This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Things Learned
I have learned that there is a limit to my patience.Sometimes kindness can be taken as a sign of weakness. I have learned that some of the students will try to intimidate you and get you to act a "fool" with them. I have come to the conclusion that no matter how hard you try, some of the students will not make it. I am amazed at the amount of disrespect the students show towards adults, their lack of respect for others personal property and their general lack of motivation. Some students bring a lot of baggage with them and as a defense mechanism they strike out at the teacher. I have questioned myself many of days as to whether or not I want to continue to try to teach in this environment ( the verdict is still out ). My hope is to get students in HSTE who are interested and not continue to get students who have no desire to be in HSTE.
Maybe the roll of the teacher needs to change somewhat to accomodate the changes taking place in our culture. Could you classify it as a cultural change? I wonder. If the parents are slacking in thier responsibilities, well, for one they probobly aren't really ready for parenting, then maybe they should develop a new curriculum that will help in that regard.
ReplyDeleteJulia,
ReplyDeleteI think Dwayne raises some excellent points regarding your post on the blog. I think you are teaching in quite a challenging environment due to many of the reasons you have cited in this and other posts. My concern for your students is that the school environment and the curriculum seems to be working against many of them. The only solution is a massive, comprehensive reform effort to meet these students' emotional, social, and academic needs. It could be done, but I don't know if it will happen. My concern for you is that you maintain faith in yourself and pat yourself on the back for all the efforts you have made on behalf of your students. You are a great teacher; you may just not be in the school environment that best suits YOUR needs. No two teaching jobs are the same. Trust me on this!
Julia
ReplyDeleteMy support and understanding goes out to you. Unfortunately, being nice is a sign that I want to be taken advantage of. I hope you are not discouraged to leave teaching, but I understand your frustration, on top of that, when you look at your monthly check, it makes you want to only put forth the amount of effort that the DOE thinks we are worth. Which is obviously very minimum. Keep you head up!