tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.comments2023-05-01T10:13:17.957-04:00A.S.K.ing Questions...Professor Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-17483382048507248392018-03-30T19:19:00.746-04:002018-03-30T19:19:00.746-04:00Yes, I am chained. Over the many years I've w...Yes, I am chained. Over the many years I've worked in my district, so many things have changed (for the absolute worse) yet I can't leave. Financially and for my family it would be completely irresponsible. Yet I was responsible for most of the curriculum my department teaches and even the assignments and projects most of those new "cheap" teachers use. They got what they wanted. And any thanks, gratitude, appreciation....hahahaha. Right. So I just keep my head down, stay out of the way and love my kids. That's what's keeping me here. My kids. And that I have my own kid going to college in a few years. This system doesn't quite work.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-27876250305168834972017-11-03T04:49:58.577-04:002017-11-03T04:49:58.577-04:00Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog ...Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing on your feed and I am hoping you write again very soon!<br />Learn Digital Marketinghttp://www.skillcharge.com/learn-digital-marketingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-34724428883254696172017-11-03T04:49:10.886-04:002017-11-03T04:49:10.886-04:00I am extremely impressed along with your writing a...I am extremely impressed along with your writing abilities, Thanks for this great share.<br />Learn Digital Marketinghttp://www.skillcharge.com/learn-digital-marketingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-68903995193134637642017-11-03T04:48:56.680-04:002017-11-03T04:48:56.680-04:00Very informative, keep posting such good articles,...Very informative, keep posting such good articles, it really helps to know about things. <br />Learn Digital Marketinghttp://www.skillcharge.com/learn-digital-marketingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-42034145215754149512016-12-29T03:59:22.201-05:002016-12-29T03:59:22.201-05:00It's Hertford, please, not Hartford. The forme...It's Hertford, please, not Hartford. The former is about 20 miles north of London, so would be known to Professor Higgins, Colonel Pickering and Eliza Doolittle.<br />Hartford is in Cheshire, about 170 miles north-north-west of London. That's so far away that it might as well be on another planet. Or in Connecticut, which is surely the same thing to Londoners of the 1950s.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-13277063410059923712015-07-19T14:55:53.497-04:002015-07-19T14:55:53.497-04:00Yes, you're overeacting. Or no, because this i...Yes, you're overeacting. Or no, because this is just a blog. Years ago I answered an add by an American student who was offering English lessons ( Euro' speking here). She wanted us to blundly memorize lists of standard expressions and there was absoluetely no other way or the Allmighty was to bury her right directly embedded into the pavement. What then ? If I had accepted, I'd been an perpetual intermediary by chunk memorization. Sue the girl for irresponsible teahouse chatting. Or submit her to the question again ( as she's probably innocent of any plagiarism, she might even be surviving it ) . Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-65686826023708297632014-05-15T00:44:49.515-04:002014-05-15T00:44:49.515-04:00A suggestion for experimentation on display to mak...A suggestion for experimentation on display to make plagiarism as obvious as possible, and help see the likely copy-paste-edit steps. See <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/plagiarism.display.pdf" rel="nofollow">3-page PDF, version of the recent Whitaker example</a>. If you want to experiment, see the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/plagiarism.display.doc" rel="nofollow">MS Doc original</a>.John Masheyhttp://www.desmogblog.com/user/john-masheynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-74027338484243345362013-11-08T15:05:48.117-05:002013-11-08T15:05:48.117-05:00Probably because the starting pay for most other p...Probably because the starting pay for most other professions that require a college degree is the same as the ending pay of being a teacher. When I taught, I couldn't make ends meet and I'm a penny pincher.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-81351856072974902092013-10-03T11:17:58.154-04:002013-10-03T11:17:58.154-04:00There isn't much good to be said about a "...There isn't much good to be said about a "teaching degree," regardless of the planned occupational outcome. The least informed, talented, educated, and capable college graduates have been "education" majors since sometime in the 1950's. T.W. Dayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04078254371483458356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-34280266236559184282013-08-30T14:15:57.532-04:002013-08-30T14:15:57.532-04:00I left education after one year of service and wen...I left education after one year of service and went back to school for an engineering degree. You nail the problem on the head. During my time as a "teacher" I had many roles. Policeman, drug sniffer, lobbyist, protector, moderator, but teacher was never one of the roles. I spent more time fighting with parents and administrators than teaching children. When asked about my past as an educator, I say "I love teaching, too bad I never got to do it." The education department where I got my engineering degree wasn't happy when I told a couple students that to best prepare to be a teacher they should major in law enforcement and minor in politics, because those areas of study would be far more useful than a teaching degree in our current education system.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-21566459609664689602013-08-13T10:32:14.428-04:002013-08-13T10:32:14.428-04:00Adam, thanks for the kind words. Hope all is well...Adam, thanks for the kind words. Hope all is well with you.Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-11379146048031122542013-08-07T17:56:36.135-04:002013-08-07T17:56:36.135-04:00Thanks for picking this up! I love the discussion...Thanks for picking this up! I love the discussion - glad it's still going on.Adam Kirk Edgertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12113145882094251672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-27491566583554174582013-07-30T12:44:47.518-04:002013-07-30T12:44:47.518-04:00My emotional response from a Beethoven string quar...My emotional response from a Beethoven string quartet is to want to turn on some Rush. :-)Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-45010338649778282462013-07-08T14:16:27.706-04:002013-07-08T14:16:27.706-04:00"The teachers are bearing the burden of all t..."The teachers are bearing the burden of all the mistakes the children make while learning."<br /><br />I like that. The quote, not the reality.Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-37537504295009814112013-06-25T10:19:25.170-04:002013-06-25T10:19:25.170-04:00I found this very interesting as I was actually lo...I found this very interesting as I was actually looking for this quote as a way to describe teachers and teacher associations.<br />Teaching in TexasAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-73715406082048286062013-06-20T05:26:10.118-04:002013-06-20T05:26:10.118-04:00Basically some of the over experienced poor experi...Basically some of the over experienced poor experiences. Around my 3rd calendar year just as one Assistant Brain - I nonetheless love the position in addition to think influenced to help cause my very own university. I ended up being a really productive <a href="http://tutorleader.com/" rel="nofollow"> tutor leader</a> for 8years.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06703641735152715348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-54141676937919684172013-06-12T20:55:39.193-04:002013-06-12T20:55:39.193-04:00Educating the students has certainly taken a back ...Educating the students has certainly taken a back seat to the agendas of the those in charge of technology and teaching materials in the schools. Bill Gates, Pearson Book Company, and Sunny Perdue of the Common Core Curriculum are not in charge of the new standards for their health. Follow the money. The administrators are far more concerned about how they look on the "report card." The teachers are bearing the burden of all the mistakes the children make while learning. It's a sad day for American public education.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-92059814011127418142013-06-11T18:18:19.071-04:002013-06-11T18:18:19.071-04:00It's kind of funny (in a nit-so-funny way)... ...It's kind of funny (in a nit-so-funny way)... when it comes to "martyrdom." A teacher who stays in the game despite the "psychic" cost, a teacher who fights or speaks out and is retaliated against, a teacher who resigns or retires on principle: Each is a martyr in his or her own way. <br /><br />I'm glad you said it was the "system" that sucks the soul dry, and not teaching itself. I often used to say: "I love teaching, but I don't always love being a teacher." <br /><br />And I totally salute: "If more teachers (including myself) would speak out about why they resigned, maybe the public (parents in particular) would start to give a damn..."Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-52983499991196967572013-06-11T18:13:32.832-04:002013-06-11T18:13:32.832-04:00Sometimes I feel I'd like to do a year elsewhe...Sometimes I feel I'd like to do a year elsewhere for some perspective, but I should have done it when I was much younger. Not feasible in my current life situation. I don't know that I could just up and leave. I'd switch careers first, and stay in the U.S. That's just me, personally, though.Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-44877493333406304862013-06-07T10:19:37.883-04:002013-06-07T10:19:37.883-04:00I've spent the last two years processing the i...I've spent the last two years processing the impact leaving the classroom has had on my psyche. I worked so hard to be a good educator, and for what? I didn't want to be a teacher with a martyr complex who "does it all for the children" when doing so equals putting in 65-hour work weeks, receiving relatively low-pay despite having a master's degree, and basically burning the candle at both in ends while basically having so semblance of a personal life. If more teachers (including myself) would speak out about why they resigned, maybe the public (parents in particular) would start to give a damn about the cluster known as the public education really is. Teachers are so heavily criticized, it's a wonder education programs continue to attract so many potential teachers. If I could do it all over again, I would get a Ph.D. and become a professor. Our society devalues education so much, and it's time to start asking why and what can be done to make design a school system that really works for the 21st century, and not just jump on the latest school improvement bandwagon that will be quickly abandoned. Not to mention, I am not writing, and if I had published my stories while still a teacher, I'm sure I would come under scrutiny or disciplined for writing literature containing sex, drugs, and violence. I loved to teach. I was good at it. I was creative. I gave it everything I had, but it's a system that sucks a person's soul dry. I'm slowly moving on and hope to channel my expertise into other avenues. JeriWBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560326888524377308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-43467408790159154782013-06-05T18:23:10.144-04:002013-06-05T18:23:10.144-04:00Your story sounds like mine as that of so many oth...Your story sounds like mine as that of so many others. I'm thinking of collecting them all and writing book. (Actually half-seriously.)<br /><br />I agree -- I stop short of faulting teachers in a more unqualified fashion because what you say is true; administrators' behavior is tantamount to extortion, and when extorted, the sage advice is just do what you're told and don't make the guy with the gun mad.<br /><br />My ex-colleague (the one who said “I completely agree that we need to take a united stand. However, we are nowhere NEAR united, and I am currently the sole breadwinner in my family of 5. So.....I'm not going to be the one leading this foray.”) and you have valid points. There's nobility and then there's martyrdom, and a helluva quantum leap between the two.<br /><br />You aptly described public education in this sentence: "My colleagues only quietly supported me behind the scenes. Out of fear, none would stand with me even though they agreed." Well, okay, that's two sentences. My point I guess, is that this act, the silence, is viewable as both evil and forgivably justifiable. Like philosophical wave-particle duality. And my absolute disgust with "either-or" thinking (see my post at http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/false-dilemma-either-or-fallacy-and.html for more on that topic) keeps me from characterizing it explicitly as one or the other.<br /><br />Good comment, thanks for posting :-) <br /><br />Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-23650446488948604652013-06-05T13:25:09.662-04:002013-06-05T13:25:09.662-04:00I didn't read it all, you have a point...but w...I didn't read it all, you have a point...but we have mouths to feed. I am one who gets along with EVERYONE, but was frustrated at my school essentially equiping me a with a rusty screwdriver, a cracked bucket and a brand new circular saw and being told to paint the house. I DID stand up and ask questions about our <br />-ill-fitting curricula that we kept re purchasing despite teacher objections<br />-our school restructuring and elimintating electives<br />-all the extra meetings about nothing, led by unqualified folks assigning busy work, that took away from planning time. <br /><br />My challenge was not met with thoughtful dialogue. It was met with a negative review (first ever)and an order of transfer to another building. My colleagues only quietly supported me behind the scenes. Out of fear, none would stand with me even though they agreed.<br /><br />So in a sense, yes we are hanging ourselves. We have allowed our unions to be seperate entities to only be in contact with at contract time or to complain when the prinicpal assigned us too much lunch duty. WE are supposed to BE the union and we're not holding ourselves accountable. We're waiting for someone else to do it and we are dying. We let this happen and we lacked the forsight to prevent it.<br /><br />I'm not suggesting we would have won a debate. But we could have at least laced up the gloves before laying down. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-85231054694637328452013-06-04T12:22:38.595-04:002013-06-04T12:22:38.595-04:00I won't go back to the U.S. to teach. I'm...I won't go back to the U.S. to teach. I'm a teacher. That's what I do. But, I won't do it in the U.S. Sorry.Leonhttp://leonsplanet.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-61569729209690610882013-06-04T10:40:56.289-04:002013-06-04T10:40:56.289-04:00I feel your pain, and I agree with the last senten...I feel your pain, and I agree with the last sentence of your first paragraph in particular. <br /><br />With regard to "I'd go back to teaching in a heartbeat if my profession was valued," I would only qualify that a little. Valued by whom? There will always be that segment of the general public who think education is a crock, and there will always be that segment of the political spectrum who thinks that public schools are "government schools" used for mass inculcation to some liberal agenda (actually, there is a minim of truth to that, but it's not so dire as the extremists will claim). There will always be parents who themselves are uneducated and so don't get what education is really about; don't count on them to support you. And there will always be that segment of parents who sees school as just another babysitter. You'll never, as a teacher, have an impact on the way parents parent (or don't parent). I don't care if I am valued (or not) by these populations, since they are beyond my reach, my control, and my sphere of influence. <br /><br />I would, however, like to be valued by my government and my administration, and this is best demonstrated by being supported. The axiom works both ways too: Lack of support translated to a de facto lack of respect. A cranky parent couldn't keep me from doing my job the way I want or need to. A cranky administrator or legislator could.<br /><br />That said, I agree with you that in general, the "sanctity" of our schools has been violated in a gross and grotesque way, and the overall respect afforded education (and educated individuals) is at an all-time low. And I am most troubled by the top-down model of governance that reduces all assessment of pedagogical efficacy to a few numbers of data out of expediency. This fails to respect both the humanity of the education process and the diversity of our population.<br /><br />And of course, you KNOW I agree with "[i]f the silent majority would rise up..." -- If you haven't read this post yet, read it now: http://askingquestionsblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-lots-of-teachers-think-but-this.html<br /><br />Thanks for your comment!Professor Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03692105823500600796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8278668954826628323.post-12915002625015814372013-06-04T09:48:22.841-04:002013-06-04T09:48:22.841-04:00I resigned after loving my job as a middle school ...I resigned after loving my job as a middle school teacher and administrator of 19 years because I was tired. I was tired of being blamed for everything, tired of parenting kids who weren't mine, and tired of being lambasted in the media. While I miss my students greatly, I do not miss all of the other garbage that went along with it. I'm not sure what it will take for the "system" to realize what it's losing, particularly when universities keep churning out replacement teachers in droves. I honestly do not believe it is solvable at any level until parents are willing to take a good hard look at themselves, and until politics looks at what it has created.<br /><br />I'd go back to teaching in a heartbeat if my profession was valued. If kids were parented. If parents were supportive. If the silent majority would rise up. Until then, I'm perfectly happy to leave it to those who don't know any better. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com