Advice for teachers

[SABuffalo786]

Yeah, High School teachers:

If you're smart, and have done a lot crap in your life, don't brag and tell the kids about it. They don't care and don't want to hear about it. You just end up losing them forever, and there's a good chance the Seniors will do their best to steal a whole bunch of crap from your room before the end of the year.


Don't be wishy washy. If you're going to be a hard-ass, be a hard-ass. If you're going to be a "fun" teacher, be that. Just don't be a hypocrite.


Oh, and don't go out of your way just to be a dickhead in some weak ass attempt to establish authority. You'll be found out, and eaten alive. Respect the kids, and they'll respect you.

[Iceblink]

Yeah, High School teachers:


This is why we need a moderator. I think this type of advice, whether or not the teachers take it seriously, deserves its own thread.

It's one of the things I mentioned when starting this forum.

SABuffalo786, maybe you can start an "Advice for Teachers" thread and repost your comments.

[Jacen McCullough]

This is why we need a moderator. I think this type of advice, whether or not the teachers take it seriously, deserves its own thread.

It's one of the things I mentioned when starting this forum.

SABuffalo786, maybe you can start an "Advice for Teachers" thread and repost your comments.


Ask and ye shall (eventually) receive. :)

["Right Wing Wacko"]

Advice for teachers?
Learn to think for yourself, you've been to college so you're gonna have to unlearn most everything the statists have programmed into your brain. Secondly let the kids think, so they didn't get the supposedly correct answer like "communism is theoretically sound we just haven't had a strong enough body like the UN to implement it" what's important is that the kids reason for themelves why this, that or the other is "correct".

You'll get my kids neurons from my cold dead parental hands. :mad:

[Iceblink]

Yeah, High School teachers:

If you're smart, and have done a lot crap in your life, don't brag and tell the kids about it. They don't care and don't want to hear about it. You just end up losing them forever, and there's a good chance the Seniors will do their best to steal a whole bunch of crap from your room before the end of the year.

What do you consider "crap"? There is some stuff that I believe adds a bit of authenticity to my subject matter. For example, I've been to a great many countries. I've experienced life in other cultures. I think that letting them know this or telling them of my experiences helps lessons. I don't do it in a pompous manner.

I haven't had anyone steal from me. I've had kids borrow pens, etc. without returning them... but I've held onto everything. Oh... one ROTC student took a Henry V poster.



Don't be wishy washy. If you're going to be a hard-ass, be a hard-ass. If you're going to be a "fun" teacher, be that. Just don't be a hypocrite.


Can't one be a fun hardass? I've had extremely strict and difficult teachers, but I had a blast in some of the classes.


Oh, and don't go out of your way just to be a dickhead in some weak ass attempt to establish authority. You'll be found out, and eaten alive. Respect the kids, and they'll respect you.

Respect is key, I believe. I never go out expecting the students to respect me. It sounds cliched, but I do feel I need to earn it. I'm extremely fair and consistent. I listen to them because I'm genuinely interested in their opinions.

How would one go out of one's way to be a dickhead? What kind of things are we talking about?

[Iceblink]

Advice for teachers?
Learn to think for yourself


I don't think you really want this. From what I've seen of you, you'd prefer a collective hive mind.

you've been to college so you're gonna have to unlearn most everything the statists have programmed into your brain.


Such as? What do you think we've learned? So you haven't been to college then?


Secondly let the kids think, so they didn't get the supposedly correct answer like "communism is theoretically sound we just haven't had a strong enough body like the UN to implement it" what's important is that the kids reason for themelves why this, that or the other is "correct".


I do let the kids think. I have no idea what you're babbling about though. I do ask a lot of open-ended questions and ask for opinions.


You'll get my kids neurons from my cold dead parental hands. :mad:

1. I'm sorry you've reproduced. I hope you haven't influenced them too much.

2. Perhaps you shouldn't hold your children's neurons so tightly. Sounds to me like you're the one who's preventing them from free thought.

[Americano e Orgulho]

What do you consider "crap"? There is some stuff that I believe adds a bit of authenticity to my subject matter. For example, I've been to a great many countries. I've experienced life in other cultures. I think that letting them know this or telling them of my experiences helps lessons. I don't do it in a pompous manner.

I believe the original poster was speaking more about things such as; bragging about partying, drugs, being a horrible student, drinking and other such not so wise things to speak about in a classroom. Then again maybe you knew this, and were just being a stickler.

[Metros Striker10]

What do you consider "crap"? There is some stuff that I believe adds a bit of authenticity to my subject matter. For example, I've been to a great many countries. I've experienced life in other cultures. I think that letting them know this or telling them of my experiences helps lessons. I don't do it in a pompous manner.
Bragging about Ph.Ds and what not.

Classrooms, I believe, are places where students should have fun learning. Teaching by the rule book won't work because the mentality of today won't accept it. We as a society aren't as formal as before. The Little House on the Prarie school days are over. Give the daily lesson, give them the assignments, give them the homework, but insert some jokes and fooling around in between. Having students do work, after work after work is only going to bore them. Once boredom begins, that's when you'll see the cell phones, the paper airplanes, the little arguments, the loud talking, etc. Keep them active in a positive work. Share funny stories, tell jokes, make fun of the Red Sox, whatever. Obviously not during a lesson, but before class starts, or while their doing their classwork or once they are complete with it, or right before the bell rings. Communication is the key to having a great class.

Basically, let them know that their shouldn't be any "ranking" done. Everyone is on the same level except that the teacher is the one who gives the lesson, hands out the tests, etc.

Oh yeah, one great quote that I'll never forget: "I didn't give you the F, you earned it." Is that true or what? When a student gets an A, it's always "Hey Mom, hey Dad! I got an A!" When it the other way around, it's always the teacher's fault. :)

[djwalker]

Advice for teachers?
Learn to think for yourself, you've been to college so you're gonna have to unlearn most everything the statists have programmed into your brain. Secondly let the kids think, so they didn't get the supposedly correct answer like "communism is theoretically sound we just haven't had a strong enough body like the UN to implement it" what's important is that the kids reason for themelves why this, that or the other is "correct".

You'll get my kids neurons from my cold dead parental hands. :mad:
Oh, good. I haven't had the opportunity to use my ignore list in quite some time.

[Jacen McCullough]

Bragging about Ph.Ds and what not.


No kidding. When I was in high school, the band teacher got his PhD and went on about it for weeks. He demanded that all of his students call him "Doctor Pirone." What a twit. If you know your stuff, they'll know it. If you have to tell them that you know your stuff, they won't believe it. It's just like the basic rule of creative writing: Show it, don't say it.


Basically, let them know that their shouldn't be any "ranking" done. Everyone is on the same level except that the teacher is the one who gives the lesson, hands out the tests, etc.


This one gets a little tricky. While there should never be any ranking done among the individual students, and a teacher should never hold their position over the class for personal reasons, the fact of the matter is that the teacher and the students are NOT on the same level. The teacher has to earn a certain respect for what they bring to the table. If the instructor is "on the same level, but just hands out the tests" then why would the students ever care about what the instructor is teaching? A teacher should never be afraid to listen with an open mind to a new viewpoint. He should never lord his position over the class. But by the same token, the teacher should not be seen as an intellectual or social equal. If they were, what is the point of paying them to stand in front of the classroom? Pay some 14 year old 6 bucks an hour to do the same thing.

[/QUOTE]

[Metros Striker10]

This one gets a little tricky. While there should never be any ranking done among the individual students, and a teacher should never hold their position over the class for personal reasons, the fact of the matter is that the teacher and the students are NOT on the same level. The teacher has to earn a certain respect for what they bring to the table. If the instructor is "on the same level, but just hands out the tests" then why would the students ever care about what the instructor is teaching? A teacher should never be afraid to listen with an open mind to a new viewpoint. He should never lord his position over the class. But by the same token, the teacher should not be seen as an intellectual or social equal. If they were, what is the point of paying them to stand in front of the classroom? Pay some 14 year old 6 bucks an hour to do the same thing.



Yeah, that's what I meant. I worded it incorrectly.

On the Ph.D. thing, yeah, getting mad because a student called you by Mr./Ms/Mrs. instead of Dr. when all the other teachers they have that day don't go by Dr. is pretty bad and is a start for more trouble.

[Jacen McCullough]

Yeah, that's what I meant. I worded it incorrectly.

On the Ph.D. thing, yeah, getting mad because a student called you by Mr./Ms/Mrs. instead of Dr. when all the other teachers they have that day don't go by Dr. is pretty bad and is a start for more trouble.


Plus, most of us had known the guy for a few years as "Mr. Pirone," and even the freshmen had known him by that since the beginning of the year. It's just anal. Heck, I'm going to have enough trouble with kids calling me "Mister" anything. It'll take me awhile to realize they're talking to me. :)

[Metros Striker10]

Plus, most of us had known the guy for a few years as "Mr. Pirone," and even the freshmen had known him by that since the beginning of the year. It's just anal. Heck, I'm going to have enough trouble with kids calling me "Mister" anything. It'll take me awhile to realize they're talking to me. :)
LOL....just have them call you by your first name..:) Actually, I've seen a lot of students address their teachers by their last names..

[djwalker]

LOL....just have them call you by your first name..:) Actually, I've seen a lot of students address their teachers by their last names..
That happened to me this last year,when I moved from elementary to middle school. Quite a few of the kids would call me just "Walker". I was going to make an issue of it, but they really weren't being disrespectful about it, so I let it pass. More than anything it showed they felt comfortable in my classroom, which is conducive to learning.

It's really funny though, I've been teaching so long that I'm running into young adults who were in my class as elementary students. They still call me Mr. Walker, even when I tell them it's ok to call me David. I love that. I'll always be Mr. Walker to them, even when they're my age and have their own families and successful careers and all that.

[Jacen McCullough]

They still call me Mr. Walker, even when I tell them it's ok to call me David. I love that. I'll always be Mr. Walker to them, even when they're my age and have their own families and successful careers and all that.

See that's what scares me. That would imply that I'm an official grown up, and I'm not sure I'm ready to concede that point yet. :)

[Iceblink]

See that's what scares me. That would imply that I'm an official grown up, and I'm not sure I'm ready to concede that point yet. :)

Trust me... even if you're doing junior high or high school, the kids there will make you seel so old.

There'll be all kinds of pop references you wo't know about.... music you've never heard... the girls' clothes will all be too tight and short and revealing for you. You'll be telling the boys to pull their pants up.

You're gonna have to work that out this summer. It's definitely got to be established that, while you're not necessarily completely out of touch with everything in their lives... and you're not an old fogey... you are definitely absolutely and completely not one of them.

[Jacen McCullough]

Trust me... even if you're doing junior high or high school, the kids there will make you seel so old.

There'll be all kinds of pop references you wo't know about.... music you've never heard... the girls' clothes will all be too tight and short and revealing for you. You'll be telling the boys to pull their pants up.

You're gonna have to work that out this summer. It's definitely got to be established that, while you're not necessarily completely out of touch with everything in their lives... and you're not an old fogey... you are definitely absolutely and completely not one of them.


Oh, I know I'm not one of them, it just feels weird. I'm working with the office of technology services at the school this summer, and two of the kids working with us are incoming freshmen. They were born in 1986. Some of us got to talking about classic Nintendo games and these two just had these blank looks on their faces. That's when it struck that when the rest of us were playing video games and what not, these two were still a 6 pack and a broken condom away from being alive. It really creeped out those of us in the room born pre-1980. :)

[Demosthenes]

Just last week I had a summer school student (4th grader) writing an essay about music. For research she polled the class about their favorite music genres. She asked me "do you like music from the 70's and 80's? You know, old time stuff?" Oy.

But that's not the worst of it. Once I was tutoring a 10-year-old, and he played me a new CD he had. I asked him if he could make me a tape of a certain song from it. He looked at me blankly. "Tape?" He had no idea what I was talking about.

[djwalker]

Just last week I had a summer school student (4th grader) writing an essay about music. For research she polled the class about their favorite music genres. She asked me "do you like music from the 70's and 80's? You know, old time stuff?" Oy.

But that's not the worst of it. Once I was tutoring a 10-year-old, and he played me a new CD he had. I asked him if he could make me a tape of a certain song from it. He looked at me blankly. "Tape?" He had no idea what I was talking about.
One of my students explaining the concept of "records" to another student:

"Records are like CD's, except they sound scratchy and they play Elvis".