teaching teenagers

"they say money can't buy happiness.  Money can buy a jet ski.  Have you seen anybody on a jet ski who wasn't happy"

just organized

I saw a video on a guy prepping.  Part of what he did was reduce.  If you do not need it get rid of it.

So I organized my office drawers, including labels for where things go.

Reality check

This has been floating around for a time. 
I work hard I admit it.  but some of this stuff, glance again.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/antwaunsargent/lies-people-tell-about-teaching-that-simply-arent-true


"The Teacher Advancement Program, which uses both student test results and observational methods to assess teaching effectiveness, concluded that 85% of teachers were effective."

Uhm..define "effective" and 85%?
We have higher education, but I am still bothered by one stat.  Teachers are mostly lower class women with below average IQs. 

I was at a workshop once and the moderator says "look we are all diverse."  Contrary me had to point out.  "no we are not of the 50 something people, only 3 are men, the rest are women and the minorities do not represent the averages in this state".

"The national average teaching salary is $56,069 (starting teaching salary is $35,672). Teachers also usually spend a lot of money out of pocket for classroom supplies, grade papers on the weekends, and spend hours after school prepping for lessons." Okay I'll buy this.  Nurses average $66,000.  Why use nurses?  Because like teachers they need a bachelor's degree and like teachers, it is a job mostly for women.  I have a master's and make far less than the average, but I live in a rural area.  Compared to the household incomes here, I make a great deal.    Possibly a better number would be "compared to the average of the area and the cost of living."


Myth  3 
“Teaching experience doesn’t matter because anyone can teach.”

I will agree with that,  though I would counter that many things such as handling people and knowledge, you do not need to go to four years of college to learn this.

"...teachers work an average of 53 hours a week."  How many other professions work extra hours?  Salesmen?  Business people?  Realtors?

Myth 5 "Teachers are solely responsible for learning."

"According to the Commission on Effective Teachers and Teaching and Hillary Clinton, it takes a village to raise a child."

What?  Hillary?  Teachers are the most important factor in education.  We can and do make a difference.  I and my dedicated colleagues are swining in there every day.

"that incentivizing teachers with bonus pay based on good results, without good professional develop programs in place, does not make a notable difference in student results nor does it increase teacher motivation."

Maybe.  But I have seen other studies that say students perform better when there are incentives for teachers.  There is also this, if we pay the good teachers more, they can stay in education.

Trapped by technology

I have a smart board type thing.  The name (smart board, mimeo, promethian...) does not matter.

What does matter is last week it died.  IT cleaned the filter, replaced the bulb and it still does not work.

The people before me put the thing into the dry wipe board.  Why the blank wall on the side is beyond me.  So now I have no way to write demonstrations to my students.  Plan B is I taped bulletin board paper to the wall and used that to write on.

Thursday a bank of lights in my room dies, along with the lights in office, supply room and alcove between my classroom and another.  It had a back up projector on the blank wall so it died to.  Friday by fourth period they managed to fix it.

But this week I talked to my husband.  There is a now a shower wall board, dry wipe board on the blank wall.  I dare anybody in authority to complain.  "look the maintaince people are busy with care of the bathrooms, fixing the roof in the art room and other stuff.  I've been asking for a dry wipe there for a year.  Be grateful my husband does not bill you for time and materials."

My eighth period students were impressed by my fixing of the problem and offered to help with the installation.

"national walk in day"

Some struggling students came in for help Friday morning.  I offered to print up their grades, but a colleague was using the copier for a long term run.  I told them they could come by after my conference to pick it up.
They laughed as said they may not be in.
"really?"  teacher spidey sense is tiggling.
"Mrs. W, if everybody walks out, they can't write everybody up can they?"
"do you think Mr. Jefferson (principal) won't do that?  He was willing to send all the girls who were going to wear tights home.  Do not bluff him, he will not blink."

Later that morning, through the intercom came the principal's voice,  "I have an announcement for the students. I have been told it's national walk out day.  That is exactly what we are going to do.  At three fifteen we are all going to walk out.  Until then any student who leaves can celebrate national walk in day Monday after Thanksgiving.  You can walk in with your parents."

RTFM

When I did computer tech support, we used many codes for summarizing what the problem was.

PEBKC  problem exist between keyboard and chair, this means the customer did not know what to do or keep making the same mistake when told other wise.  It was my job to help and as long as the client followed my phone instructions we were okay.  "now, unplug and replug the computer." 

"it looks plugged in"

*sigh* "humor me please, sometimes they look plugged in, just check."

RTFM  read the flipping manual, for my clients the instructions were there.  Granted like I point out how do you do instrutions.

For my student FTFR, Follow the flipping rubric.  For lab write ups, it is the same "yes you have to write a summary, it is on the rubric posted on the walls and on the clipboards at every station.  Eleven weeks into the year and I still have students who do not follow it.  Then ask me why they lost points.

choices

I am a veteran and have several relatives who are also.

Every now and then students talk to me about joining the military.  I have no bone to pick with them one way or another.  For many this is the only way to get out of the small rural town.  Money for college is not easily seen.  I asked her the question I ask any student who talks about joining the military.

"could you kill a person in cold blood?"

Our current enemies are not nice, or noble. They are scary, violent and evil people.  They do not respect the Geneva Convention.  Prisoners are not treated with the Red Cross in mind.

She binked.  (of course)  "no"

"Then maybe you do not need to join."

"But would I have to fight, I want to be a nurse."

Scary world 101 coming.

"you are assigned to Afghanistan.  Your unit is overrun by the Taliban.  There are wounded you are responsible for and you are the only thing between them and certain bloody, horrible death.  What do you do?"

She's thinking.  She likes the idea of travel and perked up at the thought of doing the medic, nurse, physicians assistant route.