LOL!

[n2doc]

[Fearless]

1. Perhaps they could pay better.

And actually support our teachers instead of blaming them for the under-performance of students in underfunded districts. Just maybe right?

[LWolf]

2. No, no, no.

That's not the first day of school. That's the 3rd day of the first week, when the new school halos have been discarded by middle schoolers.

:rofl:

[knitter4democracy]

3. I was thinking it was fourth quarter.

We had record sub rates all fourth quarter this year. People were just plain burned out.

[LWolf]

4. That, too. nt

[DirkGently]

5. Somone close to me quit even substituting recently

Veteran, recently retired teacher with two graduate degrees; Teacher of the Year award and multiple nominations for same. Tried to illustrate something or another to a student who was already disrupting, and somehow made minimal physical contact with the student, who announced the teacher had "laid hands on me" and stormed off to the office making accusations of assault. If not for the teacher's reputation and (thankfully) every other student in class backing the teacher, cops or lawsuits doubtless would have rained down. The school in question -- the teacher's former place of employment -- had sought her as a substitute nonstop since retirement, in part based on the specific request of other teachers.

This teacher is much smarter than the average bear and has a spine of solid steel. She is now afraid to teach.

This was not her first time being accused of something by an overly empowered student or excitable parent, of course, but it was literally the last straw. Helicopter parents insist on advanced placement and high grades, despite their child's unwillingness or inability to do the work. Others call to scream about too much homework. Or too little. Or that the parent gave the child permission to skip a test because he'd stayed up too late playing video games, and therefore must be given a new test date and time. One busy, professional parent rearing her young student with the help of a nanny complained that the teacher referred to one student by a nickname, but her child wasn't given a nickname, and so felt less important. Anything and everything is grounds to target, blame, and threaten the teacher.

What do we do when the only people who will come to work in a school really ARE "the bottom of the barrel?" That's where we're heading, and I believe that's exactly where private / charter schools and their wealthy supporters want it.

[txlibdem]

6. That is so wrong on so many levels

I'm sorry to hear of your friend quitting teaching, even as a sub this person sounds like exactly the kind of person we need in the teaching profession.

Teachers today are in an impossible position, trapped inside a system that fails both our students and our teachers, they are on the front lines with the parents and all the school administrators can think to do is foster an environment of hostility between parent and teacher.

Our kids need to be made to understand exactly what is expected of them and that they are solely responsible for their own education.

[knitter4democracy]

7. This is partly why I'm in the alternative high school now.

Much, much better place. We have all sorts of systems in place for that exact scenario (happens frequently), and we have a principal who would see through it and deal with the student properly.

I feel safer here as a teacher than I ever have teaching anywhere else.

[DirkGently]

8. Good. I hope you're getting the support you need

We need to shift the entire discussion vis a vis education somehow. I think I've mentioned this somewhere on DU, but I will never forget reading that Japanese schoolchildren stay after to clean the school. Can you imagine that here? What does happen is that *teachers* stay after, or come in during the summer, to paint bathrooms and classrooms because there is no money for even basic infrastructure. Edit: And no help from anyone else. Can you likewise imagine parents coming in to paint?

Can you imagine an American public school where the students, parents, and teachers, are at least all in agreement that school is a good thing, that students need to do work, that parents need to support faculty, that everything is not a tug-of-war as to who is more entitled or who is supposed to take orders from whom?

Teachers and teaching deserve immense respect, and seemingly had it at some point. It's a calling more than a job, and yet there seems to be this relentless push to marginalize and attack the entire enterprise. I don't know the answer -- do you think they've found some at the alternative school where you work? For starters, I'd like to reverse the idea that students and parents can't bite and kick and scratch and do everything in their power to not cooperate ... and yet the school is supposed to somehow turn them into educated geniuses by some form of magic.

Can we make public school more like college? At say that at least past grammar school, failing or expulsion should be a real possibility. No harsh punishment, not jabbering about "zero toleranace." Just a requirement that everyone take ownership of what's going on, and get the hell out if you're not interested and hate school or teachers or homework. Hit the road and get a job -- rich or poor, swift or slow. You're onboard or you're overboard.

[knitter4democracy]

9. That last paragraph is mostly our philosophy.

The students know that we're their last resort for a high school diploma. If they're not going to meet the requirements (attendance and respect-wise), then they're kicked out until the next quarter. Last spring, we graduated 77 students who wouldn't have graduated from their original high schools, so we must be doing something right. :)

I've found it's so liberating as a teacher to have a principal who backs me up. If I send a student to the office, I know that kid isn't coming back, perhaps not for days. I know that I'm going to be questioned and asked to write it up, sure, but I know that I'm believed and trusted. That's amazingly powerful as a teacher. It's also great to be able to really talk with kids--no political crap, no hoping their parents won't scream bloody murder, just honest talk. I turned down teaching honors students at the Catholic high school in town to teach here, and part of it is because the kids are real: they don't b.s. me or lie (much), and we all know that we're all working toward the same goal: graduation.

I wish more schools used our model. We're the safe school for the LBGT students in the area (we don't put up with bullying at all), and we're the place for kids with chronic health stuff or chronic absenteeism or whatever. Sure, we deal with probation officers and social workers and foster parents, but everyone has the same goal and is really honest about what it will take to get there.

After taking years off to be a stay-at-home mom, I was scared to go back into teaching. Instead, I fell into this school and don't ever want to leave. I wish all schools were like this: honest, tough-love, supportive, and with great administration that backs up the teachers.