Please understand…I am not looking for a scapegoat or an excuse not to try. But I genuinely question my ability to act to make real and positive change in the lives of my students. I feel let down by my own expectations of my own awesomeness. These feelings are especially acute when my instincts tell me that the greatest impact I will have on these kids is by treating them like real human beings and the adults they almost are rather than educational widgets or hapless dependents. I’m really not Read more [...]
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FAKE EDUCATION NEWS Denver, CO- To fully appreciate this post, you may want to quickly read through Fire Drill Not Taken Seriously, Part I Sanford Morris begins to trudge down the hallway toward the south stairs, looking rather unworried. The south stair has already become crowded and confused by the time Morris arrives. Students from the fourth and fifth floors have begun coming down. Morris’s job is to optimize the flow of students down the staircase as they approach his zone from Eagle Sector Read more [...]
Do you remember Raymond? (Raymond is much more fun than li’l blueblack.) This is the reader who is thinking about teaching, but has some missgivings and concerns. His first concern was about the general intellectual heft of teachers, which we discussed in Are Teachers Morons? Raymond’s next concern/questions are about the use of data and what teachers can be held accountable for: I think that urban education in its current form is a cosmic failure. The system seems to be overrun by ridiculous Read more [...]
This is a new Teachbad experiment. Its success is entirely dependent on reader participation. Here’s the idea. You, the reader, the Teacher, have stories to tell and thoughts to share. We, the Other Teachers, want to hear them. So send a story to mr.teachbad@gmail.com and I’ll put it up on the NEW Teachbad Stories Blog. It will be linked to the main Teachbad Disgruntlement Blog (that’s what you are reading right now) and vice versa. Write about anything you want, as long as it has to do with teaching, Read more [...]
Dear Readers: Early this morning I received a comment to this post that alarmed me. The poster is someone called blueblack@gmail.com. What follows is Blueblack’s comment, with some information redacted to protect the innocent and the guilty, followed by my response. blueblack@gmail.com: You are FIRED! You need to be fired, you unwashed cochino. I guaran-tee, you don’t spend as much time planning, as you do writing this juvenile blog. Anyone who despises students, despises learning as much as Read more [...]
So, here I am. Spring Break. It’s pretty nice…with all the not working and everything. You have to admit that. No matter what else you don’t like about your job, it’s pretty cool that Spring Break is still pretty cool. So I had a choice for Spring Break, like every year. What should I do? I could: A) Go to Cancun and do a bunch of Tequila shots off a stranger’s butt-crack; or B) Watch my kids and try to finish up some projects around the house. Loud and proud: It’s B. That’s right, Motherfuckers. Read more [...]
This post, and maybe two more, will be dedicated to responding to some questions posed to me last month by a reader. The reader is preparing to make a decision about whether or not to teach and has some concerns. The reader…OK, enough of “the reader”. Let’s just call him a devoted fan named Raymond. Raymond has a number of questions. The first is about the intellectual capacity of teachers. The second and third have to do with the reality of teaching in an urban school versus the “I’m going to Read more [...]
I’m a line worker Education factory Waiting for the bell First, let me say that I love unions. If you are a migrant avocado picker, janitor, coal miner, office cleaner, or assembly line worker; you should get yourself into a union right away. And they will help you. Why do you need help? Because you possess no special skills or knowledge. You are easily replaceable. If you have issues or complaints, about anything, it’s not worth the boss’s time to try to make you happy. If you have extraordinary Read more [...]
Once in a while, twice so far to be precise, I will post some of the most recent Teachbad bad poetry with links to the related posts. This is such an occasion. Not sure which to choose? Go ahead…read them all. They’re FREE! Enjoy the badness with a colleague or loved one. They will thank you. Mr. Teachbad It’s hard to take it Pretend. Go Along. Fake it. A half hour meeting About fire drill procedures We talked about this last week Though most grudgingly And without full admission They’ve Read more [...]
FAKE EDUCATION NEWS -Eugene, OR For three weeks Alan Holcomb has been traveling back and forth between Sheldon High School in Eugene, OR and his apartment, also in Eugene, OR, with a stack of 72 papers on Rhetorical Device Analysis of Winston Churchill’s Pancake Breakfast Address from his 11th grade English classes. “I supposes this makes me a bad teacher”, says Holcomb, 29. “It’s just that I know how bad these are going to suck and I just can’t bring myself to start. I’d rather scrub my face with Read more [...]
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