What's it really like at the Big 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said there are unqualified teacher coaches in the classroom?!

Quit slamming STA.

As another STA parent wrote, teachers are teachers first there. Some double up as coaches, and are very good (ie lacrosse, baseball, among others). Not all teachers coach, not all coaches teach. Some do both and I have yet to find an unqualified teacher at the school. There are some my son did not like, but not because they were unqualified!

Off the top of my head, it's laughable that the baseball coach is a Form C teacher.

Not a slam, it's the truth that STA has some coaches teaching who are unqualified. I suppose they go to admin and ask to teach.

I beg to differ. My son had the very "coach" you slam and loved him. He was a fantastic teacher -- and only took over the 4th grade class after proving himself able as a sub. We went to Parent's Back to School Night and were initially skeptical but it was a fantastic year. He is a good teacher and has terrific rapport with the boys. My son learned math, engligh, geography (he can name every single country in the world thabks to this teacher by the way).

What makes you think it is laughable he is teaching? Because he did not go to an Ivy league college? Because he is a product of DCPS actually? Shame on you. Whatever reason you might have is dead wrong. We actually had him as a teacher. Have you?

There are so many pretentious parents blabbering away on these boards and there are some similar creatures at all schools.

Yes, pretentious parents, teachers or administrators with nothing better to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup, these posts just confirm how different the quote-unquote Big 3 are from each other. The StA debate that's raging here is totally alien to me as a GDS parent. (As I'm sure our internal controversies would seem equally foreign to many StA parents.)

I do not think this is an "internal" debate among STA parents. Someone who is not a STA parent is trying to stir the pot by maligning a STA teacher-coach in this forum, and others (perhaps STA parents?) are defending the teacher-coach in this forum. As a STA parent, I have not heard discussion on this topic at STA.

I've heard it from both upper school parents and frustrated teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup, these posts just confirm how different the quote-unquote Big 3 are from each other. The StA debate that's raging here is totally alien to me as a GDS parent. (As I'm sure our internal controversies would seem equally foreign to many StA parents.)

I do not think this is an "internal" debate among STA parents. Someone who is not a STA parent is trying to stir the pot by maligning a STA teacher-coach in this forum, and others (perhaps STA parents?) are defending the teacher-coach in this forum. As a STA parent, I have not heard discussion on this topic at STA.

How can you tell the PP is not a real STA parent? Did s/he misspell "anonymous"?

[Anonymous]

I wasn't referring just to the "Form C teacher: competent or not?" issue, but to how many AA teachers there are, is this alumn being shunned, teacher-coaches vs. coach-teachers, etc.

And, yes, you never can tell who is posting, but from the total outside, it looks like the person being labelled the outsider has inside knowledge and that if s/he were an insider, I can see (judging from the reactions) why s/he might choose to voice this opinion anonymously rather than face-to-face on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup, these posts just confirm how different the quote-unquote Big 3 are from each other. The StA debate that's raging here is totally alien to me as a GDS parent. (As I'm sure our internal controversies would seem equally foreign to many StA parents.)

I do not think this is an "internal" debate among STA parents. Someone who is not a STA parent is trying to stir the pot by maligning a STA teacher-coach in this forum, and others (perhaps STA parents?) are defending the teacher-coach in this forum. As a STA parent, I have not heard discussion on this topic at STA.

I've heard it from both upper school parents and frustrated teachers.

Heard what? I've been at STA for two years, in the Lower School, and I have not heard anything negative about this teacher-coach. This thread is the first I've heard of this issue and, because posts are anonymous, I cannot assume or credit that the person maligning this STA teacher has a reasonable basis for doing so, especially as she/he has presented no bases for her/his conclusions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wasn't referring just to the "Form C teacher: competent or not?" issue, but to how many AA teachers there are, is this alumn being shunned, teacher-coaches vs. coach-teachers, etc.

And, yes, you never can tell who is posting, but from the total outside, it looks like the person being labelled the outsider has inside knowledge and that if s/he were an insider, I can see (judging from the reactions) why s/he might choose to voice this opinion anonymously rather than face-to-face on campus.

PP, I'm actually a STA parent with a son who has been there for more than a few years. Not some outsider making anything up, just voicing my opinion here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wasn't referring just to the "Form C teacher: competent or not?" issue, but to how many AA teachers there are, is this alumn being shunned, teacher-coaches vs. coach-teachers, etc.

And, yes, you never can tell who is posting, but from the total outside, it looks like the person being labelled the outsider has inside knowledge and that if s/he were an insider, I can see (judging from the reactions) why s/he might choose to voice this opinion anonymously rather than face-to-face on campus.

PP, I'm actually a STA parent with a son who has been there for more than a few years. Not some outsider making anything up, just voicing my opinion here.

So are you then maligning the 4th grade teacher? Or are you commetning on the AA coach who does not teach? I am an STA parent who has now defended both! And we have had the 4th grade teacher (it is only his 3rd year of teaching 4th grade I think). So we are at least qualified to take the stand that he is more than competent and qualified.

The only inside knowledge is knowing where the teacher went to college. They could easily attend a well-known baseball summer camp and know that too. Or they could googled the info. Anyone who has actually had the teacher would not say he is unqualified. I have never ever heard that from boys or parents, and have heard other teachers even supporting him too.

As stated before, it is likely the poster about the teacher is an outsider with sour grapes or a chip on their shoulder.

[Anonymous]

Gotta love the omniscience of others, don't you? If they haven't heard it, it's never been said. If they don't agree with you, you can't be one of them. Kinda like The Borg, LOL!

[Anonymous]

I'm curious: are the kids at STA taught that a good technique in a disagreement is to question the other person's right to hold an opinion, question their actual identity, and attribute the difference in opinion to sour grapes or a chip on the shoulder? Or is that only for the parents?

[Anonymous]

No, actually, for those of us whose DCs don't go to St Albans, Form C teacher/baseball coach is a kind of inside information.

And 14:38, you don't seem to realize it, but your posts are painting StA (or at least its parents) in a much worse light than the posts criticizing this teacher.

[Anonymous]

FYI, all St. Albans School teachers are listed on the school's website with the names of their colleges and graduate schools and degrees earned. Therefore, the poster who mentioned the Univeristy of Rochester is not disclosing any "insider" info.

As with any anonymous forum, one does have to scutinize the source and not credit just anybody who posts negative comments about a teacher without specifics.

I believe St. Albans does teach its students how to judge the probative value of primary and secondary sources and to analyze arguments; St. Albans parents may have learned the same in school!

[Anonymous]

Apparently, the answer to the question posed by this thread is, "contentious."

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can find this info on a website, but why on earth would somebody track it down, come to DCUM, and post something anonymously criticizing an unnamed teacher at StA that everybody thinks is great? Not going to harm the (presumably identifiable) teacher's reputation at StA if, in fact, everyone else thinks he's great. Not going to harm the (again, unnamed) teacher's reputation among non-StA parents. So what would be the motivation/payoff for doing this (even if it could be done)? It can't even be impersonating an StA parent (since the poster is also anonymous).

Seriously, the more likely scenario is that someone at StA doesn't think highly of the teacher. YMMV. Hell, everybody else's MMV from that poster's. But it's a little over the top to suggest that some web-surfing troll is out to get StA or this teacher and has chosen this method to exact his/her revenge.

Just chill and trust other people's ability to recognize that not everything posted on DCUM is true. Or maybe just have a little more faith in our apathy re the quality of a specific coach-teacher at someone else's kid's school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Just chill and trust other people's ability to recognize that not everything posted on DCUM is true. Or maybe just have a little more faith in our apathy re the quality of a specific coach-teacher at someone else's kid's school.

For someone who takes the trouble to post about another child's teacher at another child's school, you protest too much about apathy. Given that your actions belie ytour words, I cannot even credit your claim to recognize that not everything posted on DCUM is true.

[Anonymous]

I really don't care about the StA teacher (my DC's a girl; it's not a school that we'd ever consider). I do, however, care about DCUM to some extent and that's why I've commented on this thread. I really think people need to step back and think about what they're doing when they "defend" their school and the impression it leaves. I dunno, maybe I just just egg such posters on -- arguably, it's revealing. But some of these posters seem well-meaning enough (e.g. they don't want to see a person they respect subjected to what they consider baseless criticism), that I thought it was worth making the point that the form this support is taking is likely to be counterproductive on a variety of levels (leaving a bad impression of the school, giving more play to the accusation, etc).