Teachers, Grades and BS

[Reverend Timmy]

I notice when my son and his friends talk about school and teachers and workload and such,the teachers that they like or think that are "cool" they tend to have better grades because they are actually interested in what is being presented to them.I hated to be in a class that I knew the teacher hated his or her job.That made me feel that I did'nt want to be in that class anymore than they did.......

[markD]

dudes, i am a middle school teacher. you have NO idea what we have to deal with and how many parents are out to get us. a lot of time it feels like this is the only profession where EVERYONE is out to get you....politicians, adminstrators, parents, the media, the public....it is INSANE the expectations, the attitudes - all of it. then when teachers try to speak up, the media labels us as complainers that just want more money.

in regards to fetts original statement, we are under obscene levels of pressure to have data that reflects that our school is successful. grades and conduct are NEVER related. that guy was wrong, but chances are he was told by his principal to start passing kids.

it is pathetic, but it is a data driven profession now. i spend more time with test scores and data than i do preparing lessons. i HATE the climate i work in at this point. in order to actually educate, i need time to prepare my lessons and put my students' needs first, not a bunch of stupid test scores.

oh, and diagraming sentences helps you understand the usage and mechanics of how to speak and write properly, so you don't seem like a moron. the ONLY real world application is to make you fit better into an educated society. we don't do that anymore and i can tell. i'd rather hit myself in the head with a hammer then read 90% of my students' papers.....

[JetFixxxer]

I'm glad we are not one of those parents... My children teachers know to call us if they are having trouble with our kids. They know we will back them.

[AdRock]

That's not a rant, it's the truth. Both of my charming angelic cherubs (read, typical BOYS), know that until I find otherwise, I trust what the teacher is saying or writing before I'll buy their side of the story. And going to talk to teachers gets a lot more done than hurling insults on the school or teacher.
Wife and I generally take the approach, what can we do toether? What is the underlying problem? What are the goals? And the boys will usually respond positively to well defined, clear objectives, rather than "Just try harder!" One fourth grade teacher was very picky about class organization, often used the dreaded red pen, and my son kept complaining. My wife was getting an attitude against this teacher. We went and talked for a good half hour with her, and my wife was even more livid when we left. I reminded her that this was exactly what he needed, I turned out to be right, that "tough old witch" was one of the best in the end.

The school district that my fiance and my sister work in sent out a directive saying that they CANNOT use Red pens to mark papers anymore. It apparently hurts the kids feelings. It's just so fucking ludacris that you just have to laugh before going insane.

[markD]

The school district that my fiance and my sister work in sent out a directive saying that they CANNOT use Red pens to mark papers anymore. It apparently hurts the kids feelings. It's just so fucking ludacris that you just have to laugh before going insane.

yep. here too!!! it is pathetic. if anybody actually saw how empowered these kids REALLY are they would die of shock....

[fett]

Anyone who teaches school should have his' or her's head examined. For what they do they should be paid big bucks. And, I salute you.

[Jason1212]

I agree Fett, and Mark you have my respect. I rarely have questioned a teachers practices unless (like in that instance) they did not make sense. In Texas we have TAAKS testing. In different grade levels kids have to take a standardized test to advance and then to graduate as a senior. It has basically amounted to educaters in those grade levels "teaching for the test". It sucks and hopefully the state will see the err in this and change. There needs to be sweeping changes in the education system that's for sure.

[fett]

We have that in WA State as well. What happened? I can not tell you how glad I am that I got "Educated" from 1955 to 1972. It was a different world then and I miss it.

[Cygnus X1]

dudes, i am a middle school teacher. you have NO idea what we have to deal with and how many parents are out to get us. a lot of time it feels like this is the only profession where EVERYONE is out to get you....politicians, adminstrators, parents, the media, the public....it is INSANE the expectations, the attitudes - all of it. then when teachers try to speak up, the media labels us as complainers that just want more money.

....

A bow of respect to you, markD, look at this from a couple of days ago.

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=989993&postcount=22

[fett]

I kinda highjacked your thread because the points you were making needed a wider view.

[RacerX]

I bet you had to look that one up yourself

Nope!

[Cygnus X1]

I kinda highjacked your thread because the points you were making needed a wider view.

And a fine job you did, fett.

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

i have 3 kids in school (2 high, 1 jr. high) that combines for 18 teachers i deal with. i will say that most are qualified, but some are just lost. some teach classes that they should not be teaching, were they are assigned subjects to teach due to lack of teachers skilled in certain areas. i'm amazed how many are gay, not that it matters if they can teach, but it is like they push the fact. a few of the new teachers are so robotic they get assignments on line, to where they are doing homework that is not related to the tests where the whole class just bombs. the kids get besides themselves because of their GPA's will suffer when need a 3.5 to get in colleges they have been working so hard for. why do kids get good grades in one history class, but the same history class taught by another teacher they do bad in?

[fett]

Are you going to choose one of them to go to college? How the hell can you finance 3?

[ABSOLUT CHARVEL]

Are you going to choose one of them to go to college? How the hell can you finance 3?

this is why i have not bought a guitar in over a year