a teacher's rant

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The OP...

Know the man. I've had many a face-to-face conversations with him about politics, life in general and yes, history.

Knows his sh*t and is 100% genuine in his concern for his students. If we had a buncha Garretts in every classroom, the system would be in a helluva lot better shape.
 
There are some great kids, and youd be surprised by how many young conservatives there are.
Or the firefighting kid (he volunteers at Pilot till he's out of hs) who got all sorts of worked up about Kavenough (sp?) stuff and how the media and left sentenced him before facts. Or after facts.
I love it.
There are a lot of great kids. But earlier, as I was reading some freaking terrible 'answers,' it stressed me the heck out.
 
I’m the son of two high school teachers and am married to a seventh grade ELA teacher. Times have definitely changed since I was in school. In the county we live in each child from the sixth grade forward has a Chromebook assigned to him for the school term. The resources a kid has at his fingertips are astounding. It’s hard to reconcile how a student could turn in work misspelled with spell check on his Chromebook. Sure, we all misspell in this type of forum, but if I’m getting graded on something you’d better believe I’ll take a minute to check the spelling and grammar (or just hand it to my wife to proof read ).

Last year my wife’s principal decided that the teachers at her school shouldn’t penalize kids for failure to complete homework assignments. He felt that it was too harsh for kids to suffer for not turning in homework. My head nearly spun off! How can we teach our kids accountability like that?

All too often it seems like educators are nearly forced to teach the test. Classroom time is short and the demands to raise test scores are present all the time, regardless of student apathy. Recently I heard that administrators’ pay would be performance based in coming years here. Which is to say that my wife’s principal’s pay would be based on how kids in his school improved on standardized tests and how many kids advanced to the next grade each year. That may sound good on paper, but I’d say it’s an incentive to further teach the test and push kids through the grade who may not be ready. Just my .02 cents.

To the OP, thanks for all you do to educate our children!
 
This year I mostly have 10th and 11th graders, a few people who are still a freshman (one for a third time...), and a couple seniors (not all counties take the courses in the order that we do, so I end up with some seniors in my American 2 course)
 
There are some great kids, and youd be surprised by how many young conservatives there are.
Or the firefighting kid (he volunteers at Pilot till he's out of hs) who got all sorts of worked up about Kavenough (sp?) stuff and how the media and left sentenced him before facts. Or after facts.
I love it.
There are a lot of great kids. But earlier, as I was reading some freaking terrible 'answers,' it stressed me the heck out.

Well to make you feel better let me tell you a short story. I went to college for 3 years and quit. Got a job, moved out and found my way. When I moved to CA I went back to college. I was in a transfer program for people that has a certain amount of college credits and were working adults. So mostly night and weekend classes. The first semester was basically a writing class. It went through grammar and basic writing. Then we had to write about 10 papers. Topics were pretty much self directed. I wrote one on bass fishing even. Anyway, almost all of the people there were adults that grew up in CA, went through their public schools and had some college. I think you had to have at least 60 credits. We had to read and evaluate all of each other's papers. It was horrible. The majority of the papers I read were about what my 12 year old could write now. Terrible grammar, and incoherent thoughts. It was brutal. I told my wife that I couldn't believe these people made it out of high school. And that was about 20 years ago. So the things that are pissing you off have been building for a long time. IMO since they created the Dept of Ed in DC.

As I said before. Blow it up.

And if you get really frustrated maybe you spend some evenings researching businesses and entrepreneurs in private education and try to jump on the next wave that will make things better. IMO schools are too lost at this point to not have a dramatic reckoning someday. Unless people just give up.
 
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This year I mostly have 10th and 11th graders, a few people who are still a freshman (one for a third time...), and a couple seniors (not all counties take the courses in the order that we do, so I end up with some seniors in my American 2 course)

If you are a freshman for a 3rd time it is way past time for the school to send you packing. That person needs to find a trade/job that he/she can handle and try a different route.

My daughter graduates this year and she's trying to pick a senior quote. She picked some wise ass statement I told her a while back and Mrs CZfool vetoed it. It was something to the effect that I'm not all that proud she is graduating. It isn't that tough. Millions upon millions of kids have done it. So by graduating you really haven't accomplished anything yet.

She worded it better, but you get the point. Show up to school, listen and do the work. Graduate. Simple stuff. It doesn't take much effort. My older brother was dropping acid, drunk and stoned every day and he graduated. It was a very close call, but he made it. So I've got no time or use for anyone that can't handle it. Find them a different path. Lots of choices out there.
 
This year I mostly have 10th and 11th graders, a few people who are still a freshman (one for a third time...), and a couple seniors (not all counties take the courses in the order that we do, so I end up with some seniors in my American 2 course)

I was wondering if it was 9th. By the end of 9th grade admin usually knows who will and who will not graduate. Around here, by the end of 10th the kids that don't want to be there are mostly gone. Dropped out. My daughters english class was cut in half one year by drop outs and kids moving.
 
I was wondering if it was 9th. By the end of 9th grade admin usually knows who will and who will not graduate. Around here, by the end of 10th the kids that don't want to be there are mostly gone. Dropped out. My daughters english class was cut in half one year by drop outs and kids moving.
When social promotion was started in the early 70's you could see in grammar school those who wouldn't make it. Promoted to the next grade or placed in the next grade. Come time for high school and they were way behind. As kids we could tell.

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I saw 5 kids break a power pole with thier car then take selfies in the car while one was slipping in and out of consciousness. The car smelled like weed, the oldest was 21 the youngest was 14. Stupid kids and parents.
 
This old man's final exit exam for High School. As the "Graduates" come on stage each is handed a $5 bill. Select an amount randomly and ask for change. If they can't make simple change, give them the $5...but NO diploma....
 
Do you have four Jamaican students, mon?

I COULD NOT do your job!

I pulled the kid aside, a great kid who I get along with, and he's like "...maybe Im Jamaican" and I said, "dude, youre white as heck, we both know it"
"yeah, youre right"
 
This old man's final exit exam for High School. As the "Graduates" come on stage each is handed a $5 bill. Select an amount randomly and ask for change. If they can't make simple change, give them the $5...but NO diploma....
One or two can do it. The rest will spend all night on stage.

I had a kid that was at a local college majoring in computer science that could not count change. We are doomed as a civilisation.

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My favorite teaching story is of my father in law. He took over the family business outside Detroit after college and serving in the Marines at the end of Korea. He was a History Major and really wanted to teach but family obligation brought him into the family business. When he retired in early 2000's and sold the business, he decided to teach. The fun part was he was a 6' 6" white dude of german decent teaching in inner city Detroit. First position available and he took it. Only white person in the entire school for the 3 years he ended up teaching there. Did I mention he is a Liberty minded conservative? He spoke the truth while there and for the most part, it was well received. Really no parental involvement as this was a school for at risk kids and dropouts. He had some fantastic stories of kids asking why they had never been taught these things before. He was occasionally challenged but always had facts on his side. He also learned some fancy handshakes which he was convinced could get him into some seedy neighborhoods or allow him to score some illegal substances if needed.
My wife taught at a Title 1 high school. Gangs were part of the student body. This is a school where if the teacher has a real problem with a student, one intercom call and the student is "extracted" from the classroom pending further action. School security looked like a SEAL team, all big dudes in BDUs and boots. She was very direct and to the point. She set expectations and guess what, they stepped up
They respected her, because she respected them. One day her Blackberry disappeared off of her desk. One student (a known gang member) come up and asked what was wrong. After she told him someone had stolen her phone off of her desk, he responded with, "Don't worry Mrs. L, we'll take care of it." At the end of the day, her phone magically reappeared on her desk.
 
We had to read and evaluate all of each other's papers. It was horrible. The majority of the papers I read were about what my 12 year old could write now. Terrible grammar, and incoherent thoughts. It was brutal.
Try reading job resumes.
 
Also, since Im ranting.

Got this kid at school, he's an 18 year old Freshman. Think about that a second.
Ive had him once before (going to/supposed to have him next semester), and he wasnt a 'bad' kid, but he didnt care and made a lot of bad decisions in life.
Home life sucks, and I feel for him for that, but if youre doing stupid stuff I have little sympathy... he made the news just over a year ago with two more students/former students for a 'Thomasville teens' snapchat drug deal gone wrong' in which he, and the other two, got pistol whipped and robbed by the drug dealer. Look it up. Anyway, I saw him Wednesday in the hall and he had his hood up, which goes against our schools rules. "Hey, _________, take your hood off bud"
He did...took four steps and put it back on.
So I wrote him up. That's just a jerk thing to do.
As Im writing him up he starts going on and on about how much I hate him and abused him and that I was the reason he dropped out last year. Yeah, it's my fault, not the other classes you failed etc. He went off about how I attacked him and always punished him and wrote him up etc...we looked it up, Wednesday was the first day I'd ever written him up.

Kids take no responsibility for their actions. They dont have to, their parents allow this nonsense.
Their parents make excuses for them (Ive mentioned it before, a parent tried to tell me their kid couldnt concentrate because they were breathing TOO WELL...too much oxygen to their brain...YEAH. That was the same kid that called me a C yoU Next Tuesday online)

I love this job, I really do.
Ive met some AMAZING kids, and, truly, the 'bad' ones are the minority - like 2 or 3% of the kids I have, not much at all.
But it's the bad ones that take all your energy and attention, sadly.
But those great ones...wow, I love em, they brighten your day and make you know youre doing right.

Heh!

You would love one of my older brothers. He told me a story about one of his troublemaker students and the phone conversation he had with the kid's parents.

MOM: I just don't understand why my little Johnny is doing so bad.

DOUG: What responsibilities does he have around the house?

MOM: What do you mean?

DOUG: Does he have any chores? Does he make his own bed? Clean his own room? Do his own laundry? Mow the lawn? What does he do?

MOM: We do all that stuff for him.

DOUG: Well, congratulations then! You got EXACTLY what you trained your child to be. Very few parents can say that.

Believe it or not, this was actually a productive discussion. By the end of the semester, that student had turned around quite a bit.
 
Try reading job resumes.
No kidding. I absolutely detest the notion of automated parsing of scanned resumes...but after reading a few out of a big stack, one begins to see the appeal...
 
Try reading job resumes.

No kidding. I absolutely detest the notion of automated parsing of scanned resumes...but after reading a few out of a big stack, one begins to see the appeal...

When I was attending TAP (Transition Assistance Program) prior to my retirement, they had quite a bit on resumes and had several people come speak to us on that (as well as many other things).

Some very important things I took away from one particular gentleman's visit was this:

Sorting through resumes is a time consuming project in his job when it comes to hiring. However, he has a way of rapidly thinning out the pile.

The first thing he looks for has NOTHING whatsoever to do with the actual content of the resume. It's all about format. If the person writing the resume cannot be bothered to write it in the format requested of them, it automatically gets thrown out. This person, of nothing else, the person has demonstrated an inability to follow basic instructions.

So...first lesson of resumes: Write it in the format asked for. If the requested format is "reverse chronological order", then WRITE THE RESUME IN REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. If the requested format is "two pages, double spaced", then WRITE THE RESUME IN TWO PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED.


The next thing he looks for is basic grammar/spelling. Like it or not, a person who cannot take the time to proof a document of 1 or 2 pages does NOT leave a good impression.


Next is content. Is the resume actually written FOR the job being applied for? If it's not, it goes to the bottom of the heap, of not the trash can.
 
vent on.
i have nothing to add.
i just enjoy reading this.
 
That sounds like an indictment on the op..

Sounded more to me like someone yanking a chain. I did not know HMP was a teacher. I do do empathize here. The level of historical ignorance in the USA is crazy. I never have been a able to understand that, either. History is LIFE!

When you begin to understand it is not dates and wars and dead politicos, but rather currents and trends of ideas which shape the way people live, it becomes a fascinating subject.

I guess I was motivated to post in here because I am re-reading Paul Johnson (one of my favorite historians) "A History of the American People." A good historian and writer will focus on the big currents, but weave small interesting tidbits about personality and tie together trends.

My favorite history prof was in grad school. I took a course on the history of the Great Awakening in America. Claire Davis (a man) taught. He would hit an element of the times, then go back and tie it in to a passage or passages in the old and new testaments, bring out some point in the antenicene fathers or medieval church, embellish the events in the USA history stuff, and often relate it to events today, sometimes with something that he as an elder in his church. This was CHURCH history, but all history is like that. It is the record of IDEAS and how they affect men and women, and cause tidal changes in the way people in general behave. Good history teachers are awesome.

I actually thought about doing lateral entry and going back to teach environmental sciences (undergrad degree was Chemistry), but scaling the bureaucracy just to get in was so tedious I just gave up.

Hats off to HMP for being in a tough and often thankless field.
 
An ignorant electorate is easily manipulated.

Duh


And I’ll throw this in for good measure.

Sitting in the waiting room at the Drs office.

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