Umps, teachers and congressmen

[wadeintothem]

jeez, teachers are touchier than umpires.

poor lil thangs.

[uno tres]

"I'm not here to only teach you" ...that was what my 6yr old (1st grade) daughter's teacher told her last year when my daughter would raise her hand every day because she was having trouble with math. As a result, she stopped raising her hand to ask for help and instead started asking to use the bathroom everyday as a place to hide out until she thought (hoped) the math lesson was done.

Just like every other profession, some teachers really suck.

[Skarp]

Teachers? How the hell did teachers get lumped into this? Skarp, you must have been a really bad student, or else your DD is a really bad student, and you are looking for someone to for your shortcomings.

Teachers are constantly criticized, by students, administration, the media, the state government, the national government (especially the clueless like Dubya),the districts that they serve...etc. They do this for less money than most of you would ever imagine working for, in conditions most of you would never dream of (constantly being under the microscope), and all in the hope of passing along knowledge to generation after generation.

LMAO. Thank you for making my point better than I ever could have. I can almost see the halo you describe from all the way over here.

And yes, I was a terrible student, and my kids are flunking out too. How'd you guess? I can either blame the teachers or admit that we're stupid. Given my narcissism, the choice is easy.

(Of course there's no other possible explanation for my dissatisfaction with teachers and the education system they defend )

[cjs50]

I agree, as in any profession or on any bulletin board, some people suck. But I have found that the majority of teachers work hard and really want to help the kids...

[wadeintothem]

I agree, as in any profession or on any bulletin board, some people suck. But I have found that the majority of teachers work hard and really want to help the kids...

Yeah but can they breed up any good waitresses?

[Skarp]

Then why don't you volunteer at your kid's school, or better yet go back and go to school for 6 years to teach. ??? You mean you don't want to go to school for 6 years to make $40,000 a year and have to work for 6 months for free while doing your student teaching (You would have to work about 50 hours a week for nothing..not even lunch money). You don't want to go through the 5 or 6 evaluations every year or pass the CBEST, the RICA, and the CSET? Maybe you don't want to spend thousands of dollars each year on things for your classroom that the distrct won't provide, like books, bulletin boards, rewards, computer games, videos, etc. The little things that make school a little more interesting but teacher's must pay for. Maybe you don't want to follow a scripted program that is defined by the district which tells you what page you are on at what time. You need to go into a fifth grade class with 36 kids crammed into a space for 25 and then write about how teachers and the union are such bad people. I urge you to go into your schools and volunteer or work for a while to get a perspective other than an outsider without a clue. Hawk 17, until people actually work as a teacher, they don't realize what a tough job it is.

LMAO (part deux). Translation: teachers are above criticism by "outsiders without a clue."

For those following along at home, these "outsiders" would be the client base I refer to in my original post. Much like softball parents constitute the client base that is, in MTR's view, unfit to ever criticize anyone in his profession. Anyone seeing a pattern here?

Believe I'll rest my case now...unless anyone would like to leap to the defense of congressmen.

[softballaddict2]

Skarp,
You have to be kidding. You really need to spend some time in your child’s class (you seem to have lots considering the amount you spend on this board). Not just one day, when the kids are on their best behavior because a visitor is present, but frequently. When I first began helping out in my children’s classroom, I thought ‘What a great job, helping teach tomorrow’s leaders.’ But as the school year progressed, I learned what a hard job it was indeed, and with no fair compensation. Unruly behavior by students, some fueled by parents who think their children can do no wrong, others inspired by neglectful parents too involved in their own careers/education (or participating on the board) to bother taking care of basic needs for their children (too busy to sign a permission slip for child to attend a school function, forgetting to give child money for lunch, not checking to see if child has homework, etc). These same parents are the first to criticize the teachers. And many times they’re criticizing our best. Both my children had the privilege of having the two “meanest” teachers at their elementary school. Those teachers routinely received complaints about their teaching methods. What’s ironic is that those teachers’ students routinely scored higher on their STAR tests at the end of the school year.

These parents speak negatively about our teachers, trying to pass the blame for inadequate parenting. Unfortunately these same parents are usually the most outspoken. I’ve challenged some to just drop in their child’s classroom any time without advising their child. They’d be shocked at the amount of classroom time that is wasted on discipline (it is usually those parents’ children causing the disruption). And the students have already discovered that there are really no consequences to bad behavior. When sent to the principal’s office, they stroll back within a short amount of time. They aren’t removed from the class because our school district can’t afford to lose those funds.

And this is at an upper middle-class school (where you’ll typically find a couple of parent volunteers helping out daily), considered the premier jobs by many teachers in our school district. I can’t imagine what it would be like trying to teach at a school in a poverty-stricken area. Children are being left home alone after school for most of the day. This is due to single-parent households where the parent is working long hours while trying to make ends meet. Mono-lingual households where English is not the primary language. High transient rates where students constantly transfer to new schools. No money for proper textbooks. Working out of leaky trailers with no A/C. No money to pay assistants. And definitely no parent volunteers. Many of our teachers spend their breaks and lunch times in their classrooms helping students too. Their only compensation is the knowing they’re helping their students. Driving by my children’s school at 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm, I can still find teachers’ cars parked in the school parking lot. Again no monetary compensation for their time. I don’t know about you, but I never remain at my worksite during lunch and I expect to be paid dearly if I work into that time.


You blew it Skarp, but then again, you’ve gone on a warped tangent with your postings lately. Have you stopped your medication for obsessive-compulsive behavior or taken to drinking?

Oh, and Sam . . . where did you get your “fact” that ‘that many of the newer teachers have no clue how to teach and don't lecture....they just have the kids read text books and send them home with assignments’? As cjs50 states, teachers have to work for 6 months for free while doing their student teaching About 50 hours a week. Teachers enter this profession well prepared to instruct. What they’re not prepared for is the unfortunate lack of support and backlash they receive from parents, public, and bashers such as you. What a shame!

And to uno tres: Regarding the situation that occurred with your child’s teacher. Your child’s teacher should have spoken with you to see what you can both do together to help your child. If your child was raising her hand daily because she doesn’t understand the math being taught, what did you do to help when she told you? Or did you discover this when you received her progress report because you’re too busy to ask how her school day went, or to check in with her teacher to see her progress throughout the year? Did you even discuss this with the teacher? Perhaps your child has a learning disability that requires some additional help. Your child’s teacher has 35+ other students to teach and doesn’t have the luxury one-on-one time with only yours. Then my child suffers because he/she’s having to wait to progress to the next level. What if your workgroup at your place of employment had a member who repeatedly did incorrect work and messed up assignments you were responsible for? Even after repeated refresher sessions to correct the problem, he/she continued to mess up assignments. Eventually that member would be fired. You can’t do that with our students. Does this make things a little easier to understand? Our teachers don’t work in ideal situations with ideal students, but we expect perfection for a pittance.

[daddyball101]

TEACHERS!!!!

EVEN WORSE...SMALL TOWN TEACHERS!!!!

EVEN WORSE..SMALL TOWN TEACHERS THAT COACH..with little or no coaching abilities usually just wanting to make sure their kid gets on the A team.

[cjs50]

Skarp..I have NO idea what you do for a living. I would never assume that I could give any type of intelligent critique of your job without ever setting foot at your job site, spending one minute doing what you do, and only getting second hand information. You, however, seem to think that through some type of osmosis you are able to judge ALL teachers and the whole profession, union, and staff members without setting foot in a school for any length of time, spending time in a classroom, or gaining any type of information first hand. I think that is what the teachers of the group have an issue with.

[wadeintothem]

HAHAHAHA

Hey, has anyone seen my bag o hypocrisy laying around? I think I left it in one of these threads.

Skarp, you forgot the one rule...

Its ok to talk smack about umpires, no one will question you.. (except for the few umps who hang around here)

Talk smack about waitresses or teachers and youre in for it on this board.


HAHAHAHAAHAHA