Comments on: For better students, do we need better teachers?

By: FAIR ANNIE

FAIR ANNIE — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:56:53 +0000

I think we are “all” looking for an answer or someone to blame. I too wanted to be able to post something that everyone would rally behind that will actually fix “our” problem, however the best that I can do is cringe at the fact that my own child has been mis-educated while I fought with teachers about his disability, race, placement and test scores. Fought to keep him physically motivated with after school sports. Fought to keep him motived with music and arts. Fought to get him into a better school district because the one we were in, neglected to teach fundamentals like cursive writing and geography. (They said everything was going technical so it will never be needed). I now realize that this is a village problem. We need to stop right now and have a big ole camp fire and sing songs and teach stories.
Please, all grandmothers and grandfathers, come out of retirement and teach us how to lead, teach, be parents and keep our country safe. The new world may be going technical but the children are still human. We need you to show us how to stop sparing the rod. Show us how to build go-carts and clay ashtrays. Show us how to jump rope and fish. Show us how to write our name in cursive. How to behave when the teacher is talking and more importantly, how to recognize when a child needs to be encouraged.
I would like to recruit every retired teacher from every senior care facility. Lets try doing things “Old School” maybe for just one year? Something about how they did things, worked.

The tried and true has been tested. We were great under those practices. It won’t hurt to try.

Fair Annie.

By: Sally

Sally — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:30:15 +0000

You can be the world’s greatest teacher but if parents don’t instill basic respect in their kids and teach them the importance of education it won’t make a difference. It is not the teachers job to parent and babysit your children. Ultimately if your child fails in receiving the proper education its your child who will suffer the most.

By: Charles Way

Charles Way — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:13:46 +0000

You can be “Super Teacher”, but if the parents don’t care and the students don’t want to learn, there’s little a teacher can do.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:51:01 +0000

I say, “AMEN!” to most of these posts. We are going to lose a lot of teachers, good teachers due to the unrealistic demand of the profession today. PARENTS today should be ashame of their lack of guidance and accountability for their children. I know we can’t use the, “back in the day” response to all situations, but education has definitely changed.
A typical day in the classroom is filled with more disciplining that teaching students. Also, the lack of basic common respect from students and parents is appalling. Parents are short of being violent when asked to clarify not confront issues concerning their children…it’s ridiculous. I say, “save the ones that want to learn”, but in the long run that will come back to nip us as the teen pregnancy rates and unemployment continue to rise due to the lack of social skills from these future adults. Other countries appear to take teir education more serious than we do here in the US and it is beginning to show. The first educators are the parents. That is what needs to be focused on if we want to see a change in our chaotic school systems…Pray

By: New Teacher

New Teacher — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:59:48 +0000

This is my first year teaching. I am coming into this profession with a master’s degree, and this is my first professional job. Having spent so much time and energy earning my degree, I can tell you that I came into my classroom with great ideas and techniques for motivating my students.
That being said, here is what I deal with everyday…students refusing to do their work, students refusing to stop talking, and students who are FAR below grade level in their reading abilities. I have called their parents, but many parents provide us with incorrect phone numbers (crazy, huh?), and many parents fail to discipline their children in the first place. Very few of my students complete their homework, and none of them study for tests and quizzes. I spend so much time correcting behavior, that sometimes, little time is left for instruction. It is only November, and some of my students have already been suspended from school multiple times. Trust me, it is not the teachers. Although I have brand new to the profession, I have found that many veteran teachers are having the same problems with their students. It’s the parents that need to get it together!

By: JImmy Wood

JImmy Wood — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:57:59 +0000

It all needs to be revamped. NCLB is garbage. Parents and children also hold a certain level of responsibility in a child having a successful education.

By: concerned parent

concerned parent — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:39:12 +0000

The entire educational system needs to be revamped!!!!!!

By: lawcat

lawcat — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:21:17 +0000

Parents control your children.
Teachers need better pay.
You want the educated but don’t want to pay for it.
I feel the same toward firemen and police.
Big monet to entertain crap for educating the children.
Something is wrong.
Parents step up.

By: mark

mark — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:28:42 +0000

I think furloughing the teachers is a big help. The less contact the better!!

In the spring teachers could be furloughed up to 7 more days. With only 4 teacher work days remaining next semester, students will be asked to stay home for 3 days. So Georgia, with a 60% graduation rate, ranked in the bottom of SAT scores, the problem is not the teachers, it is the state leadership!! You better fix this problem or, teachers will be leaving the field or the state entirely.

Science Teacher-

By: Dianne Phillips

Dianne Phillips — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:39:55 +0000

As the parent of two young women who became teachers, one through a traditional four-year private education and the other a less traditional route, I can tell you that their dedication is not an issue. All the preparation and top 1% scores on PRAXIS tests did my oldest little good in an inner city situation where the administration was struggling, non-supportive, and needed a scapegoat for their inability to make AYP. She was dedicated and out to change the world, but her administration did not want to hear new ideas, the parents were not involved and ultimately, failure in the classroom was the only option. ONLY the mentorship of older, wiser and interested other teachers saved her career– and she now is a first rate teacher working on a graduate degree to become even better.

Do not discount the lessons that older and experienced teachers bring to the classroom. There is NO ONE ANSWER to teaching every student. NCLB fails to recognize this fact. Teaching is a career which requires more than dedication, it requires the flexibility necessary to allow the teacher to find a way to get through to each and every student.