There are some days when I wonder why I am here – in my job.
I want to say I love my job all the time. I wish I could say that. I love it – most of the time. Most of the time.
However – there are some days when I just wonder . . . .
“Why am I here?”
Between the bureaucracy from the county and the &$%@-ing BS from Guidance and Administration – AND the student who think they are just entitled to everything, I really wonder – what am I doing here?
And people wonder why the education system can’t get (or keep) highly qualified teachers.
Hello? NCLB Act anyone? That particular act is responsible for a good portion of the crap I have to now do.
Students no longer have to be responsible for themselves – for anything. The Act, in GENERAL, states that all students should be able to graduate high school. Um, hello? Not actually true. Every student actually has the *right* to fail. Anyone who does not work – does not deserve to pass a class. Anyone who cannot get their ass to school does not deserve to pass – or graduate.
Because my home county must comply with this stupid act, they have instituted some new grading policies. My favorite? The 1-up policy. (Yes, I just likened it to a video game. Read on, you’ll see why.) Students are allowed to retake assessments to receive a better grade. Yes, I said – RETAKE. REDO. TRY AGAIN. Failed the first time? Just eat the 1-UP mushroom – all better! >___< *What* these students are allowed to retake depends on both school and the department IN a school, but - still. No one is allowed to fail any longer. If they screwed up or, worse, weren't prepared, it doesn't matter - 1-UP! What does this teach our children? They don’t need to try the first time because they can do it again. Who cares if they mess it up the first time? 1-UP! No time to study? No worries. 1-UP! Too much partying? It’s all okay! 1-UP! I fear for the workforce of the coming generation. They have no concept of deadline or doing something right the first time or you are DONE. No concept. Move, people. You’ve got about 4 years before the US implodes….
That 1-UP policy is really sad. I just don’t think that will prepare them for the “real” world. Kids nowadays are already getting a warped sense of what the “real” world is just from all the tv reality shows. I simply can’t believe that schools would do the same. It saddens me that kids nowadays expect the stupidist things, and have no responsibility.
Ugh, I see school as a social place, where you learn to deal with things in your upcoming real life. this makes me want to home school my kids, but I really don’t want to deprave them from the social life. It’s sad.
It is sad, Yoshi. And I, as a teacher, have no idea what to do. I really don’t. ): I’m SUPPOSED to be helping them prepare for college/the real world. How can I with stuff like this? I set boundaries and they stare at me like I have four heads for doing it. Does no one set boundaries for their kids any longer? Or is that just here? :/
(btw – you don’t want to DEPRAVE your kids? (; Should we worry? (; )
That’s so true. In addition, another complaint is that they’re feeding the SAME CONTENT to students for YEARS, so the bright students – which there are A LOT of – get bored. I didn’t learn anything new in Math until I was a freshman; 7th and 8th grade were repeats of 6th grade. I could be finished with HS math by the end of this year if it weren’t for NCLB. That, or I could be challenged with content – that was accessible, of course. (gimpy eyes need accommodations). NCLB fails everybody — special ed kids, regular education, teachers, aides, parents. I can’t think of one thing it’s done. All I can say is, if you want to improve education, improve parent-teacher organisations. Both parents are working and it’s rare to get a “uh huh, mmhmm” from most parents to their kids. What happened to sitting down at dinner and talking? Someone has to step in and be a parent, it doesn’t – and shouldn’t – totally be a mom’s problem.
Sister in law is a teacher in NV, Bro’s in the Army and training for medical school. She leaves at six in the morning and doesn’t get home until seven. But they still eat dinner together and talk. I ask for just that. I ask for parents to wake the fuck up and talk to their kids.