I do my part, I've taught high school, elementary, and middle school, a few years in each. Some districts want you to structure it just like that:
Activate prior knowledge
Teach to whole group
Have small group/independent work
Closure where you recap and have an exit ticket where you can quickly gauge the common misunderstanding and get a general awareness of whether learning happened.
Other districts not so much, but they check for it in evaluations. Problem is, some teachers ham up their lessons when an admin is around, and kind of cut corners when an admin is not around.
I will say most teachers I worked with are good caring teachers. In a very blue area (nyc area but not nyc itself), not too much woke stuff, hard working, putting in the time and work (and working many more hours every week at home grading, crafting activities, making presentations and word problems, etc.
I've noticed that a huge drawback is huge in fluxes of immigrant kids who had terrible education systems (can't even do basic multiplying in 6th and 7th grade. Some can't even write their name) and the instruction and grading have to cater to all students in the class. In some cases they're put I to the advanced math classes which is absurd because it brings down the knowledgeable students who thirst for more)
Another major issue is that inmates run the prison. Some of the more problematic kids get suspended and when they come back it turns out their "poor" mother bought them $300 shoes almost as a prize for getting kicked out of school for a week.
A lot of parents try to ask teachers what to do with their kids because they won't listen to them.
The lockdowns made things 100x worse. We were told we couldn't fail anyone and so many half-assed, cheated, used calculators, or simply didn't turn in work or even attend class for 18 months. They were sprawled in bed, or in someone's house who was watching 10 other kids in loud settings where they couldn't focus, etc.
Then they come back 2 years later having lost all of their manners and social nuance, ESPECIALLY in the middle school.
I work with old timers who have decades in the field and they have all told me they have never had a group so disrespectful, so malicious toward each other, so rude as this current crop of students.
In many places I don't doubt the pink haired commies are pushing sex talk and CRT, but in this blue area I have to say it's not like that, though NJ just had Phil Murphy make it so that second graders have to have Trans bs in curriculum for this fall. The teachers who spoke about it during my break in the teacher's lounge recently were off put by that and were in disagreement with that policy.
There are many great teachers, far more than we give credit to. People often forget there are fucked up families, school boards (which we as voters have a say and most parents who complain don't even go to board meetings, only the radicals)
Edit, sorry for the rant. I had coffee and my thumbs started carpet bombing my phone 😆😆😆
Thank you, fren, for this detailed and important information from the great and passionate teacher that you are. Teachers are so important and valuable, especially when they love the work that they do and are proud to take on the responsibility they have for our kids.
To have a good teacher in your youth, lasts for a life time. Especially when a teacher teaches the kids how to think for themselves and how they can teach themselves later in life.
I had three great teachers that taught me how to think, how to ask every question I want to know an answer to and how to be precise and logical in my perceptions, thoughts and conclusions. They were my teacher in primary school, a teacher for biology and a teacher for art history. I will never forget them!
Yes, the pandemic has destroyed so much in the minds and souls of the children. And now you and your colleagues have to work with "this".
God bless you and your work and hope so very much that your love for kids and for teaching will create also in future great personalities which will enrich the whole country with their talents, knowledge and charackter.
Thank you for kind rant, I loved listening to you.
(and please have mercy on my English, because I am living in Germany and very probably I am no longer at the top with my English grammar and spelling)
Thank you very much, your English is fantastic! The closest I've been to Germany was when I was dating someone in Netherlands and had to travel there a lot. Lockdowns ended that and I haven't been to Europe since.
I used to go to Spain a lot. Most of my family is still there, I actually teach in Spanish/English due to my position and the demographics in my area, so I've had to keep my Spanish and Portuguese sharp, but I never got to really learn Dutch like I wanted :P
Dutch reminds me of German and French, as a German would you say you could get by in Netherlands for the most part with your language?
Dutch and German are similiar, but for me it is difficult to understand the Dutch language. But in different work settings I had customers from the Netherlands who loved to talk German and it always seemed to be very easy for them. In rural areas we have Platt-Deutsch which is similiar to Frisian which is very similiar to the Dutch language.
So I wish you that you will soon see your family in Spain again and will enjoy a nice recreation there. It is good that now travel will get a lot easier again. I always loved to travel learning about different countries their traditions, culture and people.
One day I will once again visit the US, which I did in the late 1990s. You all have such a wonderful homeland, beautiful nature and the feeling of freedom and the American dream was very perceptible.
I do my part, I've taught high school, elementary, and middle school, a few years in each. Some districts want you to structure it just like that:
Activate prior knowledge
Teach to whole group
Have small group/independent work
Closure where you recap and have an exit ticket where you can quickly gauge the common misunderstanding and get a general awareness of whether learning happened.
Other districts not so much, but they check for it in evaluations. Problem is, some teachers ham up their lessons when an admin is around, and kind of cut corners when an admin is not around.
I will say most teachers I worked with are good caring teachers. In a very blue area (nyc area but not nyc itself), not too much woke stuff, hard working, putting in the time and work (and working many more hours every week at home grading, crafting activities, making presentations and word problems, etc.
I've noticed that a huge drawback is huge in fluxes of immigrant kids who had terrible education systems (can't even do basic multiplying in 6th and 7th grade. Some can't even write their name) and the instruction and grading have to cater to all students in the class. In some cases they're put I to the advanced math classes which is absurd because it brings down the knowledgeable students who thirst for more)
Another major issue is that inmates run the prison. Some of the more problematic kids get suspended and when they come back it turns out their "poor" mother bought them $300 shoes almost as a prize for getting kicked out of school for a week.
A lot of parents try to ask teachers what to do with their kids because they won't listen to them.
The lockdowns made things 100x worse. We were told we couldn't fail anyone and so many half-assed, cheated, used calculators, or simply didn't turn in work or even attend class for 18 months. They were sprawled in bed, or in someone's house who was watching 10 other kids in loud settings where they couldn't focus, etc.
Then they come back 2 years later having lost all of their manners and social nuance, ESPECIALLY in the middle school.
I work with old timers who have decades in the field and they have all told me they have never had a group so disrespectful, so malicious toward each other, so rude as this current crop of students.
In many places I don't doubt the pink haired commies are pushing sex talk and CRT, but in this blue area I have to say it's not like that, though NJ just had Phil Murphy make it so that second graders have to have Trans bs in curriculum for this fall. The teachers who spoke about it during my break in the teacher's lounge recently were off put by that and were in disagreement with that policy.
There are many great teachers, far more than we give credit to. People often forget there are fucked up families, school boards (which we as voters have a say and most parents who complain don't even go to board meetings, only the radicals)
Edit, sorry for the rant. I had coffee and my thumbs started carpet bombing my phone 😆😆😆
Thank you, fren, for this detailed and important information from the great and passionate teacher that you are. Teachers are so important and valuable, especially when they love the work that they do and are proud to take on the responsibility they have for our kids.
To have a good teacher in your youth, lasts for a life time. Especially when a teacher teaches the kids how to think for themselves and how they can teach themselves later in life.
I had three great teachers that taught me how to think, how to ask every question I want to know an answer to and how to be precise and logical in my perceptions, thoughts and conclusions. They were my teacher in primary school, a teacher for biology and a teacher for art history. I will never forget them!
Yes, the pandemic has destroyed so much in the minds and souls of the children. And now you and your colleagues have to work with "this".
God bless you and your work and hope so very much that your love for kids and for teaching will create also in future great personalities which will enrich the whole country with their talents, knowledge and charackter.
Thank you for kind rant, I loved listening to you.
(and please have mercy on my English, because I am living in Germany and very probably I am no longer at the top with my English grammar and spelling)
Thank you very much, your English is fantastic! The closest I've been to Germany was when I was dating someone in Netherlands and had to travel there a lot. Lockdowns ended that and I haven't been to Europe since.
I used to go to Spain a lot. Most of my family is still there, I actually teach in Spanish/English due to my position and the demographics in my area, so I've had to keep my Spanish and Portuguese sharp, but I never got to really learn Dutch like I wanted :P
Dutch reminds me of German and French, as a German would you say you could get by in Netherlands for the most part with your language?
Thank you. So you are a language multi talent :-)
Dutch and German are similiar, but for me it is difficult to understand the Dutch language. But in different work settings I had customers from the Netherlands who loved to talk German and it always seemed to be very easy for them. In rural areas we have Platt-Deutsch which is similiar to Frisian which is very similiar to the Dutch language.
So I wish you that you will soon see your family in Spain again and will enjoy a nice recreation there. It is good that now travel will get a lot easier again. I always loved to travel learning about different countries their traditions, culture and people.
One day I will once again visit the US, which I did in the late 1990s. You all have such a wonderful homeland, beautiful nature and the feeling of freedom and the American dream was very perceptible.