I Want To Be A Public School Teacher
I want a job where you never have to fix your mistakes. Where you go home even when the job is not finished or some dumb kid doesn’t understand what I presented. I want to teach a class of twenty-one kids but not have to tailor my teaching to the special needs kids, who by law are entitled to appropriately modified instruction. What law, they don’t arrest teachers regardless of how they do their work. Besides it’s not my fault the district uses inclusion as a way to save money instead of better proven options for the students in special education. I also want a job that even when my students fall behind, only they have to do extra work, or attend more summer school etc. Not me, the teacher or even the principal.
I want to get a paid raise every year regardless of customer/parent satisfaction level and regardless of the fact special need kid scores never improve or get worse. I like a job where nobody sends out a satisfaction survey report card on me. After all, I like being the one sending out report cards. I even get to avoid any tough evaluations in the lower grades that might make some parents angry about my work, because we only use Beginning, Developing and Secure…not letter grades or other matrix based evaluations that could expose my failings.
I want a job where you are protected from negative consequences you cause to students, the school or the district. Where I can be protected from liability claims of negligence that every other profession must deal with.
I want a job where I only have to use one math program since it is easier for me. Regardless of the fact it doesn’t fit language-disabled students.
I want a job where if frustrated students do anything violent after years of abuse by the system, the school will likely put in a metal detector instead of auditing the teaching environment.
I really like a job where the union helps make sure I can go home around 3:30 regardless of what kids I failed to teach or what IEP plans I failed to service. Why should I have to stay after work to fix or clarify my teaching? Besides as long as the state mandated test results show 80% of my students are above the goals…I am off the hook. The twenty percent that don’t get it, must be stupid and not trying.
I want to be a Public School Teacher. Better yet, I might want to be an Administrator. Yeah, that would be even better.
Re: Or... from another perspective...
If I am not mistaken, this is called being a parent; but without summers off while maintaining a job on top ot this as well to support your family. Sorry, no sympathy here.
Sympathy wasn't the purpose.
I thought it was an appropriate response to a rather extreme flame on teachers — the other side’s “vent” (only a vent that didn’t insult others).
Try to consider that yes, the teacher also has a family — so add *all* of that parenting stuff you are talking about as well as the described duties, oh! only since the teacher is *not* the parent, s/he does not have the same rights and authorities over the child.
Here's who I give my sympathy vote too!!
How about if we sympathize with the student.
Recently, there were some posts from parents on this website about the harrassing behavior of teachers. One mother wrote, and I hope I get her story correct, about her son’s constant bullying and torment at school. As a punishment he was sent to the first grade room, where he sat all day without lunch because no one remember to take him to the lunchroom. When she removed him from school for homeschooling and went to the school to pick up his belongings. In his locker she found letters written from the students, saying things like, “sorry that no one liked him in the class” Luckily the mom was able to pull him out and home school him.
Another mom posted “I have a 17 year old who has an L.D. and A.D.D.. She is a senior in high school and she still gets teased. The biggest thing that has happening lately is that kids are spitting on her. She notified the superintendent and the principle, but yet the teasing continues. Any ideas?”
Finally, this mom wrote “In 6th grade my son had a teacher who would call the LD kids “baby”, “rugrat”, “rodant”, and would have them beg on their hands and knees for papers if they forgot to put their name on it. In this class there was two Mchaels and my son always only put his 1st name on the paper-if she only received an assignment from 1 of them she gave the credit to the other kid-this happened for half the year until she got an aide-the aide pointed out that my son was the only one who still reversed letters and that the papers where his. At my sons IEP meeting she told us the boy needed “major counseling and to be medicated.” She also said he was very lazy and refused to do work. Her complaints lead to some more testing that determined he had a language disability and was only reading at a 3rd grade level and had fine motor issues. We and 4 other sets of parents submitted a formal complaint, the result was she had tenure and there was nothing we could do. They did monitor the class the rest of the year though causing her to “behave” herself. My son to this day still has terrible memories of this class.”
Are these the teacher that people are supposed to sympathize with? I understand that everyone needs to vent their frustrations every now and again. It is healty and helpful to write down how you are feeling (this is starting to sound like a counseling session, please make your $50 check payable to Dr. K.)
Anyway, I am hearing posting on these bulletin boards because I sympathize and want to help my kids and maybe through my experience I can help another mom or dad help theirs.
Just a thought!!
Oh, by the way pardon the spelling errors, it has been a long day!!
K.
Re: Sympathy wasn't the purpose.
There will always be this constant debate over who has the more difficult job, parent or teacher. I would have to say that they are equal in their degree of difficulty but different in how we tackle them. Here is where I get hung up and maybe it is my mistake or misinterpretation: I always equated teachers with doctors, those with whom we trusted with our children’s well-being. Those who were professionally trained to deal with issues that parents were not trained to handle because it takes years of education in specialized fields. Since we cannot cover all of the bases before having our children, we must trust the professionals; those who have been there, done that. So, of course, I have a high level of respect for these individuals because they are knowledgeable in areas where I have limited experience. I respect that. Just like every other adult, we CHOOSE our profession and are then paid for it accordingly. But in such respected fields I would expect a certain amount of professionalism from these individuals. I would never expect to see a doctor on a web site “venting” about his patients or about his job, especially where the patients have access to view their comments. My expectations are the same for teachers. If I were to get online and “vent” about my job, I most likely would be asked to find a new job. I don’t know, maybe I just put too much expectation in the teaching profession. I just want to believe that they are above all the petty complaining and on a higher plane of professionalism. This is not meant to be confrontational, just sharing my feelings of disappointment. Sorry if anyone is offended.
why I want to be an LD parent.......
Gray hair looks good on me.
When I get tired of that I can go for the new, edgy bald look,
one year of 6th grade special ed and I can pull all of it out.
My stress levels are too low when I’m not actively engaged
in ld parenting.
Weight loss. Those IEP days and meetings with teachers, with stomach turning, contributes
to weight loss.
More chocolate. Other days eating chocolate is a way of dealing
with stress. Nobody can argue with my need for chocolate, so
I can clean out the cupboards.
Gives one a perspective on PMS. Which is worse, PMS or
LDparent-syndrome? Somebody can do a study, earn their PhD
and write it up. (Sorry guys, you’ll have to find your own
syndrome….)
Gives me a whole new look at summer. I’ve always liked summer
but loved fall the best. Now I LOVE summer! Come on summer!
Has really made me a better person, more patient, more persistent,
more proactive, more big picture thinking and hanging on by the
skin of my teeth helps reduce cavities (that’s because you grind them
all off).
Anne ;-)
Re: Or... from another perspective...
Sue,
I have a lot of respect for you. I’ve never seen you fail to help a parent trying to teach a kid. I’ve used your advice and found it true and sound. God Bless you for your willingness to share your knowledge and experience with us. I don’t know where myself or my boyo would be now wo advice from the teachrs and professionals like yourself on this bb. The perspective was true, but there is only one most beautiful child in the world and every mother has it.
Re: Here's who I give my sympathy vote too!!
K. wrote:
>
> How about if we sympathize with the student.
>
I can only agree!!! What upsets me the most after the three years I am advocating for my son, is the fact that some of the parties involved are responding to my questions/requests as if I am asking for something for myslef, forgetting that I would never had done anything I am doing now if my son had not needed it!!! I would much rather have the teaching parties telling me what else can we try to help him, and not me reading whatever I can find about LD and sorting this info to find what else have we missed… Recently, during a PPT meeting a SPECIAL ED teacher asked me a question that suggested that she is doing the remediation “for me” (or rather to please me) and I had to remind her that we are meeting here not to pleased me, but to find out how can we educate a boy that happened to be my son. This is so sad that she views her job as making something for me instead of doing something for my son! (which by the way is telling me that it is appropriate that I am asking for things otherwise they would have never been done for my son if I count on “professionals”). And I am doing all of this for a boy with a language-diability (receptive-expresive/dyslexia) and I am not a native English speaker- imagine that- what an irony…
Re: why I want to be an LD parent.......
Anne,
Only an ld parent could have any idea of what it is like to worry about your kid 24 7. All parents worry about their kids grades future etc. but they have a security we don’t have. Their kids will probably go to college if they want to, people won’t take for granted they can’t do something because a test says they can’t.
Happy mothers day!
Excuses from those not clear on the problem
Your perspective seems to be to focus on minor league ideas and suggestions …to a major league problem - The problem is how schools and teachers operate…not that our kids have LD issues.
The system focuses on LD kids as inclusion misfits not worth a more major investment and the IEP process etc. is completely dysfunctional. Since teachers go along with the mess and support the mess via their unions…our kids get screwed. Unless people want to get more aggressive then writing letters, more hostile than raising your voice at a IEP meeting….you are helping to create the next generation of kids with unfair baggage and few options other than extreme behaviors. There is no excuse for the mess public teachers and school systems have created for our kids.
Unless parents want to fight to clean it up you’ll keep getting the same loser response we get now from public schools and many teachers. Why should parenting our kids have to be ruined by school systems who make having LD kids a family nightmare at school?
Re: Excuses from those not clear on the problem
I don’t feel like I am not fighting for all the other kids who get the “loser response”.
I think you are right in some respect that some parents do not want to fight for all the other children who are receiving inadequate support. I think sometimes it is hard enought to just get the school to provide for your own child nevermind a school’s worth of children.
I work very hard to get what my “children need” I am working for three children, my brother, my sister, and my son. Maybe to you it is a copout that I am not able to do more but beleive you me, I do plenty. Maybe writing letters is not hostile and aggressive enough for you but right now it works for me and many other people as well. In my district everything must be in writing otherwise absolutely nothing gets accomplished.
I guess I am kind of offended by what you say. I try as hard as humanly possible to change the system for not only my child but for other children as well. I supposed I don’t understand what else it is you expect parents to do.
I especially like the punch line for this one…
21st CENTURY TEACHER [applicant addressing the school administration]
Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning.
Not only that, I’m supposed to instill a sense of pride in their
ethnicity, behaviorally modify disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and T-shirt messages. I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for guns and raise their self-esteem.
I’m to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, and fair play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook and how to apply for a job.
I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others, and, oh yeah, always make sure that I give the girls in my class 50 percent of my attention.
I’m required by my contract to be working on my own time summer and evenings at my own expense toward advance certification and a master’s degree; and after school, am to attend committee and faculty meetings and participate in staff development training to maintain my employment status.
I am to pledge allegiance to supporting family values, a return to the basics, and to my current administration. I am to incorporate technology into the learning, and monitor all Web sites while providing a personal relationship with each
student.
I am to decide who might be potentially dangerous/or liable to commit crimes in school or who is possibly being abused, and I can be sent to jail for not mentioning these suspicions. I am to communicate frequently with each student’s parent by letter, phone, newsletter and grade card. I’m to do all of this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a 45 minute more-or-less plan time and a big smile, all on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps in
many states.
Is that all? And you want me to do all of this and expect
me NOT TO PRAY?