Teacher bashers

[DrFaroohk]

Most of the problems I had with teachers came from the fact that they were assholes who also happened to be teachers. Unfortunately sometimes the wrong people become teachers, like the guy who had no friends in school and now sees it as a revenge opportunity. Those people need to be thrown into special camps, told lies about shower and then do away with them.

[Andara Bledin]

I had an interesting mix of teachers. Some were awesome. Some were assholes.

I'd think that if I considered every teacher I ever had an asshole while most of the rest of the world didn't have the same experience, there might have been something wrong with my attitude.

^-.-^

[Fire_on_High]

My MIL was an English teacher. She worked at two different schools before she retired for health reasons...a charter school which IIRC served 6-8 or 7-9, and then a public high school.

If you're old enough to DRIVE, being able to spell your name consistently on papers is a plus, and if you can't read by then, it's not the teacher's job to be teaching you C-A-T when the rest of the class is on "Cyrano de Bergerac". They'd get referred for remedial, but the school system wasn't great about it.

[SongsOfDragons]

My housemate's mum is a teacher...the school they worked at just failed their OFSTED inspection. Well, they got 4 across the board, whereas 5 is the worst... Housemate's mum is practically Head of Maths, but at this school the Maths and Science departments are squished together, and science rather sucks there...as she puts it, the Dept Head is 'a great teacher, a crap manager'.

Not sure yet what the external backlash is going to be...internal oh yes, but it's not going to be pretty.

[Rapscallion]

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday. His youngest is thirteen and the oldest about fifteen or sixteen. The oldest came in to the room where we were last night to ask for help with his homework.

His religious education homework was to print a picture of Jesus. That was it.

The younger chap's science homework a couple of weeks back involved printing a picture of The Big Bang.

I wouldn't rag on a teacher for nothing. However, this level of laziness and ... well, contempt for educational standards is worthy of spite. Some teachers do deserve condemnation.

Chum said wife of chum saw the note he was going to send back and forbade him from sending it, but he says the next parents/teachers evening is going to be very, very interesting.

Rapscallion

[Ginger Tea]

He wasn't asked to print a picture of Mohammed?

[insertNameHere]

Currently in Ohio we have senate bill 5 aka ISSUE 2, where they plan on making it illegal for the Tecahers and Police and fire to keep their unions and be able to collectively bargain, actaully a fair number of morons support them on the belief that if they have crap pay so should the rest of the state. Sure there are crappy teachers and some people ride out the guaranteed raises and if they went with the merit raises proposed teachers would then get raises based on how well students do on "the test" that being whatever the new flavor of the year they keep switching around and is the only thing they are teaching to.... of course then you have super bad ass teacher who gets put with the worst of the worse to "help them", in other words, they don't want to learn, won't want to learn and no more raises.

Of course you have to keep in mind the local school system was in academic emergency but the higher ups saved us... by creatively raising scores. They took the worst of worst put them with the best. Took the Average and put them with some average. and tossed the few best students in with a slightly under performing school. Because now the top performing schools are only doing slightly better than needed to pass vs previously when they were doing near perfect.

It kind of annoys me when people expect everyone to be happy/willing to work for minimum wage of course why the fuck go to college take all the courses to be a teacher when with the way things are going you could go to the local walmart as a cashier make the same, and not have pressure put on you about molding the minds of tomorrow.

[Ginger Tea]

For 6-9 months before moving darn sarth, I worked cleaning metal for a powder coating company and our parent company won the contract for wasp and lines (those in the UK should guess this DIY company) refurb.
One guy was a phyics teacher, I don't recall if he made it into a class room or not, but he quallified from UNI etc, he just found it more rewarding (financially and socially) cutting and spraying MDF and doing other wood working jobs for this contract than teaching northerner teenagers.

[HYHYBT]

I'd have a lot more trouble with the picture of the Big Bang, really. Just knowing he was human, you have a reasonable stab at an approximation of what Jesus might have looked like. But the Big Bang? Does the idea of it looking like anything even make sense when, by definition, it occurred before or while the laws of physics themselves were set and there was nowhere to see it from?

[mikoyan29]

In my area this argument makes sense because teachers on average make around 40 grand a year twice what I make and I live on what I make.

To do your job, do you have to get a bachelor's degree and a professional certificate? Then do you have to turn around and get a Master's degree within 7 years? And then after that, continuing education. In some cases, the requirements on teachers are about as stringent as some other professions, yet somehow they aren't paid like professionals and many states want to pay them little more than WalMart or McDonald's employees. And when teachers start leaving there is a crisis...Hmmm.

[bainsidhe]

I have a teaching certificate, but realized I was happier doing other work. I'm making similar to what I'd make if I were teaching, though I admit teachers in my state get much better benefits. Even so, I'm glad to only work 8-5pm and have my weekends free. I get vacation time. I work with a great bunch of people and can dress casually for work.

If I taught, I'd be spending my evenings, weekends and holidays doing lesson plans, faculty meetings and/or student clubs, parent/teacher conferences, etc. My "vacation" over the summer would involve additional schooling and training to stay certified, all of which would be paid out of my own pocket. Not to mention, I'd wait with baited breathe to learn each semester if I were included in the layoffs. Teachers around here tend to get their pink slips a couple weeks right before the new semester starts. And let's not forget every. damn. class. has it's own fundraiser during the year. How I loathe school fundraisers.

And so much for substitute teaching. I was shocked to learn that certified teachers here make a couple bucks an hr over minimum wage for substitute teaching. No bennies, they're called in at the last minute and expected to jump all over the city. Yet locals pay their babysitter a higher hourly wage than they do substitute teachers.

[fireheart17]

Unfortunately, for some parents, not having the time is the truth.

Sort of a necrobump on this one since I'm now studying to be a teacher.

Both my parents work and when I was in primary school, my sister and I both went to OSHC (sort of like a daycare service for primary school-aged children, which ran before and after school and also during the school hols. Generally for the school holiday programs, they'd run activities each day and there were kids from other schools) where they'd help us with any homework we had to do.

Once we hit high school, my parents considered me mature enough to get home by myself. They still didn't have the time, but they gave me permission to skip any family commitments so I could get things done. They'd try and help out where possible though (especially mum)