Saturday, August 06, 2005

When "Good" Teachers Go Bad...

This is an interesting article:

Teacher of the year fired over '4-letter-word' quiz

Particularly interesting is the teacher's rebuttal:

I also fed kids for 16 years that came to school hungry, baked for my students, bought them clothes, cared for them and listened to them when their parents didn't, couldn't, or wouldn't. Maybe some of you should just go in a high school and sub. Why do you think there is a teacher/substitute shortage? Because all the children use the very best manners they were raised with?

Translation: Because I am the friggin Mother Teresa of teaching, nobody should ever question my methods. You should just be happy you have someone to teach your obnoxious brats anyway.

Littrell, who was nominated in "Who's Who Among American Teachers" four times, says most of the students in her class "were non-readers – quite a few were felons," contending the whole issue was sparked by one disgruntled student. "She had a straight-F [grade-point average]," Littrell said. "She was a problem kid."

Translation: Repeat from the last paragraph, I'm so great, your kids suck. And also, this really bad kid started the whole mess by telling on me.

Lady, not only am I not convinced you're a good teacher just because you have bad students, but how about not passing the buck on who started the "issue," and actually take responsibility? Whether you were called on this behavior or not doesn't change the fact that it happened. I'm sure most of your "felon" students could tell you the "It's only wrong if you get caught," idea doesn't work in real life.

This teacher's attitude is what I would be angry about, not the (inappropriate) quiz she gave. Kids leaving high school for the real world are more damaged by an inability to own up to one's own mistakes than by a working knowledge of curse words.

No comments: