The Teacher Thread - Page 9

^ I assume you heard about this.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...icals_say.html

Summary: NYC will ax 4666 teachers(1/12).

^That's an insane amount of teachers. Same thing is happening to some teacher's I know in Philadelphia.

I've never taught elementary or secondary, so I really can't contribute to this thread from the teacher's point of view. (Plus, I'm one of the dreaded ADMIN now!) However, all three of my kids are going through our public schools, and for the most part, our experiences have been very positive. Sure there are lazy or incompetent teachers out there, and I'd agree that there aren't enough great ones, but that's also true of mechanics, doctors, sales clerks, and so forth.

Second, and this may be a district-by-district thing, we've found that the various schools our kids have attended have encouraged artistic and intellectual creativity as much as can probably be reasonably allowed in a public school setting. My fifth-grade daughter is just now finishing her team's "roller coaster," a series of tubes and trackways the student teams design and build that send marbles along complicated pathways. The purpose is for the students to use and understand basic concepts of physics. Different parts of the contraptions are labeled with "inertia," "potential energy," "kinetic energy," etc. I'm sure the teacher had to help them out, but each one is vastly different. We got to see demonstrations the other day.

Of course, we don't live in an enormous city with serious budget problems, and since this thread is about teachers and not schools/school districts, it really would be a disservice to focus on that. Budgets aside, most teachers have great hearts and try their best. They go into it for the love of seeing others succeed, not for the money (God knows) or the prestige (ha!).

I love when politicians argue that cutting teachers is a good way to meet the budget and/or save tax payers money.
How about taking a look at all these worthless assemblymen and congress members in New York? An assemblyman in NY gets $79,500 a year..and they complain they haven't gotten a raise in years. But they don't talk about the $5,000 for every little committee they are on, or the $40,000 a year they charge in personal expenses.
And people complain about teachers "only working 9 months a year"...you ever see the schedule of the NYS legislature? What a joke.
Want to save tax payers money and make budget? Get rid of the looters and moochers!

With all the politics and moaning about bad teachers, I still feel like we're going through a revolution and maybe even the first stages of a renaissance in educational philosophy, pedagogy and technology.

Yeah, in Canada maybe.

Just saw this Rob, thanks for posting. I'm a PE teacher in Calgary, Canada. Started in 92, with one year off in 2000.
Ken

How was your experience with Alt cert? I'm in dallas considering going that direction.

I find the actual teaching very rewarding however if I had it over I would choose another profession, and I don't recommend it for people coming out for a number of reasons: - The Anti Teacher crowd is just too much to take sometimes. It doesn't seem to matter what the issue is, "all teachers are lazy, me first, ungrateful, bla bla bla". - Yes, teachers have the summers off. In Canada the kids are out for about 10 weeks per year. However, I work 80 hours a week during my 12 week track season, and about 50 to 60 hours when I'm not coaching track, so I feel that the time off is justified. It's pretty killer towards your personal life and health though. And by June 30 you are so tired that you need the break. There were a few times late August I'm starting a new school year and still feeling tired. That is not a good start. I'm pretty fortunate that almost all the kids like me a lot. I think this is because I have a pretty good sense of humor with them and I see them as individuals. I know, that's a clique, but it's true. If one takes an interest in each kid, and tries to be nice to them, it is REALLY hard for a kid to try and be uncooperative. I went into teaching for a couple reasons. Both my parents were teachers and I saw how they changed lives. Also, I had some teachers make a real impact to my self asteem in high school and I suppose I wanted to be like them a bit. Like I said, the profession really is rewarding. Nothing like helping a kid become an adult. But if you're going into teaching cause you think you'll have free time, (assuming you become a good teacher) then you are better off with another career.

Mr. Pietropinto has received a letter from his Mother stating that she is very ill and wishes to see her son before she dies. Mr. Pietropinto has applied for a passport so he can travel to Italy. Perhaps they are from the US passport agency, State Department. I think your students are on the internet looking for answers. Trying to get a certificate of naturalization for Carmine Pietropinto. Can't blame them.

And they've just found this answer.

I would teach high school math after I retire or something of that sort, can't imagine it as a career. It doesn't really pay that well..., though the experience is rewarding for the short time I voluntereed. Also I would like to correct people's perception that math is boring and hard to understand.