Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog

I agree with the teacher. I work at a community college, and it's pretty much same story.

 

I find this a fascinating (if depressing) part of our society. I am convinced that what has changed in our education system is primarily the parent's willingness to parent. The broad majority of our school system hasn't changed significantly in decades - sure, tech and some curriculum has improved, as have some methodologies, but it's basically the same - one teacher, 28students, 7 periods/day, etc. Teachers, if anything, are better at imparting knowledge than they were 40yrs ago, yet many more students fail and their economic status is a good predictor of their success in the system. The problem is that in the current cultural environment, the “old school” approach no longer works, for all the reasons we are discussing - kids are not parented. Pretty simple - it's much harder for kids to really learn if they aren't coached at home, required to meet the requirements of homework, have their sleep, nutrition, extracurriculars and peer group managed, etc. You know - that broad skill set we call parenting. So, parenting is failing, and therefore, education fails.

What is really exciting, I find, is that there are a few tiny enclaves within education where they are overcoming these deficits...basically, raising the level of education to make up for the lack of parenting and environment. It isn't easy - teachers work harder, longer days and longer school years. More time is spent on teacher development and a holistic approach to the child. Sometimes, that means keeping the kid in school until evening (or boarding) so all the homework and tutoring gets done, the kids participate in community and extracurriculars, and basically, the parents have less time to screw it up. So, given the right microcosm, our impoverished CAN achieve great things, can overcome deficits in their environment, etc.

I just hope I am around for the 30 yrs it will take to scale these types of education institutions (in my locality, it's charter schools, but there are different breeds elsewhere), as well as for other solutions to emerge and evolve. The only alternative is to hope for parenting to get better…and since leisure fishing has a higher credential threshold than parenting, I’m not holding my breath.

 

Honestly....I'm too lazy to care. I need a nap.

 

I feel bad for the good teachers who really want to try and enrich their students...their hands are tied.

I bet some of those kids call the that teach names (of she can't really do anything about it) but they get upset and butthurt when she discribes them to a "t". I guess the truth really does hurt.

 

Right back atcha. I'm only 35.


The older generation, it seems, always finds faults with the 'youth of today'.

My wife spent 3 years, full time, in school to earn a teaching degree, 10 years after earning a bachelor's in marketing right out of high school. She wanted a career change. She now is 3/4 of the way done with a masters in education. She has tought both public and private, and can tell stories in equal amount of kids that are completely clueless, and kids that excel everywhere.

The biggest single thing I find different from when I was in school is the amount of 'involved parents' that she only sees when they are in her room to complain that she gave Johnny or Suzy an F on a test. They seem to be full of excuses as to why it's not the kid's fault, or some other sort of bullshit on that end. It's not all a lack of parenting at home... sometimes it's enabling.

 

Actually, the No Child Left Behind Act crippled our educational system, as an unintended consequence of one part of the Act. Schools faced loss of funding if kids could not meet certain benchmarks on standardized testing, so the public schools changed their curriculum to basically become a standardized testing prep program. My kids bitched about it constantly, because so much class time was being wasted so that the three dumbest, unmotivated future gang-bangers, whores and doper smokers could pass the test, while all the other students sat and waited.

The teachers are frustrated by it, too. Now the students are unstimulated, so they turn to their electronic toys, and sit at their desks texting, tweeting and sending nude photos of themselves around to their friends. My ex-wife's youngest daughter (not by me) has a half-dozen semi-naked pictures of herself on her facebook wall, where everybody can see them. She posted to my daughter's page about our new granddaughter, and the whole family sees her "barely legal" self-porn. Kids these days! (sigh)

(no, I won't post the link. DIAF to anybody who even thought of asking.)

 

Good point Chicken. In Florida, w have the F-CATS and literally they teach the kids to do well on the F-CATS all year and forgot about normal curriculum

 

Exactly thats what you can expect in the near future. I just sat thru a staff meeting intended to tell us how to prepare the kids for FCAT in march. Its like we have to stop teaching the normal curriculum for the next month. What parents need to worry about is a shift to teach the FCAT year round instead of prepping HS prepping their kids for College.

 

Get on My lawn fucker....I'll ride a dirtbike up your ass.......n shit.

 

You mean no more blown shit up in chemi......er. experiments in chemistry class?

 

At least she didn't bang one of her students

 

That is literally my kid's school experience from start to finish. Make Sure The Lowest Common Denominator Can Get Past The Test.

It doesn't help that a lot of his teachers--I suspect--couldn't clear that bar, and that every time I want to talk to them they're terrified I'm going to ream them about something.

Most of them need to consider a career change.

I thought about it. So...link?

A shift? My kid is on year-round FCAT prep now. The real bitch of it is that he's in the gifted/talented/whatever class...where that shit is worse. Because if one of those special kids were to fail to pass the test, the world might end, apparently.

I'd love for them to just blow a month. Where do you teach, Chicken Strips? And might you happen to know if private schools have a similar test? We've been told "they don't, but they do"...whatever the hell that means. The parents and students say they're taking some test, but the school says they're not subject to a standardized test. We're big on the concept of public schooling, but if private schools are exempt, we're bailing. Enough of this fucked up bullshit.

I've learned to cope with the bad teachers now, but a few years back I got ugly with his math 'teacher'. "Guess and check" my sweet dick. And no, I don't give a good fuck if someone instructed you to teach them that way.

 

Truth is more entertaining or sadder than fiction...

My ex kept my son away from me for 15 years. During this time, she provided him with no structure or discipline. If he did not feel like going to school, he just would not go. If the school contacted her about his excessive absences or failing grades, she would blame the school and chastise the teachers for not providing my son with enough motivation. When he was independent enough to (sic) take care of himself, she let him. He skipped out of half the 9th grade and all of 10th grade.

When the state intervened and threatened to take action against him for truancy, such as sending him to a boys home, he contacted me and asked if I would intercede. Of course I did, as I spent my adolescence in the very place they were threatening to send him. his mother was resistant about him coming to live with me but became belligerent in court when it was suggested that she was negligent and did not provide any structure for my son. It came out that he had been a "latch key kid" since he was 8 years old.

He was 15 when I got him. I brought him to Atlanta and supervised nearly everything he did. I got him his own cell phone so he could maintain contact with the social worker, guardian-ad-litem, and his friends. I made sure he did not miss a day of school. I made him show me his homework and explain to me what he was learning in school. He flourished and it it became quite fun to me. I rewarded his success' and steered him away from fucking up. He completed the 10th grade on the honour roll.

For summer vacation, he went back to New York. As to be expected, his mother encouraged him to stay with her. I took her to court over it. In front of a social worker assigned to the case and his guardian-ad-litem, my son's mother told him " You are now 16. You can legally drop out of school and do whatever you want." I was astounded, as was all that heard her. When we went in front of the judge, my ex told the judge that I was beating and abusing my son while he was living with me. His good grades were out of fear of me!!! The judge, who was quite familiar with the case, offered me his sympathies; there was nothing he could do.

My son returned to live with his mother in NY, promptly dropping out of school. I had not heard from him until 6 years later. At 22, he has NO marketable skills, NO education, and NO motivation to do any more with his life than to work 7 hours a week as an orderly in a nursing home. When he is not working, he plays with Yu-Gi-Oh cards, hangs out with his friends when they are not working or in classes, and plays video games. In order for his mother to qualify to continue receiving Section 8 and other public assistance, he had to get his GED and take college classes. As was to be expected, he got his GED but dropped out of his first semester in college. His reasoning for dropping out? You guessed it, lack of motivation. He contacted me because his mother may lose her public assistance and, consequently, her and his apartment. He asked to move down here and live with me again. When I told him if he did so he would be required to either work a full-time job or be a full-time student, he said..."(he) did not feel that motivated...(I) was pushing him too hard...(he) needed time to figure out what (he) wanted to do." I have not heard from him since.

Sad but...

 

Scott-

Trust me the last thing we want to do as teachers is spend our precious 52mins/day with your kids FCAT. We did the math and we will lose upwards of 12 hours of class time if we do what they want us to do between now and the fcat and at he same time make teach reagular leasons.

This is my first year teaching so I'm no expert by any means, but I know that all the teachers I talk to are just as fustrated as most parents with the system if not more.

By private do you mean charter or a true private school where you pay tuition? I can only elaborate for the charter schools because they follow the same guidelines as public schools.

It all boils down to the ol' mighty dollar. Low scores no federal funding. No federal funding someone is getting their ass chewed. The ass chewing starts at the top and gets worse as it works its way down. Its bullshit but we have to play the game to keep our jobs.


Oh and I teach south of orlando... don't want to get too specific :up:

 

Home school. Look into it.

 

Oh, no, man, I didn't mean to give the impression I thought the teachers liked it either. It seems to me that everyone from the Principal on down hates it. But they all teach to it nonetheless.

And I don't that all teachers are bad or any of that either. I think the system is truly making it such that it's an anomaly for a good teacher to survive in it. That doesn't make me too much happier with those of my son's teachers that clearly do not give a fuck, but I do have much more sympathy for those that do.

His science teacher this year seems very good, or at least very interested in being very good. I'm afraid he's bailing soon.

 

really, you get ugly with teachers and then are suprised when they dont really seem to want to talk to you? they need a career change...?? get in the game then bro, do it yourself!!!!!!!! change careers and get in the game. you will quickly see that the woman in this story is RIGHT, ABSOLUTELY RIGHT...and after putting up with kids like this all day, AND BEING HELD RESPONSIBLE (with your job on the line), for their success - even if they refuse to succeed - the last thing you feel like dealing with is a parent, who's known for going off and not respecting your job - going off on you. just keep that in mind nest time you feel like going off...BTW most (not all) teachers work pretty damn hard every day, and some work VERY hard. not many i've met dont.

as for the original story, yeah - she is right... ive given the actual test as a review for the test, gone over it, gave answers. let them study it (or rather, not), and i would still have TONS of kids fail... i would even tell them it was the actual test, but the next time the situation would repeat. some years go like this, some years are better. teaching middle school was not good though, way way WAY too much of this.

 

SIDE NOTE: Central Bucks County, PA

If you haven't watched it, there's a GREAT football movie about that High School: The Last Game.

 

I was waiting for a burnout teacher to make the assumption.

Different schools, different teachers. I attribute the terror to the general attitude most parents seem have that it's always the teacher's fault. My beef with that is that every year I introduce myself to my son's teachers and say, "I'm his dad, if there's a problem in class, I want to make sure we all understand it's his problem, here's my card with my cell and home email on the back, and don't ever hesitate to call if I need to smack him around." (To paraphrase--it used to be more nuanced, but you could actually see them phase out while being forced to endure parent contact.)

You know how they respond to that? By blowing it off.

Teachers say they want involved parents--they're lying. They want parents to leave them the fuck alone. The less involvement, the better. They hate involved parents. At least that's been my experience. Oh, send a good kid to school, but for Christ's sake, thou shalt never--ever--bother the teaching professional. And they will let you know you're bothering them.

Fuck that attitude, and anyone that subscribes to it. You've got my kid six hours a day, five days a week. We'll be talking to each other, and maybe as much as once a month. Be happy I'm not in your grill once a fucking day, just to keep in touch about my kid.

I never said she was wrong. But since you've got the burnoutteacheritis, you're stuck in the parents-vs.-teachers mentality. And if you're going to be like that (as one of my son's teachers, anyway), I'm going to devote some of my free time (and probably some of my work day, too), to making your life unpleasant. There's always barber college.

This is just your job. It's my kid. Guess which one I think is more important?

Pfft. Florida has a waiting list of education-major graduates a foot deep each year that'd kill for a entry-level teaching gig. No openings. You have to rape a student--on tape, and more than once--to get fired as a teacher here.

Didn't like the barber college idea? (800) BIG-RIGS?

To borrow a trite bumper-sticker-ism that I'm sure a teacher's used on kids somewhere: respect is earned. You want to be a burnout and come into contact with my kid as an institutionalized authority figure five times a week? We might have a bit of conflict, jackhole. Shape up or buy a mower and a trailer and get at it.

The vast majority I've met don't. One told us--up front--her concern was keeping the kids quiet all day so that she wouldn't get a headache. She was a Kindergarten teacher.

But I'm sure there's an excuse there, too.

You're, uh, not an English teacher...are you?

 

I am not anti parent. I'm anti finger pointing...teachers are often the easiest scapegoats, and your post came off that way. I'm not making excuses for any bad experience you've had, they are yours, not mine. teachers do want parents involved, teachers dont generally want to deal with parents who seem to have the negative outlook on the job that you do, or come off as combative - which if judgeing by your post, you most certainly are. don't think you are alone...we have parents escorted off property sometimes, or some teachers wont meet with without admin, or maybe even school police.

oh, and I am not burnt out, my year is going pretty good. but i have been on the other side, and been in some rough ones too. BTW it most certainly seems that you are stuck in the parent vs. teacher mentality. all i said was if you feel so strongly that you can do better, then dont arm chair quarterback it...get in and do it. be the change you want to see. who knows, you might be the best teacher around, and will show others how its done. i am not poking fun there either..you seriously might be - try it!

oh and i teach everything, why? are you about to crtique a post on a racing beeb, written while watching tv on the couch?