The hardest, Most thanksless job. Outside of the home.

[Vodstok]

Teaching. You couldnt pay me enough to do this. The hours suck, it's thankless a lot of the time, and the pay is terrible. It is definately one of the most noble professions in the world.



But there are a disturbing number of people in this occupation who should not be in it. growing up, i ran into more (Way more) than my fair share of apathetic, uninterested, vengeful, mean, cruel or just plain hateful people as teachers. I can understand that the nature of the job can mold young, idealistic people into bitter old farts, but people should (should... I know....) know when to call it quits with any job.


Its not like people are lured into teaching by promises of becoming millionaires... We all know the pay is crappy. Do i think they should get nmore money? yes. Do i want to pay higher taxes? Not really, but we could probably stand to fund fewer established businesses and government raises in order to do somehting as measly as ensuring our kids get a good education...

It also kills me that so many of them seem to dislike kids so much. Its like they became teachers simply because it gave them authority over a group. My 11th grade english teacher was one of these. He was a horrible man, arrogant and self absorbed. He had several AP classes and several remedial ones. I was in a remedial class. as you may be able to tell, i didnt belong there. He didnt care, and was not interested in hearing that i was previously in advanced classes, and didnt belong inone where the average student read at a 6th grade level. I was reading 6th grade in 4th.

Of course, this situation was a direct result o fwhat happened at my previous school. My english teacher had a job simply because she was the widow of an american military man. She was Philipino with a horrible grasp of the english language and a thick accent, but claimed she had 2 masters degrees in english... MT Pinatubo had blown up half the island so we got stuck with her.

i was part of the 97% of her students that failed that year, mostly due to homework that was never assaigned, but marked as an F because it wasnt turned in. And no, the school board didnt believe any of us until the end of year numbers. She was fired, but an entire section of the sophomore class that year ended up with ruined english records.

The rest of the school staff is as much to blame. I never had a single principal or vice principal that didnt comeoff as an authoritarian sociopath. We had one that looked like the Penguin from the old 60s batman, who routinely had 2 hour long assemblies simply because he LOVED to give speaches...

I have watched the inept, stupid and even (yes, not exagerrating) retarded children of teachers get away with murder because their parents were faculty...

And lets not even get into the whole "Bullying is part of the growing process of school" bullshit. it is mean, and it is wrong. How many more kids need ot get gunned down before they figure this one out?

The last thing i will rant about is testing teachers. MAssachussets has been doing this for a while, and i think it is brilliant. No offense to any teachers here, but if you cant pass a standardized test on your job every year, you shouldnt have it. The rest of us have to be able to perform outr jobs,m and are often called to task to prove it, it is no different from a regular job in that regard. get over it, if you cant pass, then i dont want you fumbling around screwing up my kid's future.


I will stay firmly planted on my soapbox for now, thank you.

[bwind22]

The only thing I'd disagree with is that the hours suck for teachers. They get 2.5 months straight off every year! That'd be fuckin' sweet!

[the_real_linda]

i wanted to be an art teacher.....perhaps not so much now......hmmmmm? tho i have wanted to do a lot of jobs!

[Vodstok]

The only thing I'd disagree with is that the hours suck for teachers. They get 2.5 months straight off every year! That'd be fuckin' sweet!

Well, they do suck for the ones that actually care enough to grade papers during their time at home. I had plenty, however, that would freak out if you missed an assignment,like it was a personal insult for you to have not done what they assigned. These were usually the teachers who wanted you to do an hours worth of work on their subject, and didnt want to hear that they were one of 8 classes you had in a day.

they were also the ones who would take WEEKS to grade youre tests, claiming htey didnt have time at home to take care of our tests. And they wonder why kids target their teachers for crimes....

[urgeok]

the ideal teacher is a very special person tailormade for the job.

someone with infinite patience, imagination, energy, the capacity for understanding, inspiring, and the ability to treat all kids equally.

unfortunately this is not the criteria for teaching. the criteria is go to school, pass the courses, get a job

sadly that has left us with a very high percentage of incompetent people in the profession.
I've recently seen this myself first hand ...

We've had teachers that can't spell ...their comminications are a joke ..

Also - you can clearly see the ones who have lost interest - they're tired, disconnected ...

Teaching is a demanding job .. your energy flows outward all day and the only time it flows back is when you see a kid 'get it' ... it's pretty rewarding.

the hours arent bad at all ... the prep work doesnt take long if you're organized and the actual in class time is usually under 6 hours a day.
If you get involved in coaching sports then you're out of the class a fair deal as well.

lots of vacation, holidays ... that part is pretty sweet.

i considered being a teacher at one time - then i came to the realization that i hated other peoples kids.

as i grew and matured i came to the new realization that it wasnt the kids i hated - it was/is the parents.

[Vodstok]

I htink the reason a lot fo people hate kids is that anyone can be a parent, and so few seem to care beyond "is the kid breathing?"


thanksless

.... No one else seemed to notice this, but i am "Smart" by most standards, and i cant spell to save my life these days. Thank YOU, public schools!

[Roderick Usher]

.... No one else seemed to notice this, but i am "Smart" by most standards, and i cant spell to save my life these days. Thank YOU, public schools!

sure, blame the system for your short comings...:D :D :D

But seriously, don't blame the schools/teachers/administration. Teach your kids what's important. School is a place to learn about following stupid rules and understanding how bureaucracy works (and hopefully how to manipulate it).

I don't trust the schools to teach my kids (although they do attend) and I don't have the patience to homeschool them - but I do tons of supplemental instruction in the home (mostly history, religion, poetry and mythology - and how these are interconnected.)

Hopefully they grow up to be autodidacts like me.

[Vodstok]

sure, blame the system for your short comings...:D :D :D

But seriously, don't blame the schools/teachers/administration. Teach your kids what's important. School is a place to learn about following stupid rules and understanding how bureaucracy works (and hopefully how to manipulate it).

I don't trust the schools to teach my kids (although they do attend) and I don't have the patience to homeschool them - but I do tons of supplemental instruction in the home (mostly history, religion, poetry and mythology - and how these are interconnected.)

Hopefully they grow up to be autodidacts like me.

I only expect them to do their job in as much as they are supposed to putting forth the effort to teach the kids, as well as protect them. If they are going to jump up and down because young girls are wearing miniskirts and low cut shirts, then they also need to keep the "cool" kids from making life hell for other kids, stop people from bullying, etc etc.


As best they can, of course.

[urgeok]

sure, blame the system for your short comings...:D :D :D

But seriously, don't blame the schools/teachers/administration. Teach your kids what's important. School is a place to learn about following stupid rules and understanding how bureaucracy works (and hopefully how to manipulate it).

I don't trust the schools to teach my kids (although they do attend) and I don't have the patience to homeschool them - but I do tons of supplemental instruction in the home (mostly history, religion, poetry and mythology - and how these are interconnected.)

Hopefully they grow up to be autodidacts like me.


we do everything to teach our kid what we can outside of school.. but lets face it - we get our kid 2 quality hours a day - he's in the school for 7 .. its the same for most people where both work ...

by the time my kid is 13 teachers will have spent more time with him than we do .. it makes me sick but its reality.

[Ginger<3]

whoa, tell us how you really feel! :)

[Vodstok]

we do everything to teach our kid what we can outside of school.. but lets face it - we get our kid 2 quality hours a day - he's in the school for 7 .. its the same for most people where both work ...

by the time my kid is 13 teachers will have spent more time with him than we do .. it makes me sick but its reality.

you get 2 hours? wow.

Just kidding. When she is older and stays up later, and i am not gone 12+ hours a day i will get to see my daughter for more than 45 minutes a day....

[stubbornforgey]

may i interject here 'scuso moi'
i don't know if your system is the same as it is here in nz...but..from a teachers perspectve..this is the full breakdown:and depending on your stature
7.30 am ..arrive at school..coffee..staffroom gossip..meeting with principal
who gives you the rundown on the days events and paperwork.

8.am head off to classroom..set out books..prepare classroom..organise paperwork..head off to resource ..get the days equipment.

8.30/9am ..classes begin..roll calls..the days learning is put into action
this carries on untill 3 pm...(including sports..field trips..etc)

4pm..back into staffroom for meeting..now depending on stature again..your sent
to refresher courses..these go on ..normally till 7 pm..depending.

8.30 pm..start marking homework...more paperwork...

try and fit family into your schedule..not always happens..(dependant)

1 am ..fall into bed after showering.

get up at 5 am..recheck paperwork..homework books..breakfast.

(in between all of this your student contact is ongoing)

school holidays...children leave on the last day at 2.30 pm..
we leave at 5 pm
our holidays last one week during term breaks (usually 2 weeks off)
the final week of holidays..we go back to school...are given a breakdown of the following terms curriculum..
messages and demands from the education dept..
what they expect us to achieve within that new term.etc
We do not get the running of the system,.we are dictated to by the dept
as well as the board of trustees.

As the head of senior staffing ,,i can't complain about my duties or wages as my job is pretty cushy...
but thats because i have earned it..however..those below me ..(junior staff members)
are not so lucky as they are always scrutinised etc.
Also student teachers..auxillary staff (librarian..resources etc) do not get paid during holidays..we do.

The schools here are bulk funded..we depend on parent donations (fees are abolished)...the schools get extra money for every child that enrolls in your establishment...soooooooo...the more children that are taught..and 'scuse the pun'..sent along the conveyor belt..processed then packed off to thier next school...the more money the school gets.

If a student is having problems..they will get help ..IF its available thru the system..if its not..then parents have to find and finance it themselves.
If a student is slow..the teacher will try thier best to get him/her up to speed..but this child will get moved on whether they meet the standards or not..sad to say but ..its true..as its all required from the education dept..as so ordered by the govt. :o


its not so much thankless..it can be rewarding when one of your students
achieve thier ultimate goal...13 out of a class of 23..is better than a 0/0

[urgeok]

you get 2 hours? wow.

Just kidding. When she is older and stays up later, and i am not gone 12+ hours a day i will get to see my daughter for more than 45 minutes a day....


when you figure in the commute, getting dinner ready and getting the cleanup done ..and bathtime .. there isnt much time before bed ...

we always make sure to read .. some nights we watch movies ...

thats why we never make plans on the weekend .. we do everything together.

[stubbornforgey]

when you figure in the commute, getting dinner ready and getting the cleanup done ..and bathtime .. there isnt much time before bed ...

we always make sure to read .. some nights we watch movies ...

thats why we never make plans on the weekend .. we do everything together.


thats so so neat..!!!!
its a pity this doesnt happen in many homes anymore. :D

[Roderick Usher]

.. its the same for most people where both work ...

by the time my kid is 13 teachers will have spent more time with him than we do .. it makes me sick but its reality.

The reason why the wife and I decided that one of us would always stay home - even if it meant having less money - not being able to buy a house (10 yrs later we're still renting an apt) and everything else that comes with this kind of commitment.

NO ONE spends more time with the kids than me.:) And no amount of money is worth placing the job of raising my kids in anyone else's hands.

[urgeok]

The reason why the wife and I decided that one of us would always stay home - even if it meant having less money - not being able to buy a house (10 yrs later we're still renting an apt) and everything else that comes with this kind of commitment.

NO ONE spends more time with the kids than me.:) And no amount of money is worth placing the job of raising my kids in anyone else's hands.

but you can stay home because your job allows that flexibility ..

most dont .. my wife and i both had careers and expectations when we met.
there are other things that come into play as well ..
if one of us did stay home .. what would they do all day when he's in school ?

we do want a certain standard of living .. we do want the house ... i would be miserable in an apartment - i feel confined. We like the combined income that gives us flexibility (with our kid) in other ways.

its our path and although it's not perfect - it works so far .. hopefully the sacrifices we make now will pay off later .. in the mean time we try to make the best of the time we all have together ..

i'll say this .. my kid is happier at 6 years of age with his parents than i was with my own for my entire lifetime..

[stubbornforgey]

The reason why the wife and I decided that one of us would always stay home - even if it meant having less money - not being able to buy a house (10 yrs later we're still renting an apt) and everything else that comes with this kind of commitment.

NO ONE spends more time with the kids than me.:) And no amount of money is worth placing the job of raising my kids in anyone else's hands.

once again,,,very nice.
I regret not staying home with my children as they were growing up..
money wasn't needed in the household..but needing to follow my dream of being a teacher meant more to me than being a stay at home mum.
My children never suffered because of it..'thank heavens'..but i did lose alot of quality time with them..
sometimes weekends were too busy for me to enjoy them..
i would put down my pen at nights ..play dumbass games with them with thier toys..etc..read..but these were sparadic..
sadly ..i missed alot of thier growing years...n they grew up without me. :(

[Zero]

i work at a university (data entry - joy) and the running joke is:

why does someone major in psychology?
to find out why they are insane!

why does someone major in criminal justice?
to find out how get away with it

why does someone major in education?
to find out why after eight years of schooling they are still so stupid!

and the sad part is they are all TRUE

[Vodstok]

The reason why the wife and I decided that one of us would always stay home - even if it meant having less money - not being able to buy a house (10 yrs later we're still renting an apt) and everything else that comes with this kind of commitment.

NO ONE spends more time with the kids than me.:) And no amount of money is worth placing the job of raising my kids in anyone else's hands.

How realistic is it, inoyur opinion, to be a screenwriter and NOT live in the LA area? Do you think that would end up being more or less economical?

[Vodstok]

why does someone major in psychology?
to find out why they are insane!

why does someone major in criminal justice?
to find out how get away with it


My wife has degrees in both :eek:

[stubbornforgey]

shit..do you all realise that if we all put our degrees together
we could rule this world..
total fuckn chaos..kewl!:p

[X¤MurderDoll¤X]

I had two really good teachers, the rest sucked. I had a super strict english teacher. I was a pretty terrible student, one of those straight A student until highschool types. He was the only teacher that ever called home about me, that's when I was like damn... a teacher who actually cares?

I gave him more headaches than any other student I'm pretty sure... He threw a chair across the room and tipped over a desk one time. :D Looking back, he was pretty amazing.

My homeroom teacher was cool as hell, until he got stuck with me as a math student. ;)
School is too early, so I'd always be half asleep when I'd come into homeroom. One time I sleepily walked into class and sat down, I looked around for awhile and my homeroom teacher just stared at me. After awhile I looked at him and I was like "This isn't my homeroom" I don't think he ever called me by my name after the first year in homeroom, he always referred to me as the walking dead.

I know for atleast two years later he told his math students that story of how insanely out of it I am that early in the morning. He was one of those fun teachers who was too nice though I guess.

One of the worst teachers I had was for english again, I hated him more than anything. I'd storm out of his class and wave through the window outside as I walked. I still passed, despite walking out of his class A LOT. Most teachers loved me for the first couple months atleast, he hated me from day one. Last I heard he got cancer and died. :)


I have respect for real teachers.

[urgeok]

I have respect for real teachers.


same here ... the ones that were the toughest were the ones i respected - and still have certain acedemic habits because of them.

the creampuffs were a joke - you didnt learn a thing from them.

i once wrote an english exam in class the period it was due ...
i didnt read the book - i asked my buddy what it was about and
wrote it straight out - this load of bullshit that earned me a 68.
my buddy who read the book got a 63 .. he never forgot that :)

i should have gotten a 20%

i had stuff going on at home .. i sure dont condone my behavior and if i could go back and do it differently i would in a heartbeat.

its just an excellent example of how useless that teacher was.

[Vodstok]

I had a music teacher who thought he would "Show us" by just stepping back when we started to get out of hand. We blew an hour and a half screwing around that day...

I had a Current Events teacher when i was in Germany that was actually german (it was an American/Canadian high school), and he was an arrogant jackass... he had a very "you are inferior because you arent from Germany" attitude, and it haunted him for the entire year. It was the first class that i ever REALLY acted out in, he hated me :)


One of the other guys put a tack on his chair once. He swept it off and pretended it wasnt there, so as to not let on and give us anythign to laugh at. He left the room for a second, and the kid ran up and put it in place again. Apparently the teacher didnt think he had to look a second time, because if they did it once, they SURELY would not do sucjh a thing again.

When he sat down, he became rigid as a board and his eyes got real wide. He apparently decided not to give us any hint that he had sat on it, because he never let on, but when he stood up to write some thing on the board, there was atck in his ass cheek, plain as day.

We were already snickering when he sat down, because we knew it was there, but we had to stifle guffaws when we saw that....

[The Flayed One]

My physics teacher was a big disappointment. I took a lot of extra math classes (I hate math) to meet the requirements to take physics. All he did the entire semester was sit at his desk and give us book problems to do. Half of the people in class didn't do them, and he rarely ever asked to grade papers. It was a shame, because I love science, and although I got a good grade and my credit, I really didn't learn shit. I could have spent the semester in a class where I was actually going to learn something.

[Roderick Usher]

How realistic is it, inoyur opinion, to be a screenwriter and NOT live in the LA area? Do you think that would end up being more or less economical?

You can start off doing it from anywhere - but once you get into the loop of meetings and such, LA is the place to be.

[Roderick Usher]

I had an emotionally unstable 8th grade teacher who had no control over the class, no sense of authority about her. We ran roughshod over her, tormenting her until one day she burst into tears and stormed off...

She never came back and we went 3 days without a homeroom teacher until someone on the faculty finally noticed.

Good times

:)

Hate school, always have - I'm a dropout and an autodidact!

[Vodstok]

I had an emotionally unstable 8th grade teacher who had no control over the class, no sense of authority about her. We ran roughshod over her, tormenting her until one day she burst into tears and stormed off...

She never came back and we went 3 days without a homeroom teacher until someone on the faculty finally noticed.

Good times

:)

Hate school, always have - I'm a dropout and an autodidact!

Im not a dropout, but I am very proud of being self-taught in almost everything i am successful with.


Your teacher sounds like one i had my senior year in history. She would get bent out of shape over nothing and start crying . She never left though, which was worse. NO ONe had an ounce of respect for her, and her husband was the vice principal...


THEN, in her late 40s, she got pregnant, much to everyones disgust... And became hormonal and even less stable. The kid who sat next to me would get her worked up as a hobby. one day he looked over and said "watch this, im gonna make her cry."

I cant remember what he did, but she was out of there in a minute or two, bawling her nutty eyes out...

[urgeok]

heh .. one memory i have - of a teacher i actually did like ...
was a time where things were out of control and the guy was getting pissed - so he yelled at the top of his lungs "IF I HEAR ONE MORE PEEP OUT OF ANYONE !!!!!!!!!"


my best friend was Steve ... people called us Mutt and Jeff because even in grade 8 i was 6'2" and he was about 5"

I was the goofball and he was the quiet guy .. never in trouble - always good.


So imagine my suprise when he perfectly audibly said 'peep' right after the teacher yelled.

Christ i'll never forget the look on his face - he turned beet red - looked completely psychotic - and went out of the class slamming the door so hard that the little glass windo in the door shattered and shot out all over the hallway.

its because of that teacher i got into volleyball incidently ... he was a batchelor - and for god knows what reason he started coming into the school on weekends - opening the gym and setting up the nets for volleyball.
There was a rule - if you said anything negative that could be perceived as bad sportsmanship - you were kicked out for that day.

so to this day i play competative ball (knee willing) and have never trashtalked a soul in a game ever ...

[urgeok]

oh yeah .. a public school teacher i had once - grade 2 i think ... was this ancient fat little creature ... her name was Mrs. Newt

this is 40 years before HArry Potter existed.

[Vodstok]

oh yeah .. a public school teacher i had once - grade 2 i think ... was this ancient fat little creature ... her name was Mrs. Newt

this is 40 years before HArry Potter existed.

In first grade i had an evil teacher who dressed in black all the time, named (appropriately) Mrs Adams. Imagine Morticia if she had no personality and wasnt attractive.

I got chewed out for having bad handwriting, in the first fucking grade....

[stubbornforgey]

will never forget my 1st teacher..
when i 1st came to nz .....mr fat fuck simpson
I was 5..
will never forget how his pink porky sweaty face looked down at me
n was like ..your name kataraina is too difficult to pronouce
so from this day forth ..you will be called katrina.
NO SHIT YOU DUMB FUCK.

In the whole school there were only 10 of us brown faced students
and it was like we were being segregated..despite having many many white freinds oh not to mention the fact that my family are white anyway.
He was a mean mutha .
Last time i saw him ..he was a lecturer at teachers training college..
he never recognised me ..but i will never forget that porky pig looking face..
n my very words to him were..still a fat fuck i see .. :D

[Vodstok]

will never forget my 1st teacher..
when i 1st came to nz .....mr fat fuck simpson
I was 5..
will never forget how his pink porky sweaty face looked down at me
n was like ..your name kataraina is too difficult to pronouce
so from this day forth ..you will be called katrina.
NO SHIT YOU DUMB FUCK.

In the whole school there were only 10 of us brown faced students
and it was like we were being segregated..despite having many many white freinds oh not to mention the fact that my family are white anyway.
He was a mean mutha .
Last time i saw him ..he was a lecturer at teachers training college..
he never recognised me ..but i will never forget that porky pig looking face..
n my very words to him were..still a fat fuck i see .. :D

Hah! That is funny... I love when peopel get something like that from left field and have no idea why you said it....:)

"brown faced students"? And you live in New Zeland. Pardon me if this is out of line, because I'm just curious, are you Maori, perhaps?

[stubbornforgey]

Hah! That is funny... I love when peopel get something like that from left field and have no idea why you said it....:)

"brown faced students"? And you live in New Zeland. Pardon me if this is out of line, because I'm just curious, are you Maori, perhaps?


my mums maori...my dads chilean
so yeah ..as they would say..em a half caste.
I was born in chile but raised in NZ :D
my dads family are white..
my mums family are more white than brown ..but all with coloured eyes.

There aren't many maori left in NZ..
their all in AUSSIE!! 'giggles'