Wow! What a Busy Time of the Year!

Teaching a class of a 130some students, grading papers, tests, (and as always) fine tuning lesson plans, letters of recommendation, the holidays, family commitments, traveling, and life in general can certainly get in the way of a blog!

There have been so many stories regarding education that I have wanted to comment on but have not had the energy to do so. There is something about this time of year: Not only is it piled on with all of the above mentioned activities but their seems to be a palpable excitement within the students that makes the day a little longer. The students are also extremely burdened with school, family, holidays, sports and the excitement of the upcoming vacation. They can't wait for a break and neither can the teachers or administrators.

I've always liked the idea of a year round schedule. It seems less taxing on both teachers and students. Parents don't like the idea because many still think of K-12 education as baby-sitting.

Nonetheless, I am grateful for the time off. Of course, there are always a few parents, every year, that say: "I bet you're looking forward to your break." Yes, we are. And so are your kids.

So in the next few weeks, I hope to post some of those stories that I've been wanting to comment on.

Happy Holidays.

Family Reflections

While visiting family  during this Thanksgiving holiday, my nephew (a freshman in high school) and I spoke about his first year of high school.

He is loving the girls, made the track team (his new obsession) and is doing very well in all his classes except one: Spanish.

Following is a very revealing conversation into the mind of a teenager and what all parents should realize about their children before jumping to conclusions about a teacher:

"Why are you failing the class?"

"Well, the teacher is really strange!"

"How?"

"I've never been in a class like that."

"Like what? Explain?"

"I don't know. I just don't like the way he teaches."

"Give me an example." Frustrated, he throws his hands in the air and says, "I don't know. I'm just not learning anything. He's not a good teacher. I don't think he likes me. I have all A's in my other classes."

***Note: Not one specific example from my nephew. All generalities aimed at excusing his failing grade. Also note, that it's all the teachers fault. My nephew is not taking responsibility for his grade at all. Working to his benefit is the fact that he has excellent grades in his other classes. I decided to cut to the chase because they know they can't pull that B.S. with me.

"What's the real deal because you haven't given me one specific example?"

"Okay, I don't like the class. I get embarrassed when I have to speak and I don't participate. I rather be running."

And the teacher: "He's fine. He's nice. I just don't want to take the class."

Reflection:
I didn't play into any of his excuses. I kept asking for specifics. He was not able to give me one specific example but he did know all the key words that he knew might get his parents riled up. I asked him what he thought might help his grade. Surprisingly to some, he was able to give me three very specific examples on how he could improve his grade in the class. He will definitely have to come out of his comfort zone to fulfill a few of these, specifically speaking Spanish out loud in class but he knew it was a simple way to raise his grade but my nephew did say, "I wish he would't make us do that." I asked him if his parents could help him with this class requirement. He nodded and I continued to prod. How? "I guess I can practice in front of them." Yes, they should be involved: They can encourage him, help him practice and set up a perform and reward system.

Some parents would prefer a quick fix to this "grade problem" and question the teacher on his practices rather than pushing their child to experience some failure, embarrassment and but eventual success. Success through failure and embarrassment? Yes, imagine how proud and successful my nephew will feel when after some trial and error he is able to stand up in front of the class and speak Spanish. He will have earned the high grade he is capable of achieving with his parents help rather than his parents "advocacy".

Dear Troll

Dear Troll

We have been interacting for some time now. Recently,  I noticed that you are following me around from website to blog to website. Wherever I post, you seem to follow.

The fact that I have hit such a nerve is a concern. Please remember that the purpose of my blog is to offer an outlet for teachers to vent. More importantly it is meant to turn the tables on society and the media in general. It's a place to voice a teachers perspective and give us a voice.

But back to you, darling (as you called me). I'm not sure why you're so angry at teachers, this blog and my observations. Why you dislike teachers so much only you know. But, we are not the problem nor is attacking us the solution.

I know it's hard for a Gen X parent to realize this, but YOU might be the problem, and you need to look inside yourself, your anger issues, and your past and solve this issue for your own good.

You have way too much time on your hands. I hope you haven't stopped over-parenting your child on my account.

Now stop following me around. It's a little creepy.

Sacramento State University Professor Walks Out On Students Who Don't Bring Snacks To Class! Good For Him!

Good for Psychology Professor George Parrot for walking out when students did not follow the syllabus!

The professor has required classes to bring snacks for 39 years. But of course, Gen X spawns are now also invading colleges, and instead of going through the proper channels to complain, they call the local news channel and make it a media story. How about the media concentrate on Penn State and sending all those horrible people to the State Penn.

The professor does not require the class to purchase a $200 textbook. Instead he asks that they bring healthy snacks to class in order to promote student interaction, mental sharpness, and alleviates stress in what he calls one of the most difficult classes of the psychology program. The food is not for the professor.

Two students sign up to bring snacks for the class every week. This balances out the cost not only of the $200 textbook but also 10 additional weeks of free food. Weeks are assigned on the first day of class and it is on the syllabus. Shame on the college for not standing behind the professor. If it's been on the syllabus for 39 years, how can the college not know?

The two students are to blame. They blatantly and purposely failed in their obligations. They had no issues eating the food that the other students brought to class. So what's the problem? Did their "outraged parents" tell them not to bring food. They disappointed and hurt the other students in the class. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Finally, I congratulate, Professor George Parrot for NOT apologizing.

Read the article on this link: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/12/4048922/sacramento-state-psychology-professor.html

A Teachers Defense of "Bad Teacher" starring Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake

This might be a surprise to some, but I truly enjoyed "Bad Teacher".

In the summer, I refused to spend $11 to go see it. I was automatically turned off by the title and the advertising. But thanks to Netflix and other teachers who recommended the movie, I decided to give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. Once the layer of low-brow humor is removed, there are a lot of truths in this movie.

Let's begin with the main character trying to find a rich man to marry. Teacher salaries in some states and major cities are ridiculously low considering the educational and financial investment it takes to become a teacher. I tell the younger female and male teachers in a quasi-jokingly manner that they need to marry up. Find a man or woman that makes at least twice as much as they do so that they can enjoy their summers and live an adequately comfortable life that they deserve considering how much they are giving to society.

The film also focuses on the importance given to standardized tests. In the film, the teacher with the highest scores gets a bonus. When the economy was good, many states employed this strategy and it created all sorts of ethical conflicts. Most recently, because of the pressures of "No Child Left Behind", we saw the much praised school district of Washington D.C. being investigated for teacher tampering of the test. This was a "culture" established by the superintendent of schools who resigned when the scandal broke. The main character found that teaching to an arbitrary test was much more promising than teaching a classic book such as "To Kill a Mockingbird". She goes to great and comical lengths to get a hold of the test in order to "win" the cash prize. The losers, of course, are the students.

The parents, yes mostly Gen X parents, were portrayed extremely accurately. The parent who teaches her daughter to bribe the teacher with a horrible batch of cookies on the first day of school. The parent who gives the teacher cash for "supplies" and expects an A. The parents who easily hand over cash to the main character who offers good grades for cash. The parent who invites the teacher for Christmas with the expectation that she will talk to her son about his poetry. All of the parents in the movie have an expectation of the teacher but this teacher is not like the rest. She knows how to "work" or "handle" them. She makes it work for her.

The main character, is absolutely in control and knows her boundaries. She will not take shit from parents as witnessed in the "Back to School" night scene nor will she take shit from students. A few examples:
1. When she sees the girl crying by her locker, she turns around. Good for her. Teachers cannot be expected to handle every emotional situation that students may have. That's what parents are for.
2. When she decides to actually teach, the first student that mocks her and interrupts the class, she kicks out of the classroom. She then asks the rest of the class if anyone else wants to leave. More teachers need to do this. I do this. It sends a message to the students that the teacher means business and bullshit behavior will not be tolerated. I had a parent four years ago who complained to the principal about her daughter being asked to sit outside for the remainder of the class. My response was that I had 33 other students whom were willing to learn and they deserved a safe environment in which to do it. I threatened to call the parents of the other 33 students and explain the situation. Case closed.
3. She refuses to be pushed into the teacher stereotypes that some of her colleagues willingly fulfill. Yet those stereotypical characters are the ones, that in the end, are the most unbelievable.
4. She smokes pot and drinks and so does the gym teacher. I don't smoke pot nor do I do drink for personal reasons but some of the very best teachers I know and have worked with do. People in all fields of work go home and smoke pot and drink; it's a way to decompress. Yet teachers are supposed to have some sort of moral code that is different to all others. As long as the teacher is not high at work, what they do at home is no one's business.

The portrayal of the principal was for the most part accurate. Well meaning and smart, and yes quirky, but is aware and respectful of teachers and their rights. In various scenes he mentions the individual teachers' rights and the teachers union. Unlike the principal of one of the movies that the main character shows in class, the principal of "Lean On Me" played by Morgan Freeman, walks around the school disregarding and trampling on both teacher and student rights. That music teacher he arbitrarily fires, I can guarantee, has been been sitting pretty for some time on the lawsuit she filed and won against the "Lean On Me" principal.

Finally, and probably most importantly, this is one movie where the students are not smarter than the teachers. And that I applaud enthusiastically!

Speak Out Fridays Honor goes to Jennifer Mathieu and her Top Ten Teacher Stereotypes

This weeks "Speak Out Fridays" honors go to Jennifer Mathieu and her Top Ten List of Teacher Stereotypes.
To be perfectly honest, this online list was brought to my attention by a parent blogger who does not like my postings regarding Gen X parents. She believes that I am stereotyping Gen X parents. So in typical Gen X style, she went out of her way to find teacher stereotypes because she must have the last word on this issue. Yes, yes, typical Gen X parent behavior, we all know this.
This parent is trying to guess what type of teacher I might be. That's inconsequential. One of my many issues with the list is the portrayal of Kindergarten teachers. I, by the way, am not one, but I know a few who would not appreciate the following characterization:

The Kindgergarten Teacher on Meds

Who actually becomes a kindergarten teacher?  I'm talking about the ones with the jumpers in different primary colors with the big pockets, and the wooden jewelry shaped like apples and school buses, and the scarred childhood that is desperately trying to be repaired via teaching kindergarten.  Circle time, my children!  Let's all clap and hug!  Let's sing the sharing song!  Let's sing the clean-up song!  I am in awe of kindergarten teachers, but I still think a large percentage of them have gotta be on meds. 

1. Who becomes a Kindergarten teacher? A saint! Do you know how much patience it takes to teach five and six year olds? You should kiss their feet. It takes a very special, kind, loving  person to do this job.

2. If anyone is trying to mend a scarred childhood it is Gen X parents: Overbearing helicopter parents who haven't spent enough time in therapy getting over the fact that they were latch key kids and their parents got a divorce.

3. Gen X parents are the first generation of parents to over-medicate their children. The minute their child receives an F in class, they're diagnosed with ADHD/ADD and put on medication.

4. And finally, if the Kindergarten teacher is wearing wooden jewelry, maybe one of her students lovingly made it for her. Or wooden jewelry is all she can afford. So why don't you look into your heart and jewelry  box and give her a nice gold necklace with a diamond pendant, trust me, they deserve it.

Check out the website yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.heartlessdoll.com/2009/04/top_ten_teacher_stereotypes.php?page=2

“Speak Out Friday” Honors Go to the Parent with the Stale Donuts

“Speak Out Friday” Honors Go to the Parent with the Stale Donuts

At a meeting, about three years ago, that took place at 3pm, a parent, well meaning I’m sure, brought in a box of donuts that was half empty, or half full depending on how you choose to view this post. He opened the box and put it in the middle of the table. The donuts were obviously morning leftovers from his office. The teachers ignored the donuts, they did not look fresh, and unless you have a real bad sweet tooth, stale looking donuts are not an afternoon snack.

The meeting proceeded without any glitches. Everyone was very cooperative and a solution to the main problem was achieved.

At the end of the meeting, the parent looked at the box of donuts and in mock disappointment said, “Gee, I thought the teachers would devour the donuts. You’re always complaining about your salaries.”

The teachers glared at him. Then we looked at one another in disbelief.

Really? We can’t afford our own donuts? How generous of you! %^*&*()$%!!!

A Few More Observations About Gen X Parents

A few teachers and I were discussing Gen X parents today during lunch. Our main concern is that Gen X parents are raising children who will not be able to fend for themselves in the real world once they leave the nest. Their parents have been so involved in every aspect of their lives, that students don't know how to advocate for themselves. And while they may not know how to advocate for themselves, they are learning that they are entitled to special treatment and/or consideration. For example, the 16 year old, home schooled stuttering college student and his mother who unfairly accused his professor of discrimination. Who called the New York Times and made the story front page news? It was not the college or the professor. Later, the stuttering student "felt bad" that he had ruined this professors reputation, but the damage was done. I don't think that he nor his mother thought of the repercussions of their statement and actions. Again, typical Gen X behavior: Lack of respect for authority.

In all honesty, I'm also a Gen X'er. The more I read about Gen X'ers, the more I identify with the facts about my generation. But I find that the majority of Gen X'ers cannot come to terms with the truth regarding our generation. The do-nothing generation, as we were labeled in the early 90's, are doing too much for their children. We will see the results of their over-parenting in about 20 years, when their children are parents themselves. As I interact daily with over-scheduled and over-burdened students, I get the feeling that the pendulum will swing. I bet that todays kids will let their own children enjoy their childhood. I also believe that the sense of entitlement might fade as the realities and disappointments of the real world teaches them that mom and dad can't get them out of trouble all the time, or into the "right" college, or the corner office at their first job.

Time and life will tell. In the meantime, feel free to comment under anonymous. It is, in fact, anonymous.

Gen X Parents by Susan Gregory Thomas

Not long ago, administrators at a small private school in New York City were reorganizing two mixed-grade elementary classrooms. Looking at the third grade, they determined that one girl was particularly well suited to switch from one class to the other: She was adaptable and genial and loved working with teachers and friends. The administrators called the girl's mother, assuming she would be flattered.

Wrong. The mother was distraught: Her daughter had started at the school only last year! She would be leaving friends in the other classroom! She had enrolled her daughter in private school for its stability and intimacy -- not for disruption! The administrators didn't understand what had been happening at home!

The mother, in tears, needed to have a conference -- now. Educators were stunned. Who was this mother?

That would be me, and here's why: I am a Generation X parent, a member of a demographic that has been making teachers' and school administrators' jobs a pain in the butt for more than a decade.

The Pendulum Swings

Born between 1965 and 1979, Generation X counts for about 48 million people in the United States, a group that's a sociological sentence fragment compared with its predecessors, the baby boomers (1946–1964), and with Generation Y (1980–2001), which followed it.

But size, as they say, isn't everything -- as parents, I daresay you teachers have known who we are from day one. In preschool, we're the ones anxiously arranging developmentally appropriate playdates for our Siouxsie-and-the-Banshees-T-shirt-clad three-year-olds. In kindergarten, we're frantic that other parents' children are starting to read cat and rat, while our Ruby and Dylan are still having trouble identifying lowercase letters. We think the gold-star system and its ilk are archaic and punitive, and we want to have a meeting to present our suggestions for alternative achievement systems.

By grade school, we're demanding to know why the math program is not challenging enough for our child. We email our complaints about the seating chart. We openly deride the arts instruction and may rally other parents to the point of a coup d'état. By middle school, our kids have schedules and professional support staffs that resemble those of corporate lawyers. Look out, high school: We're coming.

Why are we so obnoxious, self-righteous, implacable? When I was working on a book about very young children and the marketing industry (Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Minds), I learned more than I'd ever wanted to know about Generation X as parents.

But the most important discovery was relearning a truism from Psychology 101: If you want to know what's unhealed from your own childhood, have children. Key to decoding our parental behavior is understanding that we are, albeit often unconsciously, doing for our children what no one did for us.

For starters, we are ferocious advocates for our kid. "One of the chief things I've noticed is the demand for power from these parents," says Betty Staley, program director of Waldorf high school teacher education at Rudolf Steiner College, in Fair Oaks, California. "They demand to be involved in making decisions for their kid -- even interviewing potential teachers -- regardless of what is good for the group."

A Neglected Generation

A little background here: Generation X, according to a 2004 study conducted by marketing-strategy and research firm Reach Advisors, "went through its all-important formative years as one of the least parented, least nurtured generations in U.S. history." Little wonder: Half of all Gen Xers' parents are divorced. We were the first to be raised in record numbers in day care, and some 40 percent of us were latchkey kids.

We've been taking care of ourselves since we started going to school, and we don't trust authority figures, because they weren't trustworthy when we were growing up. Our parents didn't know what was going on at school, and our teachers didn't know what was going on at home. We're not going to let this happen to our children -- not even for a second. We'll do whatever we have to do to make sure our kids get what they need.

"They'll go over your head if they don't get the results they want from you," says Anita Thomas, who taught science in a public school in Beaufort, South Carolina. That makes sense, says Lisa Chamberlain, author of Slackonomics: Generation X in the Age of Creative Destruction. "Anything that smacks of bureaucratic red tape or protocol is an irritant," she explains. "We had to fend for ourselves, which is great if you're an entrepreneur, but not when you're a parent."

This also may explain why Gen X parents are so quick to whip together a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation to show you how to reorganize your classroom, even the entire school. Remember, we're the technology-revolution generation, and we're familiar with making presentations in front of venture capitalists.

That kind of know-it-all-ism makes sense, too. "Boomer parents assumed that since they had turned out fine, their kids would, too," continues Chamberlain. "Gen X doesn't have that assumption -- we've seen what it's like to have the rug pulled out from underneath us."

Indeed, economic collapse has punctuated every milestone of our adult lives. When we graduated from high school in the 1980s, Wall Street fell. When we graduated from college, the first Bush recession made jobs impossibly scarce. When we started having children, the Nasdaq crashed. When we finally bought our own homes, the housing bubble burst.

The Good Fight

We can also be a little snotty. Another common teacher complaint is that Gen X parents rebel against worksheet-based homework, or kvetch that the curriculum isn't challenging, rich, or imaginative enough.

"A lot of Gen Xers have this artisanal affectation, which comes from having sought out the margins of mass culture in independent bookstores, record shops, politics," says Jeff Gordinier, editor at large ofDetails magazine and author of X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking. "For many Gen Xers, the education that defines us is the one we got for ourselves, outside of school."

As adults, however, we seem to want schools to do everything: provide our children with rigorous academic instruction, socialize them flawlessly, and offer them the rich cultural experiences we value so much. We're angry and disappointed when they fall short of our impossible expectations.

Poignantly, at the heart of all Gen X parental behavior is probably what it is for all neglected children. "Generation X is looking to teachers and schools to heal childhood wounds," observes Waldorf educator Betty Staley. It may not be fair, but it's true. We want you to pay attention to us, to take us seriously -- to give us your time.

Pissed Off Parent!

Anonymous said...

You seem to have your own tough and unfair stance regarding parents. Especially "GenX" parents for being absolutely "out of control". Over generalize much?

Why are you even teaching?!

October 22, 2011 8:38 PM 

Teacher said...

Teachers teach because it is a fulfilling career. To expand the minds of our future generations. To share an excellent book, to teach students about WWII and why it should never happen again and why numbers are important especially in this new age and economy.

Teachers quit and hate their jobs because of horrible, helicopter, entitled, absurd, sometimes drunken, meddling, unstable, parents who don't know the first thing about education. Gen X parents are the worst. Do the research. It is a proven fact.

"Speak Out Friday" Honors go to Peggy Post and Good Housekeeping Magazine

This weeks "Speak Out Friday" honors go to Peggy Post and Good Housekeeping Magazine! 


In Good Housekeeping's September 2011 issue, Ms. Manners Wannabe, Peggy Post, refers to teachers as "tough and unfair". She writes that parents should set up a meeting with parents to discuss unfair grading practices. 

I wrote a letter to the editor of Good Housekeeping and Peggy Post: 

"I teach at a small middle school and was appalled to read Peggy Posts' "Pop Quiz" concerning teachers in your September 2011 issue. The question: "Your son's new teacher is tough, and you think his papers are being unfairly graded...?" To begin with, the question implies that teachers are "tough" and "unfair". That's the first insult. 

Secondly, teachers get beat up, left and right, by the media and government, we don't need Miss Manners wannabe Peggy Post to tell entitled parents that they too can mistreat us. Too many helicopter parents already set up meetings, call and send nasty, sometimes drunken, emails at all hours of the day and night because they can't deal with their child being any less than perfect. Parents today are absolutely out-of-control and already treat teachers as employees and subordinates without Peggy Posts' encouragement. 

Finally, please tell Ms. Post, that a teacher would like to set up a meeting with her as soon as possible to discuss her "tough" and "unfair" article in your magazine. 

Feel free to send Good Housekeeping and Peggy Post your own message: ghletters@goodhousekeeping.com

My Child Is Special

Parent: My son/daughter is special!

Teacher: No, no, not really. (Chuckle)

Parent: Does he/she really need to do this assignment? He/she is very creative. Can he/she write a poem, draw a picture, or a song maybe, instead of an essay like everyone else? You know, "Differentiate".

Teacher: I would accept an interpretive dance! You must accompany your child in this performance in front of the class. We're on chapter 5 of To Kill a Mockingbird. When can you have the interpretive dance ready?

Parent: (Blank Stare).

Professor Defends Herself Against Stuttering Student

Professor Defends Treatment of Stutterer
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

Calling herself “the victim of a character assassination,” the college professor who asked a student with a severe stutter not to pose questions in class said that her actions were misinterpreted, and that she did not mean to silence him.

In an interview, the professor, Elizabeth Snyder, said Thursday that since the dispute was first reported this week in The New York Times, “I’ve gotten the most hateful, vile, vicious e-mails,” making her fear for her safety.

The student, Philip Garber Jr., is a 10th grader taking courses at the County College of Morris, in Randolph, N.J., but talking for him is slow and difficult. He was enrolled in a history course taught by Ms. Snyder, an adjunct professor. After a few classes, she sent him an e-mail asking that he pose questions after class, “so we do not infringe on other students’ time,” and that he write answers to her questions rather than try to reply out loud.

She did so, she said, partly to put him at ease, and also because he would have taken up too much class time if she had let him. “He seemed to want to answer every question,” she said, adding, “you’d have to take into consideration the amount of time he takes to get the answer out.”

But she insisted that her ideas were only suggestions, and that “there was never any intent to stop him from speaking.”

In fact, Ms. Snyder said, she told him that she would call on him once per class.

Philip said that one day, he kept his hand raised for most of a class, but she did not call on him.

In a statement she composed before the interview, Ms. Snyder wrote, “I did not call on Philip in this class nor did I call on anyone else, simply because I had a detailed presentation planned for the class and I wanted to be finished in the prescribed time.

“He misinterpreted this and assumed it had something to do with his stuttering; I interpreted his hand up for 75 minutes as someone unfamiliar with a college lecture format and frankly a little rude,” she said. “In hindsight, I should have stopped my lecture and called on Philip because he had become so fixated on making a statement that it didn’t seem to matter to him that he was interrupting my presentation.”

Philip contends Ms. Snyder did, in fact, call on other students that day. She disputed his account, and his assertion that after that class, she told him, “Your speaking is disruptive.”

Both say that they had agreed that he would send her an e-mail listing his concerns, but he never did, and that she tried to arrange meetings with him and a college dean, but Philip backed out of them. Ms. Snyder said she also consulted a speech therapist about the situation.

Ms. Snyder declined to comment for the initial article, which was published on the front page of The Times on Tuesday. Instead, she referred questions to the college, which she said the college had advised her to do.

The article elicited hundreds of comments from readers, some of them furious at Ms. Snyder, and others furious that the story was told without comments from her. It also prompted extensive coverage in other news media.

College administrators said Tuesday that she had acted improperly, and that what Philip had experienced was discrimination — a label Ms. Snyder disputes.

Philip said that he felt sympathy for Ms. Snyder for the negative attention she had received and that he had no interest in seeing her penalized. “Most people’s mistakes do not become national news,” he said.

Ms. Snyder has taught history for 37 years, first in middle school and for the last decade at the county college, and students give her generally positive marks. In May, the college’s Educational Opportunity Fund named her educator of the year, for her work with financially and academically challenged students.

“I’ve been an advocate for kids my entire life,” she said. “But people’s rush to judgment on this, it feels like it’s pretty much destroyed my life.”

Dear Blogger

Blogger: Why is it that parents comment that you're great until you give their child a grade other than an A. Rather than recognizing that a child has strengths and weaknesses they assign blame....it must be the teacher's fault for being such a lousy teacher. 


Teacher: Agreed. Parents are happiest when they see all A's. Once the grades head south, they begin to place blame. Teachers are the first target because in many instances the student will blame the teacher to get out of trouble. Parents, especially Generation X parents who don't know how to discipline their children much rather attack a teacher than discipline their child. A teachers job would be made easier if they just stopped caring and gave everyone an A. Eventually, a few generations from now, when the lowest common denominator is where the only new teachers can be found, that is exactly what will happen and the general population will suffer greatly from entitled uneducated parents and students. Thank you for your comment. 

Facebook, Teachers and Parents

A few weeks back, a fellow teacher complained that a parent, who could not access the school email system, proceeded to look, find and email the teacher through her personal Facebook account. I thought about saving this story for my "Speak Out Friday" blog entry and then I realized that this is a much broader conversation: Do parents have the right to search for a teachers personal email, phone number, home address or, yes, the almighty, Facebook account? This particular teacher had the guts to tell the parent that her actions were unacceptable.
But, where do we draw the line? When do teachers say enough is enough? Do parents have the right to Facebook teachers without permission?

Speak Out Fridays

     I want to introduce you to my “Speak Out Theory”. After eleven years of being a very successful teacher, I have found myself responding to many situations with well some sort of expletive. I don’t actually verbalize it, but that’s what I’m thinking. Why? Simple, teachers are perpetually harassed by society, cultural attitudes, government (at all levels), parents, and yes, sometimes students. 

     Teachers are expected to remain calm and objective. Teachers must follow protocols set-up by the school, school districts and unions on how to interact with others including students and parents. As teachers we are not allowed to fully defend ourselves and the unions certainly do not do as much as they should for teachers in general. The problem lies in the fact that students, parents, government officials and society are not required to follow guidelines when communicating with teachers.

Before I go any further let me be clear that in my eleven years of teaching, 90% of my interactions with the school community at large has been an extremely positive one. I am fortunate that for most of my career I have taught in a well-to-do neighborhood. I have been spared many unpleasant situations and horror stories that other teachers around our country have experienced. I have not been physically attacked by a student or parent nor have I been the target of a “youtube” video prank (yet). In fact, the majority of our parents and students are very smart, appreciative and kind people who understand the role of a teacher. 

     So today I will share one quick "Speak Out" scenario, and I hope that you will share yours as well under the comment section.

Parent: "Well you must be so excited about your summer vacation?"

Teacher: "Well, it's more like summer recovery."

Parent: "Whatever! I don't know teacher lingo! All I know is you get a lot of time off."

Teacher: I smiled and walked away. And I thought, "&%#$%@& Lady! You teach 165 kids for 10 months and see how you feel in June? 

Stuttering College Student Harasses College Professor

New York Times Has a great story about a teenage college student who complained about his college professor because she asked him to write his questions and she would answer them in due time. Instead, he sat in class for almost an hour with his arm raised. The professor did not call on him. He went to the Dean and complained. Here's the problem: The student and professor had already discussed his stuttering. She explained that in order to accommodate his disability and respect the time of the other students (not to mention the professors) he should write his questions down and she would answer them later. This student had previously been home schooled and had attended a small Charter school and was obviously not properly exposed to the real world.
His mother is outraged!
Surprise, surprise!
She says, "He's very vocal. He's never been discriminated against."
Wait a minute lady!
There was no discrimination, there was ACCOMMODATION for his disability. It is not the professors fault that you insulated and shielded your child from the real world. You also taught him to disrespect his superiors. This poor man-child has no idea what the real world is like and it's the parents (in this case the mother's) fault.

Dear Blogger

Blogger:
"I couldn't agree more. After being a teacher for nearly 13 years, I can honestly say I've about had it with parents too. Times have changed and we laugh at the comic strip, but its true. Back in the days parents questioned their kids. In today's society parents question the teacher, as if we did something wrong and that is why the kid is failing. The sad part is that many of us educators are seeking to go back to school and change careers."


Moderator:
The well documented standard was that teachers made the decision to leave the profession anywhere between their second and fifth year of teaching. These statistics have led to a number of support services for new teachers including California's BTSA program. But what is shocking is the new trend of veteran teachers willing to sacrifice part or all of their teacher retirement and leave teaching all together. The saying, "Once a teacher, always a teacher" no longer seems to apply. Again, why are we experiencing this cultural change? Parents are out of control; especially Generation X parents. 
What are your thoughts? 

Mission Statement - Teachers Speak Out

For some years now, I've wanted to create a forum for frustrated teachers to express their feelings about parents. Partially inspired by the comic strip below, and suffering through three separate interactions with parents (within the first six weeks of school) that I can only categorize as mean spirited and nasty, I realized that this was the perfect time to start the blog. My hope is that it will become a forum for teachers and others (including parents) to communicate and vent their frustrations. As teachers, rarely are we allowed to speak our mind when parents are concerned and it is quickly becoming a national problem. Unfortunately, the cartoon below perfectly captures the situation the majority of teachers in the United States are facing: an ever increasing pattern of parent harassment. There are many reasons for this change in our culture but the worst part of it is that teachers are defenseless against parents and their continuous harassment. School districts and administrators view parents as customers that must be kept happy. And parents, many who pay parcel taxes and contribute financially to our public schools believe that we are their employees. On blogs all over the internet, parent rage is ever more evident. I don't see this issue getting better, in fact, can anyone imagine how Snookie, from "Jersey Shores", will behave during her first parent-teacher conference? Will she throw her drink or a fist at the teacher at the mention that her child might be less than perfect? Will we need to demand hazard pay? Or will the future generations of teachers come from the lowest common denominator?
So here we go! Feel free to vent and discuss. Keep names private to protect the guilty. My blog is your blog.