No santa? Would you be mad?

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I can understand being slightly upset about this, but trying to hang a teacher for this reason is -- IMO -- stupidity. Teachers make mistakes, if you call this a mistake or not. Kids shouldn't be forever traumatized over this and if they are they're probably too sensitive to begin with. If a parent so chooses to tell their children about Santa those parents can come up with an equally "inventive" reason why their teacher doesn't beleive in Santa. Good grief.

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
A good teacher learns how to duck certain questions. It is a useful skill to have when many questions a teacher should not address are asked. Look out the window and say, "What was that?" or simply tell them to talk to their parents because the subject is not part of the lesson planned for the day.

And just let the kid carry on believing that men have one less ribs? That to me is being a bad teacher. Whatever the kids beliefs, facts are facts.

No, I was not referring to the number of ribs a person has. In this case, the teacher would simply give the correct number of ribs and avoid allowing the conversation to stray into the areas of religion or personal beliefs. A reasonable parent would not take issue with that.

 

[dainerra]

it's actually not that difficult. Simply turn the question around. "Teacher is Santa Claus real" "Timmy, do you believe in Santa?" "yes" (or maybe "no"). "Well, some people believe he is real and others don't." The important lesson to be imparted is to be respectful of others beliefs in matters like this.

As far as Adam's rib, it's a simple statement of fact, everyone has the same number of ribs. "Perhaps you should discuss this with your parents" is still a viable answer without getting into philosophical debates with young children. Now, if the kids are older then it can be discussed more in class because older children have (or should have) a solid background to support their views. As someone said, age appropriate discussion.

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
That is a good idea

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
True that. Teachers really can't win these days.

No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

I certainly did not mean to take take away from a teacher with education and experience. I was only stating that the skill of ducking certain questions (or directing the student to speak with their parent) is valuable in the classroom.

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
True that. Teachers really can't win these days.

No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

refusing to make the majority the soul center of the universe is not the same as holding the majority hostage.

 

[WickedNerd]

Quote:
True that. Teachers really can't win these days.

No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

I wonder if it's harder to approach this problem in a classroom when you have a majority of Christians in your class. When I was teaching in California, only half of my students came from homes that followed the Christian faith. Instead of participating in Christmas only activities, we did a celebration of cultures and traditions from around the world. My classroom was a little like the United Nations anyway so we talked about winter time family traditions. We read books on the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, Inti Raymi, and other celebrations that happen around this time of year. It's not so much celebration as an education on cultures. I've had to be careful not to leave anyone out and had discussions with parents on what they found acceptable. Yes, it was a lot of work and yes, there was a lot of tiptoeing to make sure that everyone felt included and that families didn't become offended. The fact that I had fifth grade students and the fact that we were approaching this as a social studies unit on community and traditions helped significantly. There were some questions that my students asked regarding belief of Santa or whether one religion is right over another. When those questions came up, my response was always the same, "Some people believe this, and I suggest talking to your parents about it."

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

I wonder if it's harder to approach this problem in a classroom when you have a majority of Christians in your class. When I was teaching in California, only half of my students came from homes that followed the Christian faith. Instead of participating in Christmas only activities, we did a celebration of cultures and traditions from around the world. My classroom was a little like the United Nations anyway so we talked about winter time family traditions. We read books on the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, Inti Raymi, and other celebrations that happen around this time of year. It's not so much celebration as an education on cultures. I've had to be careful not to leave anyone out and had discussions with parents on what they found acceptable. Yes, it was a lot of work and yes, there was a lot of tiptoeing to make sure that everyone felt included and that families didn't become offended. The fact that I had fifth grade students and the fact that we were approaching this as a social studies unit on community and traditions helped significantly. There were some questions that my students asked regarding belief of Santa or whether one religion is right over another. When those questions came up, my response was always the same, "Some people believe this, and I suggest talking to your parents about it."

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

I wonder if it's harder to approach this problem in a classroom when you have a majority of Christians in your class. When I was teaching in California, only half of my students came from homes that followed the Christian faith. Instead of participating in Christmas only activities, we did a celebration of cultures and traditions from around the world. My classroom was a little like the United Nations anyway so we talked about winter time family traditions. We read books on the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, Inti Raymi, and other celebrations that happen around this time of year. It's not so much celebration as an education on cultures. I've had to be careful not to leave anyone out and had discussions with parents on what they found acceptable. Yes, it was a lot of work and yes, there was a lot of tiptoeing to make sure that everyone felt included and that families didn't become offended. The fact that I had fifth grade students and the fact that we were approaching this as a social studies unit on community and traditions helped significantly. There were some questions that my students asked regarding belief of Santa or whether one religion is right over another. When those questions came up, my response was always the same, "Some people believe this, and I suggest talking to your parents about it."

The school my girls went to was made up of mostly christian students and they did the same as yours. All religions and customs were discussed. They sang popular "holiday" songs from all over the world for the parents. Parents viewed the subject as informative as opposed to taboo. Discussions were guided by the teachers to aviod offending or judging others or their beliefs. I was a volunteer parent in the classroom as was impressed by the balancing act the teachers pulled off.

 

[sourland]

Quote:
No we can't win on this one. With so many different religions out there it's hard to say anything, not say anything, make this parent happy, that parent happy, this child happy, etc. In this day and age the minority have the power to force a school district to bend to their will and discriminate against the majority. I listen to arguments all day long between students of different beliefs and when you have one group informing the majority there is no Santa Clause, and we don't do gifts, and parties because it's against our religion it can get pretty hairy in class. I wouldn't tell anyone there is no Santa, and I wouldn't tell anyone there is a Santa, but when I asked it's really hard to deal with because no matter what I say I'm wrong. I always just say that's something they need to ask their parents about. I have 24 students, 22 of them want to have a gift exchange, but 2 don't believe the same way so the rest can't do the gifts without stepping on the 2's toes,,, what about the 22 sets of toes that are being trampled? Santa? He's the least of our worries. If a student were to ask if Santa really lived at the North Pole I'd say I have no idea, I've never been there.
Also,, ducking questions does not make us good teachers,, our education and experience make us good teachers.

I wonder if it's harder to approach this problem in a classroom when you have a majority of Christians in your class. When I was teaching in California, only half of my students came from homes that followed the Christian faith. Instead of participating in Christmas only activities, we did a celebration of cultures and traditions from around the world. My classroom was a little like the United Nations anyway so we talked about winter time family traditions. We read books on the Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, Inti Raymi, and other celebrations that happen around this time of year. It's not so much celebration as an education on cultures. I've had to be careful not to leave anyone out and had discussions with parents on what they found acceptable. Yes, it was a lot of work and yes, there was a lot of tiptoeing to make sure that everyone felt included and that families didn't become offended. The fact that I had fifth grade students and the fact that we were approaching this as a social studies unit on community and traditions helped significantly. There were some questions that my students asked regarding belief of Santa or whether one religion is right over another. When those questions came up, my response was always the same, "Some people believe this, and I suggest talking to your parents about it."

WickedNerd, I think that you indeed did win in this instance.