Teacher Criticisms...(rant)

fitplease

*applause* I'm not a teacher... yet. But all it really takes is 5 minutes of critical thinking to realize that teaching is a HARD job. You think it's difficult to spend all day trying to get your kids to listen to you? Try that with 30 kids in a room, all day every day.

I hate when people criticize teachers. Yeah, some teachers suck at their job, but some parents suck at that job too, and some accountants suck at their job, and some cashiers suck at their job. Doesn't mean that ALL parents and ALL accountants and ALL cashiers suck. It means that most people do the best they can in their given roles, and a few people don't. Don't punish the whole group because of the issues of a few.

Thank you.

Great teachers make it look easy. Unfortunately, too few parents take the time to see what their child's teacher does behind the scenes to make the day extraordinary.

nopeekiepeekie

I just wanted to chime in from a perspective of a parent with a child that has a life threatening disease.

My daughter was diagnosed with leukemia when she was in the 3rd grade. The whole school rallied behind her. Her own classroom teacher was her tutor while she wasn't able to attend school, which was the entire last quarter of the school year. Her teacher volunteered because she knew my daughter's strengths and was worried that a different tutor may not challenge her enough. I respect that. 4th grade, 5th grade, all the same type of fantastic teachers. When my daughter had pneumonia in 5th grade and had to miss the last month and a half of school, her teacher made sure my her schoolwork was sent home with her brother every single day. EVERY day. I had so much faith in the school system and teachers!

Fast forward to 6th grade - middle school - we get told my daughter's cancer has relapsed and she has to have a bone marrow transplant - in another state. Do you think we could get one dang syllabus from any of the teachers? Nope, not one. I called, my husband called, her hospital assigned tutor called. Nothing. Not one thing. Sure they gave us the books, but if the teachers have a state mandate on what they have to teach, then they have general idea of what they have to teach each quarter and how much of the book they have to get through by the end of the year. In my opinion.... the least, the absolute VERY least they could have done was given us that information. My daughter basically got little to no teaching of the required Wisconsin subjects because of this. I finally had to tell her tutor to teach her whatever she could. We came home for a visit one month and the school district supplied tutor they gave her was one of the most horrible experiences I've EVER had to deal with. I almost contemplated pulling her out of the district and home schooling her it was that bad.

Fast forward to this fall. My daughter returns to school for the 7th grade, and luckily, for us (and her teachers) she is an extremely smart student. Even after suffering a stroke and having sometimes no 6th grade schooling (mostly because she was too ill to be taught), she is a straight A student.

I have multiple friends who are teachers. They are all fantastic. Every single one of them. I've not heard one complain about how they do not enjoy being around the children, even the older or difficult ones. I agree that many of them are underpaid. But something needs to be done about how unions protect the crap and drag the good down with them before anything can be fixed.

KimmieBrie

OK sorry... but not ALL teachers are good teachers and some don't deserve what they make.

An old neighbor of mine is a teacher... 3rd grade.... making about 50K a year off our tax dollars, summers/vacations/snow days off.
She is a pill popping drunk addict. She has been caught driving children around in that condition. I haven't had a normal conversation with her in years because she is THAT messed up and the school seems unable to get rid of her. All the other teachers gossip about her and want her gone - yet there she is - thank you teachers union. So yes = I am going to criticize her and the fact that she's stealing taxpayers $$ to be a bad influence. SHE is in fact overpaid and shouldn't have a job dealing with children period. I understand she's the exception not the rule... but there are some bad teachers out there and something needs to be done to get rid of them. A lot of it isn't that people don't appreciate teachers, but we disapprove of the system and we are the ones funding it (public schools).

Becky1971

Omg! It's frustrating, that so much money goes into things like that, and that NBA was just fighting over money that they wouldn't even notice was gone, while cuts continue to be made in the schools, and to the police and fire departments. Just WRONG!

The four most underpaid careers - Military, Teachers, Police Department and Fire Department. I admire them all and am amazed everyday that we don't show them enough respect. Let's pay the football players (some who couldn't even complete college and didn't do that well in high school) millions while some teachers can barely get by. Don't get me wrong, I love football, but who thinks this is right?

Shannon2714

OK sorry... but not ALL teachers are good teachers and some don't deserve what they make.

An old neighbor of mine is a teacher... 3rd grade.... making about 50K a year off our tax dollars, summers/vacations/snow days off.
She is a pill popping drunk addict. She has been caught driving children around in that condition. I haven't had a normal conversation with her in years because she is THAT messed up and the school seems unable to get rid of her. All the other teachers gossip about her and want her gone - yet there she is - thank you teachers union. So yes = I am going to criticize her and the fact that she's stealing taxpayers $$ to be a bad influence. SHE is in fact overpaid and shouldn't have a job dealing with children period. I understand she's the exception not the rule... but there are some bad teachers out there and something needs to be done to get rid of them. A lot of it isn't that people don't appreciate teachers, but we disapprove of the system and we are the ones funding it (public schools).

Ok, I don't know where you live, but where we live that teacher would have been fired and arrested. So, either you don't know all the facts, or you live in a country outside of the U.S. Justice System.

I_give_it_2_u_str8

then you have the people who want to run education like a business, and if you don't get the results, you don't get the pay. if education was a business, teachers could fire and hire the students based on their performance. but no. we don't get that option.

havent read all 6 pages, so not sure if someone pointed this out but by your analogy, you are proving that running the teaching profession as a business works like any other business!

if you can selectively choose your clients (students in your case) than by extension, the market value of many teachers would decline because the good students are going to have their pick at the best teachers (best value for their 'money').

so you see, this creates a supply and demand for teachers just like any other profession or good sold in the open market. the good teachers would be well compensated, and the bad ones .. not so well.

eellis2000

But I think parents are to blame also. Expecting your child to be raised by your teacher is a crime. It is truly sad when the ONLY attention a child receives is from their teacher. Neglect means this poor kid is already starting in a hole and a teacher is forced to play catch up.
The teaching system needs to be revised. Parents attitudes need to be revised. The union needs to be axed.

I gotta say many parents would rather their children not have to go to school or at least not after 9th or 10th grade. But like teachers try to make the best of it. Alot of parent don't make 1/4th of the money a teacher makes and has to work year round to boot and still has to make time for said child. It's not fair to bash all parents as a whole either.

I think the whole education system needs to be revised; we didn't have as many drug, alcohol, obesity, anorexia, violence, and unemployment issues during the times when it wasn't mandatory to educate our children to the level that the government(?) and the board of education require now.

Shannon2714

Omg! It's frustrating, that so much money goes into things like that, and that NBA was just fighting over money that they wouldn't even notice was gone, while cuts continue to be made in the schools, and to the police and fire departments. Just WRONG!

The four most underpaid careers - Military, Teachers, Police Department and Fire Department. I admire them all and am amazed everyday that we don't show them enough respect. Let's pay the football players (some who couldn't even complete college and didn't do that well in high school) millions while some teachers can barely get by. Don't get me wrong, I love football, but who thinks this is right?

It's hilarious to me to read this....My husband is a teacher (as I've already stated), but he is also in the Army National Guard. I work in criminal justice and get paid equivalent to the starting salary of a police officer.... :-)

KimmieBrie

OK sorry... but not ALL teachers are good teachers and some don't deserve what they make.

An old neighbor of mine is a teacher... 3rd grade.... making about 50K a year off our tax dollars, summers/vacations/snow days off.
She is a pill popping drunk addict. She has been caught driving children around in that condition. I haven't had a normal conversation with her in years because she is THAT messed up and the school seems unable to get rid of her. All the other teachers gossip about her and want her gone - yet there she is - thank you teachers union. So yes = I am going to criticize her and the fact that she's stealing taxpayers $$ to be a bad influence. SHE is in fact overpaid and shouldn't have a job dealing with children period. I understand she's the exception not the rule... but there are some bad teachers out there and something needs to be done to get rid of them. A lot of it isn't that people don't appreciate teachers, but we disapprove of the system and we are the ones funding it (public schools).

Ok, I don't know where you live, but where we live that teacher would have been fired and arrested. So, either you don't know all the facts, or you live in a country outside of the U.S. Justice System.

I live in MA and I have all the facts - she wasn't arrested because the cops let her go - she's the one who told us... she had her little kids and their friends in the vehicle. I used to see her all the time. She is F'd up and every teacher there knows it (according to the other teachers we know personally at the same school). Obviously this isn't all schools, but this is in fact at a public school right here in the good ole USA. If she can't hold a normal conversation with adults - WTH is she teaching those kids? Not all teachers are good teachers. Most are, some aren't, and it should be easier to get rid of the bad ones.

LilMissFoodie

This is simply my opinion and you can disagree all you like, but PUH-LEASE! You can chose to make your day as easy or as difficult as you like. If you care about your students, you're going to have a more packed day, if you choose to sit back and relax, your day is going to be a breeze. I've had good teachers, and bad teachers but seriously, the job cannot be as bad as you're all making it out to seem. You get weekends off, multiple weeks throughout the year off, plus 2 months during the summer off. Give me a break, if your job is that difficult or you're not enjoying it (not saying you guys don't) then find a job where you do enjoy yourself. Teachers should be prepared for the work load, and love children. If you're not and you don't, then keep flipping through the book of careers till you find something you like. My sister-in-law is a fourth grade teacher and all she does is complain about how the students shouldn't be in the class or are acting like brats... blah blah blah... I just want to tell her to find a job where she'll actually care about it. If you're just going to complain all day about things at your job then move on.

I kind of agree with you. I do think that teaching, like all professional jobs I'm sure, is demanding. Have to admit that it drives me a little bit crazy though when teachers say things like they should get extra holidays and pay etc because of all the out of hours unpaid work they do. That's every professional job that is paid by salary, not just teaching and not all of us get shorter days (well the mandatory part), longer holidays or the same pay. I love my job but I think some people have more to be grateful for than they realise.

kharrington23

Teachers should be paid in gold bullion and be allowed to retire at age 45. If it was left up to me, just based on my experience with homework with my ONE child, our nation's children would not only be uneducated but I would have murdered them all by the second day of school.

Thank god for teachers!!!

This ^^^^^

Shannon2714

I live in MA and I have all the facts - she wasn't arrested because the cops let her go - she's the one who told us... she had her little kids and their friends in the vehicle. I used to see her all the time. She is F'd up and every teacher there knows it (according to the other teachers we know personally at the same school). Obviously this isn't all schools, but this is in fact at a public school right here in the good ole USA. If she can't hold a normal conversation with adults - WTH is she teaching those kids? Not all teachers are good teachers. Most are, some aren't, and it should be easier to get rid of the bad ones.

Wow...sounds like you have a problem with your police force, too! That is ridiculous. I do agree with you that not all teachers are good teachers...I don't even think most are. There are some very bad teachers out there. We can only hope to recognize the bad ones and do what we can to support our child's educational needs while they are with said bad teachers.

LuciaLongIsland

I live in Canada and my husband is a high school teacher. He is also the head of a department. In Canada, teachers are paid fairly well - starting salaries are in the mid-30s and by the time you put in 10-15 years, you can earn 90K. However, no one pays for a teacher's education - certainly not their 4 year bachelor's degree from a university and definitely not the 1-2 years additional schooling at teacher's college. Nor are any of their special qualification courses paid for. Those all come out of pocket but are required to move up the ladder.

My husband works at home for an hour each morning getting ready for his day - marking papers, setting curriculum, etc. He then heads to school to arrive an hour before the kids arrive and works there until his classes start. He teaches from 9-3:30. He teaches four seventy-minute classes to a combined 120 kids. On his prep period he works. During his lunch he often works - calling parents, dealing with students. After school, he's responsible for bus duty two nights a week and making sure the kids all get on their buses safely. On the days he's not doing that, he runs 2 extra-curricular programs - improv team and a songwriters club. These go until 5 pm. At least once a week he has a staff meeting that runs until 5:30. He NEVER gets home before 6 pm. He works another hour in the evening (at a minimum) marking more papers, getting ready for classes, dealing with his department, etc.

He works a couple hours a day over all holidays and usually writes curriculum and prepares his courses during our summers "off". At least once a month he is out all evening at an improv or songwriters club meet or competition. He's not paid anything extra for any of these things and the kids benefit greatly.

Are there teachers who do nothing and probably don't really deserve the pay they get? Yes, but that's true of every profession. In my experience, knowing my husband, his parents (who were both teachers), and all his friends, the vast majority are doing the best they can with what they are given (limited budgets, not always great support from their principals, boards, difficult students who take away from the rest, etc).

Most professions though don't have to put up with some of what I've seen my husband have to deal with. He is a good teacher, one of those that students come back to visit years later, name their kids after, tell him he's the reason they continued in school or pursued a degree in his subject, etc. He CARES. And yet even as good a teacher as he is, he's had to deal with being hit by students, sworn at by them, breaking up fights, dealing with massive disrespect in the classroom, parents who swear/yell/hit, etc. It's amazing the things parents think they can get away with because they view themselves as paying a teacher's salary.

And just to make clear, I am also a parent with a child in the public school system and I cannot imagine treating anyone the way I have heard of teachers being treated over the years. A woman (another *good* teacher) in my husband's department was actually physically assaulted by a parent last year.

I don't think most teachers hate/complain about their jobs. What they're usually saying is that if they didn't love teaching or the students or want to be there, the money and the holidays sure as heck wouldn't be enough to keep them around. It's hard to keep doing your best when most people just want to bash you and think they *own* you in some way that makes it okay for them to make any sort of remark about what you do for a living

Well said. I taught special rd for 30 years!!! I challenge anyone to do my job??

LuciaLongIsland

I live in MA and I have all the facts - she wasn't arrested because the cops let her go - she's the one who told us... she had her little kids and their friends in the vehicle. I used to see her all the time. She is F'd up and every teacher there knows it (according to the other teachers we know personally at the same school). Obviously this isn't all schools, but this is in fact at a public school right here in the good ole USA. If she can't hold a normal conversation with adults - WTH is she teaching those kids? Not all teachers are good teachers. Most are, some aren't, and it should be easier to get rid of the bad ones.

Wow...sounds like you have a problem with your police force, too! That is ridiculous. I do agree with you that not all teachers are good teachers...I don't even think most are. There are some very bad teachers out there. We can only hope to recognize the bad ones and do what we can to support our child's educational needs while they are with said bad teachers.

Also , there are many bad parents!!! Many of my special kids were special due to bad parenting.

KimmieBrie

I live in MA and I have all the facts - she wasn't arrested because the cops let her go - she's the one who told us... she had her little kids and their friends in the vehicle. I used to see her all the time. She is F'd up and every teacher there knows it (according to the other teachers we know personally at the same school). Obviously this isn't all schools, but this is in fact at a public school right here in the good ole USA. If she can't hold a normal conversation with adults - WTH is she teaching those kids? Not all teachers are good teachers. Most are, some aren't, and it should be easier to get rid of the bad ones.

Wow...sounds like you have a problem with your police force, too! That is ridiculous. I do agree with you that not all teachers are good teachers...I don't even think most are. There are some very bad teachers out there. We can only hope to recognize the bad ones and do what we can to support our child's educational needs while they are with said bad teachers.

Also , there are many bad parents!!! Many of my special kids were special due to bad parenting.

Ditto that. Unfortunately - we can't choose our parents. Since it's my tax dollars paying public teachers salary - I think we should have a choice and a way to rid ourselves of these type of teachers without the union standing in the way. This isn't sports. This isn't a private funded company making union deals - this is our money and our kids are impacted directly - there should be a resolution - not a union wall of BS especially in tough times. I don't want our limited funding going to the worst of the worse.

JustLena75

Hats off to you Teacher peeps!! I don't know HOW you do it! And frankly, with as much half-assed parenting that goes on now, I'm surprised that anyone WANTS to do it. It makes me sad...seems like there are a lot of parents out there who just don't feel it's worth it to invest some time into their own children...they just send them off to school and hope for the best. I was horrified at open house the night before school started (my daughter is a Kindergartner), there was a parent there that pulled the teacher aside and told her that their child wasn't even fully potty trained yet!!!

Jane2285

I understand you. I am a high school English teacher and honestly...teachers have the most thankless job ever. We get cussed at, yelled at, told we are stupid, boring, that we don't know anything, and much more all day for 180 days. I love my job, it's not about the pay here...but my concern is when my job could be on the line because of pay cuts. My fear is, with them cutting more and more with education, what are we going to produce in the long run? How can we, as a nation, produce good, educated students with the bare minimum here? I'm not concerned about myself, I'm concerned about the youth of America...if they are getting the worst teachers because a school wants to save money, how will the rest of the world survive when that student gets out in the real world?

Becky1971

It's crazy! I did my practicum in a Kindergarten class. One student for the three months I was there, never had his backpack opened by anyone at home, his papers stacked up inside his back back. (This is a home where there are multiple families living together, so parents, grandparents, aunts etc... It was time for the little graduation, and no one came for him. His invitation was still in his back pack.

One of the things that gets me the most with parents, is reading. Most students have reading homework every night, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to sit down 5 to 7 days a week with your child. SO frustrating that parents can't even give that time to their kids. That 15 to 20 minutes, is a HUGE part of their learning to read. HUGE!

Hats off to you Teacher peeps!! I don't know HOW you do it! And frankly, with as much half-assed parenting that goes on now, I'm surprised that anyone WANTS to do it. It makes me sad...seems like there are a lot of parents out there who just don't feel it's worth it to invest some time into their own children...they just send them off to school and hope for the best. I was horrified at open house the night before school started (my daughter is a Kindergartner), there was a parent there that pulled the teacher aside and told her that their child wasn't even fully potty trained yet!!!

Becky1971

Again, I see so much being a sub for Instructional assistants in and out of different schools and classes everyday. (In my district of course). I hear the complaints all the time, but you know the teachers that aren't complaining, or wasting there time with inappropriate complaints,are the excellent teachers. They are teachers and schools that put in the extra work to have the structure that is needed to help students be successful academically and behaviorally. The ones that have given up, or decided it's not their job, are the ones complaining to anybody and everybody.

This is simply my opinion and you can disagree all you like, but PUH-LEASE! You can chose to make your day as easy or as difficult as you like. If you care about your students, you're going to have a more packed day, if you choose to sit back and relax, your day is going to be a breeze. I've had good teachers, and bad teachers but seriously, the job cannot be as bad as you're all making it out to seem. You get weekends off, multiple weeks throughout the year off, plus 2 months during the summer off. Give me a break, if your job is that difficult or you're not enjoying it (not saying you guys don't) then find a job where you do enjoy yourself. Teachers should be prepared for the work load, and love children. If you're not and you don't, then keep flipping through the book of careers till you find something you like. My sister-in-law is a fourth grade teacher and all she does is complain about how the students shouldn't be in the class or are acting like brats... blah blah blah... I just want to tell her to find a job where she'll actually care about it. If you're just going to complain all day about things at your job then move on.

I kind of agree with you. I do think that teaching, like all professional jobs I'm sure, is demanding. Have to admit that it drives me a little bit crazy though when teachers say things like they should get extra holidays and pay etc because of all the out of hours unpaid work they do. That's every professional job that is paid by salary, not just teaching and not all of us get shorter days (well the mandatory part), longer holidays or the same pay. I love my job but I think some people have more to be grateful for than they realise.

That_Girl

I understand you. I am a high school English teacher and honestly...teachers have the most thankless job ever. We get cussed at, yelled at, told we are stupid, boring, that we don't know anything, and much more all day for 180 days. I love my job, it's not about the pay here...but my concern is when my job could be on the line because of pay cuts. My fear is, with them cutting more and more with education, what are we going to produce in the long run? How can we, as a nation, produce good, educated students with the bare minimum here? I'm not concerned about myself, I'm concerned about the youth of America...if they are getting the worst teachers because a school wants to save money, how will the rest of the world survive when that student gets out in the real world?

Ha! Yes! I teach 5th grade and subject myself to this abuse every day and NOTHING happens to the kids.

Any other job and those people would be fired. Not here though...'they are just children and don't mean it'. In the meantime, I have to have a thick skin and not haul off and clock them.

eml48341

I kind of agree with you. I do think that teaching, like all professional jobs I'm sure, is demanding. Have to admit that it drives me a little bit crazy though when teachers say things like they should get extra holidays and pay etc because of all the out of hours unpaid work they do. That's every professional job that is paid by salary, not just teaching and not all of us get shorter days (well the mandatory part), longer holidays or the same pay. I love my job but I think some people have more to be grateful for than they realise.

I don't recall reading a single post where an educator said they deserved extra holidays, shorter hours and more pay because of the extra hours that they put into their day. They are saying they just don't want to be called overpaid lazy hacks (not exact words, but you get the gist.)

I have worked in many different professions and jobs throughout my life. I worked at a brokerage firm, in the food and beverage industry, at a golf course, in retail, and as a teacher. I have taught 1st, 2nd, and 6th grades. Teaching has, by far, been the most exhausting, demanding, overwhelming, challenging, and rewarding profession. Teaching is more than writing on a white board and passing out worksheets. I am managing 30+ students (I dream of the days of have a class of 20 students) who have varying levels of intelligence, emotional and behavioral stability, English language skills, and parental support. I have taught in classrooms where the number of students out number the amount of desks and have had to ask students to sit at my desk, on the floor, or on the window sill because there was nowhere else for them to go.

I have huddled and comforted small scared children in a corner of my classroom when my school went on lock down because a father came to school with a gun to try and kidnap his son. I have had a student pull down his pants and wave his genitalia at me while calling me an effing b!$*#& because I asked him to sit down and stop being disruptive while I was teaching. I have had a parent curse me out when I called home to discuss their child falling asleep everyday in my class and was told it was my fault because I wasn't making class fun enough for their child (Later, during a parent meeting with the child's whole 6th grade team of teachers, it was brought up by 3 other teachers that he was sleeping in their classes as well. The parent said that he was sleeping because he had a laptop and TV in his bedroom and was up all night playing video games). My first year of teaching I had a set of parents accuse me of making their child, a first grader, suicidal because I was not challenging him enough at school... even though it was discovered that he had been molested by an uncle when he was in kindergarten, it was still my fault that he was suicidal. I had a parent attack me at a parent conference because I wouldn't believe the blatant lies that her daughter told me at school to try and get other students in trouble while in the same breath said she was ready to ship the girl off to reform school because she was so bad at home and the mother couldn't believe anything the girl said. I also had a student who started telling people that I came onto him and tried to have sex with him to try and get me in trouble because I wrote him up for punching another student. Thankfully I was a well liked and respected teacher and a group of students told the principal that he admitted to them that he was going to pay me back for writing him up. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

I have also been voted the students favorite teacher in the school yearbook because I made learning interesting and fun (their words). I have had the joy of seeing a student go from a struggling reader to a confident and capable reader. I have had parents tell me that I helped their child develop a love for reading that they never thought possible, and have cried in parent meetings over the growths in their child's academic achievements. I have seen a student's eyes light up with pride when they master a challenging or difficult concept. I have had the joy of working with so many incredible, kind, and thoughtful students, coworkers, and parents that I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

I started teaching $36 thousand dollars in student loan debt with my starting salary being $32 thousand. I paid for all of the testing that is required to be certified and deemed highly qualified. My undergrad was not paid for, but I would love to find out who all of these people are who get free college by being a teacher, unless you are "lucky" enough to teach in a red-line district. On a $32k salary, by the time I paid rent, bills, loans, car payments, insurance, and bought supplies and materials for my classroom, I had nothing left over for groceries or gas. I got a second job...and a third. By the way, one of my best friends worked as an office manager for high rise condos, aka she sat at a desk all day and answered phones while she shopped online, made $42 thousand that same year. I paid for students who couldn't afford field trips. I bought socks and new shoes for students who needed them. I also have paid for lunch for students who forgot or didn't have money to eat. I love my students and if they have no socks and holes in their shoes or a grumbling belly, I know they couldn't focus on math or reading.

For my first 4 years of working, I was up at 4:30am to workout, got to school by 6 to set up for the day, and had students in the room by 7:15, even when I taught middle school because I provided a free early morning tutoring program before class started at 8:24. I taught until 3:15 every day, most without a single break. Stayed until 4:30 or 5 grading papers, running clubs, and calling parents/having meetings, and then went to one of my other jobs until 10 or 11 pm. I worked weekends and summers, too. My free time, which was usually 11pm-1am, consisted of more paper grading and working on lesson plans and thematic units.

When I worked at UBS as a broker's assistant, I dealt with 1 person at a time, got 45 minutes for lunch and often went off the premises to lunch with the brokers, and could go to the bathroom whenever I wanted. Using the bathroom is a luxury for a teacher. I arrived at 9am and left at 5pm...everyday. When I went home I was able to do what I wanted. Nothing waiting on me to be graded or planned and no phone calls to be made to discuss an issue from the day.

I am not complaining or trying to say my job is better or worse than anyone else, but it is not the cakewalk that so many people say it is. I love what I do. I hate the politics. I hate the blame game. I hate turning on the TV and seeing multimillionaire CEOs who received billion dollar bailouts for their failures saying that the greedy teachers are the downfall of our country. Even my students who have been disrespectful or difficult have a special place in my heart because I know they were dealing with more in their young lives than I could ever imagine. That is why I got into the teaching profession. I try to make a difference in the lives of the children I teach. I teach because I love it. The rest is just details.

VegesaurusRex

Okay, I guess I can post here. I was a teacher. We pulled our kids out of school and homeschooled them. My son, now 19 and finishing his first year of law school (that's right) spent a total of 5 weeks in public school. Then he went to Montesouri which was just as bad.) Homeschooled since third grade. There was nothing I liked about the public schools or the teachers there. My daughter, 16 has just finished her Associates Degree. Never spent one day in public schools.

To sum up what I really hate about public schools : they do not cater to the individual - just like the military, you are just a number. You cannot go faster than the class - you cannot go slower. And in fairness to the teachers, they cannot kick a punk in the a@@.

I went to public school and I loved it. We had ability grouping and it was like being in a private school with all the others looking up to you. Great status.

As a homeschool dad, I taught homeschool classes for the homeschooling community, and, for anyone else who was interested. I taught Latin, which the public schools did not teach. We live in a fairly upscale community in Connecticut, and frankly, I wouldn't want my dog to go to the public school. It is the drug center for the country.

Yes, I do like the business model for public schools. The present model, with the union, is socialist. Everyone gets paid the same whether they are good or bad. Just like the students. Everyone learns the same thing, whether they are bright or stupid.

I would reform the eduational system. Get rid of the unions. pay teachers by the number of students they attract and keep, PROVIDED they also show accomplishment.

chanstriste13

Our education system needs more real business people and less career teachers, and maybe a results oriented system could demand the kind of pay worthy of a real profession.

silliness. the business model in education will *never* work.

Competition improves any product. There are many different models that have great siccess, but are opposed to by the NEA.

children are not products. it's not a factory line with some assembly required. silliness.

VegesaurusRex

Our education system needs more real business people and less career teachers, and maybe a results oriented system could demand the kind of pay worthy of a real profession.

silliness. the business model in education will *never* work.

Competition improves any product. There are many different models that have great siccess, but are opposed to by the NEA.

children are not products. it's not a factory line with some assembly required. silliness.

Children are not beans in a bag either. All are different. They need different things. They are individuals. Public schools as they are today cannot provide what is needed.

chanstriste13

First off, I am a teacher.

I teach in a community/technological college. I see the product of the American education system and all I can say is that if I worked on a production line and put out that kind of a product, I would be fired.

I enjoy teaching older students because they recognize the value of spelling and grammar as well as making a study schedule. They work hard and expect a lot from themselves.

The younger group, for the most part, have no clue what a study schedule is, expect to not have homework, can't spell, have no concept of capitalizing the first word of a sentence or using punctuation, and can't do simple math without a calculator. Additionally, they have no research skills, believe any of the Wiki sites are suitable for research papers, copy and paste without citations, and then wonder why I gave them an 'F' on their paper.

I have to re-teach every student who comes out of schools these days. I have to have them bring in calendars and create a study schedule. I have to explain to them how to take notes, how to do assignments, and how to study for tests. I still have students that will ask me what is on the tests because they can't seem to grasp an understanding of what is important and what isn't important, even when I stand up and say, "Now this is important, so pay attention."

They want every test to be a multiple choice test. They panic when they have to write out a paragraph for short answer essay. Half the time I have to find an interpreter to read their printing. They don't know how to write in cursive. Those that do write must be going on to be doctors because I sometimes have to ask who the paper belongs to or what it says.

They call me at all hours of the day, and sometimes at night, because everything is an 'emergency'. They can't follow the syllabus. Most don't hand in assignments on time and some even insist that the assignments are optional according to the school. If they were optional, would I have assigned them points and included the points in the final point count?

Few students coming out of school have logic or reasoning abilities. They can't read well enough to understand the material that is presented to them. Simple words stump them, so you can imagine what larger words associated with Anatomy and Physiology do to them. They can't form complete sentences and half their sentences make no sense.

I wouldn't worry so much if this was just one or two students coming out of highschool. Unfortunately, this has been about 95% of the students coming out of highschool. That's another thing: I put the number of points that they get correct on their test and they can't figure out the percentage that they got on the test. I have to do it for them!!

What people don't realize is that the ACT, PSAT, and SAT (tests used for college placement) have been dumbed-down so that the students today can get an acceptable score! Otherwise, there would only be Asian, Middle East, African, and European students in our colleges and universities.

Do I think that teachers deserve a raise? Not when they are producing the students that I have to re-teach every block.

The raises that teachers receive should be tied to how well their students do. Yes, there are students whose parents don't encourage them. Yes, there are students who don't want to crack open a book. I've had some of those as well. You motivate them. You talk with the parents and motivate them as well. If they are not interested in their child's education, then you talk to Social Service and Child Protection.

I homeschooled both my children from fifth grade on. Why? My daughter kept being passed on to the next grade even though she could not read, so I took the reins and pulled her out of school. She is an avid reader now and an electrician. My son kept getting beat up in fifth grade by a gang of girls. They didn't just beat up him, they beat up other boys as well. He ended up with a concussion and fractured ribs, so I pulled him out of school. This happened in the playground in front of playground monitors, by the way! He is now an honor student at Penn State. They both scored higher than children who went through public and private schooling on their placement tests.

We live in a society where knowledge is necessary to make a living, yet our students are not being educated well enough to prepare them well enough to make a living. They can't balance their check books, read, write, think for themselves, think logically, perform math, etc. They don't have the motivation to do anything other than what is asked of them. They need their hands held for just about everything. In Europe, adolescents are cognizant of the world and their place in it. In America, adolescents are cognizant of only themselves and what's in it for them.

I blame this on a school system who wants to make every child feel good. The every child is a winner concept is ridiculous because it makes children less motivated. Why excel if you are not going to be recognized for what you do? So every child produced will be mediocre at best and that is pretty much what I am seeing in the community colleges today.

I was going to pick which parts to cut out and which parts to quote, but it all fits with where I am going. I was a stay at home mom for over 7 years and am now going back to school full time. Seeing the work put out by some of my "peers" makes me physically ill. 18, 19, 20 year olds with horrendous grammar, terrible spelling, etc. I don't understand for the life of me how these students even graduated high school let alone got accepted into college!!! THEIR teachers are the ones that should be fired.

these students probably passed high school because the administration allowed them to. what you both are speaking of, however, is not the teachers' fault - it's is due to curriculum guidelines that try to cut corners. in our county, grammar is no longer an acceptable part of the elementary curriculum. students are encouraged to 'sound out' words, but we are not allowed any instructional time for spelling or grammar. we are supposed to 'integrate' it into science or social studies. factoring trees to help with multiplication is not taught, nor is long division. the county pushes calculators and technology to help our students fit the '21st century classroom', so it has to be 'snuck' in. this kind of teaching is *not* the teachers' idea!!! it's been laid down through testing and number pushing from federal and state 'great' ideas. it is insane to try and carve out time to have students actually think and develop some critical thinking skills without getting in hot water.

as for study schedules, teachers are expected by the county to update a website daily with all assignments on them for the students. they don't even have to write down their own homework. and if you forget to update the day's homework, the backlash from parents is incredible, because their dear heart student has no other record of it.

it's great that you teach older students, and i get a lot of what you are saying. but the failed system is not just because teachers aren't doing their job. it also falls to the education system in place by government and parent enabling.

KimmieBrie

I live in Canada and my husband is a high school teacher. He is also the head of a department. In Canada, teachers are paid fairly well - starting salaries are in the mid-30s and by the time you put in 10-15 years, you can earn 90K. However, no one pays for a teacher's education - certainly not their 4 year bachelor's degree from a university and definitely not the 1-2 years additional schooling at teacher's college. Nor are any of their special qualification courses paid for. Those all come out of pocket but are required to move up the ladder.

I didn't get my college education paid for either nor did most people I know with masters or doctorate degrees in their field - yet that's what's needed many times to get ahead. I don't see the difference.

I have never complained about what salary a teacher makes - my complaint is the system (here in the US, not familiar with Canada). There are limited jobs, funds, but plenty of willing able teachers... in this market, when you can't get rid of those bad teachers, there is something seriously flawed with the system and it needs to be corrected. A great teacher friend of mine was out of work for so long while those other bad teachers with tenure still reign. We had a horrible public school system in the town where I grew up. One of the HS teachers was dating my friend, a HS student... that's what kind of teachers they had. I am sure she wasn't his first HS girlfriend either. These are just examples I know of personally so I am sure there are many many many more. I am for teachers and all the hard work that they do - I am against the system that let's some of your undeserving peers stay in place.

eml48341

To sum up what I really hate about public schools : they do not cater to the individual - just like the military, you are just a number. You cannot go faster than the class - you cannot go slower. And in fairness to the teachers, they cannot kick a punk in the a@@.

I went to public school and I loved it. We had ability grouping and it was like being in a private school with all the others looking up to you. Great status.

You obviously have not heard of differentiated instruction. In my classrooms, I had my reading, math and spelling all split up into small groups based on learning level. I had first graders reading chapter books and doing basic algebra in my classroom... each group worked according to their ability level. Planning 4-5 different lesson plans for each subject wasn't easy, but the kids benefited from it.

And, I also was home schooled grades 6-9. It is very easy to say you accomplished so much with the home school students because they have 150% support at home, are being taught a lesson catered to just them, and (in my experience) are a higher ability level than the most of the students in public school. I wish I could write a lesson plan individualized for each and every student, but in reality, 30+ lesson plans for every subject throughout the day is not possible. I group students (differentiate my instruction) and meet their needs that way. I also, along with my fellow teachers, have created special projects for the gifted students to work on in order to provide more challenges for them and to build higher level thinking skills.

Paying teachers by the number of students they attract and keep makes no sense to me. Students move, parents don't make them come to school, and there are some who are just not bright. It is not my fault, nor should my pay be less because I have a student who shows up only 50% of the time, or another who is functioning in 6th grade on a 2nd grade level.

chanstriste13

I am all for teachers. But I am against the teachers union, and the NEA!

boo.

hebbsgrrl

<<<<<<< Homeschooling parent... Guess yelling at my wife is out of the question huh? :laugh:

lol

VegesaurusRex

To sum up what I really hate about public schools : they do not cater to the individual - just like the military, you are just a number. You cannot go faster than the class - you cannot go slower. And in fairness to the teachers, they cannot kick a punk in the a@@.

I went to public school and I loved it. We had ability grouping and it was like being in a private school with all the others looking up to you. Great status.

You obviously have not heard of differentiated instruction. In my classrooms, I had my reading, math and spelling all split up into small groups based on learning level. I had first graders reading chapter books and doing basic algebra in my classroom... each group worked according to their ability level. Planning 4-5 different lesson plans for each subject wasn't easy, but the kids benefited from it.

And, I also was home schooled grades 6-9. It is very easy to say you accomplished so much with the home school students because they have 150% support at home, are being taught a lesson catered to just them, and (in my experience) are a higher ability level than the most of the students in public school. I wish I could write a lesson plan individualized for each and every student, but in reality, 30+ lesson plans for every subject throughout the day is not possible. I group students (differentiate my instruction) and meet their needs that way. I also, along with my fellow teachers, have created special projects for the gifted students to work on in order to provide more challenges for them and to build higher level thinking skills.

Paying teachers by the number of students they attract and keep makes no sense to me. Students move, parents don't make them come to school, and there are some who are just not bright. It is not my fault, nor should my pay be less because I have a student who shows up only 50% of the time, or another who is functioning in 6th grade on a 2nd grade level.

You are right. I have not heard of differentiated instruction. I have heard of ability grouping, however, and that seems to make more sense than "differentiated instruction" for a number of reasons.

First, if you put all the kids of about the same ability level in ONE classroom, then you do not have to have multiple lesson plans for a number of groups. You need only one lesson plan, and you make it for the ability level of your class. This means, of course no mainstreaming of problem kids. They all get to say together. In my Latin class, I had an answer for differentiated ability. I flunked those who couldn't keep up and kicked them out of the class. Parents didn't like it but c'est la vie.