TEACHING CERTIFICATES DON'T A TEACHER MAKE
So I just read a friends blog (can you call someone a friend whom you only know by blog? I dunno, but she loves Jesus and doesn't put nasty stuff on her blog, so I'll call her an Ifriend, as apposed to an Ibuddy because those are the ones I really know on the internet... anyhow~), She is studying to become a teacher and needing motivation... so here it goes~
L~ don't forget WHY you want to be a teacher. Although the student with a 2.2 gpa gets the same certificate as the student with the 4.0, who will in the long run be the better teacher (and don't you dare analys the structure of that sentence or run a spell check on me!).
Currently my daughter Welly has a history teacher who claims to be ADHD. At the beginning of the year she told the students that their homework every night was to read one section of their history book, they'd have a test at the end of each chapter. She lectures in rabbit trails that the kids struggle to follow, and randomly announces homework at the end of class when half of the students are out the door, she also "teaches" historical "facts" or "definitions" that I bluntly tell my daughter are wrong or misleading... (For instance: "flappers were girls who wanted to wear short skirts and low necklines and go against the social norms"... well, although flappers were girls who wore indecent clothing according to the standard of the day, they also danced indecently when most couples hardly touched when dancing, smoked in a time when women didn't smoke, drank when it was illegal, and some even slept around in a time when your reputation was all you had... I suppose you could call that "going against the social norms", but watering it all down so that it wasn't that big of a deal isn't what history is about. History is about learning from our mistakes so that we don't make them again... sorry, I'll get off my soap box... it just would be that HISTORY is the subject being mistaught here... if I were a teacher, I'd teach history... I just love it!!!) Anyhow, my straight A student is currently holding a C in history... maybe I should sit down with her to help her learn it since I love it so much! MEANWHILE Lala our neighbor has a different teacher and is getting good grades in history and REMEMBERING history (which is a big deal for Lala... no dis and she knows it)
The good news for the students in our schools is that the school has implemented a new hiring plan which includes a practice lesson with students and administrators looking on. A prospective teacher has to prepare and teach a lesson to student volunteers while being observed... sounds frightening... but at least it will weed out some of those 2.2 grads.
Do the best you can L, our future as a nation (both US and Canada, eh) depend on the EXCELLENCE of our teachers. Wouldn't it be nice if they hired teachers by their grade point average and experience... hmmm but then would the inner city kids get stuck with the 2.2's? that's another soap box for another day!
GOD BLESS YOU!
L~ don't forget WHY you want to be a teacher. Although the student with a 2.2 gpa gets the same certificate as the student with the 4.0, who will in the long run be the better teacher (and don't you dare analys the structure of that sentence or run a spell check on me!).
Currently my daughter Welly has a history teacher who claims to be ADHD. At the beginning of the year she told the students that their homework every night was to read one section of their history book, they'd have a test at the end of each chapter. She lectures in rabbit trails that the kids struggle to follow, and randomly announces homework at the end of class when half of the students are out the door, she also "teaches" historical "facts" or "definitions" that I bluntly tell my daughter are wrong or misleading... (For instance: "flappers were girls who wanted to wear short skirts and low necklines and go against the social norms"... well, although flappers were girls who wore indecent clothing according to the standard of the day, they also danced indecently when most couples hardly touched when dancing, smoked in a time when women didn't smoke, drank when it was illegal, and some even slept around in a time when your reputation was all you had... I suppose you could call that "going against the social norms", but watering it all down so that it wasn't that big of a deal isn't what history is about. History is about learning from our mistakes so that we don't make them again... sorry, I'll get off my soap box... it just would be that HISTORY is the subject being mistaught here... if I were a teacher, I'd teach history... I just love it!!!) Anyhow, my straight A student is currently holding a C in history... maybe I should sit down with her to help her learn it since I love it so much! MEANWHILE Lala our neighbor has a different teacher and is getting good grades in history and REMEMBERING history (which is a big deal for Lala... no dis and she knows it)
The good news for the students in our schools is that the school has implemented a new hiring plan which includes a practice lesson with students and administrators looking on. A prospective teacher has to prepare and teach a lesson to student volunteers while being observed... sounds frightening... but at least it will weed out some of those 2.2 grads.
Do the best you can L, our future as a nation (both US and Canada, eh) depend on the EXCELLENCE of our teachers. Wouldn't it be nice if they hired teachers by their grade point average and experience... hmmm but then would the inner city kids get stuck with the 2.2's? that's another soap box for another day!
GOD BLESS YOU!
posted by Wynn @ 5:53 AM
1 Comments:
At 4:09 PM,
Mrs. Loquacious said…
Awwwww....thank you so much for that very encouraging post, Wynn!
I am a firm believer that teaching is a calling, and not a responsibility to be taken lightly. Unfortunately for me, though, there are many (even in my class) who probably chose education because they didn't know what else to choose; for them, it's just a job, and maybe that is why giving a piss-poor effort is acceptable to them.
Part of my being an intense person means I don't do *anything* half-arsed, and that includes teaching and even volunteer teaching (how many volunteers show up with lesson plans to class?).
It's a blessing, but at the same time it is an investment of ME that drains me a lot!
And sorry to hear about your daughter's history teacher; there are many quacks that should not be in contact with children that somehow end up teaching. The system needs a serious overhaul and some major accountability!
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