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The learning as fun and games in the classroom wasn't thought up by educators. It was in response to unmotivated kids. You see, everyone blames the teacher if the student is unmotivated. Seems we can't win for losing here. Now WE'RE being blamed for the learning is fun movement. Nope. We're just trying to find ways to motivate the unmotivated. NCLB you know....
We don't see all parents in the same light. Parents, like students, tend to fit into nice little pouches though. We just don't know which one you are until we have to deal with you. We, do, however, assume the worst. It's better to assume the worst and be, pleasantly, surprised than to assume the best and be caught off guard when we're hit between the eyes.
I can tell you this, most of the time when I have a student who doesn't do his work, I have parents who either make excuses for their student or blame the teacher. Most of the time when I have students who don't pay attention in school or are behavior issues, I will be dealing with parents who don't care or are just too busy to be involved. I can also pretty much guess the education level of the parent looking at the student. You see acorns don't fall far from the tree.
When it comes to discipline issues, YOU, the parent, have way more power than we do so yes, we're going to blame you if you don't do something about YOUR child's behavior. Do you, seriously, think his behavior is my problem to deal with? Somewhere along the line YOUR child wasn't taught how to behave. Do you really think that's MY fault? I didn't learn how to behave in school from my teachers. I learned from my parents. I knew what was waiting for me at home if a teacher ever called home and it would not be pretty. My parents taught me that learning was my job. That it was my responsibility to figure out how to learn the material. Today, parents blame the teacher.
This post just reeks with bad teacher attitude. I don't hardly know where to start if I were to try to address it. It bothers me that you are a teacher. The sentences I put in bold are horrible. If you are looking at your students and judging them this way I don't think you are doing the best for them.
Teachers fit into nice little pouches too, some need bigger pouches depending.
I guess I am finding it hard to believe that things have really changed that much since I was in school. I remember having to pay attention in classes that weren't fun and doing it. Those were the better teachers. I also remember going to school with kids that didn't pay attention. Haven't there been kids like this as long as there have been schools?
I guess I am finding it hard to believe that things have really changed that much since I was in school. I remember having to pay attention in classes that weren't fun and doing it. Those were the better teachers. I also remember going to school with kids that didn't pay attention. Haven't there been kids like this as long as there have been schools?
LOL, I had to laugh when I read this, you sound just like my parents. They envision the world as it was when they were in school. I started working as a substitute 4 years ago, a little over a decade from when I graduated and I was shocked by the changes in kids. Furthermore, when I was in school there were no electronic devices except for those big old calculators. No cell phones, ipods, ds, nothing for kids to distract themselves. Teachers were not expected to entertain us, they were expected to teach us. And if we didn't learn, or didn't do our homework it was our fault, not the teachers.
My mother decided she wanted the easy life of a teacher so she got her TA certificate and signed up to sub. She took time off of work and subbed for exactly 3 days before she said thanks but no thanks and went back to her old job. She also walked away saying we need parents to go back to beating their kids (her words, not mine, and she meant spanking).
Yes things have changed that much. While there have always been kids who didn't want to pay attention, they were the exception, not the norm. As a sub I learned to dread and avoid any and all interactions with parents. When I got my job at a private school parent communication was the part I was most worried about. However, I have found the parents here to be a whole different type of parents. When I call home about a behavior problem, 9 times out of 10 that problem is fixed the very next day. I have one parent who is not supportive, and not surprisingly that child is the biggest behavior problem out of two whole grades. Communication with that parent is futile as the parent has taken the stance that what happens at school is the school's problem. The nice thing about the private school is that they are considering asking the parent to move their child to the public school next year. While I feel bad that this child will most likely get lost in the shuffle of public school, I am glad that my entire class will no longer be hijacked by one student's repeated (multiple times a day) behavioral outbursts.
02-23-2012, 12:45 PM
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It's not just the parents who don't care that cause grief for teachers. It's also the parents who think Jonny deserves an A even though he didn't try. Both are damaging their children, but the latter will give the teacher a lot of grief when they come to complain about their kid receiving the grade they deserved. And if they encounter a teacher they can't bully into giving their kid an undeserved grade, they'll go higher and higher up until they find someone who will.
It's even infecting universities now. Kids have been brought up to expect an A without putting in the effort. They're used to their parents whining on their behalf to get them grades they don't deserve. Those kids get to college, fail, and what do they do? They cry to mommy and daddy, who call up the professor or go straight to the department chair. It's ridiculous.
Personal responsibility and putting forth effort have been replaced with slacking off and whining, which is actively encouraged by many "parents." Somehow this is the teacher's fault.
This post just reeks with bad teacher attitude. I don't hardly know where to start if I were to try to address it. It bothers me that you are a teacher. The sentences I put in bold are horrible. If you are looking at your students and judging them this way I don't think you are doing the best for them.
Teachers fit into nice little pouches too, some need bigger pouches depending.
I guess I am finding it hard to believe that things have really changed that much since I was in school. I remember having to pay attention in classes that weren't fun and doing it. Those were the better teachers. I also remember going to school with kids that didn't pay attention. Haven't there been kids like this as long as there have been schools?
Seriously??? You find it hard to believe things have changed? The kids I teach have grown up on self esteem building exercises so they suffer from special snowflake syndrome. I will have kids come to my door when I'm in the middle of a lecture and ask "Are you busy?"...Um, yeah, I'm teaching 24 other kids . They think nothing of taking class time to deal with their absences. Often, when I give a test, a student will announce, "I wasn't here for that" as if that excuses them from the material.
They have grown up being patted on the back just for existing, getting trophies just for showing up, if they fail, it's the teacher's fault, they have never been held accountable. They have grown up plugged in to x boxes and ipods. While I'm teaching, they're texting and twittering away...
Seriously, you think things haven't changed? Back when I was a kid, if I failed, I got my butt blistered. Now if a child fails, the parent and my administrators want to know what I did wrong.
And, do you really think acorns don't fall far from the tree? More often than not, when I have a problem with the student, I'll have a problem with the parent. The student, after all, learned it somewhere. Most of the time when I call home, I'm thinking, "Well, that explains a lot" when I hang up.
It's not just the parents who don't care that cause grief for teachers. It's also the parents who think Jonny deserves an A even though he didn't try. Both are damaging their children, but the latter will give the teacher a lot of grief when they come to complain about their kid receiving the grade they deserved. And if they encounter a teacher they can't bully into giving their kid an undeserved grade, they'll go higher and higher up until they find someone who will.
It's even infecting universities now. Kids have been brought up to expect an A without putting in the effort. They're used to their parents whining on their behalf to get them grades they don't deserve. Those kids get to college, fail, and what do they do? They cry to mommy and daddy, who call up the professor or go straight to the department chair. It's ridiculous.
Personal responsibility and putting forth effort have been replaced with slacking off and whining, which is actively encouraged by many "parents." Somehow this is the teacher's fault.
And the ones who blame the teacher when Johnny fails when Johnny didn't turn in anything.
ITA with the bolded statement. The kids I teach have been handed everything and expect to be handed everything. It seems every parent thinks their child is a genius (I read recently that 90% of mothers of 4 year olds think their child is gifted). It must be my teaching methods if Johnny doesn't get it. It can't POSSIBLY be that Johnny doesn't pay attention and doesn't do his homework. I feel like more of a baby sitter than a teacher some days.
LOL, I had to laugh when I read this, you sound just like my parents. They envision the world as it was when they were in school. I started working as a substitute 4 years ago, a little over a decade from when I graduated and I was shocked by the changes in kids. Furthermore, when I was in school there were no electronic devices except for those big old calculators. No cell phones, ipods, ds, nothing for kids to distract themselves. Teachers were not expected to entertain us, they were expected to teach us. And if we didn't learn, or didn't do our homework it was our fault, not the teachers.
My mother decided she wanted the easy life of a teacher so she got her TA certificate and signed up to sub. She took time off of work and subbed for exactly 3 days before she said thanks but no thanks and went back to her old job. She also walked away saying we need parents to go back to beating their kids (her words, not mine, and she meant spanking).
Yes things have changed that much. While there have always been kids who didn't want to pay attention, they were the exception, not the norm. As a sub I learned to dread and avoid any and all interactions with parents. When I got my job at a private school parent communication was the part I was most worried about. However, I have found the parents here to be a whole different type of parents. When I call home about a behavior problem, 9 times out of 10 that problem is fixed the very next day. I have one parent who is not supportive, and not surprisingly that child is the biggest behavior problem out of two whole grades. Communication with that parent is futile as the parent has taken the stance that what happens at school is the school's problem. The nice thing about the private school is that they are considering asking the parent to move their child to the public school next year. While I feel bad that this child will most likely get lost in the shuffle of public school, I am glad that my entire class will no longer be hijacked by one student's repeated (multiple times a day) behavioral outbursts.
I agree with your mother. If I'd spent any time in the classroom before I was ready to student teach, I wouldn't have made this job change. She's right. We need to go back to beating our kids. When I was a kid, I knew my job was to learn at school and I knew I wouldn't sit down for a month if I failed to do my job. My parents believed my teachers. My student's parents beleive them. I have one student who has been telling his mother all year that he turns in all his work and I lost it. She's demanding my head because I'm incompetent because I keep losing her son's work. Do parents, really think a teacher loses only one student's work?
See that's where I am fortunate, my parents know that all kids lie some of the time. As a parent of a very nice, well behaved 9 year old child I understand how hard it is to believe that my little darling can lie. I had to learn the hard way by catching my child in a lie when she was younger. Sometimes they don't know they lie, for instance my daughter didn't think she was being chatty in class last week. But she was, we talked about, and the problem was fixed.
We don't need to go back to "beating" children, but they do need discipline. They are not little people, they are children. We need to teach them that negative decisions have negative consequences. My kids (for the most part) have learned that continual behavior problems result in loss of xbox privileges. I am blessed, I have parents that request to be informed of any and all behavior issues, academic issues, and basically all aspects of their child's lives in my classroom. They share my parenting philosophy, even when my daughter is in YOUR classroom, she is still MY daughter. I want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly.
At our house electronic devices and games were not turned on during a conversation about school and my son never had texting on his phone at all. His phone was never confiscated at school because out rule was it was turned off during school hours. I never mentioned electronics in my post. I don't think I am the parent you should be addressing with this problem.
Did I check his phone records? Absolutely. The time a friend borrowed it and downloaded a bunch of expensive aps he was responsible for repaying us for them.
Sorry -- I'm speaking in generalities, in response to your comment:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nocontengencies
If you can't hold their attention the problem may be you.
I maintain that the majority of students are plugged in during the school day, aided and abetted by their parents. If your son was not, then I thank you and can only wish that other parents treated this issue with the same seriousness as you.
To all your responses, I would agree that this latest generation of young people are the "everyone wins" generation and while you do have a point there, in no way is this issue all on the students and their parents.
The example of the teacher trying to get out of a traffic ticket is the way many teachers see themselves. It's obvious from conversations Iv' had with teachers that often enough this is the case. Well sorry, being a teacher is not enough to deserve the praise teachers always get, you have to be a really good one and those are few and far between.
Growing up my mom was a very involved parent in the school I attended. PTA, worked as a teachers aid, and what ever else. The teachers then bitched and complained, in conversations bad mouthed students by name and their parents. Same stuff you are all doing here.
Another thread in this very forum says that teachers can't sent children to the principals office because it makes them look bad as teachers. Explain this. Isn't it part of your job to do this if they are causing a disruption? Who would you look bad to? It wouldn't to me as a parent.
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Now WE'RE being blamed for the learning is fun movement. Nope. We're just trying to find ways to motivate the unmotivated. NCLB you know....
And the ones who blame the teacher when Johnny fails when Johnny didn't turn in anything. 
