Happy Friday Everyone! I am so excited to be the winner of space #7, which is just like being #1, only with some wicked awesome people in front of me, over at Friday-Follow Me. If you haven't checked out the site yet, what the heck are you waiting for?! Get over there! ♪It's unbelievable, oh!♪ (EMF) No! Wait! Not yet! I meant after you read my post! Geez!I don't normally rant, but today, it is very necessary.
I want to talk about teachers. Not the good ones that take time with your kids, and try to find new and creative ways to teach, no not those teachers, those are awesome!
The other ones! You know the ones, the ones, that think teaching means the opportunity to make up for all their years of unhappiness by making the lives of others miserable. ♪Hey, teachers, leave those kids alone♪ (Pink Floyd)
These are usually the teachers that complain that they're not making enough money. Well, take the amount of money they make per year, and divide it by the amount of hours that they actually teach, and you'll find they're making pretty damn good money, for a job with no real accountability. It's real easy for them to blame the kids for being unable or unwilling to learn, rather than blaming themselves for being unable to adapt their teaching style.
I remember having teachers ask if there were any questions, and then when I asked, I was told "if you read the book, you'd understand." Well, I didn't understand, so now I'm asking! And, it hasn't changed with my children. They've both had teachers tell them the same thing, and one even had a teacher tell them that Freshmen are dumb and immature and she couldn't wait to teach upper-classmen. Only to have that same teacher, later treat her the same way as a junior. And, this is the daughter that is in the top 10% of her class! Certainly not because of help from her teachers!
Administration; they're even worse. It took a week of repeated phone calls and e-mails to finally get a response on what they can do to help since she's been out of school for a month with Mono!
I realize there is a shortage of teachers, so there isn't much that can be done, but with unemployment what it is, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that would make better teachers, and administration, even without the college degree. Just because you got a degree in education, doesn't mean that you should be doing it!
To all the teachers, out there: Take the summer to get your much needed break, and then in the fall; Please, Teach because you want to, not because you can.
♪School's out for Summer No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks♪ (Alice Cooper)
This sounds like my daughter's teacher. She told a parent, with her class in ear shot, that the class is full of underachievers. I was floored! I'm glad the school year is almost over and this teacher is (finally) retiring.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your #7 spot. That's pretty awesome!
Happy Friday Follow! I'm already following you :)
ReplyDeleteStopping by from Friday Follow and I'm your newest follower.
ReplyDeleteStop back by when you get a chance and have a great weekend!
http://waterwaif.blogspot.com
Found you on Friday Follow and am now following you. Hope you'll take the time to stop by my blog. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeletehttp://mycountryhaven.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-blog-hops.html
I'm sorry you had at bad experiance with your kids teacher. Please know that not ALL teachers are like that.
ReplyDeleteYea #7! =)
ReplyDeleteAbout your rant, I understand. Some teachers are in it to get retirement -- ah, the unions....
But concentrate on the good ones -- they need your encouragement too.
Unfortunately, many of the bad ones are protected by tenure.
ReplyDeleteStopping by from Friday-Follow to say hello.
Have a great day!
http://harrietandfriends.com/2010/06/oil-spills-and-building-friendships-one-blog-at-a-time/
Amen!! I'm stopping in via Friday Follow, but google friend connect isn't working for me (boo hiss!) right now. I will be back. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteFound you through Follow Friday. I understand your frustration with some teachers, but they aren't all the way, thank goodness! Hopefully your kids won't have to have this particular one again!
ReplyDeleteI whole heatedly agree! I had an amazing teacher who once said. Do what you love.. and when you don't love it.. don't do it!
ReplyDeleteHe told us that when he started to wake up and dread coming to teach, that it would be time for him to quit! He was an incredible teacher, and you could tell that he loved his job!
Following you from Friday Follow on GFC!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the weekend,
http://tsue-thatswhatshesaid.blogspot.com
Hi coming by to follow from Friday Follow!
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you and I often am thinking and talking about the same thing...its really quite annoying this year my daughter had one of those teachers..really wanted to kick her butt!
I do not mean to offend, because I completely understand that some teachers are in need of another profession. Some people teach because they weren't good enough to do anything else or it is a last resort. there are also alternative certificatiosn which I believe should be throw to the wayside because these individuals do not come into a classroom well prepared.
ReplyDeleteI believe we need a stronger mentor program for both new teachers and older teachers alike. New teachers need someone that is a master teacher to model after and adapt from, whereas older teachers need to be pushed to stay up with the new innovations in education.
i had a student teacher that I mentored last year. She just finished her first year as a kindergarten teacher and I must say i was very proud of her successes. she was at a school that had very difficult children and little home support... having 2 bipolar students as well.
this girl florished. She was asked to join their list of master teacher and be a model for the school district. She was in shock. She was able to bond with the children in her class, provided a positive role model, and get the children to exit level by the end of the year. she is scheduled to get videoed for next year to show teachers the potential of every classroom.
All it takes is putting forth the time and effort.
I must say though that as far as what we are paid; it is ridiculous. I barely make $40,000 a year after 11 years in the field. We sometimes get a $200 raise the next year. it is never very much. I work at least 60 hours a week and most of the time more. I am at the school at all hours, sometimes this even includes weekend. every night I have something to do for my classroom at home in the evenings. most people get to leave the work at the office on most days. teachers bring home work almost daily.
I am always going to workshops and researching new ideas to use in the classroom.
It is summer vacation and I spent at least 5 hours on the computer yesterday searching for ideas that pertain to force and motion that are appropriate for a kindergarten student. I spend my summers preparing my first 3 weeks of lessons, going to workshop, and creating my curriculum for the next school year. I get a total of about 4 weeks that are work free in the summer... though I have a hard time not completing something in that time frame. I have to in order to be ready for the first day of school.
this year i will have to go back about 2-3 weeks before my required date just to get my classroom set up because teachers are generally required to pack up everything for summer cleaning. if I do not set up my room on my own time there is no way i would be ready for the first day. That leaves me only about 2 weeks of summer fun that i gladly take. If not, I would be on overload and mentally teaching is exhausting. I have to be prepared to be a teacher, counselor, hugger, nurse, etc for the 22 children that parents have entrusted in my care. i have the parents heart for 8 hours a day and I must ensure that each of these children go home happy, healthy, and just a bit smarter each day.
Not an easy task. i wish parents would have to take over the classroom for 1 hour at the beginning of a school year. one hour would open up the eyes of parents and let them get a glimpse into the classroom of a teacher and what it truly takes to do this job.
I also spend at least $1000 on materials for my children every year. the school districts just cannot provide everything needed to do hands-on science experiements and the such. this is money that should be used on my own family, but I feel it is important to give the children in my class the best beginning possible.
Just a thought from the point of view of an eaducator.
As always, I enjoy visiting your site. Hope I was not ugly. I just think that the teaching profession gets a bad wrap because there are some people out there that should definitely more on and find a different job.
Have a wonderfully, peaceful weekend.
Found you via Friday Follow! Congrats on a successful blog! I love it! Proud follower now! Come follow me back! :)
ReplyDeleteLets keep in touch!
www.justcherishtoday.com
It annoys me that teachers can get tenure so easily now. My boys have had a stream of English teachers that need to be held more accountable. It irks me that there is essentially nothing you can do about bad teachers. In this district, they won't even let you switch teachers. I think it's wrong that some of these teachers are allowed to keep teaching.
ReplyDeleteI keep tellig my kids that this is good practice for dealing with ALL kinds of people (because you're going to run into them your whole life). There are good teachers too, so in the end, hopefully there is a decent balance.
Those kinds of teachers were not fans of my mom, nor was my mom fans of theirs. She constantly got into battles with them about teaching styles and actions. And especially the administration. They are impossible to deal with sometimes and act as if nothing can possibly be their fault. They don't understand they help mold future generations.
ReplyDeleteI dread the day when my babies are in school because I absolutely do not want them to get teachers like that. It's terrible.