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

[Anonymous]

Honestly OP - stop enabling those kids. Don't give them items when they come unprepared, save documentation of their work to show parents who insist that they are not being "challenged enough" (in a tactful way, of course), and if a student thinks you are wrong sit back and let them try to explain themselves. Then, have a discussion about it. To kids that insist that they don't have to attend school because Einstein didn't - show them what happens to those without genius IQs and with self reliance/independence/determination.

I know sometimes students are difficult. I know sometimes parents are an absolute pain in the ass. But you're an adult and their teacher. You probably should act and think like one.

- another teacher

[Anonymous]

It's amazing that all these people are coming down so hard on a person with one of the toughest jobs in the world. Trying to impart information to 30 different people every hour of the day.

Everyone has aspects of their job that they might like to vent about. The OP picked here.

[Anonymous]

"It's amazing that all these people are coming down so hard on a person with one of the toughest jobs in the world. Trying to impart information to 30 different people every hour of the day. "

Teachers are among those who receive the lowest SAT scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"It's amazing that all these people are coming down so hard on a person with one of the toughest jobs in the world. Trying to impart information to 30 different people every hour of the day. "

Teachers are among those who receive the lowest SAT scores.

Teacher here. Please provide a link to the data you are referencing to above. I'd like to see that study or article.

FWIW, I got a 1550 on my SATs, attended Brown, have a degree in Biology, did a post-grad internship at NIH right out of college. I was not a "vapid" education major that attended keggers (although I did attend a few, despite studying hard at biological orgo chem). But thank you for proving that those who stereotype are actually the ones who have the issue.

OP-only one more week!

[Anonymous]

And is that their fault or ours for not valuing the teaching profession? The best teacher my DC had is a recent Yale graduate. I can't imagine the push-back he got from society at large for teaching rather than following the rest of the class (some 65% or so) to Wall Street.

[Anonymous]

Parents refuse to believe that their kids aren't 100% perfect in every way, so if there is some issue at school, it must be the teacher's fault. School administration can be crushing. The salaries are low. Really smart, motivated teachers either stick it out because they want to see their mission through, or they leave. So some teachers will

I would love to be a teacher and am considering a career change. I went to a top liberal arts college and a top ten law school. I wish I had skipped law school and went straight to teaching - but starting out at 40k/year and trying to pay off my law school loans seems really daunting. If there were more respect for teachers, there would be more money in the profession. If there were more respect and more money you'd have more people like me, who would really like to be teachers but can't really afford to, heading into the profession.

[Anonymous]

I would give the OP a break. I remember teaching college freshman courses. My colleagues and I had some very funny descriptions concerning how they behaved in class. Any group of people, teenagers, adults, or children will have their patterns that others may mock in good nature. Didn't you ever make fun of teachers while talking with your friends? Who hasn't been to a dinner party and heard some funny stories about crazy clients? HIPPA put a damper on patient stories but they still make there way around the lunch table at many medical practices.

At the same time, I do think that kids who are very science/math focused may have poorer relations with their teachers. My 1st grader very, very analytical, precise, and detail oriented. Her teacher is not very detailed oriented and often makes mistakes on the worksheets. This makes my DD incredibly upset. In her world, her teacher can never be wrong but she knows that the worksheet is wrong. Her particular teacher will do anything not to admit that she made a simple mistake. I have had to work with DD to understand that adults makes mistakes and it is OK. Her response once was "kids know that adults make mistakes but you can't tell them". A kid less obsessed with details may catch the mistake too but they will not care as much. They'll be able to move forward even if they know what the teacher is saying is off.

The other thing that may be going on is that science/math type kids tend to go deeper into subjects. The teacher may be perfectly accurate, using appropriate generalities, and it makes sense to everyone in the class except the science/math kid. This kid has thought of something that doesn't quite make sense. My 5 yr old was very frustrated when she learned to tell time. 'Her teacher only explained hours and half hours and showed them pictures of the clock. Her teacher told them that there are 60 minutes in an hour. Minutes are measurements just like inches on a ruler. 'Well, this is what stopped my 5 year old in her tracks. She came home upset. In her mind, this could not be because a ruler is long and flat and a clock is round. Rulers can have different amounts of inches but clocks always have 60. Why is it 60? The big hand is not always exactly on the 12 or the 30. How can it be 3 o' clock if the big hand is not exactly on the 12. I showed her how do to fractions and then time made perfect sense. She needs more detail to accept something.

[Anonymous]

"FWIW, I got a 1550 on my SATs, attended Brown, have a degree in Biology, did a post-grad internship at NIH right out of college. I was not a "vapid" education major that attended keggers (although I did attend a few, despite studying hard at biological orgo chem). But thank you for proving that those who stereotype are actually the ones who have the issue. ""

Did you take Stats 101?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Parents refuse to believe that their kids aren't 100% perfect in every way, so if there is some issue at school, it must be the teacher's fault. School administration can be crushing. The salaries are low. Really smart, motivated teachers either stick it out because they want to see their mission through, or they leave. So some teachers will

I would love to be a teacher and am considering a career change. I went to a top liberal arts college and a top ten law school. I wish I had skipped law school and went straight to teaching - but starting out at 40k/year and trying to pay off my law school loans seems really daunting. If there were more respect for teachers, there would be more money in the profession. If there were more respect and more money you'd have more people like me, who would really like to be teachers but can't really afford to, heading into the profession.

That's great and I have no doubts you'll make an excellent teacher. However, I do add one caveat. If you decide to become a teacher you should make it a 100% commitment which will include going to Ed. School, taking the Praxis Exam and becoming Licensed and Certified. You won't enjoy every course nor will you use every methodology you will be taught, but it will lay the foundations and skills you'll need to be a long-term effective and successful teacher. There must have been classes in law school in which you were not especially fond? It seems to me through the years I've heard some law school students complain about "Property".

My only point is that to be a qualified attorney regardless of an individual’s ultimate specialty, lawyers must have a broad understanding of their profession. The same is true of teaching.

I believe that true excellence in any field is achieved through training and experience. You're going to be great and you're going to love it.

Good luck!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Parents refuse to believe that their kids aren't 100% perfect in every way, so if there is some issue at school, it must be the teacher's fault. School administration can be crushing. The salaries are low. Really smart, motivated teachers either stick it out because they want to see their mission through, or they leave. So some teachers will

I would love to be a teacher and am considering a career change. I went to a top liberal arts college and a top ten law school. I wish I had skipped law school and went straight to teaching - but starting out at 40k/year and trying to pay off my law school loans seems really daunting. If there were more respect for teachers, there would be more money in the profession. If there were more respect and more money you'd have more people like me, who would really like to be teachers but can't really afford to, heading into the profession.

That's great and I have no doubts you'll make an excellent teacher. However, I do add one caveat. If you decide to become a teacher you should make it a 100% commitment which will include going to Ed. School, taking the Praxis Exam and becoming Licensed and Certified. You won't enjoy every course nor will you use every methodology you will be taught, but it will lay the foundations and skills you'll need to be a long-term effective and successful teacher. There must have been classes in law school in which you were not especially fond? It seems to me through the years I've heard some law school students complain about "Property".

My only point is that to be a qualified attorney regardless of an individual’s ultimate specialty, lawyers must have a broad understanding of their profession. The same is true of teaching.

I believe that true excellence in any field is achieved through training and experience. You're going to be great and you're going to love it.

Good luck!!!

Wow, thanks - I know that it is a full-on committment, and have looked into the grad programs and credentialing programs. I know that there are programs for people going into teaching as second profession, so you can take required coursework at night while working (even while teaching). My best friend from college works for LA Unified, and he works longer hours than I do - he's at work 6am to 6pm because he is seriously committed (inner city school and he cares a LOT). That's the kind of teacher I want to be, but I know that doing that, going to school and taking care of small children might be a challenge. So I'm going to hold off a few years so that I can hopefully approach it with the same energy my friend does. Thanks for the advice.

[Anonymous]

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 did flunk students, which landed me in the principal's office because my failure rate was too high. FWIW I taught art, and it was pretty hard to fail my class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coward.
Tell these students and families yourself.

Tell us your name and then you can call OP a coward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"It's amazing that all these people are coming down so hard on a person with one of the toughest jobs in the world. Trying to impart information to 30 different people every hour of the day. "

Teachers are among those who receive the lowest SAT scores.

I keep seeing someone (maybe it's just you and over and over) posting this, but I've never seen a source.

BTW - in order to become fully licensed in both my undergrad major and graduate major I had to take 7 (yes, SEVEN) tests. 5 to be licensed in elementary education, and 2 to be licensed in my graduate area of focus.