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Let's say that you work at a job, doing 40 hours per week at a salary of $50,000. The work you do from week to week is pretty much the same... you know what to expect and it becomes a pretty certain deal that you will make your salary for an amount of work already known and determined to be acceptable by you.
Now suppose your bosses started heaping more work onto you... or they started raising their expectations of you... without raising your salary. The expectations added onto you do not have a measurable effect on the outcome of your work... and if anything they have a DETRIMENTAL effect on the outcome of your work. Wouldn't you be irritated?
With respect, welcome to today's economy.
It would take me more than both hands and assorted other body parts to count off the number of people I know who've experienced the above. Many of them have taken a pay cut into the bargain. (That you haven't is a credit to your union. And I don't begrudge that, by the way-- but neither do I take those union benefits as a given.)
Again, my point is not that teachers don't have some legitimate gripes-- only that they are not special in having them, nor are the gripes themselves necessarily special to them. Everybody's job sucks in some way or another, and there is limited variety in the ways in which they do.
How do you know what I do? Why do you think I'm hostile? Because I won't agree with you that teaching is a job similar to...I don't know, running the fry machine? I never said that I think kids shouldn't think they are important and unique. EVERYONE is important and unique...but no one is more important or unique than ANYONE else. As far as me being a whiny brat, well, I disagree with you.
Thanks to Aconite who addressed your hostility so I don't have to...although you continue to demonstrate it.
Putting words in my mouth? Not very nice or professional, IMO.
As for kids, Yes, I tell my kids they are the most important and special and precious and unique kids not just in their school but on the planet. How odd that I would tell my kids....'you're just like anyone else'...now there's a loving and inspirational thought, maybe I'll add that in to our morning routine. Hand them a lunch sack, kiss them on the forehead and say "Remember honey, you're just like anyone else...make the most of it today!!" I think I'll greet my DH with that sentiment when he gets home from work today and see how it goes over as well. Hey, perhaps, if I do it just right I can end up with a perfectly mediocre and average family. WooHoo!!
Or, I could tell my DH that he is the most wonderful man on the planet. I could tell my kids that they are special and no one else is just like them, that they are the most important people. I think the kids who hear that they are special and unique and come to believe it will be encouraged to achieve to a higher level of their potential. Now, before you put words in my mouth, I didn't say they should be treated any differently, but I do want them to think differently. All kids should be treated like they are special, important and unique. Have you seen 'average' these days? Not all that impressive, I hope they aspire to much more and I'm sure they won't if I tell them they are just like anyone else.
As for kids, Yes, I tell my kids they are the most important and special and precious and unique kids not just in their school but on the planet. How odd that I would tell my kids....'you're just like anyone else'...now there's a loving and inspirational thought, maybe I'll add that in to our morning routine. Hand them a lunch sack, kiss them on the forehead and say "Remember honey, you're just like anyone else...make the most of it today!!" I think I'll greet my DH with that sentiment when he gets home from work today and see how it goes over as well. Hey, perhaps, if I do it just right I can end up with a perfectly mediocre and average family. WooHoo!!
Or, I could tell my DH that he is the most wonderful man on the planet. I could tell my kids that they are special and no one else is just like them, that they are the most important people. I think the kids who hear that they are special and unique and come to believe it will be encouraged to achieve to a higher level of their potential. Now, before you put words in my mouth, I didn't say they should be treated any differently, but I do want them to think differently. All kids should be treated like they are special, important and unique. Have you seen 'average' these days? Not all that impressive, I hope they aspire to much more and I'm sure they won't if I tell them they are just like anyone else.
Oh, I have no need to put words in your mouth. You said it much better than I could have.
Of course our families are the best and most special to us. I feel the same way.
We've taught our kids that when they step out of the house, they should expect to be treated like everyone else. I don't expect their teachers to spend the bulk of their day with my kids because *I* consider my kids to be the most special people in the world. I know my kids' teacher doesn't. She has a room of 18 special kids- all with talents and weaknesses, and her job is to teach the curriculum in a way that the kids will understand. Is this idea not the most obvious one in the world? I can tell you, if I'm speeding and I'm pulled over, the fact that my husband thinks that I'm the smartest, most beautiful woman in the world won't dissuade the officer from giving me a ticket. To expect it would be....bratty?
Last edited by mimimomx3; 03-03-2009 at 08:04 AM..
Reason: hit post too soon...
I think we all think our kids are special. But do we think they're more special than other people's kids? Obviously I love my children more than other people's children...but I think all children should be treated with respect and kindness.
A teacher definitely should see a child as an individual, but no one child should be any more special than any other.
Of course all children are egocentric. A teacher's- and parents'- job is to temper that. Sadly, as evidenced by the 'cheerleader mom phenomenon' not all parents do that. Texas News
Okay, look....the teacher must make a conscious decision to treat each child as equal. What I do not understand is what this has to do with the parents?? Of course parental involvement and parental support is extremely important however, it should not dictate how you run your classroom. Simply because a parent believes their child is better than all others does not mean that should or will be carried through to the classroom. Dealing with these parents can be quite simple if a professional yet, caring approach is taken.
On another note, I strongly believe that bias's and stereotypes have no place in a classroom. Be it by jealousy or personal preferences, your job as a teacher is, not only to teach, but to create a comfortable and trustworthy setting for your students. Your comment regarding the "cheerleader's mom" is exactly what is wrong with classrooms these days. My personal feelings on the subject are strong, I was a cheerleader throughout my four years of high school and my parents notoriously backed all of my teachers 100% when it came to situations where I "messed up". Is it in the best interest for students to see or even sense your personal biasness towards "whiney brats" as you like to call them? YOU are the teacher, not the student......if an ora’ of compassionate authority and maturity is truly felt by you, the teacher, it will not only have a positive impact on your classroom but it will reflect through to parents and automatically remove negative bias' from the classroom.
I think it's the name-calling. "Cheerleader mom", "thinks he's the center of the universe" and "bratling" don't usually evoke a vision of warm fuzzies. In fact-- and I may be totally off-base here, of course, but I'd categorize them as having a distinctly negative slant.
Oh, my. Do you post anywhere else on CD? I'm pretty tame by CD standards.
If you think my language (cheerleader mom? center of the universe? bratling?) is too strong, I apologize. How about "fanatically obsessed parental figure" or "inordinately self absorbed" or "rapscallion"?
Who said anything about poverty? (Hmm...bias? Or merely a poor attempt at straw man construction?)
What I said is less educated, and don't speak fluent English. If you can't speak the language the meetings are held in, if you haven't the education to know your rights (which the schools certainly will not tell you) or to understand the legalese they are couched in--.
Again, I apologize for my assumption. Where I live, people who don't speak English and are less educated tend to be poor.
Why is teaching always listed under professions like: doctors, police officers, firefighters...I realize those are people who help...so why is teaching considered "noble"? What is so "noble" about it?
We have some choices here 1) get back to the original post and drop the flame wars or 2) keep going and we can close this thread.
Be civil, no personal attacks, flaming, or insults. We may attack ideas (politely) but we do not attack the speaker of the idea. Be careful with your words, there is a point where being direct crosses a line into blunt, in-your-face hostility. Please, report bad posts instead of engaging in flame wars on the boards. Insulting another member or a moderator will not be tolerated anywhere on this website. This includes Direct Messages and Reputation Comments.
Again, I apologize for my assumption. Where I live, people who don't speak English and are less educated tend to be poor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mimimomx3
Again, I apologize for my assumption. Where I live, people who don't speak English and are less educated tend to be poor.
Where I live, people who don't speak adequate English for an educational conference may be anyone from a recent immigrant with dubious paperwork to an extremely wealthy individual who needn't make the effort. It tends to dissuade one from making broad basedassumptions.
As for the question of insufficient education-- one could have a post-doc in French literature and still not have the appropriate education to understand educational jargon. Or one could be the previously mentioned recent immigrant, or an adult with a learning disability of her own, or a NASCAR driver (or, Gods help us, a member of the Hogan family, a bunch certainly not known for intellectual endeavor). Again, a multitude of options.
But since we're being asked to come back to center, I have a question: how (without resorting to posting from Dictionary.com) are we all defining nobility, anyway?
Be civil, no personal attacks, flaming, or insults. We may attack ideas (politely) but we do not attack the speaker of the idea. Be careful with your words, there is a point where being direct crosses a line into blunt, in-your-face hostility. Please, report bad posts instead of engaging in flame wars on the boards. Insulting another member or a moderator will not be tolerated anywhere on this website. This includes Direct Messages and Reputation Comments.
I probably should not be writing this, but I think you're a great moderator. You let us speak our minds, but still keep things in control. This thread is way off topic and getting silly.
I probably should not be writing this, but I think you're a great moderator. You let us speak our minds, but still keep things in control. This thread is way off topic and getting silly.
I second, third and fourth that.
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I think I'll greet my DH with that sentiment when he gets home from work today and see how it goes over as well. Hey, perhaps, if I do it just right I can end up with a perfectly mediocre and average family. WooHoo!! 
How about "fanatically obsessed parental figure" or "inordinately self absorbed" or "rapscallion"?
