The Teacher Thread

[NewYorkIslander]

The suspended kid's mom never comes up, but admin doesn't pursue academic neglect with ACS for some reason. The kid has an older brother who I also taught who used to regularly stab himself with pencils and pens to the point he'd spend entire days at the nurse's/guidance office.

 

[Another New Yorker]

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

The suspended kid's mom never comes up, but admin doesn't pursue academic neglect with ACS for some reason. The kid has an older brother who I also taught who used to regularly stab himself with pencils and pens to the point he'd spend entire days at the nurse's/guidance office.

Two quick questions as a (partial) product of the New York City public school system, though I've been out for over a year now.

First off, do you or any other New York teachers here have an opinion regarding M.S. 54 (the Delta program in particular?). I went through it and my parents are heavily considering sending my brother through it. It's fairly well regarded, but I went through it with an intense loathing. Some of the kids mellowed out with age, but it had all the bad traits of boarding school which I had priorly attended without any of the good. The kids were catty and spoiled and the school seemed to be one of the few "nice" schools that was penetrated by drugs and general debauchery.

Secondly, my old teacher Mr. Polazzo had an op-ed article criticizing the union published in the Post last academic year, and most of the good Stuyvesant teachers I had were very harsh towards it. Is such an attitude prevalent among competent New York public school teachers? I know the student body certainly wanted to boot out a few teachers who were utter trainwrecks, but we were always told that they were too well protected by tenure. Is that a popular sentiment? On an unrelated note have you heard about the racist rap scandal?

 

[Rambo]

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

Its people like this shithead that make me not want to participate in what could potentially be a greatly beneficial threads to people in this profession. I'm not saying he has no right to his opinion, but let the douchebag start another thread, the teacher "bashing" thread, if he wants to enlighten us with his rhetoric.
You'd be amazed at how prevalent that idea is. "Oh, teaching so great because you get the summer's off and 2 weeks for Christmas!" Then when I start explaining to them about all the hours you work that you aren't paid for, how you have to take most of your work home with you at night because you don't have enough time to do it during the day, and how everything is complete **** within the school system (here in FL at least), they tend to shut the **** up. I always love the "You don't get overtime?!" question. Of course, when I start laughing at them, they get upset.

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

On a lighter note, I just had an 8th student return to my class after a suspension today. A few weeks ago I witnessed him threaten to **** and kill a female teacher at my school for scolding him. I am having a hard time figuring out how to handle myself around him now. In my 10 years of teaching, I have never witnessed anything as purely evil as what I saw him do.
You handle yourself the same way you'd handle yourself around somebody who just threatened you. If a student did that to you, how would you handle seeing him again?

 

[NewYorkIslander]

Originally Posted by Rambo

You handle yourself the same way you'd handle yourself around somebody who just threatened you. If a student did that to you, how would you handle seeing him again?

Would have been fine with it had it happened two years ago...now that I've had my daughter, and I'm watching her grow, I feel uncomfortable sitting him near any girls. Also, if it were me I could handle it much easier (I've been threatened before). But to know he's one of mine (in my homeroom class) I feel like I've failed.

 

[NewYorkIslander]

Originally Posted by Rambo

You'd be amazed at how prevalent that idea is. "Oh, teaching so great because you get the summer's off and 2 weeks for Christmas!" Then when I start explaining to them about all the hours you work that you aren't paid for, how you have to take most of your work home with you at night because you don't have enough time to do it during the day, and how everything is complete **** within the school system (here in FL at least), they tend to shut the **** up. I always love the "You don't get overtime?!" question. Of course, when I start laughing at them, they get upset.

The way I see it, the time most of my non-teacher friends spend doing nothing at their desks (emailing pals, setting up pools, facebooking, going on forums like this) more than makes up for the extra few weeks we get of vacation. I already am at school for 8 hours a day (except for Friday) so anyone who tells me I have a shorter workday is nuts.

 

[StephenHero]

Eight whole hours, (except on Friday)?!! Lol.

 

[Eason]

350 essays on my desk as of today :/ LOL overtime? What the hell is that?

As far as primary/secondary... I think 8 hours a day is pretty standard, not including all the work you do at home. My time in Primary/Secondary schools was from 8:30am - 4:30pm and it had more of a 9-5 desk job mentality compared to tertiary education where it frequently is 8am-7pm + home.

 

[KenRose]

I'm going to try and be polite because it does me no good to get mad over an internet dude. it's 9:44 Calgary time; I just got home from work.
Anyways to try and help you read, Ranger said he's at school for 8 hours. Look at the subject he teaches. You think his students work mark themselves? ALL teachers I know take home marking.
Seriously dude, go troll somewhere else.

Originally Posted by StephenHero

Eight whole hours, (except on Friday)?!! Lol.

 

[thenanyu]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

Eight whole hours, (except on Friday)?!! Lol.
He works for 8 hours at school and probably a good number of hours at home each day. If you had taken moment to read, comprehend and apply a bit of thought, this would have been apparent to you. Some people are assholes because they don't know better. You, on the other had, revel in its glory.

 

[StephenHero]

NYC teachers work 180 days a year with shorter work days than the average worker. A full workyear with two weeks of vacation is 244 days +/- 3 to 5 days for holidays. That is roughly 60 extra days off, which is 12 weeks of vacation and they have very comfortable job security. Don't even bother trying to convince people how hard you work because you have to grade tests during commercials of CSI: Des Moines every once in awhile. Working outside of work is not some phenomenon exclusive to teaching. I'd love to watch you at the grind at two in the morning after two consecutive 18 hour days working towards a deadline for a competition project (with no guarantee of compensation) like I'm regularly accustomed to. Do you see other professionals here whining about how hard they have it? Cry us a river.

 

[KenRose]

No, I don't. But I also don't see you or other professional attacked constantly with comments about how little teachers work. That is what's so hard to stomach. For 24 weeks a year I work 80 hr weeks. That alone is far more that the 11 weeks off that I get per year. The rest of the year I average between 45 and 60. I'm at work right now, less than 12 hs from when I left Friday night. And I'm not coaching right now.
My spring break (5 days off) is coming up, I will be at work 2 of them planning our 2111/12 year plan. I'll be doing it then because that is the only time I will have until track season ends June 6 to do this.
Now maybe I'm just a work a holic but I'll tell u this. I'm at my end listening to assholes tell me how much i don't work. Just leave me alone and let me work hard. I'm not looking fr a raise, for a cookie or anything but I'm close to quitting and taking a job at my friend's oil company as a petroleum accountant for the same money and less hours. Yea, no 11 weeks off but no 24 weeks of 80 hrs either.

 

[CBrown85]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

OMG my job is way harder than yours!

Pack up your ego and walk away. You think teaching is easy? ******* great! Woooo! This is a thread for teachers to help other teaches and you're sabotaging that effort. Whatever qualms you have with teaching has no relevancy in this thread and is counterproductive. You think teachers suck? We're in this thread discussing issues and ideas- we're making ourselves better. We are not asking for your congratulations or approval, just your cooperation. Leave, start a different thread, send PMs, whatever but your rather outward display of unprofessionalism while claiming that somehow your job is better or harder or whatever is a poor reflection and doesn't really help any point you're trying to make. Take this opportunity, save some face and post somewhere else.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

The way I see it, the time most of my non-teacher friends spend doing nothing at their desks (emailing pals, setting up pools, facebooking, going on forums like this) more than makes up for the extra few weeks we get of vacation. I already am at school for 8 hours a day (except for Friday) so anyone who tells me I have a shorter workday is nuts.

I teach several times a year - salesmen, mostly. I probably spend 4-6 hours prep time for every hour standing and lecturing. on top of that, I have taught kids a few times in my sons cub scout troop, it was exhausting to do an hour and a half in front of kids. I don't know how you guys do it.

now, I have to say that I think that there are advantages and disadvantages both ways, but I don't see teaching as an easy path.



so, question - what do you do with a kid like the one that threatened the teacher? I mean, they aren't going to throw him out of the system for it, they probably can't force him into therapy, do they just set him free on the system?

 

[FtRoyalty]

Document and generate a paper trail. Hopefully, get the kid a child study meeting and set some action steps, an IEP, behavior management plan, etc. There is always Alterative Ed. but that happens infrequently since it is an expensive option.

Ultimately, you are probably stuck with that kid. Short of a kid posing a real threat, he/she will be at school. Students are rarely expelled anymore. If anything, the school will graduate them early.

 

[FtRoyalty]

Is anyone involved in sports or extracurricular activites?

KenRose, you stated above that you are in track. I think I saw that NYR heads a running intramural. I coach wrestling and helped out with soccer and a weightlifting intramural.