Bad teachers

[JakeStarkey]

A few things I would do to improve education.

1) Get rid of Summer Vacations. There's no good reason why these kids should get three months off to forget most of what they learned. A couple weeks, fine.

2) Stop teaching writing in cursive. No one does that anymore except for their signature. It's more important to teach them how to type.

3) Less feel good stuff, more of the basics- math, reading, history, science.

4) Reform the rules so it's easier to get rid of truly bad teachers.

Abolishing summer vacations would disrupt travel plans for countless families. One cannot take a 5 week family trip to Europe if the kid only has two weeks off school in the summer months.

Tough, in the nicest way I know how to say it. School districts are not run to facilitate family vacation plans. A 10.5 month program in public schools would work wonders for learning.

 

[JakeStarkey]

bripat, we pay them for nine months work in twelve paychecks. If we increase the time in school by 15%, we will have to pay everybody in the school districts accordingly.

 

[Toro]

A few things I would do to improve education.

1) Get rid of Summer Vacations. There's no good reason why these kids should get three months off to forget most of what they learned. A couple weeks, fine.

2) Stop teaching writing in cursive. No one does that anymore except for their signature. It's more important to teach them how to type.

3) Less feel good stuff, more of the basics- math, reading, history, science.

4) Reform the rules so it's easier to get rid of truly bad teachers.

Abolishing summer vacations would disrupt travel plans for countless families. One cannot take a 5 week family trip to Europe if the kid only has two weeks off school in the summer months.

Tough, in the nicest way I know how to say it. School districts are not run to facilitate family vacation plans. A 10.5 month program in public schools would work wonders for learning.

A school board is run to facilitate the wishes of the constituents it serves, not the theoretical whims of the bureaucrats running it. And if its constituents want summer vacations, then it should give them summer vacations.

Besides, the purpose of childhood isn't to grind out automatrons in the school system. Kids get valuable work experience picking up summer jobs.

 

[Toro]

bripat, we pay them for nine months work in twelve paychecks. If we increase the time in school by 15%, we will have to pay everybody in the school districts accordingly.

Where I went to school, teachers had the choice of being paid in 10 or 12 month pay cycles. Most teachers picked 10 months because they could bank the interest from the two month differential that was ammortized over their paycheques.

 

[Toro]

Then you should be for it.

No, I want people smart enough to not be fooled by whatever idiots get on Hate Radio and Faux News.

I want them to be smarter than you, Joe. That's why I'm against government schools, which only make people stupid enough to buy the crap your selling.

You think there's no difference between Communism and the Democrat Party, which isn't exactly a resounding vote of confidence in private schooling.

 

[JoeB131]

Then you should be for it.

No, I want people smart enough to not be fooled by whatever idiots get on Hate Radio and Faux News.

I want them to be smarter than you, Joe. That's why I'm against government schools, which only make people stupid enough to buy the crap your selling.

Guy, I went to Catholic Schools for 12 years.

I could not wait to get away from that stupidity and mendacity.

 

[JoeB131]

[

A school board is run to facilitate the wishes of the constituents it serves, not the theoretical whims of the bureaucrats running it. And if its constituents want summer vacations, then it should give them summer vacations.

Besides, the purpose of childhood isn't to grind out automatrons in the school system. Kids get valuable work experience picking up summer jobs.

Um, yeah, about that...

Not really. I guess they will learn that big corporations make craploads of money paying you a pittance, and that's a valuable lesson.

 

[DriftingSand]

I agree with those who say the main impact on student performance in school is the parents: parent involvement and home environment.

Schools have to deal with a great many social problems and often their focus is off of edcuation and on dealing with a multitude of social problems. Those social problems should be handled by parents and home environment, not by schools, or not mainly by schools. Too many parents drop their kids off at school as if they are dropping dry cleaning off and expect the school to 'fix' their kids' social and educational needs. Most parents are not doing their part.

As far as summers off: kids need some free time away from the structure of school. In a family that is doing it right, kids will go to camp (If you don't have much money, you send your kid to day camp: that's what I did as a kid because we had very little money.), or they will go to Bible school, or be involved in some other activity. We went to day camp, we went to Red Cross swimming lessons at the local municipal pool, etc. Kids need a break from school because school is very intense and too structured for children to do all year long. BTW, they don't get 3 months off anymore, it is generally only two.

Reading during summer is a great idea. Parents who object to that are probably not people who are readers. Generally, people who are readers are people with a better understanding of our language and a broader understanding of life in general. People should encourage their kids to read over the summer. Read for pleasure. It's a different kind of reading than they do in school.

People should never lose the ability to write by hand. That is a terrible mistake. We all need to be able to read and write in cursive script.

If you want the best people to enter the profession of teaching, you need to offer them better working conditions, respect and salary. That's a bottom line if you want the best people as teachers and school administrators. It's too bad people think teachers are over paid, but these people have university degrees and should be paid well. Also, every teacher in America has to do continuing education to keep their teaching certificate up to date: every 5 years something like 15 college credits. How many of you do that to keep your job? It's expensive for one thing. But it keeps them up to date on teaching methods and teaching issues.

There are going to be inadequate teachers just like there are inadequate workers in any profession. But most teachers are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Great post, E.

 

[regent]

I went to a teachers union rally..
I had with me a stack of report cards from various students.


This union teacher said to me "If im a bad teacher prove it"
So I did.


I read off the report cards in his face..

F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, D, D, D, D, F, F, F, D, D, D, F, F, F, D, D, D, D, F, F, C, C, D, D, F, F, F..

all the way down the line, and I said... that is what you get when you wont control your classroom, or teach your students or suit the needs of your students.

Then I punched him his face.

The teacher was dumb, why did he or she just give the kid straight A's. Problem solved and teacher gets merit pay.

 

[hunarcy]

Any statement such as "leftist teacher's unions and the school administrators of cultural Marxism" reveals a writer who did not have parental involvement at school.

Get the parents involved at school.

when we move here down south I remember the teachers suggested a list of books for children to read over the summer vacation. What a blow back from some parents whining about kids shouldn't have to do any school work over the summer and they would be busy with vacation bible "school", (because everyone KNOWS you can't read and learn when you are attending a few hours a day bible school )

And so much for the parents

And Guano makes up another story that is too preposterous for anyone with two brain cells to rub together to believe.

Honestly, I believe there IS blow back from some parents about summer reading lists, but it has nothing to do with "bible school" (that's just anti-Christian pabulum). It has to do with those parents not wanting to have to bother to ensure their children fulfilled the curriculum.

 

[hunarcy]

A few things I would do to improve education.

1) Get rid of Summer Vacations. There's no good reason why these kids should get three months off to forget most of what they learned. A couple weeks, fine.

Dude, we all know that the teachers would NEVER stand for that!

The people who most complain about year round schools are the parents whose vacations are screwed up.

 

[hunarcy]

Why should we pay them extra for working a normal year like everyone else?

You won't be paying them "extra". You will be paying them for working more days. Teachers get paid ONLY for the days they work. They do not get paid for holidays, or summer. Some are fooled because teachers get a check during the summer months, but the way that happens is that the school districts only pay part of the teacher's salary during the school year and keep the rest in the district's account (earning interest for the school using the teacher's money) and then finally give them the rest of their money during the summer months.

 

[hunarcy]

I agree with those who say the main impact on student performance in school is the parents: parent involvement and home environment.

Schools have to deal with a great many social problems and often their focus is off of edcuation and on dealing with a multitude of social problems. Those social problems should be handled by parents and home environment, not by schools, or not mainly by schools. Too many parents drop their kids off at school as if they are dropping dry cleaning off and expect the school to 'fix' their kids' social and educational needs. Most parents are not doing their part.

As far as summers off: kids need some free time away from the structure of school. In a family that is doing it right, kids will go to camp (If you don't have much money, you send your kid to day camp: that's what I did as a kid because we had very little money.), or they will go to Bible school, or be involved in some other activity. We went to day camp, we went to Red Cross swimming lessons at the local municipal pool, etc. Kids need a break from school because school is very intense and too structured for children to do all year long. BTW, they don't get 3 months off anymore, it is generally only two.

Reading during summer is a great idea. Parents who object to that are probably not people who are readers. Generally, people who are readers are people with a better understanding of our language and a broader understanding of life in general. People should encourage their kids to read over the summer. Read for pleasure. It's a different kind of reading than they do in school.

People should never lose the ability to write by hand. That is a terrible mistake. We all need to be able to read and write in cursive script.

If you want the best people to enter the profession of teaching, you need to offer them better working conditions, respect and salary. That's a bottom line if you want the best people as teachers and school administrators. It's too bad people think teachers are over paid, but these people have university degrees and should be paid well. Also, every teacher in America has to do continuing education to keep their teaching certificate up to date: every 5 years something like 15 college credits. How many of you do that to keep your job? It's expensive for one thing. But it keeps them up to date on teaching methods and teaching issues.

There are going to be inadequate teachers just like there are inadequate workers in any profession. But most teachers are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

I so rarely agree with you that I must take this opportunity to say you are spot on and totally correct in this post.

 

[Chuckt]

I went to a teachers union rally..
I had with me a stack of report cards from various students.


This union teacher said to me "If im a bad teacher prove it"
So I did.


I read off the report cards in his face..

F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, F, D, D, D, D, F, F, F, D, D, D, F, F, F, D, D, D, D, F, F, C, C, D, D, F, F, F..

all the way down the line, and I said... that is what you get when you wont control your classroom, or teach your students or suit the needs of your students.

Then I punched him his face.

Did you get arrested? Did he hit back? What happened?

 

[Jughead]

Abolishing summer vacations would disrupt travel plans for countless families. One cannot take a 5 week family trip to Europe if the kid only has two weeks off school in the summer months.

Tough, in the nicest way I know how to say it. School districts are not run to facilitate family vacation plans. A 10.5 month program in public schools would work wonders for learning.

A school board is run to facilitate the wishes of the constituents it serves, not the theoretical whims of the bureaucrats running it. And if its constituents want summer vacations, then it should give them summer vacations.

Besides, the purpose of childhood isn't to grind out automatrons in the school system. Kids get valuable work experience picking up summer jobs.

There is also the burn out factor. It happens to working folks all the time, and kids are not immune to it. They need a vacation just like we do.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Tough, in the nicest way I know how to say it. School districts are not run to facilitate family vacation plans. A 10.5 month program in public schools would work wonders for learning.

A school board is run to facilitate the wishes of the constituents it serves, not the theoretical whims of the bureaucrats running it. And if its constituents want summer vacations, then it should give them summer vacations.

Besides, the purpose of childhood isn't to grind out automatrons in the school system. Kids get valuable work experience picking up summer jobs.

There is also the burn out factor. It happens to working folks all the time, and kids are not immune to it. They need a vacation just like we do.

(1) Other nations' children go to school longer than our children do in year.

(2) A school board is chosen to run the school for the best interests of the children not the parents. Private and home schools are readily available for parents who will not get on board with a pro-active school board's program for educational excellence.

(3) A parent can run for the school board if s/he thinks change is necessary.

(4) A good school board's duty is to educate the parents to the need of #2.

 

[Toro]

(2) A school board is chosen to run the school for the best interests of the children not the parents. Private and home schools are readily available for parents who will not get on board with a pro-active school board's program for educational excellence.

Generally, nobody knows what's best for their own children more than the parents of those children.

 

[JakeStarkey]

(2) A school board is chosen to run the school for the best interests of the children not the parents. Private and home schools are readily available for parents who will not get on board with a pro-active school board's program for educational excellence.

Generally, nobody knows what's best for their own children more than the parents of those children.

Toro, since you would be super involved with your children's education, I am sure your statement is true for you.

Generally, that opinion we encountered all the time from parents who did not have a clue really what their kids were up to in school and resisted the suggestion they should be more involved.

Let's remind our readers of "(4) A good school board's duty is to educate the parents to the need of #2."

 

[saveliberty]

So a good school board can step in when they deem the parents as disinterested or under informed, because they're "helping". The state thinks they own our kids.

 

[saveliberty]

I have two children that teach. They are both highly regard by students, parents and staff. If that were not the case, they would move to a better school.