Anonymous
03/10/2017 12:03
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:unbelieable. can our expectations of good teachers be any lower? is it ok to teach mount vernon but choose to not visit there even once? of course it is 'ok' because we should expect the bare minimum from our teachers... seriously why even bother sending kids to any field trips then? get a samsung VR headset and you can check off everything on your bucket list.
These are not college professors tapping into their expertise. In elementary school they are teaching some basic facts that don't need to be verified with their own eyes. My kids learned about ancient China, Greece and Mali in elementary school. Yes, it's ok that the teachers didn't go there even once.
This thread is about VA history, not China.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 11:47
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:unbelieable. can our expectations of good teachers be any lower? is it ok to teach mount vernon but choose to not visit there even once? of course it is 'ok' because we should expect the bare minimum from our teachers... seriously why even bother sending kids to any field trips then? get a samsung VR headset and you can check off everything on your bucket list.
These are not college professors tapping into their expertise. In elementary school they are teaching some basic facts that don't need to be verified with their own eyes. My kids learned about ancient China, Greece and Mali in elementary school. Yes, it's ok that the teachers didn't go there even once.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 11:44
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:unbelieable. can our expectations of good teachers be any lower? is it ok to teach mount vernon but choose to not visit there even once? of course it is 'ok' because we should expect the bare minimum from our teachers... seriously why even bother sending kids to any field trips then? get a samsung VR headset and you can check off everything on your bucket list.
Mount Vernon is different than Jamestown. It's 30 minutes from my house vs. 3+ hours. I can easily visit in a day vs. staying overnight to go to Jamestown. I am teacher and I do think it's important if you are teaching about local places to visit them at least once. No excuses there. But Jamestown is not local.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 11:43
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:unbelieable. can our expectations of good teachers be any lower? is it ok to teach mount vernon but choose to not visit there even once? of course it is 'ok' because we should expect the bare minimum from our teachers... seriously why even bother sending kids to any field trips then? get a samsung VR headset and you can check off everything on your bucket list.
My expectations of teachers have nothing to do with them visiting a few local/regional historic sites.
Seriously, the only one who cares about this is you, OP. Why not spend your energy worrying about things that matter.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 11:39
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
unbelieable. can our expectations of good teachers be any lower? is it ok to teach mount vernon but choose to not visit there even once? of course it is 'ok' because we should expect the bare minimum from our teachers... seriously why even bother sending kids to any field trips then? get a samsung VR headset and you can check off everything on your bucket list.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 11:37
Subject: Re:Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I've visited the Louvre, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Vernon, the Colosseum in Rome, the Sistine Chapel, the Alhambra in Spain....Never been to Jamestown. Also don't care if my kids' teachers have been there or any places I've been. As long as they are good teachers and kind people, they are perfectly able to teach history without visiting the places they teach about. They teach about ancient civilizations just fine without time travel. Do you just look for things to complain about?
+1
OP, do you not realize how insignificant Jamestown is in the grand scheme of things? Truly? I've never been there, but I've been to all the places PP mentioned, and many, many others. I suspect that's true for most of my children's public school teachers.
I plan to go along on the field trip when my kid visits in 4th grade, and that will be the one and only time I go to Jamestown. I would not go otherwise. But then again, I did not grow up in VA with this over-inflated sense of my place and importance in the world.
Another teacher who has been to all of those places except the Alhambra. I do think it's important for teachers to have intellectual curiosity about the world, but that can manifest itself in many ways other than visiting historical VA sites.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 11:03
Subject: Re:Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Wonder if OP realizes how long Jamestown has been a site to visit. It's been a number of years since I was there (and it does interest me). The last time I was there, there were only ruins and some digs. There was a small museum. Believe me, you could have learned more reading a book. Yes, I found it interesting--but I enjoy history. You don't have to visit to know a lot about a place.
Does a teacher need to have visited the pyramids to teach Egyptian history?
Is it a requirement for every preacher to visit the Holy Land?
Does a teacher need to have visited the pyramids to teach Egyptian history?
Is it a requirement for every preacher to visit the Holy Land?
Anonymous
03/10/2017 10:32
Subject: Re:Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I've visited the Louvre, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Vernon, the Colosseum in Rome, the Sistine Chapel, the Alhambra in Spain....Never been to Jamestown. Also don't care if my kids' teachers have been there or any places I've been. As long as they are good teachers and kind people, they are perfectly able to teach history without visiting the places they teach about. They teach about ancient civilizations just fine without time travel. Do you just look for things to complain about?
+1
OP, do you not realize how insignificant Jamestown is in the grand scheme of things? Truly? I've never been there, but I've been to all the places PP mentioned, and many, many others. I suspect that's true for most of my children's public school teachers.
I plan to go along on the field trip when my kid visits in 4th grade, and that will be the one and only time I go to Jamestown. I would not go otherwise. But then again, I did not grow up in VA with this over-inflated sense of my place and importance in the world.
+1
Yup.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 10:22
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
No big deal. If some teachers don't want to visit key US historic places, I will not send them to time out... I will give them a reminder 
The point is that you may teach better if you have been at any of the historic places. C'est tout
The point is that you may teach better if you have been at any of the historic places. C'est tout
Anonymous
03/10/2017 10:13
Subject: Re:Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:I've visited the Louvre, the Statue of Liberty, Mount Vernon, the Colosseum in Rome, the Sistine Chapel, the Alhambra in Spain....Never been to Jamestown. Also don't care if my kids' teachers have been there or any places I've been. As long as they are good teachers and kind people, they are perfectly able to teach history without visiting the places they teach about. They teach about ancient civilizations just fine without time travel. Do you just look for things to complain about?
+1
OP, do you not realize how insignificant Jamestown is in the grand scheme of things? Truly? I've never been there, but I've been to all the places PP mentioned, and many, many others. I suspect that's true for most of my children's public school teachers.
I plan to go along on the field trip when my kid visits in 4th grade, and that will be the one and only time I go to Jamestown. I would not go otherwise. But then again, I did not grow up in VA with this over-inflated sense of my place and importance in the world.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 09:23
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I've lived in this area for 15 years and I don't even know where Jamestown is. Down by the beach? Who cares? Some early settlers who all died? It's not THAT significant.
Kids should go up to Philadelphia and Boston on field trips to see some real history. The only reason why Jamestown is a topic and field trip destination at all is because it's relatively close.
If the issue is the large amount of people who died then ...why so many people visit Civil War battlefields, Mt. Vernon (where so many slaves brutally died) and other similar places?
Huh? What are you talking about?
There are other historical sites in the US with much greater significance. Where things actually happened related to US history. Jamestown is pretty irrelevant.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 09:01
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Do you know how many New Yorkers have never been to the Statue of Liberty? I don't know why you think a teacher has a special obligation to go to Jamestown.
Jamestown is just an example. They didn't even went to the Lincoln Memorial, which is less than 1hr drive.
Quelle horreur!!!
C'est la vie. In France and Canada public elementary educators do a better job.
And that would have nothing to do with visiting Jamestown.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 08:55
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Do you know how many New Yorkers have never been to the Statue of Liberty? I don't know why you think a teacher has a special obligation to go to Jamestown.
Jamestown is just an example. They didn't even went to the Lincoln Memorial, which is less than 1hr drive.
Quelle horreur!!!
C'est la vie. In France and Canada public elementary educators do a better job.
Anonymous
03/10/2017 08:48
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:I've lived in this area for 15 years and I don't even know where Jamestown is. Down by the beach? Who cares? Some early settlers who all died? It's not THAT significant.
Kids should go up to Philadelphia and Boston on field trips to see some real history. The only reason why Jamestown is a topic and field trip destination at all is because it's relatively close.
If the issue is the large amount of people who died then ...why so many people visit Civil War battlefields, Mt. Vernon (where so many slaves brutally died) and other similar places?
Anonymous
03/10/2017 08:30
Subject: Teachers who never visited VA historic places
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Do you know how many New Yorkers have never been to the Statue of Liberty? I don't know why you think a teacher has a special obligation to go to Jamestown.
Jamestown is just an example. They didn't even went to the Lincoln Memorial, which is less than 1hr drive.
Quelle horreur!!!