[linicx]

It is the same problem everywhere. Teachers are not paid what they are worth. Then you get the government insisting on trying to teach kids new math and new English and they wind up getting a worse education than I did 50 years ago. I know 30-year old kids in my town that can't pass GED because they cannot read, cannot read a ruler, or do simple math. These kids, most of them are smart as a whip, are destined to work at $8 jobs, with no health insurance, and no real chance to contribute to retirement savings, for the rest of their lives. Even a high school education is not enough without a skilled trade.

It isn't just my town or Oklahoma. It systemic in all forty-eight. There is something wrong with an education school system that cannot teach a smart kid to add and subtract by 5th grade. A kid that cannot add and subtract will not be able to lean Algebra or Geometry to get a GED certificate. .

[Jammie]

I've never understood the concept that paying a teacher a higher wage will suddenly give children a better education. I've read that a lot, but could someone please explain it to me?

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by Jammie

I've never understood the concept that paying a teacher a higher wage will suddenly give children a better education. I've read that a lot, but could someone please explain it to me?

I don't have an answer, but I think the general consensus here in OK, is that we lose a lot of our potential teachers to TX because the pay is higher down there.

And I have to respectfully disagree that a bright kid cannot be taught to add/subtract etc for whatever reason. If a kid cannot add or subtract, they must have a learning disability.

And I have taken the GED test, it's not brain surgery.

We have a lady we know who went to OKC to teach middle school, and she has been around the block a few times, if you know what I mean. And she said, the kids were horrible, very disrespectful etc, so she said she wasn't going to take it.

It takes a special person to work in tough schools. My hats of to them.

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

I don't have an answer, but I think the general consensus here in OK, is that we lose a lot of our potential teachers to TX because the pay is higher down there.

And I have to respectfully disagree that a bright kid cannot be taught to add/subtract etc for whatever reason. If a kid cannot add or subtract, they must have a learning disability.

And I have taken the GED test, it's not brain surgery.

We have a lady we know who went to OKC to teach middle school, and she has been around the block a few times, if you know what I mean. And she said, the kids were horrible, very disrespectful etc, so she said she wasn't going to take it.

It takes a special person to work in tough schools. My hats of to them.

I agree. ANY child of normal intelligence can learn to read and write, add and subtract, and much more. Children with learning disabilities just have to have the information presented to them in a different way. As the parent of two children with learning differences, I kept a motto posted on my refrigerator for years: "If I can't learn the way you teach, can you teach me the way I learn?"

I have a geat admiration for most teachers. Teachers are not paid what they're worth, even taking into consideration their benefits and time off. Teaching is a stressful, difficult, time consuming vocation. Add to that problems with administrators, parents, standards that change all the time, and test scores that must be high enough to please the school board. Then put into the classroom 25 kids from different backgrounds, lifestyles and learning abilities and it's not a career that's for everyone.

Yet the teachers I met this past week were all enthused about learning something new to present to their students.

[Goodpasture]

One of the reasons we have great teachers is the teachers themselves. My ex is a teacher and she said once that the real reason she taught was that when the "light came on" in a students eyes, it was the greatest high she ever experienced. the good ones are "that light" junkies, and no amount of money can compete.........

[colleeng47]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

One of the reasons we have great teachers is the teachers themselves. My ex is a teacher and she said once that the real reason she taught was that when the "light came on" in a students eyes, it was the greatest high she ever experienced. the good ones are "that light" junkies, and no amount of money can compete.........

Oh so true. I was substitute teaching in a first grade class last year. I taught a new math concept and about half of the class "got it." I moved them to the back of the class to do some practice work and went over the concept with the others in the front. At one point a little boy jumped up and yelled "I GOT IT!" He then proudly took his paper to the back of the room with the other "got it" kids. I am not exaggerating when I say it brought tears to my eyes. Yes, that sort of thing is addictive.

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by colleeng47

Oh so true. I was substitute teaching in a first grade class last year. I taught a new math concept and about half of the class "got it." I moved them to the back of the class to do some practice work and went over the concept with the others in the front. At one point a little boy jumped up and yelled "I GOT IT!" He then proudly took his paper to the back of the room with the other "got it" kids. I am not exaggerating when I say it brought tears to my eyes. Yes, that sort of thing is addictive.

Post o' the day award goes to colleeng.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by _redbird_

Post o' the day award goes to colleeng.

Amen. Good Teachers... God Bless 'em... They are worth their weight in gold.

Mine certainly were.

[Oildog]

In my short time there I met a number of people that were educators. Most said OK doesnt pay well for teachers and they would be moving out of state if the right opportunity presented itself. Most were headed to DFW area.

[lasomeday]

I met a couple this weekend that teach in Dallas and live in Blanchard. They have an RV that they live in during the week, and they come home on the weekends. It works for them.