Fuming
Buckle your seatbelts, I feel a rant coming on.
This world is amazing (so why can't we teach Social Studies as a standard part of the elementary curriculum to better prepare our children to become global citizens? Why indeed.). In our country alone, two of my facebook friends living in completely different parts (CT to TX!) have shared this link in the past 24 hours. And it needs to be read and understood by everyone.
In What Other Profession...
This man is 101% right. And every point that he made, it made me that much more angry about what people say about us. Even more angry than I get each time someone has given me a patronizing, "aww-aren't-you-cute" look when I tell them I teach 7-year-olds for a living, and isn't it the perfect job for a young woman because when I get married and have kids, I'll be able to take care of them better.
I would find a way for that no matter the profession, and I want to punch people in the face when I hear it. But, of course, since I am legally required to be prim, proper and perfect at all times, I grit my teeth into a smile and say, "Yeah, I guess so!"
I would also like to punch every person in our government who is responsible for NCLB still being the law. I bet if you looked at their report cards, they wouldn't be the stellar pictures of perfection that we are required to have. In fact, I'm willing to bet that many current teachers' grade school report cards would put those politicians to shame. I know mine would. These are the same morons who then want to judge teachers by the merit of their students. You know, because the kids in Bridgeport are exactly the same as the kids in Greenwich, and Stamford's students don't differ at all from Darien's, right? I could start punching holes in that argument right now, but then you'd be here reading a 10 page essay instead of a blog post.
I never thought getting into this profession that I would be met with this much negativity. I slowly started to learn it in grad school, and unfortunately, it shows more each passing year.
And what kills me is, these people were all once students. They all had a special teacher in their life, maybe more. What went so horribly wrong that you think a licensed educator with years and years of college and experience under their belt is incompetent? In our profession, it's damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't. "Oh, that teacher is so young and naive, what could she possibly know about teaching my child?" and "Oh, she's hopelessly ancient, she doesn't know what my child needs in today's world!" come out in the same breath. Do I go around criticizing your profession? Does any teacher? No. Because you learned to be who you are today from one of our many distinguished colleagues.
Will the little ones in my care grow up to be these same pig-headed, self-righteous adults?
This world is amazing (so why can't we teach Social Studies as a standard part of the elementary curriculum to better prepare our children to become global citizens? Why indeed.). In our country alone, two of my facebook friends living in completely different parts (CT to TX!) have shared this link in the past 24 hours. And it needs to be read and understood by everyone.
In What Other Profession...
This man is 101% right. And every point that he made, it made me that much more angry about what people say about us. Even more angry than I get each time someone has given me a patronizing, "aww-aren't-you-cute" look when I tell them I teach 7-year-olds for a living, and isn't it the perfect job for a young woman because when I get married and have kids, I'll be able to take care of them better.
I would find a way for that no matter the profession, and I want to punch people in the face when I hear it. But, of course, since I am legally required to be prim, proper and perfect at all times, I grit my teeth into a smile and say, "Yeah, I guess so!"
I would also like to punch every person in our government who is responsible for NCLB still being the law. I bet if you looked at their report cards, they wouldn't be the stellar pictures of perfection that we are required to have. In fact, I'm willing to bet that many current teachers' grade school report cards would put those politicians to shame. I know mine would. These are the same morons who then want to judge teachers by the merit of their students. You know, because the kids in Bridgeport are exactly the same as the kids in Greenwich, and Stamford's students don't differ at all from Darien's, right? I could start punching holes in that argument right now, but then you'd be here reading a 10 page essay instead of a blog post.
I never thought getting into this profession that I would be met with this much negativity. I slowly started to learn it in grad school, and unfortunately, it shows more each passing year.
And what kills me is, these people were all once students. They all had a special teacher in their life, maybe more. What went so horribly wrong that you think a licensed educator with years and years of college and experience under their belt is incompetent? In our profession, it's damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't. "Oh, that teacher is so young and naive, what could she possibly know about teaching my child?" and "Oh, she's hopelessly ancient, she doesn't know what my child needs in today's world!" come out in the same breath. Do I go around criticizing your profession? Does any teacher? No. Because you learned to be who you are today from one of our many distinguished colleagues.
Will the little ones in my care grow up to be these same pig-headed, self-righteous adults?