I have witnessed the infection called "me, me, me" having it's way through the US and the Industrial world. It started with parents saying things like, "I don't want my kids struggling like I did," and then giving in to the children's every sad outcry. Giving credence to these children for many years has created a horrible affliction for an increasing number of countries. The United States of America is the sickest of countries with this horrible social illness. Struggle is seen as something bad even though it is a real life ingredient for all. Be careful what you wish for.
This desease started about 30 years ago. I am 61 years old and have watched sadly as the majority of adults has become more and more immature. For instance there is the cinema. The young (10-40) have increasingly become more self absorbed. 'They text, talk out loud, bring crying babies to the movie while ignoring others and doing these things to the distress of all who want and paid to see the movie. I believe the mutation of NCLB is "Let's use my idea" it is as good as yours. causing accelleration of this sickness. The disease is a program called "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND"! This means that anyone can interfere with anyone in their attempt to excel, or get ahead (as in being the one who can hear or see the movie at the cinema). The young who should be kicked out of the cinema are the same young who were told in class "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND".
The laws of Physics teach that one material may have more or less mass and different
properties. Results of the disease are the masses being pulled down to the bottom and nothing rising to the top. The excellent don't dare. No Child Left Behind causes the less gifted to be the focus of all our money, time and energies at the loss of the more gifted. It assumes that we are making washers with the same material and all can fall within a small tolerance of difference at the end of the production line. Ignorance is not only sad but calls for huge tolerance of the absurd.
First and foremost with humans we don't start out with the same material. We are all as different as our fingerprints. Simpleton's can only be the people who would even entertain thoughts like these. What a sad day for those of us who excel. That might be why the rich don't think simpletons deserve their tax money.
Congress is a group of adults by majority now who have been educated and inundated with these lame ideas. Why wouldn't you expect them to be tied up tightly in their own ideas and not in the ideas of those they represent. "Me" is as good as all of the rest of you, so get out of my way and what I think is as good as what anyone else thinks. What I believe is good for all of you whether or not you know it. After all, aren't we all the same? Aren't we all deserving of the same thing?
Some think that only those who excel deserve all. They are wrong also and this idea is just as absurd. Let's all stay in a horizontal line and keep it that way. Forget that we all have individual struggles and our struggles differ based upon where our genius is and where our individual retardations are.
Politicians don't have to be considerate of their fellow man. "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" means no child or person gets ahead and no one can lead. We don't have leadership in this country and "we the people" don't know why?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I Am A Teacher
I am a teacher with 34 years experience. I teach High School. I taught three years in middle school and the rest in High School math. I see my students for an average of 3 hours a week for 36 weeks a year. That makes about 108 hours and that is equivalent to having them for 40 hours a week on a job for 2 weeks and 3.5 days. It used to be much more before politicians began to save big bucks on your kids in public school. Of course it was done with smoke and mirrors and the general public didn't know what was happening to them. Claims were made that it would be better this way and kids would get more time to do their work when in fact they would get a lot less. I learned that most people will believe the people who claim to be experts. I have 200 different students for the same amount of time and if you can multiply hours times the total students I teach 21600 individual hours in a year. Now let's figure how much it cost for day care. The average day care is $4.00 an hour or $200 a week for about 50 hours. So without teaching my subjects and just keeping them busy and entertained I would make, 21,600 x 4 and that equals $86,400 per year. Teachers start in many states in the $30,000 range. We have to deal with much larger children, mentally ill, paranoid, schizo, bipolar, low IQ, High IQ, poverty stricken, very wealthy, spoiled, abused and everything in between. Most of the time we have all of this in a class of 30 right in front of us all day. We have to be masters of at least 3 academic subjects and psychiatrist with groups of 30 instead of 5. I have to psyche each one individually, motivate, inspire, cheer up, engage, and keep the attention of each one every minute and every hour they are with me. Sounds like a Fairy Tale huh? It isn't. I was born with magic powers to entertain, be witty, discipline, defuse and entice your child. I do. I am a wizard. I am hated by many now. I am the farmer of great minds. I feed and grow them with my wits and toil. The adults are jealous. I have been asked to do all of this and then I am hated because some of the kids can go home and say great things about me that they wouldn't say about their parents. If you can do the math in this article and you can read it, thank the wizards that were in your life especially the ones who went to battle with you and won you over. Socrates was killed teaching his students to question. Not everyone wants you to figure out their secrets. It is their secrets that fool you. Could it be that one party in this country supports the keepers of secrets and the other party supports the finders of secrets and we don't know who to believe? The only way you can know who tells you a lie is you must first know the truth yourself. That is why we have education. Watering down education awards the keepers of secrets and the merchants of lies. taking away time and people and other resources from education weakens an entire nation and the world. The words of the great speakers of truths are those who spoke what they wrote and put it in a public place to be looked at by the millions so it would be tested over and over again to see if it could pass and pass again the tests of truth. Writers are courageous beings. Learners supply us with the great ones. Education teaches us the time tested truths that we cling to and when one of these is finally proved wrong it can cause huge social, religious and political change. I am a teacher of 34 years. I fight battles with the human minds and speak truths that I dare others to destroy. In that way I am a danger to some. Education isn't for everyone because everyone isn't for education. Research and education find lies as they find truth. Beware. Boredom doesn't survive learning because learning is to discover new and lasting things and we call that discovery. Discovery continually uncovers and marvels us with newness that drives us forward with interest and is the reason we have intrinsic curiosity. These are historical times. These are dangerous times. Education is rearing its head and the truth it uncovers is often brutal. It scares powerful leaders and overthrows tyranny. These things are happening in our days. Does everyone really want us educated or is it like I proclaim. You will be told what you should know and not know. You will teach what your are told to teach and you will not teach what they say not to teach.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Destruction Of Young Genius
For the past 30 years we have seen a tremendous increase in stunting the growth of genius in the U.S. Our politicians and our lack of interest in what teachers really do for us has brought about a "dumbing down" of all curriculum in the core areas. This has been happening for 40 years. One might guess that it was done purposely to supply a service sector with lots of low wage employees. After all we do have government hired psychologist that spend all of their work hours figuring out how to pull the wool over the public's poor eysight.
Schools have done their share of using smoke and mirrors. 15 years ago it was decided that the 6 period day was too costly for schools to do so our great cost cutters came up with a 4 period day with classes every other day. The reason that was given the public was that children would do better with more time on task at one sitting. The real reason was that this allowed School Districts to cut teachers. The smoke of this is that you have a teacher teaching 8 classes every two days instead of 6 every day. That is a net of two additional classes to teach for every teacher that stays. The outcome of this is you can cut a teacher for every 4 teachers you have.
And to hell with the best education for your child.
Let's do the math? That is if you can do math which when you can't one wears it like a medal and one wants to tell everyone with pride. 6 period day was 6 periods of math (55 minutes) for 180 days. That is 9900 minutes on task for every student in a school year. On the 4 period day every other day you get 90 minute classes for 90 days in the school year. That is 8100 minutes in a school year. That is a net loss of 1800 minutes of instruction time or 30 days of school. Pretty slick huh? Politicians then demanded higher scores. By the way minutes are a teacher's most precious resource. They robbed teachers of this resource and demanded much much more.
Now, continuing the math, schools, because of money, are going to a 5 by 5 schedule every other day which will now be 75 minutes every other day for 90 days which comes to 6750 minutes of instruction. This allows elimination of two more teachers for every 5 teachers. But, to the detriment of your students they have lost another 1350 minutes of instruction for a total of 3150 minutes in a school year since this trimming began. If you are staying with me by chance the is a total cutting of the school year by 52.5 days of instruction. That is out of 180 which leaves 127.5 days of our original school year. Is that smoke or mirrors or both?
The results of this are that teachers are spending 90% of their time on a state test that the genius kid already has mastered so that the student having a difficult time can make the state mandated scores. In case you didn't know, teachers livelihoods are at stake if they teach the more advanced students at the loss of minutes on the struggling students. It is called teacher accountablility. As a side note, children aren't held accountable with grades. They are only accountable for the score on the state tests.
Finally, the wolves have been watching the hen house. The taxpayers are too busy working for their taxes to watch. They give the "experts" the trust to watch this valuable enterprise. The betrayal continues to be monumental. If taxpayers had the time to look into, or read, what folks like me are writing, they would be appalled. Our future is our kids? Sounds like the bank account is the future.
Schools have done their share of using smoke and mirrors. 15 years ago it was decided that the 6 period day was too costly for schools to do so our great cost cutters came up with a 4 period day with classes every other day. The reason that was given the public was that children would do better with more time on task at one sitting. The real reason was that this allowed School Districts to cut teachers. The smoke of this is that you have a teacher teaching 8 classes every two days instead of 6 every day. That is a net of two additional classes to teach for every teacher that stays. The outcome of this is you can cut a teacher for every 4 teachers you have.
And to hell with the best education for your child.
Let's do the math? That is if you can do math which when you can't one wears it like a medal and one wants to tell everyone with pride. 6 period day was 6 periods of math (55 minutes) for 180 days. That is 9900 minutes on task for every student in a school year. On the 4 period day every other day you get 90 minute classes for 90 days in the school year. That is 8100 minutes in a school year. That is a net loss of 1800 minutes of instruction time or 30 days of school. Pretty slick huh? Politicians then demanded higher scores. By the way minutes are a teacher's most precious resource. They robbed teachers of this resource and demanded much much more.
Now, continuing the math, schools, because of money, are going to a 5 by 5 schedule every other day which will now be 75 minutes every other day for 90 days which comes to 6750 minutes of instruction. This allows elimination of two more teachers for every 5 teachers. But, to the detriment of your students they have lost another 1350 minutes of instruction for a total of 3150 minutes in a school year since this trimming began. If you are staying with me by chance the is a total cutting of the school year by 52.5 days of instruction. That is out of 180 which leaves 127.5 days of our original school year. Is that smoke or mirrors or both?
The results of this are that teachers are spending 90% of their time on a state test that the genius kid already has mastered so that the student having a difficult time can make the state mandated scores. In case you didn't know, teachers livelihoods are at stake if they teach the more advanced students at the loss of minutes on the struggling students. It is called teacher accountablility. As a side note, children aren't held accountable with grades. They are only accountable for the score on the state tests.
Finally, the wolves have been watching the hen house. The taxpayers are too busy working for their taxes to watch. They give the "experts" the trust to watch this valuable enterprise. The betrayal continues to be monumental. If taxpayers had the time to look into, or read, what folks like me are writing, they would be appalled. Our future is our kids? Sounds like the bank account is the future.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Today I take issue with our public school systems nationwide. They keep responsibility on teachers to produce miracles with all social illnesses. If teachers could do this then they would be worth their weight in platinum. It takes no education, license, certification or permission to have children. Their is no required training for the most important job bequeathed to mankind. Now teachers are the scapegoat for all of societies political, educational, psychological, criminal and moral ills to mention a few.
Ignorant parents, overworked parents, mentally ill parents etc. are easy to point in the direction of teachers because after all they certainly won't take the responsibility themselves and must project their incompetence on someone else. Politicians, especially, have tapped into this as a way of focusing people away from their incompetent dealings. As I continue this discussion I will describe various ways that schools have handled this absurd situation, however unethical or fraudulent these policies and actions would be.
Politicians aren't revamping or improving education. They are destroying it. To them it is a baby sitting job, no more, no less. They don't have even a small clue as to what abilities are required to teach 200 children every two days. They are grossly uninformed about the job itself. Teachers take tons of work home to review and are thinking in their off time about Johnny or Jane and what to do with their emotional problem from parental abuse or alcoholism at home. Johnny or Jane may also not see their parent at all in the evenings and may be left to babysit for little brothers and sisters including cooking and cleaning for them. Homework? What is that? "We don't have time" say the children who rule the home.
Parents aren't doing their jobs, many are criminals, many are bipolar and many can't cope with the minimal things that they confront in their lives. A large percent resent the work that they need to do for their kids and are lazy. Kids, for some, are the waste product of adults' sexual escapades. Many of our students are just tolerated by parents and paid to keep their mouths shut. In other words kids are extorting their parents.
Teachers have a microcosm of society with all of its problems in each and every class. Psychosis, neurosis, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, ADD, ADHD, Learning disabilities, health problems, the regular colds, rampant pregnancy in the middle schools and high schools. Some of these kids are not fed and are hungry. Many students have to get free lunch and then develop a sense of entitlement. Remember, the best way to keep someone down is to bring everything to them so they don't have to get up.
I am just beginning with the problems faced by our teachers. I haven't even scratched the surface. Our politicians and many parents are ill informed and want their kid to be a mental giant and their kid has an IQ of 60. Now just wait until I address the injustice being done to our kids with IQs of 140+. It will amaze and astound you.
Also, business is competing for your children's minds. Trinkets, gadgets, hand held games, cell phones, ipods, Xbox, PS3, LCD flat screens and much more are all preoccupying children to a point of no return. We are just teachers. We compete with businesses who know that if a child demands something they will most likely get it. Thus, business target kids of all ages and have them believe that all of these things are more important than education. It is a huge market and I will argue that this section of our society is contributing to the delinquency of minors. Parents are overwhelmed with the distractions provided to their children but also appreciate that their children won't bother them while occupied with these items.
Teachers have a child at most 4.5 hours one week and 3 hours the next. This is at most. That is 7.5 hours every two weeks. How long are they with their caregivers? We spend lots of time teaching respect, manners, hygiene and doing behavior training. Students are not getting this at home. Remember I haven't even begun to talk about the students who come to us well trained and competent and how politicians and school districts interfere with their learning.
It is as if they are purposely trying to destroy the education system for the most important student, the one who wants to learn.
The disrespectful hate for teachers is born from jealousy of the imaginary idea that many have been given that this is a slacker job that doesn't take anything to do. How come the average lasting time for a new teacher is only 4 years? Why do we see teacher after teacher start the profession and in a few weeks leave destroyed by the students? These people receive little help to succeed.
This is a career that takes some of the most educated, psychologically stable, mature, patient, ingenious and courageous people in this country. It is required that we outsmart each and every child and beat them at any psych game that they come up with. In other countries they know this and teachers are held in the highest regard. They are #1. This hate for teachers in the United States is only a symptom of the ignorance that has erupted in our country. The ignorance comes partly from the large amount of interference with the educational process by politics. Over time the poorly educated have become parents, politicians, doctors, lawyers, lawmakers and business owners and we are in a second or third generation belittled education.
We suffer now as a nation from a preponderance of ignorance. We have the idea that a diploma is worth something when it is just a piece of paper. Everyone that needs a quality person has their own test to give for employment. They don't believe the high school diploma. The military has the ASVAB, colleges have the SAT and ACT. Employers have employment exams of all sorts. Promotions have exams. We tend to know that you have to check a person's knowledge independently of formal school education. In spite of this school teachers teach kids to read, write and do mathematics at some level but each kid is different and brings differing problems to the classroom table.
Standardized testing assumes that each kid is like a manufactured product that has to have small level of quality control tolerances. It ignores the information that every head is its own world. It frowns upon the notion that human diversity is monumental. Politicians have education believing that college is for everyone. What a ridiculous notion and think of the damage that this thinking does to our children. IQs that range from 60 to 150 added to the psychological differences alone deliver individual material to work with. You can't make beef out of chicken. But demagogues would have us believe that all can become this manufactured person that falls within some small tolerance. It is a putrid view of humanity. It is an ignorant view of the human race.
Teacher could be characterized as "Doctors Of Human Minds". Our society wants to throw them a few bones and then wonders why we are having problems competing in the world economy. Our leaders are seeing these issues with blinders on because they can. The majority of haters of teachers don't have an inkling of the demands put on a teacher every single hour, every single day.
Ignorant parents, overworked parents, mentally ill parents etc. are easy to point in the direction of teachers because after all they certainly won't take the responsibility themselves and must project their incompetence on someone else. Politicians, especially, have tapped into this as a way of focusing people away from their incompetent dealings. As I continue this discussion I will describe various ways that schools have handled this absurd situation, however unethical or fraudulent these policies and actions would be.
Politicians aren't revamping or improving education. They are destroying it. To them it is a baby sitting job, no more, no less. They don't have even a small clue as to what abilities are required to teach 200 children every two days. They are grossly uninformed about the job itself. Teachers take tons of work home to review and are thinking in their off time about Johnny or Jane and what to do with their emotional problem from parental abuse or alcoholism at home. Johnny or Jane may also not see their parent at all in the evenings and may be left to babysit for little brothers and sisters including cooking and cleaning for them. Homework? What is that? "We don't have time" say the children who rule the home.
Parents aren't doing their jobs, many are criminals, many are bipolar and many can't cope with the minimal things that they confront in their lives. A large percent resent the work that they need to do for their kids and are lazy. Kids, for some, are the waste product of adults' sexual escapades. Many of our students are just tolerated by parents and paid to keep their mouths shut. In other words kids are extorting their parents.
Teachers have a microcosm of society with all of its problems in each and every class. Psychosis, neurosis, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, ADD, ADHD, Learning disabilities, health problems, the regular colds, rampant pregnancy in the middle schools and high schools. Some of these kids are not fed and are hungry. Many students have to get free lunch and then develop a sense of entitlement. Remember, the best way to keep someone down is to bring everything to them so they don't have to get up.
I am just beginning with the problems faced by our teachers. I haven't even scratched the surface. Our politicians and many parents are ill informed and want their kid to be a mental giant and their kid has an IQ of 60. Now just wait until I address the injustice being done to our kids with IQs of 140+. It will amaze and astound you.
Also, business is competing for your children's minds. Trinkets, gadgets, hand held games, cell phones, ipods, Xbox, PS3, LCD flat screens and much more are all preoccupying children to a point of no return. We are just teachers. We compete with businesses who know that if a child demands something they will most likely get it. Thus, business target kids of all ages and have them believe that all of these things are more important than education. It is a huge market and I will argue that this section of our society is contributing to the delinquency of minors. Parents are overwhelmed with the distractions provided to their children but also appreciate that their children won't bother them while occupied with these items.
Teachers have a child at most 4.5 hours one week and 3 hours the next. This is at most. That is 7.5 hours every two weeks. How long are they with their caregivers? We spend lots of time teaching respect, manners, hygiene and doing behavior training. Students are not getting this at home. Remember I haven't even begun to talk about the students who come to us well trained and competent and how politicians and school districts interfere with their learning.
It is as if they are purposely trying to destroy the education system for the most important student, the one who wants to learn.
The disrespectful hate for teachers is born from jealousy of the imaginary idea that many have been given that this is a slacker job that doesn't take anything to do. How come the average lasting time for a new teacher is only 4 years? Why do we see teacher after teacher start the profession and in a few weeks leave destroyed by the students? These people receive little help to succeed.
This is a career that takes some of the most educated, psychologically stable, mature, patient, ingenious and courageous people in this country. It is required that we outsmart each and every child and beat them at any psych game that they come up with. In other countries they know this and teachers are held in the highest regard. They are #1. This hate for teachers in the United States is only a symptom of the ignorance that has erupted in our country. The ignorance comes partly from the large amount of interference with the educational process by politics. Over time the poorly educated have become parents, politicians, doctors, lawyers, lawmakers and business owners and we are in a second or third generation belittled education.
We suffer now as a nation from a preponderance of ignorance. We have the idea that a diploma is worth something when it is just a piece of paper. Everyone that needs a quality person has their own test to give for employment. They don't believe the high school diploma. The military has the ASVAB, colleges have the SAT and ACT. Employers have employment exams of all sorts. Promotions have exams. We tend to know that you have to check a person's knowledge independently of formal school education. In spite of this school teachers teach kids to read, write and do mathematics at some level but each kid is different and brings differing problems to the classroom table.
Standardized testing assumes that each kid is like a manufactured product that has to have small level of quality control tolerances. It ignores the information that every head is its own world. It frowns upon the notion that human diversity is monumental. Politicians have education believing that college is for everyone. What a ridiculous notion and think of the damage that this thinking does to our children. IQs that range from 60 to 150 added to the psychological differences alone deliver individual material to work with. You can't make beef out of chicken. But demagogues would have us believe that all can become this manufactured person that falls within some small tolerance. It is a putrid view of humanity. It is an ignorant view of the human race.
Teacher could be characterized as "Doctors Of Human Minds". Our society wants to throw them a few bones and then wonders why we are having problems competing in the world economy. Our leaders are seeing these issues with blinders on because they can. The majority of haters of teachers don't have an inkling of the demands put on a teacher every single hour, every single day.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
D. Dooley
I say to all that ignorance is a double edged sword. What you don't know can hurt you, but until it does the condition is bliss.
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