Search results matching tags 'teachers' and 'american education'

Classroom Management

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:46:00 GMT

Classroom Management is such an important topic for teachers, especially new teachers. There are whole semester college courses that deal with only effective classroom management as its topic. As a teacher, you will no doubt have to sit through numerous professional development days and workshops that tell you how to effectively manage a classroom.

Let me simplify things for you. I feel that there are two main types of classroom management in high schools. Whenever someone walks into a high school classroom, they will almost always see one of the two methods being implemented. The two types are:

The Prison: This style of classroom management implements total silence. As a matter of fact, the silence is so deafening, the sound of the teacher’s voice for a couple of minutes is enough to make one go crazy.
Bedlam: This is complete and utter chaos. When I say complete and utter chaos, I mean uncontrollable, anarchy type chaos that is being seen in Libya right now. This is Extreme Crazy stuff! You fear for your life while in this type of classroom.

Obviously, these are the two extremes and most classrooms fall somewhere in the middle. As for me, I have no problem getting students to be quiet. I usually keep a fairly quiet classroom while I am lecturing or there are videos, etc. being presented. I’ve got a system that works pretty well and keeps them on-task and quiet. Sure, there is the occasional student who wants attention or tries to be funny, but there are minimal disruptions in my class.

The problem with this is that when it’s completely silent and they’re working…everything in the classroom that I do is amplified. If my shoe squeaks while I walk, everyone hears it. My stomach growls (believe me, this happens more often than I like) - the whole class knows I am hungry. I am typing up a test on the computer- Each and every keystroke sounds like a hammer being driven into a nail. If this is driving me crazy, I am sure it is driving my students crazy as well.

Don’t get me wrong – There are times that we have fun and joke around. It is easy to do when teaching a foreign language. I also can “captivate” many of them by telling of my many humorous and strange travel stories. They love those and it usually is followed by many questions. So my classroom is not totally silent all of the time. Actually, I think you have to have some fun in the classroom or the students tune out and end up not enjoying the class. Therefore, I try and keep it light when I can and then we get down to business when it is time. Fortunately, I have little problem with students switching from one mode to the other.

So you want to know my secret to discipline? It really is simple. I am sure that many teachers do this, so it isn’t an earth-breaking new system or anything. I will say that it is simple and effective. I use a 3-tier system:
1. Individual Warning
2. Fill out Discipline Slip
3. Detention

I like to have fun in the classroom and I joke around as well. The key is that the students need to learn when it is time to get serious and when it is time to have fun. The first three weeks or so of a semester is usually enough time to get the students to realize when it is time for each. I rarely have to go to step #2 after the first few weeks of classes. They get the point.

In conclusion, I guess I am trying to say that it is important to incorporate some sort of fun in the classroom. This will keep the students interested and probably keep you, the teacher, from going insane. I think the key is that whatever you do to make the class fun, it needs to be something relevant and interesting to the students. Videos, games, interaction, quotes, anything. If we can make education a little more fun and entertaining, maybe more students will want to be in school and look forward to classes.

The Difference in Grades - Then and Now

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:26:00 GMT

I honestly am not sure if I posted this already. I may have about 6 or 7 months ago, but I could not find it. So I am posting this pic again. It is so true!!!!

A Teacher's View of the Whole Teacher's Union Mess in Wisconsin

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:37:00 GMT

I am a teacher. I teach in a right to work state (Iowa). What that means is that I am not represented by a union. I have the option of joining one of the teacher's unions if I want to, but I do not have to. I find it is way too expensive. My family just can't afford the dues. Most teachers, regardless of political views, only join the union to get liability insurance.

The protests in Wisconsin have spread. They are planning prostests today in all 50 states. My view on the whole thing is that I am a little upset at the behavior of some of these teachers.

If you talk to any teacher anywhere in the United States, one of the first things that comes up is that many of the students just aren't very well behaved. Now as teachers, we should know that modeling behavior is one of the best ways of teaching behavior. So by rioting, writing fake doctor's notes and more, these teachers are acting out just as badly as the more unruly segment of our student population. It can be said that we are adding fuel to the students' fire. They see teachers behaving badly and they figure "If the teachers can do it, we can too." Look at what we are teaching some of these students. The students are thinking that aggression is equal to assertiveness. This is totally not true and is setting a bad example. An assertive person has the authority to back it up. Aggression is equal to bullying behavior. That is what I saw in Madison, Wisconsin. People acting as if they were bullys trying to get their way.

Don't get me wrong. I understand their frustration and anger. Right now, I am the only earner in the house. It is difficult to make ends meet on less than $40K income. I have two kids. The kids have health insurance but my wife is currently without insurance. We just can't afford it. We do what we have to do. We cleaned out a bunch of clothes and took them to the consignment store in hopes of making some $. We are looking at selling some other things, such as my old musical instruments. We are striving to make do. We do without. We rarely eat out anymore and our road trips to see the grandparents or go to Omaha or Des Moines are being cut down drastically.

I am also beginning to see a sense of entitlement in these teachers protesting in Wisconsin. They want everything and they want it right now. I think it is a reflection on society. Many teachers want stuff now that it took their parents many, many years to get. They want enough $$$ for a new car and a yearly summer trip to some exotic locale. It just doesn't work that way. You have to work your butt off to get that stuff. It just doesn't fall into your lap. I bet the Japanese, Indians and the Chinese understand that. I would be willing to bet that the majority of immigrants who come here for the very freedoms this current administration is trying to squelch understand this too.

And what about the Unions? As a former history teacher, I know that unions had their place in time. The were needed. There's no doubt that appalling conditions of child labor and dangerous working situations were changed because of unions. But it is also true that unions are far more concerned in their own success over the success of the business in which the rank and file work. Unions are greedy, and don't try to argue otherwise. It is true. Union dues keep going up and up yet most people I talk to in unions don't see any change. In fact, some of my union buddies actually told me they think the service their unions are providing has gotten worse over the past 4 or 5 years despite a substantial raise in dues each year. I believe that unions destroyed American manufacturing. Let's look at the auto industry. Had GM been allowed to fail, union contracts would have had to be renegotiated. Then we had Obama, who owed alot to the labor unions. Many say he won several key states because the unions were backing him and organized his votes. To show his gratitude, Obama raised government $ to buy out GM. Do you think GM will ever pay that money back? NO WAY! The US Government lost that $ forever. The GM buyout is just one example. Obama wants the whole Card check system, more buyouts, exemptions from the healthcare bill,etc. All of these initiatives are being backed by unions such as the SEIU and AFT.

Now in Wisconsin and other areas of the US, you have Obama calling for political activists to intervene in state funding issues...Read those last three words again: STATE FUNDING ISSUES. This is a state mattter. Obama and his cronies getting involved to me screams of an invasive policy and demonstrates the absolute disdain this White House has for the states.

This whole thing is coming to a head and about to explode. It is just a matter of time. It will be interesting to see how the protests in other states goes today. That will tell alot about how widespread this thing could get. No matter what happens, I will not become a Union Man!

The Biggest Problem in American Education - The Parents

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 23:48:00 GMT

Or at least that is what the results of one poll suggest:

Blaming teachers for low test scores, poor graduation rates and the other ills of American schools has been popular lately, but a new survey wags a finger closer to home.

An Associated Press-Stanford University Poll on education found that 68 percent of adults believe parents deserve heavy blame for what's wrong with the U.S. education system — more than teachers, school administrators, the government or teachers unions.

I would have to say, as an educator, that I wholeheartedly agree with the result of this poll. I have been a teacher for 16 years and I can say that there are way more requirements and expectations of me, and all teachers, now than there were when I first started teaching. Talking with retired teachers, I see a pattern. They agree with that and say that teaching is less about teaching nowadays and more like a business. Many teachers are getting out early because of it.

Anyway, I digress for a second. Getting back to the fact that there is way more pressure and expectations put on teachers today does not mean this a bad thing, but it is important to note. Yes, we choose some stupid curricula or fads sometimes (CRISS and fuzzy math as examples), but even those stupid curricula don't matter when your kid doesn't do his work or come to school or gets in trouble all the time. You can have a school with the best teachers in the world in every classroom and if they students don't show up or just don't care and put no effort into their studies, then it doesn't matter. They will fail. So don't put all of it on the teacher. Parents need to stand up and take responsibility!

A friend of mine recently told me that he thinks every child should be homeschooled. There, they would learn things such as manners, politeness, respect, appropriate language, etc. Then he said that once they have learned these things at home, then the kids could be sent back to public schools.

Problem is, many of the kids in today's schools will not learn those things at home. I hear more and more kids cussing not only in school, but in stores with their parents! Many kids are not learning any manners or social skills at home. That puts an extra burden on teachers since they inevitably have to try and correct a students bad behavior that is a cause of lack of good parenting.

Schools are a microcosm of the families and communities from which their students are drawn. Some schools are able to overcome genuine deficits created by dysfunctional families and communities, but the majority are not. We in the the education field should keep trying to improve our craft and educate all children--that's what we get paid to do--but it would be wonderful if it weren't such an uphill climb sometimes.

Imagine if the parents would be supportive of the schools and teachers. Imagine if the parents would push their kids to get good grades and behave well in class. Imagine if the parents would actually sit down with their kids each night and ask them how their school day went and what their homework is. Imagine if all parents actually cared about their child's education!!!

It would be a type of teacher Utopia! Alas, it is only a dream. A dream that will probably never come to fruition, but I can pray!

Teachers - Are We Just Pieces of Meat?

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:24:00 GMT

There’s a study from the Chronicle of Higher Education that shows that good-looking professors are less well-respected by their peers, the thought being that perhaps they were hired for their body – rather than their body of work…

“The feeling among professors was that if you looked like you spent too much time in the beauty parlour and not enough in the library, it was a problem,” says Chronicle senior writer Robin Wilson, who’s been covering faculty culture for 25 years. “It’s almost better to be a little crusty-looking so people will trust you and give you more respect.”

I guess then that Todd Jacobson might be a good professor. And now I am wondering why Creston hired me. I thought it was because I am the best teacher ever (with all due respect to Galen Zumbach) but now I am beginning to think I am being used for my body!!! I feel so dirty!

Back to the article: This is twice the problem for women.

“Men didn’t say it caused any trouble per se with their peers; they were just really embarrassed by it,” says Wilson. “But attractive women in science felt like their male colleagues took them less seriously because of (the chatter), and treated them like bimbos at conferences. They had to take extra measures to look serious.”

Due to our societies preconceived idea about gender roles and lookism… I doubt many people would be concerned that an attractive male professor was “spending too much time in a beauty parlor,” or for that matter, that he was spending any time at all at the parlor! But an attractive female professor would certainly have the worst of both worlds. She would indirectly be expected to both look attractive in socially acceptable ways, and at the same time couldn’t look too attractive.

So, it’s pretty amusing that they choose an attractive male professor to profile with the article. …once again academia is reinforced as a “masculine career.”