how can the nation keep teachers from being so worthless?

Question

now its not their fault they are worthless, seeing as how parents have striped them of any abilaty to disaplin students.

would it help if the paddle was brought back? what about solatary confinement for the worst students?

perhaps fineing the parents for not teaching their worthless kids any manners?

any ides on how to empower the teachers again?

no i am the prime example of a lazy person.

also spell check does not work for the body of the question, only the topic sentence.

Answer 1

Perhaps you should blame your worthless teacher for not teaching you how to spell.

Are you a teacher, or do you know any teachers? I am guessing no is the answer to both.

Teachers are not worthless. The paperwork and the discipline issues are what make the job worthless.

Answer 2

I think there are several factors that contribute to the way teachers are viewed today, but he main one is that the adults do not stick together. Too many adults want to "relate to" the kids and be one of them.

Teachers in the past had the respect of both students and parents. I think the big change came with baby boomer parents. Baby boomers grew up in an era where they challenged authority (Vietnam war, etc.). By nature, they came to be skeptical of authority and question it. There's nothing wrong with that to a certain extent, but they passed that on to their kids, and in their kids, it became "anti-authority" cubed. The kids do not respect authority, and hence, they do not respect teachers. When a student does something wrong, the parent first points the finger at the teacher rather than their child. When I was going to school, my parents supported the teacher's decisions (unless it was something obviously radical and/or unfair). This doesn't happen today.

Another reason is the teachers themselves. Many of them have folded to pressure from PC forces, and they are too easy on the students. Grade inflation is common. Also, discipline issues are common. Teachers today seem more concerned with students "liking" them rather than students actually learning something. I remember respecting my teachers tremendously, but I don't remember thinking that I could pal around with them as if we were friends. Now, that I look back on it, my strictest teachers were my favorite teachers. They really wanted to teach us something about not only the subject, but about respect.

If all the adults (e.g., teachers, administrators, parents, etc.) stuck together and supported one another, students would benefit in the long run.

Answer 3

Provide active mentoring and positive support networks for beginning teachers to help promote success. Pay teachers a more livable wage so they don't have to spend time that could be used prepping for classes working other jobs. Have teachers specialize more and teach fewer classes so that they have more time and are less stressed. Support continuing education for teachers -not limiting the amount of time they can spend going to workshops and classes because the money isn't in budgetary funds. Provide schools with more money. Get the emphasis off of testing and on to teaching for understanding (as evidenced by multiple forms of assessment). Lower the teacher/student ratio to 10 to 1 or less so that students will have more one on one time with an actual teacher, either by creating smaller classes, or ideally having more than one teacher in a class. The possibilities are endless, and really outline the limitations of our current system.

Corporal punishment is NOT the answer, especially since most students tend to have negative ratios to negative punishment, particularly when they perceive that it's blown out of proportion. Parenting is something that often could be done better, but that ultimately the schools have no control over. That's also getting into the sticky issue of what defines good parenting, which varies from person to person and child to child. The best thing that we as teachers can do is provide a positive behavior model for parents and children, as well as providing parents with suggestions on how to deal with any issues that may come up (LDs, behavioral problems, etc.). Even then, it is ultimately up to the parent to enforce those suggestions outside of the school situation.

Answer 4

I feel for the teachers. Their hands are tied by the school board, the parents and the state. They can't teach anything worth while because of the No child left behind act. They can't discipline students that misbehave in class. They can't make the students work....heaven forbid they do anything that isn't "fun" in class because we want them to "engage" our kids and be their "friends". Kids don't need more friends they need Teachers & leaders. They need homework to teach them responsibility and good study habits. They need control and discipline in the classroom so they can actually do some learning. They need firm routines and less games. They need to be taught self-control, self-awarenes, compassion and pride. They need to held accountable for their actions...not the parents. I can dream big can't I? But where there is hope.....

Answer 5

I am a teacher and I don't feel worthless or powerless. You have to develop a good working relationship with your parents. Parents will get upset if you are not teaching their child with respect, and I believe they have every right to get upset if their child is not being treated properly.
As to any form of corporeal punishment - it is a waste of time and energy. You cannot teach children how to behave appropriately by beating them!!!!!!
Treat them with respect, you will generally get respect back

Answer 6

I'm with sunshine_today on this one! Your obvious lack of the concepts of basic grammar and punctuation (spellcheck or not!) tells me that your educators have far more to worry about than discipline!

Perhaps teachers would be empowered with proof that their lessons are being retained by their students. I'd be pretty discouraged if I was a teacher and I read the above question!

Answer 7

we use money to put value on things, right? doctors are valuable and are paid for it very well. why not teachers? (i'm not saying that they should be paid over the top wages, but maybe if the government/state/district showed value this way, teachers might be respected more by families who normally don't see them in this light.

Answer 8

You are "exhibit A" for the low standards of school these days. Pity the child who cannot use spell check.