The fact that the kids will likely one day pay taxes that support is the furthest thing from my mind when I write my lessons. I don't know any teacher in my building who looks at education from a lens of, "how will this benefit me?" It's all about helping the kids. I really don't see how moving to another country would make me less invested in my daily classroom activities. Of course, half the time I don't say the pledge because I just really don't feel like it, and instead stand there quietly observing my students and trying to think of a compliment for each of them that I can say before the end of the period to empower them. Seems like a better use of my time, but maybe I'm actually bringing down our country from the inside by my lack of pledging. |
Revealing statement. You have missed an important teaching technique: Always set a good example. Or, "modeling". |
Oh FFS give it up already. You sound unhinged. |
Ahh...but I am modeling. I'm modeling how to be a polite, kind, respectful, and independent thinker. I teach 16 year olds. They need that far more than they need to see that their teacher can memorize. |
Nah, you are taking the opportunity to zone for a few moments. Totally understandable and not scorn worthy, but not praise worthy, either. |
This is absolutely bizarre. My son has had caregivers from Brazil and Nigeria, and they took amazing care of him. He has had a teacher from Israel, who was as excellent a teacher as any American I've known. FWIW, they don't say the pledge at his elementary school, nor do we in the school in which I teach. And we live in "flyover country." |
Students are not required to say it. |
I'm assuming that your son is fairly young if you are talking about his caregivers? Obviously, a baby/toddler/preschooler is going to require a lot of hands on care from his caregiver. That's more of a nanny than a teacher and we're not talking about nanny's. As far as his teacher from Israel goes, it is great that you were happy with her. You have no way of knowing if she was as great with her American students as she was with the kids in her own country. Will she likely ever see your son again? Will she likely ever see the kids in her hometown again? |
My son is in elementary school. I honestly don't care how his teachers/caregivers work with kids from their home countries; I care about how they educate my child and the children in our community. The teachers I've known from other countries have been excellent at educating our children, both academically and socially. And, yes, I'm friends with those former teachers and caregivers on Facebook, so we do "see" each other frequently. |
What grade is your son in? I know you said elementary school but there is a difference between early elementary and late elementary and where the focus is. |
| No one should be required to say it, not even students. |
| Yes, OP... email the teacher. Make sure you demand proof (audio or video recordings, natch) that he does this -- LOUDLY -- each day. |
No one is required to say it or to stand. |
I'd joke that you should call Fox News and Betsy DeVos about this commie-loving, America-hating, terrorist teacher, but I suspect that's what you really want to do anyway. |
I taught back in the day. Jehovah's Witnesses do not say the pledge. The kids were required to be respectful of the other kids during the pledge--or could wait in the hall. The sad part about this discussion is that people on here seem to think there is something wrong with saying it. |