Teacher applicants,,,, your duties lol!

[WriterofWords]

Thank you both motherof5boys1girl and Up-the-Creek, I've been disheartened on here lately, I appreciate your kind words, and of others who do defend us rather than crucify us.

 

[AngieChick]

Years ago,when I was teaching I saw a class of 8th grade students systematically work to get a teacher fired. This teacher taught at an inner city school before moving here. This class had a lot of over achievers in it. He said a few things he should not have (I suspect hurt a couple of the kids' feelings) and they figured out how to push him to a point where he would lose his temper. After a short time they complained to the principal, then got parents involved. The teacher was placed on probation and eventually quit. I doubt he will choose to teach again.

He should never have lost his cool (he is the adult) and was not in the right, however the part that I find interesting is that the children knew exactly what they were doing and worked as a group to push him to a point where he either got fired or quit. They may not have realized the personal emotional long term impact on the teacher (though smart they certainly aren't wise) they felt completely justified in what they did. I am on good terms with many of these students, and I am quite fond of them actually, so when I asked a year later if my suspicions were valid about what happened they were honest with me. The parents would have been shocked and probably not have believed it (they probably still wouldn't). These are good kids, bright and overachieving. But they decided that the teacher needed to go and exploited his weakness. It's so important to never underestimate the intelligence of students (or how much they "get"). Or to look at them with rose colored glasses. I adore middle schoolers, but they are not for the faint of heart, that's for sure!

Teachers have to have nerves of steel and hearts of gold, and I am glad to say that in my experience many do.

Teaching made me a much better parent and I am so grateful for it. Now I am down to just very part time, and once my youngest is out of middle school next year I will probably walk away entirely. After 8 years. Honestly, it's not working with the kids that has burned me out. It's all of the prepwork, planning, and administrative hoops. There just hasn't been anything left for my own creativity or much for my family. Hats off to those who have continued and sacrificed for so many years.

 

[agnes_day]

Quote:
i think teachers have it so rough these days, and its really the parents fault..instead of punishing their little darlings bad behavior, they try and blame the school and the teachers which then teaches their kids that they arent accountable to anyone. its sad, really.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Quote:
i think teachers have it so rough these days, and its really the parents fault..instead of punishing their little darlings bad behavior, they try and blame the school and the teachers which then teaches their kids that they arent accountable to anyone. its sad, really.

Don't you love those parents that wear those rose colored glasses??

 

[agnes_day]

oh i know it..if only they knew the monster that they are creating..i guess when little johnny is still living in the basement at age 30 because he cant hold a job because his boss is so mean to him etc etc etc

 

[Linda in San Diego]

I am working with my class to raise their responsibility - (check out Marvin Marshall) - I expect them to behave even if I am not in the room. They have had problems when I have had subs this year and I was getting frazzled with some daily behavior issues. I needed to revisit the guildlines in the book Discipline without Stress. I have been teaching for 30 years, but still need to revisit and renew when I allow things to slide. I don't care what my students have or have not been taught at home. I have the best kids their parents can send me, I have students that do not come to school to be bad. I have students who need to learn to love to learn. But I have to be strict at times.
Shortly after reteaching lessons from Discipline w/o Stress, my principal stopped by the room - when he told them I have been selected as teacher of the year for my school they began to applaud. The tears in my eyes were from knowing that they recognize that I care enough to care about them and expect everything from them.
My students are why I love teaching every single year. Even with "tough" groups, and I have seen my share, they know I will be there every day unless I am really sick. They know I will fight for them and that I will expect everything from them. They may grimace, they may tell me "this sucks", they may grumble and groan. But later, in high school or when I see them in their jobs - they usually give me a big smile and I have even had some apologies. Grades 6-7-8 are tough for them, but all of them deserve everything I can give them.
It is why I teach. I have had to allow myself to give up on a few. But there are the ones, like Peter, I made his life heck for two years while he was in my computer class. He failed every class, he failed mine unless I sat him right next to me and made him miserable.....He came by a few weeks ago to visit. He is in 9th grade and told me all about Water Polo and Swim Team - which means that as a 9th grader he has a GPA of 2.0 or higher - he actually is keeping his GPA at 3.5 and higher this year. I asked why he could not have used a little bit of that in middle school, he just shrugged and said he did not know.
Sigh, neither do I, but he reported back to let us know how he was doing. They are just children and they DO want our approval.

oops - steps down from soapbox now....

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Yep, it has happened again!

I teach COLLEGE. Is there a part of college that parents don't understand?? I got an e-mail from a parent about a student's grade.

Your "child" is 19!! Yes, there are consequences to not attending classes and not doing assignments and if you keep trying to help your "baby" avoid them they will never ever learn!!!

So, see it doesn't stop.

yes, there are some rough teachers out there, but even the worst that I have encountered have mostly been burned out and tired, not mean or malicious.

no way I could do your job WOW or any of you others who teach in the trenches.

here's to you guys!

 

[FrenchHen]

I have WHAT in my yard? :

Yep, it has happened again!

I teach COLLEGE. Is there a part of college that parents don't understand?? I got an e-mail from a parent about a student's grade.

Your "child" is 19!! Yes, there are consequences to not attending classes and not doing assignments and if you keep trying to help your "baby" avoid them they will never ever learn!!!

So, see it doesn't stop.

yes, there are some rough teachers out there, but even the worst that I have encountered have mostly been burned out and tired, not mean or malicious.

no way I could do your job WOW or any of you others who teach in the trenches.

here's to you guys!

At least you can duck behind the privacy of an adult student. I have parents check grades (they're online all term) at the end of term and get upset that their kid hasn't turned in anything.
I also have parents who take away cell phones and other privileges when their kids start missing assignments. I love teaching though, and can't imagine giving it up.
Kudos to all teachers! It's not really a job, it's more of a mission.​

 

[mom'sfolly]

When I was in middle school we managed to force, through horrible behavior, two teachers to leave mid-year. We also made certain that they were unable to hire a full time teacher for the rest of the school year. Beyond vicious is what we were. Middle schoolers are quite good at finding weaknesses and exploiting them. We routinely had the music teacher in tears before she quit. This was in a very small town where everyone knew everyone else's business.

My son's fourth grade teacher is now teaching middle school, and I hate that the school lost a wonderful teacher. She was driven out by teacher infighting, an inexperienced and unsupportive principal and parents who wanted their dear boys in a different classroom and made it personal that SHE was the teacher assigned. My kids elementary school actually has to much parent involvment in my opinion.

 

[WriterofWords]

Too much of the wrong kind of involvment it sounds like. I love teaching, I want everyone to understand that, I love my students, I love to watch them learn. What I don't love is those people who know that it HAS to be the teachers fault that Darling is in trouble, it can't Darling's fault, he/she is perfect and NEVER does that at home. Or like I had this week,, a parent who not really upset with me, but at what had happened out at the buses with Darling. Darling is in 4th grade, (not mine) and was picked up by mom who stood at another car talking while Darling stood out on the sidewalk "flipping the bird" at all the buses passing by. So went over and told him to stop, asked who his teacher was, and where was his escort since he was out in the middle of the cars with no adult in sight. Mom came running over from 3 rows away to see what was happening and explained to her what Darling had been doing. She said her Darling would never do that and then asked "Mijo,,, did you do that???" of course Mijo said no!! So to mom that meant I was a mean, lying, teacher out to get Darling for nothing. She called the Principal,, who backed me up. The next day her hubby came to school angry about it because Darling Mijo cried when telling his daddy he got in trouble. So that afternoon I asked the bus drivers if they had noticed anything odd, no I didn't lead them on as a few of your are thinking right now, and surprise,, out of 9 bus drivers 7 saw Darling Mijo flipping off the buses. So my Principle made notes of who saw him,, We get back into the building and here is mom,, with a "well meaning" read buttinsky, friend who is out for blood because Darling was mistreated and SHE Was going to make sure that justice was done and I was either reprimanded right there, or preferable fired because I was obviously evil and intent on hurting innocent children.
We presented the bus drivers who saw Darling,, the other teachers, the students, everyone who saw Darling acting this way. The well meaning, ignorant, stupid, illiterate, fool of a friend looked just as bad as she could. Turns out her daughter got in trouble on the bus for the same thing at the elementary down the road and she was looking to get anyone she could in trouble. Supporting our friends is one thing, but when you don't know anything about a situation, except one side, and the word of a lying, crying child, stay out of it. Keep your opinion to yourself and let the family handle it, they don't need you. Mom apologized to me, she made Darling apologize to me, and when I saw the whole family this morning at our local hangout, dad apologized to me. I almost fainted. They even said how sorry they were that their friend talked them into going so far with it.