Monday, November 14, 2011

Yea for teachers!

I have a whole new appreciation for school teachers. I just got a job in the Box Elder School district as the music teacher at one of the elementary schools. I'm loving it! But let me just say, it is exhausting! And I don't even have to work every day.
The amount of preparation time alone is consuming. I can't imaging doing it every day. I don't know how normal teachers do it. Not only do they have to babysit our kids, but we expect them teach our children to read, write, and understand math.
It is a huge responsibility on their part. I see first hand now what the teachers at my school do to keep the students interested, entertained, and continuously learning. They are fantastic at their jobs. And let me just be honest here, some kids make the job very difficult.
And it's too bad, because they ruin it for the others who do want to learn. Last week, for the first time, I had to really get after a class. The girls were being awful, acting like little snobs, and actually fighting between themselves. I couldn't believe how mean they were. And this was in a second grade class!
I sent those girls to their desks and told them to keep quiet, that I didn't want to hear one word from them. They sat there glaring and the rest of us had fun, playing a music game. I think of that teacher who is really trying to be great, and how hard it must be to want to go to work everyday and have to deal with hard kids.
I wonder if the parents know how terrible their children act at school. I have no patience for that kind of behavior and if I ever found out that my children behaved like that at school . . . oh man.
So, sit down with your kids and grand kids. Ask them how things are going at school. Try to find out if they are bullied, or if they are the bullies themselves. Talk to their teachers. Find out if there are other things you can do to help.
Volunteer! That is a real eye opener for many parents. I volunteer every week at my kid's school and it has given me huge insight into my own kid's lives that I just couldn't get anywhere else.
My advice is this. KNOW your kids. KNOW your grand kids, as much as you possibly can. You might be the one to make a huge difference in their lives. A difference they may desperately need.

9 comments:

Kelley Lynn said...

Well said! I give huge props to teachers. They are such an important part of a child's development.

But you're right. The most important part are the child's parents. Get in there and know your kid :)

Neurotic Workaholic said...

Congratulations on the new job! I can imagine that it'll help you come up with some story ideas too for your fiction.
I teach college students, but I've had to deal with unruly behavior on more than one occasion. It's distracting for the rest of the class, like you said, because the other students are actually trying to learn something. It's hard to discipline the students who act out, especially because they believe that they are adults and no one should tell them what to do. But when they start working, they're going to have to learn very quickly that there will always be people who have authority over them.

Belle said...

I admire the hard work that teachers do. I know I couldn't do it. It is too bad there can't be smaller classes. It would be easier to keep order in the room.

Kittie Howard said...

Congratulations! Once you hit your stride, you won't feel as tired (er, former high school teacher, speciality was those kids on the line.) Parents know how bad their kids are? HA! A teacher I know once video-taped a particularly bad apple acting up. The parents insisted the teacher had hired an actor! Good luck!

Here's a tip that worked for me: But a bag of beans. Scrape the labels off of two clear jars. At the end of a certain period of time, students will have free time (BTW, YOU determine the time.) Put a bean for each minute in one jar. When a kid acts up, calmly pick up the jar, rattle it a bit, and drop a bean in the other jar. This bean subtracts one minute from feee time. BTW, tough love here - NO backing down from dropping that bean unless 911 is knocking at the door!!!

Old Kitty said...

Yay for your job and what a fantastic one your are doing too! Teachers are amazing but good teachers are to be treasured! I hope these girls who were playing up behave themselves next time and realise this asap! Take care
x

Karen Mortensen said...

I feel your pain. I taught 2nd grade for many years and I am now teaching first. It is the hardest job you will ever love.

mshatch said...

yay for your new job and a double yay for teachers! They have a difficult job, more so these days I think when kids aren't made to behave as they were in the olden days when I went to school!

Canda said...

Teaching--It's hard and fun and tiring and surprising and fulfilling and puzzling and creative and it keeps you young. Congrats on the teaching gig.

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