Teacher Apologizes for recorded beating of student, well that was nice of her. Seriously. I am a licensed teacher. How to fix our broken educational system is a long and complicated discussion and even then it's based on all manner of values and preconceived notions. However if teachers could just not have sex with or physically attack students that would be a good frickin start. I don't think that is too much to ask. I get that teaching is a secure job with poor pay and thus attracts some mediocre and lowly motivated people but those two things seem solidly reasonable to me.
Interestingly enough I would give 13 year old boy (sorry ladies but when it comes to the physical capacity for combatives we are absolutely not created equal) a decent chance in the squared circle against an adult woman. Then again that boy would be greatly handicapped if his parents taught (rightly) not to fight with women.
Me thinks if some woman did this to our kid Wifey would beat her mercilessly. I mean like viral video ghetto using their hair to bounce their head off the floor style. Then I would bail her out and it wouldn't go to trial because in any given group of 12 adults you could find one who wouldn't convict somebody who beat up a person that attacked their kid. If some dude beat up my kid I would feed them their teeth. I mean like Fight Club Angel Face style. Yeah we are both people who have the capacity for violence and are know firsthand what it takes to win fights.
Not beating up or having sex with under aged kids isn't too much to ask.
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The book "Tools for Teaching" by Fred Jones. It helped me get a grip on classroom discipline when I tried substitute teaching about five years ago. It works. There are some ways to use proximity, classroom arrangement, and other simple tactics to get students focused and keeping them engaged. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, and I don't claim this book makes anything easy. But it does help a newbie, or someone trying, to manage with a happier experience for teacher and class.
It might seem unrelated, but Lyons on Horses, by John Lyons is a horse training book. Much of horse training is like dealing with teenagers, only with horses you see results in weeks instead of months and years. Besides, individuals vary. If an approach works with a horse, and you try it with a teen or other person under your authority and it works - just remember not to feed the trainee with less than four legs a carrot as a reward.
Seriously, I personally witnessed a high schooler that demonstrated how life-changing an encounter can be, even without body contact or expression of emotions. I doubt there were twenty words between us, in four days of one-hour classes. It was a humbling experience, that seemed to come out well for the student. I know I learned a lot from her, about myself.
I'd have to disagree that teaching offers poor pay. At least, it doesn't here in NY. The union here too is a juggernaut of greed and irresponsibility. Nothing angers me more than to hear teachers complain about how badly they are paid...and they make more then I do....a LOT more, and they only work 3/4 of the year too! Unbelievable. Not to mention, that all of us in the private sector have experienced major cuts in our pay over the last year and a half, while teachers have seen nothing but increases, and they are not willing to make ANY sacrifices. School districts and boards across the country are raising tax rates regardless. It's ridiculous.
The other side of the equation is just as ridiculous and frustrating. Student behavior is something we should be able to mold and control, not tolerate. Parental involvement is at an all time low, and no wonder with the intact families making up less than half the population. 47% of the population is on food stamps of some kind, and over 50% is on welfare of some kind. Hmmmmmmm, wonder if there's a correlation there?
Brad K, Interesting stuff.
Graeven, If teachers are paid too much or too little is a philosophical conversation. I can say empirically that it is towards the low end of starting salaries for college graduates. For the 47% on food stamps (think I heard that somewhere else at one point) and especially the 50% on welfare statistics I would be interested in seeing some sort of article. Not saying you didn't read/ hear what you are repeating, just curious how we are figuring out those numbers. In particular the 50% on welfare interests me.
theotherryan,
I meant to mention - much of Tools for Teaching works for parents, too. I see parents that have issues with imposing discipline (the will to complete a task) on their children, and confusing discipline with "disciplinary action" or punishment. They are often unrelated.
As I was subbing, I was also helping a neighbor. It was almost embarrassing how reading a section of the book made the next day work better, either in the classroom . . or working cows. It was a great help, and valuable to parents. You might check to see if your library has or can get a copy.
For anyone interested in substitute teaching, I found a DVD course at Utah State University.
Teachers get relatively low pay, but you have to remember that they only work 8-9 months out of the year. If you prorated their salary out for 12 months it would actually be quite comparable.
Of course, the best they can usually do in a summer job is odd jobs, teaching day camps, or retail, so that theoretical earnings is rarely met. But if you are the kind of person that appreciates having 3-4 months off it isn't a bad deal at all.
I always thought it would be cool (and a good idea) to create full time positions that pay better year round and employ the teachers doing admin, teaching summer school/summer camps, etc.
Sorry about that. I may have been wrong on my 50% stat - it may have been this:
http://www.cis.org/Camarota/Welfare-Use-by-Immigrants
I'll look some more.
As for the teaching salary discussion, it's not so much about the "level" they start at. It is about the guaranteed increases they get, without question, and without accountability. Not to mention the premier pension and health packages they get. It's obscene and needs to stop.
Nope. Here it is:
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/04/17/the-expanding-welfare-state/
And that does NOT include the 20 percent of Americans EMPLOYED by government!!!!
Unbe-freakin-lievable!
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