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Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

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Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#351

Post by vanviegen »

labster wrote: post #331
vanviegen wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So which is it? Are we asking middle school kids to come up with original research, or are we training them to be good factory workers? These statements seem to point in exact opposite directions.

Unfortunately, both. We ask kids to be on time, every day, sit orderly in their seats. Don't talk to neighbors, you're supposed to be at your job or learning. Collaboration is only allowed when authorized. Looking up information is only allowed when authorized. Any disruption is grounds for punishment, too many notices is grounds for dismissal, er, expulsion. And then these same kids are sent home and asked to comple…

Great explanation, thanks!

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#352

Post by learnstats2 »

8bitsrule wrote: post #184
allcentury wrote: post #14

There's much more to this story. My mother, a high school calculus teacher for the last 22 years is so ready to retire. I didn't think my mom would ever retire, she spends countless hours coming up with unique lesson plans for the kids - they usually involve games, real world use cases and many ah-ha moments. She lives for those moments when a kid lights up when they understand the value of what their learning. Now t…

"What extra credit can she do to make this an A?" "She can't, because that's the grade she earned in the time alloted. The moving finger, having writ, has moved on. "However, I'm confident that, with Janie's capabilities, a little more effort from her and help from you, she can easily demonstrate a higher level of mastery and the consequent benefits from longer-term retention. "Princeton will NOT be a picnic, and dev…

These responses will get major push-back.

By indicating a personal and subjective intent to be ungenerous, parents will feel (perhaps rightly) that they want to take this further.

Edited to add, my approach would be more like:

"I have graded 8bitsrule as generously as I could under the circumstances, and the grade is final. 8bitsrule will need to show a better understanding of communicating diplomatically in order to succeed in next semester's courses. 8bitsrule could try the following specific tasks over the break:"

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#353

Post by huntertwo »

kokokokoko wrote: post #136
allcentury wrote: post #14

There's much more to this story. My mother, a high school calculus teacher for the last 22 years is so ready to retire. I didn't think my mom would ever retire, she spends countless hours coming up with unique lesson plans for the kids - they usually involve games, real world use cases and many ah-ha moments. She lives for those moments when a kid lights up when they understand the value of what their learning. Now t…

If anyone has ever lived by the mantra "The worst that can happen is that they will say no.", this is what happens to a culture as a whole as more and more people behave that way.

Especially when people are conditioned to be afraid of saying no. A lot of issues can be resolved with a “no” response.

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#354

Post by jawns »

kokokokoko wrote: post #136
allcentury wrote: post #14

There's much more to this story. My mother, a high school calculus teacher for the last 22 years is so ready to retire. I didn't think my mom would ever retire, she spends countless hours coming up with unique lesson plans for the kids - they usually involve games, real world use cases and many ah-ha moments. She lives for those moments when a kid lights up when they understand the value of what their learning. Now t…

If anyone has ever lived by the mantra "The worst that can happen is that they will say no.", this is what happens to a culture as a whole as more and more people behave that way.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the mantra. But the "this" you refer to doesn't really illustrate a problem with it.

Here's how these exchanges SHOULD go ...

    Kid: Could I do extra credit to bring my grade up?
    Teacher: No, I'm sorry, the grade won't change.
    Kid: Okay.  (thinks to himself, "Well, it was worth a shot")
The unhealthy thing is not the venturing to ask. It's not accepting a reasonable answer when it is given:

    Kid: Could I do extra credit to bring my grade up?
    Teacher: No, I'm sorry, the grade won't change.
    Kid: How dare you.  You'll be hearing from my parents.
(or, more likely)

    Parent: Could my kid do extra credit to bring his grade up?
    Teacher: No, I'm sorry, the grade won't change.
    Parent: How dare you.  I'm going over your head.

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#355

Post by plankers »

grecy wrote: post #335
atombender wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a great life-work balance, but it also sounds like a privileged position that is unrealistic for many teachers. My girlfriend teaches art to kids aged 8-14 at an urban public school, and she has zero time during the day for lesson planning, grading, seating plans, hanging up artwork, dealing with parents, etc. On most days she has to stay behind for several hours, and she often works throughout the w…

> sounds like a privileged position that is unrealistic for many teachers Well sure, he lives in Australia which has much, much better working conditions than the USA. It sounds like your girlfriend is being taken advantage of and working in a situation that is not to her benefit. In which case she needs to start looking for a new job!

In which case nobody would be teaching the kids art. Of course she's being taken advantage of, she's a teacher in 21st century western civilization.

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#356

Post by sys_64738 »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #290
sys_64738 wrote: post #265

Grade inflation and extra credit are the two big items which let American schools down. A class should have a bell shaped curve after the final exam and extra credit should never be given as it's form of cheating the system.

Bell curves are a lie though. What if you taught well and everyone understood your lesson and they fared well on the test ? The French way of grading without a curve is much better in that aspect.

Generally bell curves are applications of the material together that make it hard to attain higher grades. Otherwise the exam is too easy.

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#357

Post by dagw »

yason wrote: post #339
twtw wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice try. I've seen how this goes over with those types. The parents escalate to the adminstrators, who either involve the student counsellors or talk to the teacher directly. One of these two tell the teacher how they need to better support the student because they need a "little extra help" or can't handle the stress required to turn in homework assignments. I wish this stuff worked, but these parents typically don…

Pushing responsibility upward and allowing escalation should end at some point. The administrators should just repeat what the teachers said, and tell the parents that the only way to get better scores is to invite the child work harder for the next test. It's really that simple. Now, if even the administrators can't do that then someone in the city government, state government or federal government should be able to…

The administration has nothing to win and a lot to lose by standing their ground. 'Fixing' the grade costs them nothing and makes a very annoying problem go away.

This is one of the big advantages of national standardised testing. There is literally nothing the school can do to alter the grade.

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#358

Post by abc-xyz »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #254
nsriv wrote: post #3

https://outline.com/ZuA8TG

This attitude towards customer-funded journalism promotes bad content and ad-driven models. It’s a valid choice. But understand the trade-offs for convenience and tracking you’re promoting.

How is he promoting tracking? The outline link has 3 cookies (0 third-party) and make 5 requests (the bad ones being Google Analytics and Doubleclick). Whereas the original article has 68 cookies (44 third party) and make 261 requests (which violates users privacy to a much greater extent).

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#359

Post by prolikewh0a »

xamuel wrote: post #129
shados wrote: post #11

Articles like these, while only loosely related, always make me think that the software engineering bubble has to pop. You have people with ton of education busting their behind dealing with little brats all day to try to make sure they have a future... During that time, some bro who read a couple of books and hammered on his keyboard, and MAYBE did a 3 months bootcamp gets bummed if he can't pull in 100k in one of t…

Most people wouldn't be able to cut it in software dev, whether they did the 3 month bootcamp or even if they managed to pass a 4-year university program. 99% of the time, Little Jimmy's 4th grade English teacher would have a snowball's chance in hell as a professional developer.

Bulls$&t. I don't think a Software Engineer could even handle a helpdesk job without quitting within the first couple of days. I've been shadowing recently with a developer because I'm trying to get an Engineer 1 job, I've never been a part of anything so easy and relaxed in my life. Then I know they're getting paid 6 figures, live 5 minutes from work, have great full benefits, come and go whenever they want. They have all the workers rights everyone else doesn't have!

Most software engineers are not superstars, they're just trying to flex their privilege while bouncing around companies.

I don't think this is all engineers of course. There are brilliant engineers who deserve every penny and more, but there's a huge epidemic of techbros and people coming in straight out of boot camps who demand 6 figures and to work on large projects like experienced people.

Re: Teachers Quit Jobs at Highest Rate on Record

#360

Post by tomohawk »

kakarot wrote: post #262
kojeovo wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does the her schedule look like exactly? She's in the classroom teaching for 8 hours straight (minus lunch)? This reads a lot like people who make excuses for not having time to exercise. I get that some positions will require you to put in work outside of work hours, but to say 'has zero time' seems like a bit of an excuse.

At least in America, most teachers are expected to take home work and spend a large portion of time outside of the strict 6-8 school day doing lesson planning, grading, etc. Their wages are quickly approaching what you would expect at a fry cook position yet Wendy's doesn't give you four hours of extra homework a night. We are headed for a giant education crisis because we overwork and underpay under-qualified teache…

All of the most successful teachers I had placed tight boundaries on when they worked. They were organized, fast, and efficient. One history teacher I had only ever gave essay tests. He would have them all graded by 4pm. As one class was taking the exam, he would grade the previous class's essays. He had been a colonel in the army, and so had learned how to be ruthlessly efficient. One of the best teachers I had. Similarly, had a neighbor who had been a colonel and became a realtor when he retired. He way outworked everyone else, including realtors with many years of experience. He was accustomed to slamming through all the paperwork quickly and carried that to his realtor gig.

I have known many teachers who were never trained to be efficient or organized, and who did not anticipate the paperwork load that comes with the job. They would struggle under the paperwork load due to this.

But, what do we expect from a system run by government administrators with little or no transparency or accountability. The administrators pile on the paperwork, because that is what means quality to them. That is what they do.

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