<p>The point of the thread is, ‘are you smarter than “A” school teacher’, not ALL school teachers.</p>
<p>Also that anyone is entitled to be wrong, but to be wrong and try to humiliate a student (or even right and try to humiliate a student) sets yourself up for dislike and mockery. See how many people remember these things decades after they happened.</p>
<p>With doctors, lawyers, etc., it is quite different. Usually you don’t allow them direct unsupervised contact with your children. And if they are rude, you take your business elsewhere. Teachers are the only ones who can threaten your children in any meaningful way (poor grade, poor letter of reference, etc.)</p>
<p>Post 41:
In which case, you misunderstand the nuances of grammar – which apparently makes me both smarter and more knowledgeable than you, without question. When you say “a” (anything) there is implied universality to it, regardless of the fact the word “all” is an even more emphatic modifier.</p>
<p>No, “the point” is that people reveal an awful lot about their own character when they open threads on discussion boards impugning the character, the expertise, and the integrity of an entire category of people. </p>
<p>As to bad influences on vulnerable people, the doctors, nurses, lawyers, psychologists, and financial advisors to which I referred have similarly used their authority and sometimes their lack of expertise to take unethical & unprofessional advantage of both children and adults – some experiences of which have provided long-lasting trauma to those dependent subjects.</p>
<p>I get it: you stereotype and you hate teachers, & you consider yourself superior to them. Terrific. So far, you have proven the opposite, to my perception. (Because I’m so smart that I read really well.)</p>
<p>Ah, epiphany, you make a good point. I didn’t think of this thread that way, but something about it was sticking in my craw. Could be you’re smarter than me I teach performing arts, so please don’t dissect my grammar. I do the best I can!</p>
<p>The general public does seem to feel very comfortable commenting on the details or our profession. There was a thread a few months ago that distilled down to the question of teacher tenure (and I was in the heat of that battle, being one of the few pro-union posters).</p>
<p>Teachers live under microscopes. I suppose even we remember a bad or stupid thing a teacher said or did. As teachers, we need to keep that in mind. What we say or do can be remembered forever (and posted on discussion forums).</p>
<p>My daughter had a public elementary school teacher who was a real cake. I couldn’t tell if this tenured, veteran (15+ years) teacher was stupid, pretending to be stupid, crazy, or pretending to be crazy. (It’s also possible that this daily–and surreptitiously–pill-popping weirdo was a prescription drug addict.) </p>
<p>Among Weirdo Teacher’s more bizarre statements:</p>
<p>1) Nixon is president. (RMN had been dead for almost 4 years)
2) Ohio is a city.
3) New Mexico is in Mexico.
4) Polar bears live in Maine.
5) AIDS is spread by hand-holding.
6) All immigrants hate America. (Many students were immigrants)
7) The world will end on Y2K, so there’s no point teaching you.
8) Most of you will end up pregnant, in prison, or dead.
9) I have a contagious disease, and you’re all going to catch it.
10) You’re my only family; I’d like to die and take you with me.</p>
<p>After Weirdo Teacher made statement #9, my daughter’s Other Parent, another concerned parent, and I visited the principal, who screamed at us, called us liars, and physically pushed us out of the office.</p>
<p>By the time Weirdo Teacher made statement #10, OthPar and I knew it was useless for us to complain.</p>
<p>OthPar and I eventually stopped speaking to Weirdo Teacher; we communicated only in writing, and only when necessary. After the school year’s end, our daughter never spoke to Weirdo Teacher again, either.</p>
<p>It was a rough school year for all three of us.</p>
<p>I think a lot of people have had a truly traumatic experience that they suffered at the hands of a teacher. I know I had one where a guest teacher humiliated me and the “regular” teacher had to come to my defense and probably angered him in the process of doing it – but I was so grateful that she did since he made me cry in front of the whole class in 7th grade. But my point is that teachers, like parents, make a very lasting impression and nine months is a long time in the life of a child if they are stuck with a teacher who is abusive or lacking in some way – it’s something they remember. Furthermore, nothing upsets a parent like their child being badly treated by another adult, whether it’s a camp counselor or a teacher. As a therapist, I have worked with people who had been severely traumatized during childhood by an abusive teacher. The effects of one bad teacher can be lasting and very damaging. </p>
<p>Now most of the stories on this thread have had to do with ignorance more than abuse, but, honestly, some of those stories are pretty shocking. When I hear of people in my field who do things that are inappropriate or shocking, I don’t feel personally insulted – I know I’m good at what I do – I feel embarrassed for my profession. I want everyone who goes to a therapist to get good care and it bothers me when they don’t. I have a lot of respect for teachers, especially the good ones. But if there is any job where quality control matters, where the standard should be really high – this is it. And unfortunately, there are often times when everyone – both parents, students, other teachers and administrators – knows that someone is not up to the job, and yet nothing is done. You can change doctors or lawyers, but in many schools you simply cannot get your child switched out of a class if you believe the teacher is inadequate.</p>
<p>epiphany–please take a handful of chill pills.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the reason most of us have horror stories about teachers is because we spend most of our young lives (and for some of us even longer) in school. Whereas some of us may never need the help of a lawyer, business owner, etc.</p>
<p>And yet, most of us (I would go so far as to say a majority) know that a majority of people who go into teaching are extraordinary individuals who want to make a difference in the lives of others.</p>
<p>I was fortunate enough to have several teachers like that in high school, and it truly did change my life. I have nothing but the utmost respect for teachers, because I know that I could never be a teacher. I don’t have the patience for it, and I would probably end up being one of the teachers talked about in this thread.</p>
<p>Now. I believe the point of this thread is to share similar experiences, and maybe to poke just a little bit of fun. I think most of us do not in any way, shape or form view ourselves as “superior” to teachers.</p>
<p>Do a search and you will find stories about doctors, lawyers, realtors, etc. It’s human nature to want to know that others have had experiences that made them feel just as bad as you. No one is singling you out.</p>
<p>It’s common to remember the short, negative feelings/statements teachers make, and easy to forget or not mention the everyday kindnesses and wonderful opportunities teachers give to our kids. </p>
<p>Because we are constantly under that microscope I mentioned before, we can get defensive. I started a new “positive” teacher thread. Anyone have any stories?</p>
<p>Pageturner, I do think that’s “common” unless one’s parents have excelled as consistent role models of gratitude & respect (vs. practicing mockery or condescension themselves). My parents would have let me know how much they disapproved of any smug attitudes toward my teachers, and they never engaged in that kind of thing toward teachers themselves – regardless of the fact that in many cases they were, yes, smarter than a few of my teachers (very few), since my parents were so competent, educated, & intelligent. They also understood the concept of professional training, and would have not presumed to disregard or trivialize a position that they themselves did not have the title to evaluate. It’s part of the arrogance of the modern era that encourages every individual to imagine himself or herself the instant expert, rather than understanding that true expertise in any field is something acquired over a period of time, and that what appears “obvious” is not necessarily.</p>
<p>I appreciate your graciousness in beginning the other thread, but my issue is not one of “defensiveness” but of accuracy. One cannot generalize, nor is it helpful or constructive to do so. I don’t have to worry: I know I’m an excellent teacher. Although I’m technicaly outside the classroom at the moment, I continue to have students in another role, so since they regularly come in to thank me for my contributions to their academic success, I take that as a far better measurement of my ability & intelligence than parents expressing petty bitterness on a discussion board, over long-ago single incidents that their possibly more mature kids have long since grown past and gotten over. I don’t need to be affirmed by College Confidential parents.:rolleyes:</p>
<p>I just find it ironic & pathetic that there are those who see no contradiction in mocking others while condemning mockery themselves.</p>
<p>As we toured an elementary school and looked in on the gym class in progress, the teacher (speaking loudly so that the tour could hear her) explained carefully to the class that it was important to exercise because it released “endomorphs” inside them.</p>
<p>My first grade teacher (back in the days when Kindergarten was not available in public school) tied children to their chairs if they got up when they shouldn’t and taped their mouths closed if they talked out of turn. She complained to my parents that I would not get up to choose a book during reading time and would not speak up in class. She also picked kids up and shook them while fussing at them. I will never forget her. Ever.</p>
<p>As for the good teachers – every other teacher I had until going to college and all but a couple of my professors. In some ways, having a good teacher is like traveling down a smooth and gently winding highway with no traffic and beautiful scenery. Nothing stands out especially because it is such a great ride. Whereas a bad teacher is like a road full of pot holes where avoiding jarring encounters becomes the focus of your drive. When one of my fantastic high school teachers passed away years after my graduation, I tried to find words to describe how fantastic he was, but everything I tried to write came out sounding self-centered. The reason, I determined, was the very thing that made him such a fantastic teacher, he took pleasure in making his students believe they were excellent and gave them the tools they needed so that they could be.</p>
<p>For my own kids, one of our favorite teachers spoke with an accent, for her English was a second language. When she made a mistake with English, the kids corrected her and she thanked them. Grace and intelligence in one person, she was inspiring.</p>
<p>epiphany, if you never had a terrible or stupid teacher, then I envy you. My fourth grade teacher was a monster who made that year of school miserable for everybody (and she later went to jail, by the way), and I had a few other teachers who just weren’t very good. I had lots of great teachers, too. The good ones outweigh the bad ones for me, but I’ll bet they don’t for everybody.</p>
<p>I think I met your 1st grade teacher in the hospital :). Seriously, my brother had a teacher who would “tie” 1st graders, those jumping bean kids to their chairs. While working, I saw she was a patient, went into visit her to see if she remembered my brother. She chuckled at the fact of breaking many a ruler over his hands for talking. Then reminisced about the chair tying. She said it was back in the 60’s when teachers would have 50-60 kids in a class, there was a fire in the school, and she had her daily group of chair tied boys. In horror of the fire, two little guys fell down the stairs still tied to their chairs during the escape. She laughed. I did not.</p>
<p>^^^^ Oh I remember the days of getting hit on the knuckles with a ruler. We had one particular nun at the catholic school I was at back in the stone ages - Sister Mary Oliver (known, not fondly, as Olly Ostrich) who loved to use that ruler and once (not on me) the leather belt that was part of her habit. She didn’t tie anyone to chairs ( that I know of) but did lock one girl in a closet one night after she tried to run away. And my parents paid to send me to that school :rolleyes:</p>
I teach performing arts, so please don’t dissect my grammar. I do the best I can!</p>