Teacher Criticisms...(rant)

I love that so many teachers a responding during the school day (as am I). My kids are in an elective right now and I am finishing lunch. I just hope for the rep of teachers everywhere that there are other good reasons why so many teachers can take time from their day to access MFP!!! :P

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.

Wow, as a teacher I am shocked half of these things even came out of your mouth. I will say I am most shocked by your lack of correct grammar. For beating up on HS grads so much you would THINK you would at least know to not end a sentence in a preposistion! You do realize we do not get to CHOOSE what we teach. It is mandated by the states. I would love to teach students to write a proper research paper with correct grammar (maybe I'll teach you one day as well). However, this is not the luxury I have in my job. While we are throwing stones, please remember you will have students who struggle more, as you teach at a community college. Students who can study for themselves and score high on college tests go to universities and state schools. You think you would at least be grateful that the students you have are looking to better themselves instead of on the streets.

I love that so many teachers a responding during the school day (as am I). My kids are in an elective right now and I am finishing lunch. I just hope for the rep of teachers everywhere that there are other good reasons why so many teachers can take time from their day to access MFP!!! :P

UK teacher - 19.31 here!

I was a biology/phsyical science high school teacher here in the State of Flori-duh. Its not necessarily the teachers that are the problem its more of the Board of Education. No child left behind is a joke, it should be abolished. If a kid is 16 and is only taking learning as a joke and is more of a hands on guy, then he should be allowed to drop out. Secondly I also blame the parents. So many parents dont take part in there kids education. They expect the schools do everything.

Here in Florida, the Superintendent might last 4 to 8 years try to change the system, the look to get into politics. Then another Superintendent is hired and says I have a new path to increase learning. The cycle continues and continues.

Home schooling is okay but my big issue with it is that there are alot of errors in books and unless you are a professional in the field, you will not realize what you are reading is wrong and teach it and that can be a big issue with homeschooling. Then again there are plenty of errors in textbooks and teachers dont necessarily find them either.

I have a BS in Biology so if i see an error I can figure it out. I do not have a degree in education. I know plenty of hardworking teachers who put so much of their own money into it and dont get any rate of return on it except personal accomplishment when they actually see a student go above and beyond

*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.

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).

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.

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.