacher education programme now, and we have 6 visits from inspectors over the year. I've heard variants of this story about half a dozen times this year. Lots of "this guy who did the course a few years ago", which is the college version of FOAF.

By the way, I had a class supervised last week and as the students were packing up to go, one cheeky chap independently thought it would be a good idea to go talk to the inspector and tell him that I was a great teacher. I got in lots of trouble for that.

As a teacher, it seems like you can't win. When bad things happen, it's your fault. When good things happen someone else takes the credit. At least that's the way it is here....