What I'd REALLY like to say to some of my students...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:16:27, those very same teachers you are "so gateful for as fellow humans interested in helping our kids through early adolescence" all have a bad day here and there where they vent and complain about their job. The notion that teachers should not be allowed to complain about their work is just silly...who doesn't have a crappy day at the office now and then? Who doesn't want to tell a client to shove it? Who hasn't dreamed about telling their co-workers what they really think of them?

She is not complaining about her work - she is complaining about her students. They are not co-workers. They are children.

My DH teaches fifth grade and he has never vented about his children like this to me. Never.

Then he is either on drugs or

has
a
VERY
flat
personality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am such a misanthrope. I wanted to side with you because there are just so many little sh*t in the area that buy into the crap their parents feed them about being so smart. But I also disliked education majors in college. They were all vapid girls who went to keggers and blew frat guys, while I was studying for organic chem and other engineering classes with real work. Good luck, OP.

Trust me when I say that with YOUR attitude you'd suck at teaching. So you're in the right profession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to flame. When I was in school it was my responsibility to have pencil, pen, paper, etc., and my responsibility to do my homework, behave in class (if I didn't, my parents had consequences). I wouldn't give them supplies. If they can't even do this then why waste school space for them. Let them quit and flip burgers. Of course, I wasn't at a public school so I knew that I had better behave. I, for one, think public education is getting worse because teachers no longer run the classroom, students and parents appear to be in charge.

Dear teacher, I'm with you and I wish someone in public education would grow some balls and either flunk students who don't try, disrupt classes, and tell parents to shove it when they constantly interfere with teachers and school curiculum.

I'm surprised that you still want to teach.

I agree with this, and I give you a ton of credit OP for teaching.

40 years ago?

[Anonymous]

I think a post like the OP is one reason why so many prefer private school education. At least in the privates the class sizes are smaller, that does make a difference. The teacher suffers from burn out. Sooner or later that is going to rub off on the children.
I am jealous now. The privates have more resources, less red tape, teachers with a nicer attitude, and they are able to create a learning environment that is encouraging. My kid is lazy and not doing well at a public. Not the fault of the teachers. But dc would do better in a private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a post like the OP is one reason why so many prefer private school education. At least in the privates the class sizes are smaller, that does make a difference. The teacher suffers from burn out. Sooner or later that is going to rub off on the children.
I am jealous now. The privates have more resources, less red tape, teachers with a nicer attitude, and they are able to create a learning environment that is encouraging. My kid is lazy and not doing well at a public. Not the fault of the teachers. But dc would do better in a private

How old is your child?

Is s/he involved in extracurricular activities? Our "laziest" students miraculously transform into productive ones once they excel in an activity.

Is s/he being challenged? If on level courses aren't pushing him/her, look into honors. I'm not saying all honors courses are challenging - but MOST are, and oftentimes there is a spirit of competition among students in honors courses that you don't have in on level.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm sorry everyone is attacking you for simply "venting", you'd think you named the kids, the school you teach at, and posted the kid's yearbook photos. True story: my two best friends are a lawyer and a doctor, they and their colleagues "vent" about their clients the same way OP vented about her students.

We all vent. I guarantee every person posting in this forum has vented about a lazy spouse, insane toddler, mouthy four year old, crazy mil, boss, co worker, client.... It's amusing how quickly everyone judges op's ethics as a teacher for simply venting on an anonymous message board. Good grief, you are all just mean, and extremely judgmental.

You could not pay me to spend a day with a bunch of high school students. They are like overgrown preschoolers with a wider vocabulary and more confidence in their talk back.

OP, enjoy your summer, hope you have some super star students next year.

Signed,
Mom to a 16 year old boy, 14 year old boy, 4 year old boy, 2 year old boy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family immigrated here from Western Europe when I was in 9th grade. One of my most vivid memories of those early days in an American high school was of how shockingly rude and impertinent some of the kids were with the teachers.
That kind of behavior woud not have been tolerated in a million years where I came from, regardless of anyone's theories about "narcissistic stage" or any other psychological mumbo-jumbo used to rationalize it. And I'm not aware of European adults suffering from stunted emotional development for not being allowed to diss their teachers during their teenage years.

That goes for just about every country in the world, but in the good old USA who are complacently churning out entitled brats and calling it "normal". Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I was smarter than most of my high school teachers. I went to a lame private school.

I got sent to the principle's office for arguing about momentum with the teacher. He kept saying that it was a constant speed and got angry when I said a falling object increases in speed. That teacher is now the principle of the aforementioned lame school. I guess I should just be happy he's not teaching anymore.

My textbooks were filled with grammatical errors, but had lots to say about Jesus.

[Anonymous]

PP, in that context, it is spelled principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, in that context, it is spelled principal.

LOL! Throwing stones from glass houses is too funny!!

I suppose the poster was not winning any writing contests for sure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, in that context, it is spelled principal.

Fair point. In my defense, I've been up since 2am with serious pain. I'm not at my best and would miserably fail even a driving test in this state.

[Anonymous]

I think the best teachers are willing to listen to a student's contention that they're wrong on the facts, and then have the student do the research to back up his/her stand. Teachers have to be willing to admit that they are wrong sometimes, and they have to be able to do it graciously. However, parents should teach their children to question authority in a respectful manner. I've often said to students (even middle schoolers) that "I'm a person too, with feelings, just like you. It makes me feel bad when you are mean to me or are disrespectful." It's very difficult to deal with some children who have never been taught how to interact with respect, manners, or compassion. We teachers try to teach them those socialization lessons, but manners and morality are best learned at home. If all children came to school well-behaved and ready to learn, and if our schools recognized that kids need to move around and learn cooperatively and interactively, then we'd not have problems with our education system that we are seeing across the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around this time of year, I start fantasizing about what I would say to some of my more insufferable students if I could. I teach AAP kids in one of the middle schools in FCPS that sends quite a few kids to TJ. Here is just a sampling:

To the students who say that it doesn't matter if they do their homework/do poorly on tests because Einstein didn't do great in school either-you are not Einstein. You are lazy, entitled, and have no work ethic, and should never have been placed in the AAP program.

To the students who think they're smarter than me and would like to tell me that some indisputable facts that I am teaching are wrong-you are not smarter than me. I realize that in your infinite wisdom as a 13 year old smart ass, you think you are, but trust me, I went to one of the top 10 universities in the country, and I am currently enrolled in doctoral program to get my Ph.D. in science curriculum and instruction. You do not know more than I do, especially about the subject that I am teaching. So sthu.

To the student who constantly comes to class unprepared and expects me/their fellow classmates to bail them out time and again, with a smirk on their face-wtf is so hard about keeping track of a pen/pencil/notebook (I am not talking about any students who are challenged in this area, BTW). Are you not in the AAP program? Can you not figure out how to carry basic supplies from one classroom to another?

To the student who tells his parents that the reason he does poorly in my class is because I am not challenging him enough-really? Is that why, when I have you come in for extra help after school and during lunch, you cannot manage simple math? Is that also why 99.9% of my students excel-because I don't challenge them?

But of course, I never say these things-I smile, hand an extra pencil or pen, thank them politely for their viewpoint, and happily assign more challenging work. I love teaching...but boy, am I glad summer is coming

Flame away!

That totally cracked me up. You honestly feel the need to argue that you're smarter than a 13 year old by pointing out your "credentials?" That's hilarious!

That was exactly what I thought. OP needs a new profession.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around this time of year, I start fantasizing about what I would say to some of my more insufferable students if I could. I teach AAP kids in one of the middle schools in FCPS that sends quite a few kids to TJ. Here is just a sampling:

To the students who say that it doesn't matter if they do their homework/do poorly on tests because Einstein didn't do great in school either-you are not Einstein. You are lazy, entitled, and have no work ethic, and should never have been placed in the AAP program.

To the students who think they're smarter than me and would like to tell me that some indisputable facts that I am teaching are wrong-you are not smarter than me. I realize that in your infinite wisdom as a 13 year old smart ass, you think you are, but trust me, I went to one of the top 10 universities in the country, and I am currently enrolled in doctoral program to get my Ph.D. in science curriculum and instruction. You do not know more than I do, especially about the subject that I am teaching. So sthu.

To the student who constantly comes to class unprepared and expects me/their fellow classmates to bail them out time and again, with a smirk on their face-wtf is so hard about keeping track of a pen/pencil/notebook (I am not talking about any students who are challenged in this area, BTW). Are you not in the AAP program? Can you not figure out how to carry basic supplies from one classroom to another?

To the student who tells his parents that the reason he does poorly in my class is because I am not challenging him enough-really? Is that why, when I have you come in for extra help after school and during lunch, you cannot manage simple math? Is that also why 99.9% of my students excel-because I don't challenge them?

But of course, I never say these things-I smile, hand an extra pencil or pen, thank them politely for their viewpoint, and happily assign more challenging work. I love teaching...but boy, am I glad summer is coming

Flame away!

That totally cracked me up. You honestly feel the need to argue that you're smarter than a 13 year old by pointing out your "credentials?" That's hilarious!

actually, when said 13 yo is attempting to look down on you because "you're just a teacher" and implies daily that HE will be doing something more worthwhile with his life, and attempts to contradict me when i am teaching because he thinks he knows the content better than me-yes. sometimes it is the only way to get these kids to understand that teachers are actually smart and do this because it is a calling (ok, not all, but the good ones), not because they couldn't do anything else and this was a consolation prize.

to the pps who told me to tell the parents-well, i certainly have, in a much more respectful way, of course. and i get mixed results. some don't want to hear it, and some do. same with the kids. this post was more a way for me to vent in language that i would never use with students or their parents...but would like to

This is from the OP? From a teacher? Complaining about lazy kids? And you can't be bothered to capitalize correctly? Seriously?

[Anonymous]

If all children came to school well-behaved and ready to learn, they'd be, um, robots. Children aren't always well-behaved, nor are adults. They are human beings, after all, and have a separate life outside the classroom. The school serves them, they don't serve the school.

If a student corrects a teacher, it's a learning opportunity. The child may or may not be correct -- ask him about his reasoning. Treat children with respect and they are likely to respect you.

If a child interrupts, suggest that you talk about it later. That's easier than handling the same sort of behavior from an adult in other workplaces, and it does happen, believe me.