It's Official I'm a BUM!

Acronyms otherwise known as alphabet soup can lead to confusion and puzzling looks at staff meetings. This past week I was at a union negotiation meeting when the acronym BUM was written on a chart we were making of ideas about how to handle transfers in the future. The person that wrote that down knew what it stood for but no one else in the room did. It was interesting that we went on for several minutes when I finally spoke up and said I just had one question "What does BUM stand for?" Several people laughed and someone else said I'm glad you asked because I have no idea what it stands for either. BUM = Bargaining Unit Member

I understand writing acronyms to save time but why is it that we have to say them so often during staff meetings? They lead to confusion and teachers missing important points because they don't know what some of the acronyms stand for or mean. Fortunately this year we were given a one page guide to acronyms commonly used at our school.

Here is just a sample from the list:

AL = Academic Language
API = Academic Performance Indicator
APII = Action Plan for Instructional Improvement
ASI = After School Intervention
AYP = Adequate Yearly Progress
CST = California Standards Test
DIBELS = Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills
ELD = English Language Development
ELL = English Language Learners
EQ = Essential Questions
ESL = English as a Second Language
ETS = Effective Teaching Strategies
GO = Graphic Organizers

The list goes on and on.....