Tuesday, April 25, 2006
I should have been a stripper...
Seriously people, sane individuals do not become teachers. We are not normal people. We are "givers," as one teacher said on Monday during a teacher in-service. We want to make a difference, we want to change the world, we want to see that little light bulb go off in a kid's blank, idiotic face. We know that one child at a time, we can alter the future. "No child left behind!" We chant this as we race to the school building each morning at least, at least, 30 minutes early jussssst in case a student needs our help. We buy things for our classrooms and for our kids out of our own pockets because we care. Because, if we didn't, kids wouldn't HAVE a pen or pencil to complete their homework. Because, without us, without ME, the world would crumple up and die a horrid, sad, and ultimately stupid-riddled death.
(Censored, angry garble...angry, angry....)
Yes, yes. We really do want to change the world. That really was our intention when we signed up for this ridiculous hell that is so similar to sliding down a 60 foot razor blade on our bare asses. And we really are fun, nice people who want to impart vast knowledge among the young adults of the world so that everything in the end turns out not to be fucked. We are cool and entertaining. Aren't all alcoholics? Yes, trust me, we all freaking drink. Even the principals. Sure, they hide behind their fancy suits and silk ties, but at home they're blathering, sloppy drunks who eat nachos made with velveeta, drool, and shoot pellet guns at squirrels.
And yes, we're creative and insightful. But who at our work cares???? Ninety percent of our days is filled with conversations and lectures to high school kids who honest to God shouldn't be receiving a diploma. (Holy crap, should that have been "WHOM honest to God....?!...shit!) But they'll get one, by God. And I have only a 30 minute lunch break each day in which I get to finally interact with adults. THIRTY minutes. Could YOU deal with this??? And, naturally, what does this 30 minutes cover? You guessed it. The magnitude of idiocy in our classrooms, because, of COURSE, it never ceases to amaze us how unbelievably stupid our kids can be.
This could all start a whole new diatribe about the Texas school system. But that would be boring. I could go on for hours about the downfall of American society and family life, but instead, I'll make it shorter. As short as POSSIBLE. Let's summarize: Today's student has been raised by technology, such as computers, gameboys, and computer screens since the age of two. Therefore, they have the attention span of a gnat and have never learned to CREATIVELY THINK OR PLAY. Hence, once at school, they are unable to comprehend instructions that include the concepts of "think, decipher, decide, or create." Does anyone see the problem that could arise here?
So, I'm ranting because...I'm mad. I'm good at what I do, and I did not account for, nor was I taught about, the students that cannot THINK. One of my very good teacher friends actually had a student say to her several weeks ago, no shit, in relation to a worksheet, "You mean we have to think?!" Good fucking shit. How can I accomplish the creation of a 200 student, solid department that's competitive at contests when the kids don't want to think?
I should have been a stripper...or an accountant.
Oh, and kids never come to school with something to write with, or backpacks, for that matter. They literally come into class with nothing. HOWEVER, they all have cell phones, new tennis shoes, nice clothes, and manicured fingernails. But not a pen.
(Disclaimer...I do have special students who touch my heart. Several of them. And they are why I go to work every day.)
(Censored, angry garble...angry, angry....)
Yes, yes. We really do want to change the world. That really was our intention when we signed up for this ridiculous hell that is so similar to sliding down a 60 foot razor blade on our bare asses. And we really are fun, nice people who want to impart vast knowledge among the young adults of the world so that everything in the end turns out not to be fucked. We are cool and entertaining. Aren't all alcoholics? Yes, trust me, we all freaking drink. Even the principals. Sure, they hide behind their fancy suits and silk ties, but at home they're blathering, sloppy drunks who eat nachos made with velveeta, drool, and shoot pellet guns at squirrels.
And yes, we're creative and insightful. But who at our work cares???? Ninety percent of our days is filled with conversations and lectures to high school kids who honest to God shouldn't be receiving a diploma. (Holy crap, should that have been "WHOM honest to God....?!...shit!) But they'll get one, by God. And I have only a 30 minute lunch break each day in which I get to finally interact with adults. THIRTY minutes. Could YOU deal with this??? And, naturally, what does this 30 minutes cover? You guessed it. The magnitude of idiocy in our classrooms, because, of COURSE, it never ceases to amaze us how unbelievably stupid our kids can be.
This could all start a whole new diatribe about the Texas school system. But that would be boring. I could go on for hours about the downfall of American society and family life, but instead, I'll make it shorter. As short as POSSIBLE. Let's summarize: Today's student has been raised by technology, such as computers, gameboys, and computer screens since the age of two. Therefore, they have the attention span of a gnat and have never learned to CREATIVELY THINK OR PLAY. Hence, once at school, they are unable to comprehend instructions that include the concepts of "think, decipher, decide, or create." Does anyone see the problem that could arise here?
So, I'm ranting because...I'm mad. I'm good at what I do, and I did not account for, nor was I taught about, the students that cannot THINK. One of my very good teacher friends actually had a student say to her several weeks ago, no shit, in relation to a worksheet, "You mean we have to think?!" Good fucking shit. How can I accomplish the creation of a 200 student, solid department that's competitive at contests when the kids don't want to think?
I should have been a stripper...or an accountant.
Oh, and kids never come to school with something to write with, or backpacks, for that matter. They literally come into class with nothing. HOWEVER, they all have cell phones, new tennis shoes, nice clothes, and manicured fingernails. But not a pen.
(Disclaimer...I do have special students who touch my heart. Several of them. And they are why I go to work every day.)
