Only at the Mecca of Education...

Oh, MY.

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But just wait until you get a student named: Nerdy.


And it's not a nickname.

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There are so many things to comment on in the original post, that I think I'll just pass.

But HONESTLY, Dolly, you might want to look at the preconceived notions that you're approaching these kids with. They speak volumes. Especially if there's ANY validity to your oft-repeated disdain for the state of your profession.

Thank you for your input, DG. As always, I'll ignore your comments.

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"As always, I'll ignore your comments."

Because ignoring the truth, is so much easier than facing it.

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I have a student named Anjana. Try pronouncing that one right! And there's NOTHING wrong with any teacher complaining about the modern state of education. It's pitiful. There's only so much any one person can do, and we're fighting an uphill battle all the time. I've realized now that we're at the point where I have kids (7th and 8th grade) who've spent the majority of their school career in a NCLB world - and trust me - my kids this year are the SLOWEST I've ever had. After spending a week going over parts of speech with them (something they should have known), I had kids get the following question wrong on a quiz: "The 'dog' chased the cat. What part of speech is "dog"? I went back and spent another week re-teaching everything. I had kids do WORSE on the second (easier) quiz. These kids are not taught to think any more. If they are given the definition "A noun is a person, place, thing or idea" and the question isn't "Define noun," they don't have a clue how to deal with it!

Look, I love my job. I enjoy working with the kids. But the gap between the top students (who learn no matter what) and the rest of the class is growing larger every year. The modern state of education as a whole is to blame. Nothing wrong with a teacher, who is on the front lines of a losing battle, complaining.

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I'm not going to dignify that with a defense. It's not worth it. Maybe less ignorance on the part of the community at large would help solve problems, rather than placing the blame on teachers who are there fighting it every day.

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If you've read any of Dolly's post for any length of time. You'd see that he not only has contempt for the education system that he's been part of for 30 odd years, but also for the students he teaches.

"These kids are not taught to think any more. If they are given the definition "A noun is a person, place, thing or idea" and the question isn't "Define noun," they don't have a clue how to deal with it!"

And who's job exactly is it to teach them to think? The education system as a whole, or the teachers in the classroom? You can blame the system all you want, because that's the easiest way out. But that shouldn't let the teachers off the hook who should have been teaching them what a noun is. Yes, there's overcrowding and underfunding, and there are also under-qualified, bored, boring and in Dolly's case hostile teachers, who would rather mock someone's name and bemoan the state of education without ever considering that he just might be part of the problem.

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Updated On: 10/21/07 at 08:34 PM

i'm not going to dignify that with a defense.

because there isn't one.

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Dolly's a douche with his comments at times, but yet I don't completely blame him. Although I sincerely hope he doesn't outwardly channel this in the classroom... if you do, I've already vocally wished your like painful death. :)

You could teach out in Long Island, where you can get an homogenous student body and overbearing parents. Opps…sorry--guess you're not there. Suck it up.

I do feel for you to a lesser extent as many of your comments filled with less contempt aren't too far from the truth...

The public education system is full of flaws. I wish most schools had the ability to have school-based committee voting system for new faculty members and just general up on your ass-ness with the subpar.

Standardized testing is frustrating and I honestly wish it didn't exist on such a frequent and great scale that it currently does with in the NYC and NYS Public School system. It's just a skill you aquire if you become adept at it, and I can't think of how much time has often been wasted to learn formats of how things need to be ridiculously done for these exams to which the mecca of education subjects both student and teachers.

KelRel - the thing is, you can't blame the previous year's teacher because the blame would trace right on down the grades to kindergarten. There's something in the SYSTEM now that is making these children unable to think, making them unaware of things that seem so obvious to us. Plain and simple, if it's not on standardized tests, it doesn't matter anymore. NCLB has totally screwed up our education system, and all the claptrap and mumbo-jumbo from Rebublicans about it isn't going to do a damn thing. The program doesn't work - forget what politicians say, listen to the educators of the country. The program doesn't work.

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no, kel, see blaming a teacher, any teacher, for anything ever is unacceptable. the teacher is never wrong and can do no wrong. you keep that sh*t up and yer ass will be out on the street sister.

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