View Full Version : Clean house on these teachers!
Morvran
10-03-05, 09:47 AM
I teach in a DC public school. This year I'm teaching second graders.
This morning I had to help my co-teacher spell the words "proud" and "chore". This was in front of the students. We were working on consonant blends and she'd asked the students for a word that started with "pr", then one that started with "ch". Then she couldn't spell them.
My other co-teacher thinks that the words "hose" and "close" rhyme with the name Jose. She even pronounced Jose correctly and still thinks those words all rhyme. She thinks they rhyme because they end with the same letters. But she took a kid's head off because, after reading the sentence, "The cat sat on the mat and the mouse said stay away," the kid said that "stay" and "away" rhyme. The teacher was looking for "cat" and "mat" I guess.
Last week one of them said that cheese curls are in the dairy group.
They scream and yell at children who get things wrong. They pronounce words so horribly wrong that children don't know what the teachers are asking them ("Children, what is a horse's huff?"). They think that sell and sill are homonyms. They talk louder to (at) new foreign students (ESL) because they confuse being deaf with not knowing the language.
This is just the tip of the iceberg and they've each been teaching here for over 10 years.
It takes at least three years of bad reviews/probations for a teacher to lose his/her job...but they don't actually LOSE their job! They get transferred to a different school! It's actually almost impossible for a teacher to lose their job unless they are caught laying hands on a child. Teacher don't get fired, just moved around.
And we wonder why our kids can't spell and read.
And now there's No Child Left Behind. Thanks, George, for this amazing piece of crap. Let's rate teachers, schools, and student performance on how well kids do on standardized tests. Further, let's count the scores of all the ESL students into the results. As long as they've been here for at least a year, they count (nevermind the fact that it takes 5-7 years for a child to acquire a new language at a proficient level). By 2016 all schools in DC will be expected to have 100% AYP (adequate yearly progress)...gonna be awfully for schools like mine that have a 52% hispanic population.
Bah, recess is over. Gotta go get the kids.
ragweed
10-03-05, 10:28 AM
I say take the dog in your avatar picture to school and let him/her loose on the stupid "teachers" there.
"Go on boy, kill stupid, kill stupid!"
One problem with that Ragweed. He said hes in DC. If he let a dog out and gave the command "Kill Stupid" I'd say a good 75% of DC would be dead. Well maybe thats not a problem...as much as a moral dilema.
One problem with that Ragweed. He said hes in DC. If he let a dog out and gave the command "Kill Stupid" I'd say a good 75% of DC would be dead. Well maybe thats not a problem...as much as a moral dilema.
I find no moral dilemma there either...
This is the reason people have a love/hate relationship with teachers unions. They fight for teacher's rights! while guarenteeing that even the most unfit teacher gets to keep teaching until they choose not to...or do it with one of their students...or try to talk about intelligent design. Unfortunately for the teacher's unions, the crappy teachers are just as much a part of the constituency as the good ones.
DarkOmen42
10-03-05, 01:44 PM
Pretty much, Nenjin.
Morvran
10-03-05, 06:48 PM
Yep...and our union (DC) was busted for stealing money a few years ago too. How's that for fun?
It's all messed up here.
Nimmbull
10-03-05, 07:03 PM
If you clean those teachers out, who will take their jobs? There aren't many good, sane people who would step up to the plate there.
DC public schools are so messed up right now. Williams did a pretty good job as mayor for a lot of years, but one thing he never got right was public schools.
Cantatus
10-03-05, 10:39 PM
If you clean those teachers out, who will take their jobs? There aren't many good, sane people who would step up to the plate there.
That's the unfortunate thing. There's such a large teacher shortage in the country that such crappy people are able to keep the jobs. My highschool astronomy teacher hated teaching the class so... well... didn't. We also had a lot of football coaches teaching classes ranging from math to English, because, in Texas, there aren't many requirements for being a teacher.
Ironically, my cousin in Chicago hasn't been able to get a job teaching in the past eight months. There are lots of other places she could go if she didn't want to be so close to her parents.
Glip the Gnome
10-04-05, 12:08 PM
It could be worse Morvran, at least you're there. One great teacher can be enough to make up for years of bad ones. :)
You still teaching, Nimm?
The more school I get through, and the more I look at what I'd be making as a new teacher -- the harder it is to stay excited about it. I'm not turning back, or switching majors or anything like that but its just a little depressing. When the time comes to decide whether to stay where I'm at or to start teaching, it isn't going to be an easy choice.
It could be worse Morvan, at least you're there. One great teacher can be enough to make up for years of bad ones. :)
You still teaching, Nimm?
The more school I get through, and the more I look at what I'd be making as a new teacher -- the harder it is to stay excited about it. I'm not turning back, or switching majors or anything like that but its just a little depressing. When the time comes to decide whether to stay where I'm at or to start teaching, it isn't going to be an easy choice -- which sucks, because as much as I love where I'm at now, I know where I should be.
Not to be a doomsayer, but the feeling of gloom doesn't get any lighter. It ultimately pushed me away from the field, and I think I would have made a great teacher. The opportunities I've had were simply amazing in both public high schools and college, yet the reality of the profession literally scared me away. In my observation time toward my teaching degree, my most endearing teachers told me to run like Hell and not look back.
Didn't know you wanted to teach boss. It's a thankless yet personally rewarding experience. Hope you clear the hurdles I couldn't. I think it takes a special kind of person that teaches for teaching's sake. The "Those who can" adage is a disservice, in my opinion.
And I hope it's English you're tackling, not some poofy art teaching major. :lol
I will so move anywhere in the world to send my kid to learn from Glip.
He would have Carte Blanche on teacher tormenting!!!
:smile
I'm hoping to teach as well!
Tally-ho!
Nimmbull
10-04-05, 03:36 PM
It could be worse Morvran, at least you're there. One great teacher can be enough to make up for years of bad ones. :)
You still teaching, Nimm?
The more school I get through, and the more I look at what I'd be making as a new teacher -- the harder it is to stay excited about it. I'm not turning back, or switching majors or anything like that but its just a little depressing. When the time comes to decide whether to stay where I'm at or to start teaching, it isn't going to be an easy choice.
Ayup. Did K for two years, then 2nd for 5. This year I was able to create my own job in the school because we had a rockin' principal who supported me on it- I'm now the school's computer teacher. It's a really good job- I get to see all my former kids and do some really innovative stuff with computers while teaching them science / social studies. Plus I don't have to deal with crodgety parents.
Teaching is not easy, by any measure. The turnover rate is extremely high for good reason. But I can't think of any more rewarding work. Now that I've taught a good number of years I can start to see the effects I've had on kids as they've grown older. Turning a kid onto learning who wasn't turned on before is a powerful, powerful thing. There is a whole lot of bull**** that teachers have to put up with, but when the rewards come back it makes it worth it. It's cheesy, but it feels good to know that you're contributing to society, even if it's small doses.
Now, will I teach forever? Probably not. In fact, there may be a change as early as next year. But the experience itself is irreplaceable. Morv- I congratulate you on pushing through, and Glip- I know it's hard to stick with teaching when you've got a lucrative, lower-stress "gimme" job option on the table. Been there, done that. You'll make the decision that's best for you- you've got a damn good head on your shoulders.
Krimzan
10-04-05, 04:31 PM
I would actually really like to teach as a job on the side. Not for the money, at all, but I did a lot of teaching in college. I enjoy speaking in public...a lot (attention whore, perhaps) but I really like at least perpetuating the delusion that things I tell people will stick with them. I've made so many mistakes coding, and I've fixed a lot of other peoples mistakes. I ran into so many cases in college, and now in the 'real world' where I say, "I wish someone would have told me..." but I'm not sure I would have listened to them anyways.
Anyway, it is something of a fantasy of mine to teach some graphics programming classes at a local college (community or university, whichever). The class full of amazing redheads, and a lax definition of "office hours" is part of that, too...but allow me my delusions.
shehab aldean
10-05-05, 01:48 AM
one thing is for sure with the safehouse teachers
teach my future kids in american school :lol
Morvran
10-05-05, 04:40 AM
lol Shehab...that's actually what I was supposed to be doing by now, but my wife was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and we weren't able to move abroad. We should be back on track by next year hopefully.
Teaching is certainly a field where you need to be dedicated to what you're doing. I wouldn't call it thankless, but it's tough. I think the most frustrating thing is the fact that I taught 5th grade for the past two years (and loved it), and I was constantly frustrated by how far behind the kids where when they came to me. Now that I'm down with the second graders I realize how those 5th graders were so far behind.
Nimm, hats off to you for being able to do K. That and pre-k are the two levels that I've decided I definately couldn't do. Those kids be crazier than the 5th graders I had hehe.