Teacher Criticisms...(rant)

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

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.

My only problem with teaching is the tenure, not the salary or benefits. I have seen teachers stay way past retirement. Usually these are the same teachers who have lost their passion and patience for it and the children. The ones who suffer are the kids. They need to recognize when they just do not have the ability to be effective in promoting a learning environment and make way for young, enthusiastic teachers who have so much to offer. I do think however teachers get a lot "heat" from people who have no clue tho, my aunt is a teacher, she puts up with a lot but loves it every day.

It also blows my mind that people say, "Must be nice to get off at 3:30."

I also am already at work before you're even awake, genius. It evens out.

And as far as I know, my district doesn't pay for the Masters program. LOL We don't even have writing paper for our kids!

THIS! All you teacher bashers, do YOU buy all of the supplies for your job? Because I do!

Before I get attacked, I taught elementary emotional support to put myself through grad school and my husband is a teacher for kids with autism..so it's not like I don't understand. I'm now a school psychologist and work in a school for end of the line kids with behavioral problems. While I agree full-heartedly that teachers do not get the respect that they deserve, I do not believe that most are underpaid or overworked <---in most situations// Again, I have all the respect in the world ...for MOST teachers.

Teaching should be something that you love to do. I get so angry when I hear teachers tell me that they are not paid enough to deal with *that* kid or spend that much time doing lesson plans. It's your job! If you don't absolutely love working with kids and you are outraged at the salary that you make, you should probably do something else.

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!!!

Woah...teachers get paid in the summer? I don't!!! I signup for summer school so I can have some income. I also have 2 part time jobs. Missouri makes it so you have to get your M. Ed. I did...spent a year unemployed because who wants to pay for an over-qualified teacher??? I now have 30,000 in student loans!!! I make before taxes, union dues, health insurance, appox $41,000 and thats Master level pay. Its livable, but I am barely making a dent in my loans. I have seen teachers easily get fired numerous times, so unions don't protect us that well. I am expected to be a teacher, a nurse, parent, counselor, social worker, chef, bathroom attendent, friend and baby sitter with my kids. Its a hard job that requires constant training! Its not a nine to five job. I get here at 7am and I am home by 5:30...and I do bring work home with me. So much wrong with everything!

And as far as I know, my district doesn't pay for the Masters program. LOL We don't even have writing paper for our kids!

THIS! All you teacher bashers, do YOU buy all of the supplies for your job? Because I do!

We have a pretty fair-sized list of school supplies we purchase every year, in addition to the school fees and property taxes.

Not complaining, just sayin'.

Just the other day I was yachting with a few pubic school teachers, we dined on a lovely pheasant and caviar fresh from Russia.

And as far as I know, my district doesn't pay for the Masters program. LOL We don't even have writing paper for our kids!

THIS! All you teacher bashers, do YOU buy all of the supplies for your job? Because I do!

We have a pretty fair-sized list of school supplies we purchase every year, in addition to the school fees and property taxes.

Not complaining, just sayin'.

Awesome for those teachers. I work in a Title 1 School District. This means the majority of the children live below the poverty line. They don't buy the things on that list, because they can't.

And as far as I know, my district doesn't pay for the Masters program. LOL We don't even have writing paper for our kids!

THIS! All you teacher bashers, do YOU buy all of the supplies for your job? Because I do!

We have a pretty fair-sized list of school supplies we purchase every year, in addition to the school fees and property taxes.

Not complaining, just sayin'.

Awesome for those teachers. I work in a Title 1 School District. This means the majority of the children live below the poverty line. They don't buy the things on that list, because they can't.

And as far as I know, my district doesn't pay for the Masters program. LOL We don't even have writing paper for our kids!

THIS! All you teacher bashers, do YOU buy all of the supplies for your job? Because I do!