What do you think of a teacher calling students idiots? (salaries, history)
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Simple. Education is not optional. Playing sports IS optional. An unprofessional teacher can impact a child for life and most of the time the child has no choice but to stay in that class. If the child is on a sports team, he or she can quit the team, no big deal.
Simple. Education is not optional. Playing sports IS optional. An unprofessional teacher can impact a child for life and most of the time the child has no choice but to stay in that class. If the child is on a sports team, he or she can quit the team, no big deal.
I guess I'm being contrarian here. I'm not defending the teacher's actions (assuming that's what happened). A teacher should have more self-control and should exhibit command of the classroom. I don't really disagree there.
But honestly, I sometimes think that our society is raising a bunch of emotionally fragile children who can't handle criticism of any kind. We chastise and want to fire the instructor who occasionally lashes out a student, but the real world is full of little Napoleons who can make life hell for us as we get older. I've worked for bosses who've hurt my feelings and those of my coworkers. I had the 'choice' to quit, but that would have been a dumb choice.
I would not want to ever justify any teacher calling their students idiots - although I do know of many that use a mild form of unflattering sarcasm to prove a point now and again. I use it myself on occasion, but have warned the students at the term's beginning about my dry sense of humor. Most get it and actually find it amusing but they don't take it personally.
As for the prevous post, I agree that we are not preparing these students for the real world if we are constantly worrying about their self-esteem. Yes, we should be uplifting, but at the same time we show that negative behavior has consequences - sometimes which can be uncomfortable.
I have the following as a poster in my room. I had it blown up to poster-size and laminated. Other teachers have requested copies of it for their rooms as well.
Reality
Rule 1: Life is not fair; get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $50,000 right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with an exotic foreign sports-car until you’ve earned it.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for flipping burgers; they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If YOU screw up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how great you are. So, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in YOUR own room first.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the answer right. This, of course, doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: There is no such thing as extra credit in real life. Try asking a college professor for extra credit. Better yet, try asking your boss for extra credit when you fail to turn in a report or complete a task. Doctors can’t ask for extra credit when their incompetence kills a patient. Do not ask it from me.
Rule 10: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 11: Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. In real life, drama and conflict is not staged, encouraged and amplified for 60 minute segments. Nor is it entertainment for mature, well-adjusted people.
Rule 12: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one some day.
Rule 13: There are 7,000,000,000 people on this planet. About 50-100 of them know, love and care about you. This means that 99.99% of the rest of the world neither knows nor cares about your existence. Therefore, learn some humility and remember – the world does not revolve around you.
Some you may have seen before. Others are mine. Tell me what you think.
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There was one particular teacher in primary (elementary) school who did this. He was known for his temper and his loose tongue. Everyone copped it. He was the computing teacher. He called me a 'bloody idiot' because when he told me to turn on the computer I turned on the monitor (I was 8 with little exposure to computers). He even called my friend a ****** (he wasn't effeminate or anything it was just an insult).
I had another memorable high school history teacher who was similar. He'd call people names and the class derogatory things. Always dressed like a bus driver with socks up to his knees. He was a good teacher though.
I would not want to ever justify any teacher calling their students idiots - although I do know of many that use a mild form of unflattering sarcasm to prove a point now and again. I use it myself on occasion, but have warned the students at the term's beginning about my dry sense of humor. Most get it and actually find it amusing but they don't take it personally.
As for the prevous post, I agree that we are not preparing these students for the real world if we are constantly worrying about their self-esteem. Yes, we should be uplifting, but at the same time we show that negative behavior has consequences - sometimes which can be uncomfortable.
I have the following as a poster in my room. I had it blown up to poster-size and laminated. Other teachers have requested copies of it for their rooms as well.
Reality
Rule 1: Life is not fair; get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $50,000 right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with an exotic foreign sports-car until you’ve earned it.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for flipping burgers; they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If YOU screw up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how great you are. So, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in YOUR own room first.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the answer right. This, of course, doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: There is no such thing as extra credit in real life. Try asking a college professor for extra credit. Better yet, try asking your boss for extra credit when you fail to turn in a report or complete a task. Doctors can’t ask for extra credit when their incompetence kills a patient. Do not ask it from me.
Rule 10: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 11: Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. In real life, drama and conflict is not staged, encouraged and amplified for 60 minute segments. Nor is it entertainment for mature, well-adjusted people.
Rule 12: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one some day.
Rule 13: There are 7,000,000,000 people on this planet. About 50-100 of them know, love and care about you. This means that 99.99% of the rest of the world neither knows nor cares about your existence. Therefore, learn some humility and remember – the world does not revolve around you.
Some you may have seen before. Others are mine. Tell me what you think.
I think that some of these prima-donnas and their parents are sorely in need of a reality check. As an employer I used to get them right out of college. It came as a nasty shock, in their first evaluation, when most discovered that they were only average. That shock was compounded when they discovered that the smart kid who was putting in 10-12 hours a day and not whining about work-life balance got a better evaluation and a higher raise than they did.
Were they idiots? No. But years of massaging their self esteem did not do them any favors when they got into the world of work.
You all do remember we are talking about 12 year olds right? Sorry but I think teachers should model the behavior they expect from students. If my son was to call another child an idiot, he would be punished. Call me crazy but the adult world will be hard enough in a few years for my child, at 12 I would still like him to be a child.
Pretty common. You'd be surprised how bully teachers speak about students in lunchrooms.
I'd speak to the principal. If the superintendent does nothing, I'd take it to the next level- the school district, and if that doesn't work, consider having the teacher written about in the local newspaper.
Bully teachers need to be accountable, and most of all, fired from their positions.
2nd to family, teachers are figures that influence a child's perceptions of his/her own self-worth. Impressionable, kids look up to them for leadership, safety, and protection.
I would not want to ever justify any teacher calling their students idiots - although I do know of many that use a mild form of unflattering sarcasm to prove a point now and again. I use it myself on occasion, but have warned the students at the term's beginning about my dry sense of humor. Most get it and actually find it amusing but they don't take it personally.
As for the prevous post, I agree that we are not preparing these students for the real world if we are constantly worrying about their self-esteem. Yes, we should be uplifting, but at the same time we show that negative behavior has consequences - sometimes which can be uncomfortable.
I have the following as a poster in my room. I had it blown up to poster-size and laminated. Other teachers have requested copies of it for their rooms as well.
Reality
Rule 1: Life is not fair; get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $50,000 right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with an exotic foreign sports-car until you’ve earned it.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for flipping burgers; they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If YOU screw up, it’s not your parents’ fault, so don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how great you are. So, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in YOUR own room first.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the answer right. This, of course, doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: There is no such thing as extra credit in real life. Try asking a college professor for extra credit. Better yet, try asking your boss for extra credit when you fail to turn in a report or complete a task. Doctors can’t ask for extra credit when their incompetence kills a patient. Do not ask it from me.
Rule 10: Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 11: Television is NOT real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. In real life, drama and conflict is not staged, encouraged and amplified for 60 minute segments. Nor is it entertainment for mature, well-adjusted people.
Rule 12: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one some day.
Rule 13: There are 7,000,000,000 people on this planet. About 50-100 of them know, love and care about you. This means that 99.99% of the rest of the world neither knows nor cares about your existence. Therefore, learn some humility and remember – the world does not revolve around you.
Some you may have seen before. Others are mine. Tell me what you think.
I'm sending this to my son. He's a high school math teacher and coach. He's commented multiple times about many of these items you've listed. I'm guessing it will end up on a poster in his room.
There is absolutely no reason for that teacher to be calling you child an idiot, or any other child for that matter. If you are going to be working in a setting where you are dealing with kids then you should be able to control your mouth. I also think that if your child is diagnosed with ADHD then of course his attention span is going to be less than others so that should be taken into account when dealing with him.
So my 12 year old sixth grader comes home and tells me his techshop teacher routinely refers to some students as idiots. Needless to say I am livid, and want to speak to the principal. Am I overreacting? He also had another student monitor my son's attention level and point out when he was not paying attention. Is this a new teaching techique I am not privy to? My son is a good student ( currently a 94 average) who lives with ADHD, so I it is more than likely he may not have been paying full attention.
I agree it's not okay to call students idiots. I also agree, and this is a related issue, that coaches should not call their players any sort of names, especially colloquial expressions for part of the female anatomy. But somehow, the former issue is highly against the rules while the latter is tolerated.
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Sorry but I think teachers should model the behavior they expect from students. If my son was to call another child an idiot, he would be punished. Call me crazy but the adult world will be hard enough in a few years for my child, at 12 I would still like him to be a child.
