Teaching and Predictability
This is the continuation of our exploration of the baseline downside of teaching; Tedium, the Bell and Chain, and No Career Path. These are things that I personally didn’t like about teaching that would have been present even if Michelle Rhee had never been born. Every teacher, in even the best of circumstances, must deal with these things. We started with Tedium and a discussion of Grading: Part I and Part II.
A close cousin of tedium is our good friend predictability. Predictability means roughly that I know what is going to happen before it happens. If this is the case, then teaching is nearly 100 percent predictable, yet simultaneously buffeted around in a sea of pure chaos and randomness.
How can this be?
When I say that teaching is predictable and it drives me crazy, I mean predictable in the macro sense; the big picture. When I begin a new school year in August, I can tell you with 97 percent accuracy where I will be and what I will be doing at any given moment on any workday, and most Sunday afternoons, from then until the middle of June. The book is already written. In fact, I already know this year what will be happening at any given moment next year. I will be in my classroom teaching social studies. Or I will be doing one of about four different things during my planning period. Or I will be eating or working through lunch. That’s about it.
There will not be a big new project that I will be asked to work on where I might learn new skills, push and stretch myself professionally; maybe earn myself a promotion. There won’t be any opportunities to show that I can work efficiently, under pressure, think creatively or lead in any sort of true crisis or crunch-time situation. I will never have a power lunch. Who has power lunches with school teachers? And who, aside from teachers, has 35 minute lunches that start at 11:20 in the morning?
But this can be thought of in a different way. The other side of the predictability coin was articulated to me by a friend I used to teach with. She disagreed strongly with me and argued that she thrives on the intense unpredictability of teaching. She gets there in the morning and has no idea what will happen in her classroom that day. And she is correct. The classroom is full of surprises, especially for a new teacher.
In her classroom.
This is strictly micro-level unpredictability. I know that exactly seven months from that opening day in August I will be in this school, in this room, teaching U.S. Government to between 25 and 35 twelfth graders. She knows she’ll be doing the same thing in her room, teaching English. But, within these parameters, it is true that I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. Maybe I’ll be giving a test. Maybe six students will be absent on a field trip with another class. Maybe a kid who usually says stupid things will say something smart, or vice versa. Maybe there will be a fire drill or a fight or a pep rally. Maybe I will be observed. Maybe I’ll find out one of my students is pregnant. Maybe I will give a really great lesson or one that flops. Nonetheless, these are all common things. If they don’t happen today or tomorrow, they’ll happen next week.
I would say that after about three years, unless there is something wrong with you, it is pretty hard to really surprise a teacher with anything that happens in the classroom or the school building. You can make them mad; but it’s hard to surprise them. Schools are painstakingly designed to maximize predictability and minimize surprises. And, to the extent there are any truly medium- or large-sized surprises, they are likely to be the bad kind. For instance, here are some examples of my least favorite, real life teaching surprises:
- Everybody must now use the same online grade book, cobbled together with shitty district software;
- The copy machine is broken;
- A student has committed suicide;
- Remember that thing that was going to get you out of 3rd and 4th period? That’s not happening anymore;
- A club will now be meeting in your classroom immediately after school;
- You will not be teaching the class you spent the summer developing curriculum for.
But in general, the same basic class of low-stakes, routine events, problems and annoyances will present themselves over and over again. Depending on the individual teacher, each one of these reoccurring events and problems will continue to be challenging, enraging, manageable, stressful, inspiring, boring or entertaining. And totally predictable.
Mr. Teachbad
Not for me!! I have taught the same grade twice in the same school and could feel the growing boredom. I think this would have made me quit more than anything. I can’t stand tedium. It makes me teach bad- pun intended.
For some crazy reason I have always been Special Assigment due to seniority and re- certification. As a result I have been at 9 schools in 10 years. This has sucked but has not been boring. I have learned how each school is an island into itself even in a large public school system.
Also, thanks to re-certifying in computers, I am learning all the time and quite a lot. This is why I can stomach my job sometimes. I am learning and plan to use this knowledge to begin enterprises of my own. At least I’m hopeful. Blah blah and I can pass the new learning to the students, but I have decided that educating me is my first goal and I like going to the tech PD’s which have zero talk or tolerance for educational buzzwords and nonsense.
Just thought I’d put this out here. Also, I did get a small promotion with this.
Did I just write a positive comment. Please don’t take my blogging rights away:)
I know I will have a split block, overcrowded lunch class, which means they will be late to class, twice, who will be very low level, and will include 5 kids who have flunked once, are 2 years older than the others, but will have to come to school because they are on probation…and the class will be 90 minutes long…not 60 minutes…everyday…
That is THE worst. Split blocks and late twice for the same class on the same day…or maybe just not come back after lunch.
OMgosh that was the best in HS. So many times we talked our Trig teacher into letting us have double lunch! At the 30th Reunion Sept. ’11, we were still laughing about it-Thanks Miss Shank (that is a true name!).
I take predictable as the huge cycle that education is…theories in, theories out and the absurd repackaging that occurs when the ‘global’ know-it-alls decide to change things for the good of the planet!
Teachers have a difficult job to say the least. So many opportunities to be creative beyond belief!There are ways to catch the interest of all kinds of students. It does take time and support from others…teachers must meet and encourage each other – share curriculum ideas and try team teaching. If you have a camera in your class …be brave, be innovative, be strong. Teaching is the hardest job you will ever love! Best wishes in your work!
Judith, you smell like admin. Be gone! lol
Admin, future admin, or college professor. Either way she clearly is not in the classroom every day
Ok Judith
The “toughest job you will ever love”? Are you kidding? The only people who say this are administrators and administrator wanna be’s.
So please share with us some of your creative inspiration/
On a separate note, I just received an automated voice message on my cell about two hours ago from my now-former school and place of employment. It was a reminder that the student and citizen of the month names are due tomorrow. What a crock of shit that whole thing is…and nothing but a nuisance for teachers. We rotate names to make the parents happy. Funny thing is the parents are too stupid to even think such a thing.
^ That’s strange….the first half of my post did not come out. Anyway, I just stated that whether or not teaching is predictable really depends on the teacher and their experiences. Ultimately, a job being predictable is fine IF it’s not a shitty job.
Ohhh, baby! What a crock of a nasty boy teacher. Go find some not stupid parents – get away asap! Your students and their caretakers/parents do not need you and you nasty, ignorant self!
Judith Claire, the beautiful thing about Mr. TeachBad’s post is that there is an opportunity to speak the ugly truth in a receptive community with not always like-minded colleagues. And without fear of administrative reprisal, of which many of us have frankly had our share.
Meditate on this Wikipedia explanation for “name calling.
Name calling is a cognitive bias and a technique to promote propaganda. Propagandists use the name-calling technique to incite fears or arouse positive prejudices…. When this tactic is used instead of an argument, name-calling is thus a substitute for rational, fact-based arguments against an idea or belief, based upon its own merits.
Judith, you said: “you nasty, ignorant self”
Somebody’s ghetto! LOL
Between this post and your post above, I’m concluding you are a “ghetto administrator”. ;O)
We did the same thing at our school- every kid had to get an award EVERY nine weeks….it was a stretch to find an award for some kids. (picks nose the most, best eater…) Craziness.
Both of the schools I have taught at do the same thing with their “Student of the Month” BS. Every homeroom teacher has to choose two or three students to be the student of the month. Every child has to be student of the month at least once, compete with assembly/picture in the lobby/etc. My old school even gave out bumper stickers. It was a running joke at this same school that by May the criteria to be student of the month was to make it through a lunch period without punching someone. But the parents seem to buy into the “honor” hook, line, and sinker. I laugh to myself every time I see one of those stupid bumper stickers.
Yup. I laugh at the bumper stickers AND the oh-so-proud parent who put it on!!! lol
My personal favorite bumper stickers:
“My Rottweiler is smarter than your honor student.”
“My kid beats up your honor student.”
“My kid got your honor student pregnant.”
holy shit. I thought the list of teaching surprises you put in your post only happened at my disorganized, screwed up school!
Then Ned added his class surprises (right down to the ” 5 kids who have flunked once, are 2 years older than the others. . . ” which has happened to me twice in the past 2 years (still surprising, though. I mean, two years in a row??!)
Learning this after (mumble) years of teaching, I got the eureka realization: all teachers and their screwed up school systems are trapped in a single time-space continuum and trapped in a vortex of . . I dunno..
“Go vote, it will make you big and strong.” Also, remind your students to remind their caretakers to vote!
Sometimes teachers have to choose a different profession.Teachers can make a difference, but it is hard work. Later, you may see some of your students as adults and they may tell you of special things they remember and how you helped change their lives.
Yes. Go vote. Totally on point. Oh, and get another job. Another relevant point.
On completely different topic, do two non-sequetors equal a sequetor?
Holy batshit, you get 35 minutes for lunch? You have no idea how lucky you are.
Say what? Sounds like a white thang goin’ on here with white boys who need to join the military and become real Men!! Go for it!
Iz knewz youz wuz ghetto Judith!!! lol
why are you trolling?
Judith claire: your posts are sweet sentimental and loving . Go away! This is not your blog. Find a happy teacher crap blog. There r tons of them,. This is humor and I don’t like your insults to our tired and beaten fallen comrades. You obviously haven’t been following long.
She’s rheely Michelle.
P.s. Ms. Claire: Blank you!!
Nasty letter to follow!
Normally, I would advise to not engage.
However, given my previous posts, this advice would be moot.
Also, may I borrow your title for happy teacher crap blog?
New VP (same as the old VP) with no real teaching experience, lots of enthusiasm for newest big thing, throws around jargon like a pro. Meetings, meetings, meetings, everyone gets to be on a committee. Kids who speak English fine but are too low level to test out of ESL so we all have to pretend that their problem is language. Change the testing format so that there is no way we can duplicate last year’s gains because now it’s apples to oranges. Sigh.
Not that I need it, but reading your blog assures me that quitting teaching was the best thing I ever did!
Like Tricia said. I love my new job (which is not in education) and every time I try to convince myself that the old one couldn’t have been as bad as I think, I simply remember pulling open the front door to my former school and instantly my stomach is in knots. Friends that are still teaching say that at least there are no surprises, so they can drift along without too much effort. They keep my business card attached to bulletin boards as a reminder that there is a way out.
Great list. I really, REALLY hate when that thing that was supposd to get me out of third and fourth period does not happen.
I hate that thing that is supposed to get you out of 3rd and 4th period, and actually welcome its cancellation. Why? Because my 1st and 8th period class are the same prep, and now they have to do some bullshit assignment or video so they’re not ahead of the other classes. I hate wasting time time like that.
Other than that, I am total agreement. But man, what I wouldn’t do for a 35 minute lunch. Mine is 23 minutes, at 10am. And on half days, 9am. LUNCH. What the ever loving hell is that crap?
You know what you can add to that list of predictable unpredictability? Random announcements interrupting your train of thought, so that some days, it feels like you’re the only person in the building trying to…oh I don’t know…teach.
But then you get those situations where 3rd period is already a day ahead, so you were all ready for that thing, it would get your classes back aligned. Then they cancel it (of course, halfway through 2nd period), and now not only will they be two days ahead, but you don’t have a lesson plan, because you weren’t supposed to have that class.
Also, this is the period the admin will pick for a “learning walk”.
Hope I’m not overcrowding this thread, but found a blog with tons of teacher comments. I couldn’t help but copy & paste them into this one. I separated each one with ——————.
You are NOT alone. not even remorely close! Anyway, lots of reading for those who want to make better use of their preps ;O)
I have been teaching for 27 years and have never hated it more! My day is spent with disrespectful, lazy kids who think only of their own needs and who do subpar work and expect high grades. Ironically, the state expects me to transform these immature, low-performing teens into scholars who are ready to solve the world’s problems. Many of them can’t sit still long enough to read , write, or even think about something “academic.” Everyhing has to be turned into a game or a socialize with another classmate activity. I’m surrounded by teachers who have resorted to showing videos or “youtube” spots to keep the kids engaged. Yea they might be engaged but what are they really learning?
My only solace is knowing that I’ll soon be done with this thankless, impossible job!
If you’re someone who does well in school and you’re considering a career in teaching, get out and sub before you make your final decision!
————————
I remember when I was student teaching and I asked one teacher, “What’s the best advice you can give me about this profession?” He said, “Run, Run Run as far as you can from this profession. Run, while you’re young.” I looked at him like he must be crazy and said, “Oh no, I really like teaching.” We’ll two years after teaching, I remembered what he said and I am running the opposite direction, so much as I would sleep in my car and wouldn’t go back if my life depended on it. It was as if I was in jail with a bunch of juvenile brats with no security. I was slammed to the ground twice, came home with bruises more than once, held up in the corner of the room with a sharp edged metal ruler to my face, had large desks thrown at me and the list goes on. At least in jail, they’d have security! For you parents out there, take parenting classes and learn how to raise your kids.
—————————–
I was mistreated by the administration. I was more verbally abused than a battered housewife. It was my first year teaching, and they gave me a Language x class full of kids who undermined every attempt I made at teaching. I feel awful. I put my heart and soul into teaching. I turned in my resignation at Christmas. I was suicidal and crushed- absolutely crushed. Please tell me there are better schools out there- please.
————————
I’m a 45 year old man and I’ve been an elementary school teacher for 6 years. I started out teaching music but because of cutbacks have been moved around to a different school and teaching different grades every year. The pay sucks and the hours are endless. Most administrators are manipulative scumbags and most teachers are suck-holes. Parents can be okay, but many are annoying pests. The only subject I enjoy teaching is music because I am passionate about it and know what the kids need to learn. I hate classroom teaching and being expected to enforce a system of conformity and deliver such a monotonous curriculum. It is stressful and boring and the job never leaves your head. I am too deep in debt to quit otherwise I would turn in my resignation tomorrow.
We all need something better to work towards otherwise what is the point? I’d love to hear from any former teachers who got out of teaching and found something better to do with their lives.
———————
I have come to hate teaching. I entered the professions with such high hopes of how I was going to “inspire young minds” and “make a difference”. And although along the way I have met a lot of sweet children, there are an awful LOT of children I teach who are just plain rude, disrespectful and ungrateful of their free education. I hate the feeling that the job is never done, and the guilt if I have a work free evening or weekend, because I can’t help feeling like I need to be on top of things. But it frustrates me that however hard I work to get my to do list done, there is another pile of work dumped on you the next second. So the feeling of accomplishment is short lived. I can’t stand the rudeness of parents who think they can tell you how to do your job, or that you are just not good enough to teach their perfect, flawless child (who is not so angelic). I am looking into alternatives at the moment and am planning to leave my job in a years time to do a masters (conversion) course.
—————————-
I agree. I hate being a teacher. After 22 years of abuse from administrators, parents and adolescents, I’m ready to trash my teaching license and move into being my own boss in some other line of work. I can’t see how anyone coming out of grad school will be able to handle the new generations of students, many of whom are accustomed to having things done for them, rather than being able to do things themselves. I strongly urge those who are currently in college not to be swayed into becoming teachers. Not only is it a waste of good money, but your health and sanity will be affected by all the b.s.
—————————————–
Teaching is definately not worth the headache and the stress. God bless those that do it. I worked with children for 10 years and got out. You couldn’t pay me a million bucks to do it again!
—————————-
After 15 years in education, I cannot stand being a teacher. I HATE BEING A TEACHER! I work in the inner city and I hate driving there every work day. 33 percent of the students just do not care about learning and they disrupt the 66 percent of the decent students who want an education. Those 33 percent make teaching effectively impossible. Since, I was also an administrator, I learned how to fool the current adminstrators into believing that I am an effective teacher: impressive looking bulletin boards, over the top enthusiasm when I am observed, use of effective teaching tools on stand by, student data graphs displayed, charts posted with thinking maps, etc. I put in a lot of work into faking the bosses out and it works! But when they leave, the 33 percent of little shits take over and make teaching a living hell. Well fuck it, I inherited some money and I am secretly getting trained in another field. I can’t wait to leave teaching and I will never come back.
—————————-
I taught for 5 years before calling it quits. The best teaching job I had was with adult foreigners who really wanted to learn English and treated me like royalty. But the systems I had to work under, whether public school, private school or university gave me the absolute shits. I dreamed of inventing my own school system like Steiner, and calling the shots. It’s sadly all about the money today and kids know this better than a lot of teachers. From memory, the best teachers I ever had, who could hold my attention, were those that were most brutally honest and called the bullshit of society what it was. We got very little programmed work during those classes but the lessons I learnt in them will stay with me forever. Schools have forgotten the priceless words of Aristotle, the greatest teacher that ever breathed: “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.” The most successful people today were all school drop-outs. They had the courage to act on their conviction that the modern school system is inherently flawed. If you really want to impact young minds today, get a facelift and a good body, become a singer or an actor and get famous like Justin Bieber. How many students do you think would read his book if he wrote one?
———————-
I hate teaching. After 12 years I am getting out. I have moved around and worked at 4 different schools and it never gets better. The adminstration is the worst. The parents have a sense of entitlement and the kids are clearly bored. You do have a few students who are very well behaved and motivated but that is not the majority. I have worked at 2 public schools and 2 private schools and both environments are places where nobody want to be. The children don’t want to be there, the teachers don’t want to be there. The only person who wants to “maybe” be there is the principal because she/he gets to sit in her office and collect her/his hefty paycheck for doing nothing but nit picking all fo the teachers in his/her school. Screw that! My advice to anyone getting into teaching is to really think about it before you let children, parents and administrators tear you apart and rip away at your soul. You will always be told what you are doing wrong. Somebody told me this profession is underpaid and underappreciated. They were 100% right. I should have got out years ago!
————————
It’s Sunday and I can’t enjoy it because I can’t bear the thought of another week of teaching. I absolutely hate it. My principal is incompetent and lies to avoid any confrontation. He lets teachers fight it out and gets others to do his work for him. The kids have no manners and are not accustomed to listening or following directions. Most of my day is spent repeating myself and getting them to focus. It is completely draining and depressing. It’s pure torture.
————————-
I’ve been teaching for about 18 years. It gets harder each year. I started teaching when I was 23 and was hired straight out of college, I don’t know anything else. What makes it worse is I am clinically depressed. I thought of just killing myself, because that seemed like a better alternative than teaching. I regret getting into teaching. Many of my colleagues are done with teaching as well.
—————————–
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Man I remember being happy once before teaching. I enjoyed some of the moments and some of the perks that came with the profession. I just could not commit to all the inconsistencies and mediocrity. I was enlightened by my experience and I now know why growing up I saw some teachers burnt out. So many job titles wrapped into one person. Very very demanding and sucks the life out of you. I do not know how the US educational system is soooo screwed up and the crap keeps pilling up crushing teachers spirits.
——————————–
When I first started teaching in 1977, things were not the way they are now! It wasn’t perfect, but none of this garbage that goes on now occurred. There was none of this “modification”, all these kids ADHD, all of these special circumstances teachers had to take care of! Now, there is so much individualization that must be applied that it is impossible for one person to manage all of the differentiation! School is not for an education any longer because no one cares. It’s a giant babysitting service….government sponsored day care……………..free food and free food supplies. Kids don’t listen to their teachers because the kids could care less about education. The kids are there for one purpose: to talk and socialize and heaven forbid if you try to have a decent lesson. They act like you fell out of the sky if you actually try to teach them something. Most of my day is spent simply trying to keep order. And the paper work is overwhelming with no time to get any of it done at school. All this new curriculum when these kids have no basic skills whatsoever. I did a special lesson on the black death where they had to investigate cures that people of the Middle Ages came up with for the illness. All they got out of it was that they wanted my plastic frogs and my plastic snakes. It’s give me, give me, give me and let me go to the bathroom or give me a bandaid or I need to call my mother or give me some paper or give me a kleenex or make fun of everything that I try to teach them because they are too stupid to have any class whatsoever (no pun intended), but education is at the bottom of everyone’s list. I was even told that I was a kid’s mother while the kid was in school. Teachers are so disrespected. My seventh graders push me out of their way if I am standing anywhere that they think they need to be. They do not shut up for anything and talk back and argue and act like jerks. I’ve resigned. They’ve called me a bitch, an ugly old witch and make jokes about the lessons. I work so hard trying to have innovative lessons for them, but I cannot teach people who have no desire to learn and find everything funny because of their stupidity. I resigned and I am getting out. Fools don’t even have a clue of what a superior teacher they have caused to leave the profession. I will never go back.
———————————
I also hate teaching. I love my students, I am blessed enough that they want to learn but I am not organized and I am not a drill sergeant which is what kids need these days. I am hoping that I find a way out. It’s constant work from 7:00-5:00 and that is just school activities from 7:00 pm until 10:00 pm is work on lessons and paperwork. I also take being a role model very seriously and will not drink or smoke, won’t go to club etc.. so I am pretty much constantly working and never going out. It’s like prison. If you are not yet a teacher DO NOT DO IT. It is all consuming it is not a career it is a life style and if you are social you will get depressed. The work NEVER ends. Even in the Summer it is actually planning for the next school year and attending mandatory trainings for up to 1 month. Parents are demanding and annoying. The stress has affected my health. I HATE TEACHING!!! but I love kids
—————————
I have been teaching for ten years and am sadly seeking another source of income. I love the students. I hate the policies, paperwork, class size, and unrealistic expectations. Is it realistic to expect special needs students to perform on the same level as a general education student? What ever happened to the bell curve? All kids are expected to be rocket scientists which leaves teachers, parents, and students to be frustrated and overwhelmed. I’m tired of being blamed and disrespected when I give 100% all the time. I worry and care about other people’s kids more than they do. The parents who do the least are the first to point their finger at school. I’ve been insulted and harassed by parents who depend on me to do everything from teaching their child manners to buying them lunch. I’ve been pushed by students and called a bitch in class. Unfortunately this has become the cultural norm. Most kids & parents aren’t happy unless you do the work for them and “give” them a good grade. Parents have lost the understanding that grades are earned not given. They ask us why the child has a zero instead of asking their child who earned it. It’s our fault their child failed or didn’t turn in work. Our entire school system set up to fail and teachers are taking the heat for it. Teachers are delivering a curriculum which many of us do not agree with that is not age appropriate and appropriate, but we are the fall guys. I spend more time stressing and worrying about school and my students then my own children. Teaching has sucked the life out of me. Almost every teacher at every school I’ve worked at has had to be put on antidepressants or other medication just to get by. The more you care the harder it is to teach which is why I really need to leave. I care too much and no matter what I do it is not enough. There is always work to be done and insults to be thrown. No one is ever happy with the tremendous amount of time, dedication, and love educators put in. I’m discouraged and disappointed in our educational system. I’m worried about my kids making through the public school system where they are tested to death and choked by work by no choice of the teacher. I wish people would place blame where it is due, on our poor moral culture and failing educational policies. Teachers are just doing the best they can with little money, large class size, disrespectful students, ungrateful parents, and More and more demands. I want to be able to spend time with my own children in the evenings and weekends. Instead I’m working all night and weekend for other people’s children and nobody cares. I’ve noted one thing in education, those who care can’t last. Teachers have been conditioned to be mediocre. The less you do the more parents are pleased. Just pass the students who cares if they can’t add or read. I do! That is why I must go!
———————————
Thanks for posting this. I was once like most of the people in that post. I was disorganized, felt the work was never-ending, felt trapped, etc. I felt like I was uniquely unsuited for the job and that somehow everyone else was handling it just fine. I had never felt so alone as I did among the other teachers I worked with, especially the ones who were always talking about how much they loved their kids. After a few years in I knew I hated it, knew I was trapped. I did as little PD as I could get away with, had fun during the summer, managed to forget I had a job during the rest of the year for a little while. I knew no amount of PD or preparation was going to better enable me to confront the horror that would begin anew in September.
I never bothered to learn but a couple of the stupid Edspeak acronyms either. To this day I can’t remember what SDAIE is. I always felt education was simply: demonstrate a process. Ask student to perform process. Praise the aspects where student succeeded and point put shortcomings. Repeat as necessary. IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.
And Judith Claire: go screw yourself. You sound like a Hallmark robot.
@ xkl4nyn,
You made two profound points:
1) “I knew no amount of PD or preparation was going to better enable me to confront the horror that would begin anew in September.”
2) ” I always felt education was simply: demonstrate a process. Ask student to perform process. Praise the aspects where student succeeded and point put shortcomings. Repeat as necessary. IT DOESN’T NEED TO BE MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT.”
To the first point, every teacher feels the same (except the occasional nut job who appears to like or love teaching…they usually have NO life outside of teaching or they’re simply fucking nuts!) Getting back to your point, there really is no way to prepare for a job which is so overwhelming and demanding that no words could ever come remotely close to describing it.
As to your second point, the process you described used to be teaching. These new age nut jobs would tell you that was all wrong. I say it isn’t. The “old way” was REAL LIFE. I taught (feels good to use the past tense!) Special Ed and the REALITY is that these kids are what they are. They won’t be doctors or lawyers and that’s OKAY. There are plenty of other jobs which they can do when they get older. Me differentiating like a maniac will do little or nothing for them if you look at the big picture.
So, the fact is until this entire “profession” gets back to the way it was 30+ years ago, it will never be a job in which any sane person can possibly enjoy it on any level.
I keep telling this one story and I will again: Went to the Dominican Republic on vacation about 6 months ago. Went on an Outback trip and visited a local school. It was a real time warp. It was two tiny one-room buildings. There were a few maps on the wall. NO strategy charts. Just the alphabet, a number line, and a schedule on the wall written in permanent marker because they simply followed the same general schedule each day (ahhhh…simplicity). There were no paras. There desks were NOT grouped. There was no extreme differentiated instruction. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I had my wife ask lots of questions. My wife is Spanish and though I speak some, it was easier for her to act as translator :O) So what I state is not only my observation. I was so envious of the way their system was run. I went back to work even more depressed than before lol
Just thought I’d share this piece, decide how you think this fits into the narrative of 21st Century Schools and predictability:
Terrorist Professor Bill Ayers and Obama’s Federal School Curriculum http://www.aim.org/special-report/terrorist-professor-bill-ayers-and-obamas-federal-school-curriculum/ via @AccuracyInMedia
“Renaissance Group. . . was dedicated to problems of poverty, diversity, and multiculturalism— and the inability of white teachers to deal with them.”
We have about 100 teachers at our inner-city school. two are African-American. The rest of us are white with a scattering of Asian and Middle Eastern instructors.
So . . another example of “blame the teacher” – as in: no wonder the schools are so messed up. You teachers are the wrong race.
puh-leeze
Oh, Diversity Training! My favorite! We have those once a year. It’s when a speaker comes in and tells us that if we are white it means that we are inherently racist and it’s our fault every time a minority kid fails a test or misbehaves. Always a good time.
Hi: I OWN – not really — the computer lab filled with IMAC lion OS . The kids r rotten. Period! But just to brighten your mood, I can “get me even on their asses.”
. The joy of technology and if your s super shit, I’ll send unix codes to really make things have a tech moment. My lab– my rules. He he he
Don’t want to get too specific, but my policy is that I help a kid in behavior order. Your a shit, fine , you rot waiting for me to help you when your stuck. The period will be over while you wait . And I say it ” you rude to me, I’m rude to you.” “Too Bad”.
They’re coming to take me away .. Ha ha. Ho ho he he.
Hey guys!
Judith is obviously a troll (and/or an admin shill). Granted, I’ve never encountered such a Pollyanna-ish one. Don’t feed the trolls.
See y’all down in the salt mines.
Miss Friday’s right. I shouldn’t have fed the troll. Hey Mr. Teachbad….when you start drawing trolls it means you are certainly doing something right. Love your blog! Keep up the good work.
No regrets. Troll feeding is like a whoopie cushion on the teacher’s, make that admin’s, chair: You know you shouldn’t, but the momentary pleasure it brings is irresistible.
Hi out there: this year is the first time I have found myself in a situation in which the other teachers are assholes. I can’t figure it out. This is my tenth school so I know I respect other teachers. It must be some crazy dysfunction school problem because it seems like massive staff tension. It’s too early to tell if its me or the whole bldg. I hate this f’n job. It’s bad enough we’re overworked, underpaid , taken advantage of , victims of adult abuse by kids, but now are we finally eating each other. Can this be symptmatic of the final breakdown of the system??
Anybody have a thought here? BY THE WAY, the troll is a bitch and I didn’t appreciate the put down to Diff This!!
Hey Teachbaby,
First off, thanks for defending me against the ghetto troll ;O) lol
As for teachers being assholes, you’re not imagining things. Like you, I’ve been in quite a few schools throughout my relatively short career. There are asshole teachers in all of them, with some schools having more than others.
It seemed like with each school I went to, it got worse each time. I’m not sure if I noticed it more, or I just had less tolerance.
One particular thing that always annoyed me was how teachers would walk by a new-to-the-building teacher with their nose in the air, ignoring the teacher completely. I always said to myself two things: 1) What if I have been a teacher for five times longer than you? That would make it pretty silly for you to be walking around with some sort of air of superiority 2) Fuck you…you’re a typical little shit.
So, I feel for you having to be around these assholes. It’s just another thing that nice teachers have to deal with, unfortunately.
Well it turns out that the principal has no help and has a couple of young girls in her leadership team who suck at leadership. So, there is no real boss to go to. It’s every man for himself at this school and they are dumping on me— I respond badly to this!!! Before they f me up, I will put up a fight.
One teacher whose been there 20 years told me today that she’s not in the right circles to get the laptop cart! How f’d up is this?
I will probably get fired for requesting scheduling fairness in writing– but who cares? I get crapped on whether I stick up for myself or not so I might as well go for the gold. I am stressed– time to unwind..
I will enjoy my weekend and I will not waste another hour on this crap.
yo! Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, Philadelphia Public Schools might be getting its first Hurricane Day – a day off because of weather without shoveling snow. One of the very few perks that comes with teaching
Since I know there is life after teaching, and I’ve gone on and done something else, I often fantasize about talking my way somehow back into another teaching job, and having a completely different attitude. Not taking the crap from admin. Not being afraid of the consequences of doing the common sense thing, and not the CYA thing. Not being afraid of ” not doing enough”. Not being afraid of going home and having a life, enjoying myself on a weeknight. I’d like to go back and try to do the job without fear, to say no to the extra tasks and the needless busy work, to tell the administrators exactly what I will and won’t do. I’d like to pull a snickering, do-nothing so-called student out of his seat by his shirt collar, shove him out the door, and tell him not to return to class until a parent came back with him. I’d be curious to see how long I’d last.
This is a fine post, full of humor and wit. The comments are great too. Look, I taught music for 7 miserable years and my wife taught LA for 10. You people are too smart and talented for this. Try something else. You can always go back or you can sell papers in the median, but try. Or you can check out stories of our escape from teaching and what it has done for our lives and our marriage at http://www.hoombah.com. For us, it was the end of wishing our days away.
To XK14nym: Now I am worried. I have lost it this year. What you just wrote it precisely what I have been doing this year. I probably will be fired soon. Even down to grabbing ( gentle coercion: ??) the kid and tossing him out if the room and shutting a locked door after I do. I don’t do busy work . I only do what makes sense to me. I teach things I think matter. I have lost it this year. Maybe your post has shed some light on my pondering about why other teachers have been behaving so rotten to me this year.
I just can’t take it anymore. The principal wont suspend anyone for anything. There is no adult in the building to support the staff for even ten minutes with a kid. It’s bare bone staffing. If I can’t put a rotten teen out I have no power at all. The class would become unmanageable.
I need to focus on my pay check but when I’m in the thick of it, common sense takes over.
You are doing what you need to do for your own sanity, and it’s the right thing. It is. I wish I had gone out that way.
Teachers are isolated from each other and everyone always assumes the others have it together. It’s so hard to speak out against the nonsense, so hard. So much harder than most people can imagine. You get so used to being told to do impossible things that it’s surprising when someone does speak out against a directive or policy…they seem like a “whiner” until you realize…..hey, they’re right.
I don’t know what your situation is, whether you have dependents or not, but keep moving forward with this. Leap of faith. I would’ve been ready to sleep in my car and dumpster dive…no joke,I wanted out that bad. As it was, I had a family, so I couldn’t, but also thankfully had financial assistance from a family member to start a business.
Your situation is probably different, but don’t let fear of being jobless keep you in this hell. Once you’re free of your absurd “responsibilities” your mind will be free to occupy itself more directly and constructively with your self-preservation. You’ll probably amaze yourself.
@teachbaby: I feel for you. Let that common sense take over. I told myself for years that I “should” hang in there and get my pension, serve the kids, blah, blah. My wife and I share some office where she tutors LA and I teach guitar. 1/2 the hours, same pay and our health ins through the district was so crappy that we barely pay more now for two individual plans.@teachbad: That is such a kind and measured response. I am so glad I found this site.
Teachbaby,
I would start thinking of alternatives to teaching. There are always options, thought the pay may be less. Just think to yourself: What if I got fired for some reason? Start putting in applications anywhere you think you may be happy.