Thursday, November 15, 2012

A harsh reality America doesn t want to see

I am frustrated beyond belief right now. I have yet to make it through a full five work week without ending up in tears at some point. Luckily, due to the school calander, personal reasons, or weather events I haven't had too many full weeks. How I am going to make it through December until Christmas break, I do not know. I am so afraid I am mentally going to crack and for the first time I am giving in and called the doctor to see if there's any happy pills I can get to help me survive other people's children. I cannot take the rude, disrespect not only for myself but towards everyone. These kids (and by this I mean a smaller group but they're making huge impacts) have no respect for the teachers, for the building, for their own peers that do care about their education, and usually none for their own parents as well.  But you know it's public education, they have the right to an education. But that DOES NOT GIVE THEM the right to treat people like the scum at the bottom of their shoe. Society needs to decide that this is UNACCEPTABLE and will not be tolerated and make some drastic change.

Everyone from the students, parents, the policy makers, to the general public period keeps asking what are we doing to increase student achievement. What are WE doing? Someone needs to take a real deep look at what the STUDENTS are doing. Let me tell you what the ones that aren't passing assessments and being promoted to the next grade are doing. They're listening to music WHILE THE TEACHER IS INSTRUCTING, they're laying their heads on their desks, they're texting on their phone, they're talking to their buddy that is sometimes ACROSS THE ROOM, they're throwing paper balls at one another, they're shouting out random outbursts, they're cussing at one another, they're stopping the teacher's insruction to argue with him or her about why they have a zero (hmmm no work usually equals a zero!), about going to the bathroom, about how they supposedly weren't talking, about having their phone or ipod out. I am going to record every minute of my class time next week or maybe the week after to give an actual assessment of how much of my time is spent with handling misbehavior and class management rather than instructing. I think this is a reality people need to be aware of. I don't know for sure until I document it but I'm guessing almost half of my class period on a daily basis goes to behavior management rather than instructing. Then there are the poor kids that care about their education, that want to learn, that are paying a HUGE price because society has made it so administration's hands are tied. There are very few discipline measures they're allowed to used. Policies are concerned about suspensions and want kids in school. Who cares that 25 other kids' education is suffering because the kid who doesn't care about his is disruptive and disrespectful but we have to give him a public school education. Society needs to accept some people are just failures. Some times you have to cut your losses. And yes those are harsh words, but you can't force something a person doesn't want on them. And I want it very clear here that I am not talking about any particular class or group of people. I teach to an extremely diverse group of students, and one thing I have learned from them and dear friends and family is that no matter your race, your hardships, your income it all boils down to the individual. Some might say so you're giving up on the kid that s been abadoned by his family and suffered from abuse and this and that. Yes, because you can't help someone who doesn't want to help themself. I have worked with a bunch of kids that amaze and awe me because they have overcome horrendous situations and they push and push themselves to find success. And no they're not the brightest kid but they'll find success somewhere because they valued their education and they worked hard!

I know this is not meant to be a ranting place but as I listen to my fellow teachers and other mommy teachers, I know this is something that is affecting everyone's mental health, spirits, and for those of us that are mommas we're bringing this home with us. This frustration is taking us over and interfering with the time we have with our own children. When I say our sanity is at stake here I really don't believe I am exaggerating. I need to be in a more postive, less frustrated mental state for my own children, as well as the children who are there for their education. This goes beyond the classroom when I say we can't keep letting the majority of us in society pay the price for the minority that can't get it together for themselves.

2 comments:

  1. I could not agree more. I agree that in public education so much of our educator's time is spent on disciplining the same few "bad apples" who are disruptive, antagonistic, unruly, argumentative, defiant-in short they are experts at wasting-even ruining, valuable teacher/student time. In my opinion students that repeatedly fail to participate and provide positive contributions should be out. To me it seems teachers probably to have to spend so much mental energy on displaying a calm, controlled and defensive strategy to deal with the disrespectful, disruptive entitled little brats that they would be worn out before even worrying about lesson plans...
    I think that schools should require students adhere to a Student Code of Conduct. This code could be based on employee codes of conduct. The schools and educators then NEED to be able to enforce the code of conduct- requiring respect and cooperation from ALL students! I also believe that the power to remove the problem student(s) from the classroom is a good idea for a few reasons: 1-learning that negative actions create negative consequences, 2. allowing lessons to continue peacefully now that the disruption has been removed, and 3. The student who is a disruptive and defiant troublemaker feels positively rewarded when they earn more attention from the teacher than the entire rest of the class.
    With my oldest in Kindergarten this year I have been so excited but also feel some trepidation. My boy is a dreamer and he loves learning, but I am afraid the environment in our public schools does not encourage students to feel comfortable and confident about their education. T

    The kids you write about are distractions that hinder education and hey should be removed from public schools early on.

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    1. What you are addressing is so sad and so true!!!! Until the school system gets real and not concern themselves with how they want to be portrayed it will continue to be a horror show being played out on a daily basis, with the misfits playing the main roles!!!! As long as school systems want to keep watching and reliving the Emperors New Clothes modern day version, I guess it will keep playing out til someone, somebody can actually comprehend that keeping quiet and looking good isn't really working for anyone except our usual misfits who already run society , and lord knows, running til your caught and actually publicly humiliated cools them down temporarily!!!!!!!!So enjoy the show, my thoughts and prayers go out to all of you that have to put up with this BULL ....

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