Can you read this? Thank a teacher.

[senseandsensibility]

The preponderance of public education bashing threads on DU is starting to make me wonder. No, public education is not perfect, but it is a reflection of our society. As long as our society continues on its long downhill slide toward the lowest common denominator, led by the idiot in chief and his cronies, public education will reflect that.

The public education system is a reflection of the people. Just as we have the chimp as our "leader" because there are enough idiots in the U.S to make it close enough for him to "win", the public education system will be as bad or good as the citizens demand.

The part that I'm finding hard to deal with about these threads is the teacher bashing. It doesn't reflect my real life experience, and I don't agree with it. The bureaucracy is one thing. Bash away at that by all means. But teachers are heroes. Often they are the only ones fighting against this administration's efforts to take over OUR public schools.

Today is Labor Day, people. Let's honor all who labor: the waiters and waitresses, the live musicians, the constructions workers, the engineers, the homemakers, the nurses, and YES...the teachers.

Can you read this? Thank a teacher.

[datasuspect]

1. thanks mrs. phillips

[senseandsensibility]

2. I'd like to thank Mrs. Wheeler

To Mrs. Wheeler, wherever you are.:toast:

[Ravenseye]

3. Can you link to some teacher bashing?

I've seen 'system' bashing. I've seen complaints about lack of funding. Complaints about class size, no child left behind, and unsupportive principals who leave teachers out in the cold...Lots of complaints, but I don't recall any that were bashing the teachers themselves. Can you link me to some of these threads? I searched and couldn't find any.

If you're suggesting that any bashing of the public education system in this country is a direct attack on teachers, then I'd beg to differ. The teachers aren't the ones responsible for budgets. They're not, generally, responsible for curriculum. The system is rightfully bashed, but doing so is not attacking the teachers. If I complain that the city district that I'm in is one of the worst in the state because it's been abandonded by the country, the state, and the city itself for too many years, it lacks adequate and appropriate funding to even be mediocre, and cant' even ensure the security of it's students, much less get enough books for everyone, is that an indictment of the teachers who work there? Generally by choice, for less pay than they can get elsewhere, because they want to make a difference?

Public education needs to be radically improved in this country, but the teachers aren't part of the problem, they're part of the solution.

[david_vincent]

4. Thanks, Miss Sinclair! and Mrs. Eltringham!

[Poppyseedman]

5. Can you read this? Thank a teacher......Disagree

I thank my parents.

Lots of kids have good teachers and lousy parents and can't read past the 4th grade because of it.

[Cerridwen]

6. Thank you, mom. Thank you, Mrs. H. Thank you, Mrs. W.

My mom started teaching me to read early because I was such a pain, "What's that say? What does that spell? What's that letter?"

Mrs. H. took over in kindergarten. Mrs. W. taught me to enjoy diagramming sentences (all sentence structure mistakes are solely due to my lack of correct application, Mrs. W. did her part). :D

Thank you, Mrs. C. who taught us some basic Spanish and French in the 2nd grade.

Thank you, Mr. R. who let me produce a play I wrote in the 5th grade and another I didn't in the 6th.

Thank you, Mr. M. who taught us that U.S. history as taught in school is a "little less" than accurate.

Thank you, Miss F. who encouraged me to speak out and "take charge".

Edit: spelling *sigh* LOL

[senseandsensibility]

9. Great Erma Bombeck quote!

:)

[Cerridwen]

14. Glad you like it. Great quote from a great and hilarious woman.

:D

[FILAM23]

7. Actually

I'll thank my mother as I could read before I started school.

[BadgerKid]

8. Thanks Mrs. Burke

from elementary school for telling me to "get that nonsense out of my head".

[saltpoint]

10. Hell of a fine post, senseandsensibility.

In recent years public education is under attack from the far-right nutcase fundie contingent, and if for no other reason than that, we should support and encourage public education.

It's always a work in progress and there's room for improvement, but as you say, some very noble work is done in classrooms to keep the lights on in an age when dumb-down darkness threatens from many quarters.

:toast: :thumbsup:

[senseandsensibility]

12. Thanks for the nice response

and for understanding what I was trying to say.:-)

[SoyCat]

11. I'll thank the teacher who actually taught me, my mother. My public

elementary school didn't teach reading at all until first grade. Thanks to my mother I had already been reading over three years at that point. Some public schools are great, some are fabulous, and some are downright awful; it can't be generalized.

[LeftyMom]

13. Yes and no.

I taught myself to read before I even started preschool. My son is also a self-taught reader.

I had good teachers and I will praise them to the heavens, but the shitty teachers, the ass-covering administrators and the fucked-up system still exist and to shut up and ignore them is a disservice to our kids.

[Bigmack]

15. Teachers!! .... choose your district carefully!

I chose the right school district/community and I was a brilliant teacher.

The last 10 years, I taught Advanced Placement and Honors kids. I had kids go to Harvard, Stanford, and all the service Academies. Damn few discipline problems and those yuppie parents never failed a school levy and couldn't do enough for the schools

Our SAT and other standardized test scores were always first or second in a very well-educated state. I MUST have been brilliant!

If you teachers pick the wrong (read: poor) district/community, you will spend your time with hungry kids with family problems that would make Dick Cheney cry. "Your" scores will be low, and they won't improve because funding for books and supplies and computers just keeps going down.

You'll be a failure, and Rush will continue to spew his shit about public "screwels" and Focus on the Family will continue to encourage their godbots to homeschool/private school their little Soldiers for God... thereby further reducing school funding.

Learned professors will write massive tomes telling the fucking sheep in this country that the schools are failing because they don't use his patented method ... that he developed at some Ivy League think tank.... and he'll blame YOU!

Choose the right district, and you'll be a hero.

[senseandsensibility]

21. I teach in a "poor" district

and I am a hero to my students and the parents of the children in my class. I have to ignore the rest of it and do my job, which is very difficult for all the reasons that you state. But your post is excellent. Thank you.

[Common Sense Party]

16. I'll thank my mom, if you don't mind. She had all 4 of her kids

reading before we went to kindergarten--back in the late 60s and early 70s, when that wasn't such a radical idea.

[Berry Cool]

17. I am also a self-taught reader, but I thank every public school teacher

I had who did a great job, and all of them who do a great job despite the lack of prestige, high pay and even basic tools that they somehow do without so much of the time.

[senseandsensibility]

19. Good post, BerryBush.

Your post expresses a real generosity of spirit, and the ability to see shades of gray. In spite of the fact that you are a self-taught reader, as I was, you are able to see the whole picture. Most students are not self taught readers, nor are they taught to read fluently by their parents before they enter kindergarten. That's the point I am making. Our experience is very unusual, but I am still very grateful to my kindergarten teacher. I also know that although she technically didn't teach ME to read, she taught me some fine points, and she definitely taught most of the rest of the class to read.

[Horse with no Name]

18. I was tested as reading high school level in the 1st grade

and I never attended kindergarten. My parents taught me to read.
However...
1st grade: Thank you Mrs. Reed. Every morning we sang "Buenos Dias Buenos Dias Good Morning to You" and "Frère Jacques". Thank you for making the effort to broaden our horizons culturally.
2nd Grade: Thank you Mrs. Hoover. Your tireless efforts to teach us spelling and not buck to the pressure of teaching us phonics is greatly appreciated.
3rd Grade: Mrs. Dickson. Thank you for using adult words with us and not treating us to Dick and Jane. Thank you for the movies that broadened our world.
4th Grade: Mrs. Layton. Would love to compliment something, but you were really a mean old witch. I hope you changed as you got older.
5th Grade: Mrs. Heinman. You were very sweet.
6th Grade: Mrs. Stephens. I am sorry I made you cry.
7th Grade: Mr. Goodson. Regardless of the fact that you spent half the year looking out the window at Mrs. Clemons, thank you for inspiring me with a love of history and your experiences in the War.
8th Grade: Mr. Mosher. Thank you for teaching us the Constitution and how important it was.

[LostinVA]

20. Thank you Mrs. Whitaker: a kindergarten teacher

who made the transition from home to school an easy and kid one.

[alarimer]

22. I already knew how to read when I got to kindergarten

But your point is well taken.

Not every teacher is a hero, though. I have had plenty that sucked. I don't know why no one did anything about them, though, which is probably one of the things wrong with the system.

[LWolf]

23. Thank you.

Thank you to the many teachers that made my public school education worthwhile, and thank you, senseandsensibility, for recognizing the issue with teacher appreciation for my profession here at DU.

[SmokingJacket]

24. Cripes, am I the only one who learned to read in school around here?

I was seven years old. She was a mean old lady, but a brilliant teacher -- my mother had given up on me years before.

Thank you, Mrs. D! :loveya:

[senseandsensibility]

25. Yes, smokingjacket

It does seem that no one on DU learned to read in school, and so they do not have to thank anyone. ;)

[LWolf]

26. No.

You might be one of the few that are willing to admit that most kids in America are not going to be taught to read before they hit school, though.

Both my sons read before kindergarten. So did my grandson. I taught them. They are the minority. Too many of our students start kindergarten never having held a pencil, a crayon, or a pair of scissors. Many don't know the alphabet, don't recognize their names, and can't count to 10. Public education begins at age 5 for most, and they don't all start on the same starting line. Yet the teacher has to start somewhere with all 30+, regardless of background, prior knowledge/experiences, etc.. Guess what? They don't all cross the end-of-the-year "finish line" in the same place either, and they won't all start the same place the next fall for any year of their public education. Yet educators must teach a required body of knowledge and skills to all, regardless of where they are, what they are ready for, or what they've already mastered.

[walldude]

27. I just posted this in one of those threads, will repost here

because teachers don't get enough thanks.

I can't stand NCLB but my kids are in public school and they have great teachers who care. They are learning art, music, history and social studies besides the things they need to pass the standardized tests. This whole perception of public school is skewed imho. The government may demand this or that but they aren't in the classroom every day. My kids are learning, they are all avid readers they are all interested in art, film, and music and they really are getting an education. So let me add my thanks to all you overworked, underpaid and under appreciated teachers!

[mzteris]

28. Actually -

I taught all three of my children to read before they started school.

:)

However, I appreciate all of the good teachers my children - and I - have had. (And hopefully WILL have!)

I think teachers are grossly underpaid and underappreciated. I think classrooms should be smaller. Parents more involved. Admin less involved. NCLB destroyed.

I believe in smaller classes. Certified teacher's assistants. New teachers should be required to BE "teachers assistants" for at least one - probably two years - before allowed to be the "lead teacher".

I believe that public schools are very important parts of our community and I would never want them destroyed.

Just because hs'ing was the best option for one son doesn't mean I don't appreciate PS!