Cracks
Please let me know what you think, i want to eventually publish this article. it still needs alot of work and i could use the input
I FELL THROUGH THE CRACKS……
BY MIA LABAR
It’s rare to see two sides of the spectrum nowadays. People go through life trying to see many angles, or they claim to try and see all the angles but no one does unless they get to experience it first hand. I finally got my share of it these past few months. I substitute teach for the school district I grew up in. Truth be told I do love this job but I have been horrified at the same time. Everything, absolutely everything I had feared was 100% true. The teachers I thought were jerks, and snide and hypocritical while I was growing up are exactly that. Even the ones that I seemed to like turned into bid disappointments. And my parents thought I was being overdramatic.
First encounter was with my high school guidance counselor. Who needs to rethink his position. This man was as cocky and arrogant now as he was back then. According to many students he still had a tendency to label kids as “smart” or not purely because of what they look like and where they come from. Second encounter was with the school social worker. Who thought it would be funny to discuss my past mistakes with the faculty. A mistake, mind you, that caused me a great deal of grief. She apparently thought me mature that I could take it with a grain of salt. What was I supposed to do in such a situation after she blindsided me? First and foremost she asked me if it was ok to bring it up and I had no idea what she was talking about. Students come up to this woman and talk about their lives and secrets and she decides to mouth off when she pleases breaking rule number one. It seems like all the social workers and school psychologists are gossip queens. To quote her, “It’s nice to see you don’t hold grudges,” oh no, don’t confuse that with me restraining myself so I can keep my very low paying job which I love. But I guess no one is perfect. No one can be expected to act like an adult at all times. At least these teachers push the idea of tolerance and treating others with respect. Too bad they can’t follow it.
My biggest hit came when I had lunch during my sub session at my old middle school. One science teacher, which I never had in middle school but I do remember her and I figured her to be much nicer than what I saw, started commenting about a student. Now its normal. Very normal among teachers who share a student to talk about them. How they are doing, and how they can improve and warn each other if a particular student is acting out of character. Even complain that the student is being insufferable and that their behavior is atrocious beyond measure. But it didn’t reach that. This science teacher was saying how one student commented to her about how another teacher wears her makeup. Then came the shocker. The science teacher referred to the student as “little miss tubby, miss lardo. Who the hell does she think she is with her enormous stomach hanging over the side of her pants.” I believe my mouth went dry at this point. The other teachers in the room were laughing along with her and agreeing with her. Meanwhile in my head I was thinking, she’s a 12 year old child, she’s going to say her observations without thinking…but a 56 year old woman should know well enough to hold her tongue.
I had the same girl in my class earlier that day. She was a chatterbox, I’m not going to lie. She also seemed to have ADHD but I couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t sit still but she clinged to teachers. She clearly tried and wanted to learn. She was friendly to everyone regardless of the fact that she had some trouble focusing. As for her weight, she was a bit overweight. But nothing that horrible. I was far worse at her age. Which led me to think, what did they say about me behind my back like this when I was younger?
As I sat down with these hens they asked me how my experience was at Bell when I was young. I said it was bad. Why sugarcoat things? They clearly didn’t. They asked me why, and I said I had some trouble focusing and I only discovered later that I had ADD and dyslexia. When I was younger my parents, my father in particular, made me take a Mensa IQ test. I scored a 140 or so and he was satisfied. But they didn’t want to label me with a couple of learning disabilities. The teachers all looked at me, one who worked in my elementary school when I attended, said “I must have slipped through the cracks” And I have to disagree. No one cared. Just like the girl in my class, no one cared. I was overweight, had trouble focusing, and liked to make friends with teachers. I got screwed for it.
I fell through the holes in the system. I figured out I didn’t need their rice-paper thin “support” it was worthless. No one and I mean no one will look after your children but you. If you think the teachers that you leave your children to care at all, only a very small number do. Most of them are in it for the high salaries and great vacation time. Your child’s education is of little matter otherwise they’d pay attention and not let one of us “fall through the cracks.
I’ve turned into a sarcastic, insightful, intelligent, and witty person. I didn’t have help from many of my teachers. I had one professor in college that literally stalked his students who didn’t attend class. He would type out the entire lecture and email it to them, he would also devote all of his time to his students. He sat in the smallest office imaginable where there was absolutely no room to sit or stand and you couldn’t see past the piles of paperwork. That my dear readers is dedication. When a teacher spends every waking minute giving all their energy helping, instead of gossiping over how your child looks like, and then grading them for that instead of their intelligence and merit. To add insult to injury. The school district I work for is considered one of the best in New York State. The average pay for an average teacher here is 90,000 a year. Maybe because we all look “pretty” for the most part.
I FELL THROUGH THE CRACKS……
BY MIA LABAR
It’s rare to see two sides of the spectrum nowadays. People go through life trying to see many angles, or they claim to try and see all the angles but no one does unless they get to experience it first hand. I finally got my share of it these past few months. I substitute teach for the school district I grew up in. Truth be told I do love this job but I have been horrified at the same time. Everything, absolutely everything I had feared was 100% true. The teachers I thought were jerks, and snide and hypocritical while I was growing up are exactly that. Even the ones that I seemed to like turned into bid disappointments. And my parents thought I was being overdramatic.
First encounter was with my high school guidance counselor. Who needs to rethink his position. This man was as cocky and arrogant now as he was back then. According to many students he still had a tendency to label kids as “smart” or not purely because of what they look like and where they come from. Second encounter was with the school social worker. Who thought it would be funny to discuss my past mistakes with the faculty. A mistake, mind you, that caused me a great deal of grief. She apparently thought me mature that I could take it with a grain of salt. What was I supposed to do in such a situation after she blindsided me? First and foremost she asked me if it was ok to bring it up and I had no idea what she was talking about. Students come up to this woman and talk about their lives and secrets and she decides to mouth off when she pleases breaking rule number one. It seems like all the social workers and school psychologists are gossip queens. To quote her, “It’s nice to see you don’t hold grudges,” oh no, don’t confuse that with me restraining myself so I can keep my very low paying job which I love. But I guess no one is perfect. No one can be expected to act like an adult at all times. At least these teachers push the idea of tolerance and treating others with respect. Too bad they can’t follow it.
My biggest hit came when I had lunch during my sub session at my old middle school. One science teacher, which I never had in middle school but I do remember her and I figured her to be much nicer than what I saw, started commenting about a student. Now its normal. Very normal among teachers who share a student to talk about them. How they are doing, and how they can improve and warn each other if a particular student is acting out of character. Even complain that the student is being insufferable and that their behavior is atrocious beyond measure. But it didn’t reach that. This science teacher was saying how one student commented to her about how another teacher wears her makeup. Then came the shocker. The science teacher referred to the student as “little miss tubby, miss lardo. Who the hell does she think she is with her enormous stomach hanging over the side of her pants.” I believe my mouth went dry at this point. The other teachers in the room were laughing along with her and agreeing with her. Meanwhile in my head I was thinking, she’s a 12 year old child, she’s going to say her observations without thinking…but a 56 year old woman should know well enough to hold her tongue.
I had the same girl in my class earlier that day. She was a chatterbox, I’m not going to lie. She also seemed to have ADHD but I couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t sit still but she clinged to teachers. She clearly tried and wanted to learn. She was friendly to everyone regardless of the fact that she had some trouble focusing. As for her weight, she was a bit overweight. But nothing that horrible. I was far worse at her age. Which led me to think, what did they say about me behind my back like this when I was younger?
As I sat down with these hens they asked me how my experience was at Bell when I was young. I said it was bad. Why sugarcoat things? They clearly didn’t. They asked me why, and I said I had some trouble focusing and I only discovered later that I had ADD and dyslexia. When I was younger my parents, my father in particular, made me take a Mensa IQ test. I scored a 140 or so and he was satisfied. But they didn’t want to label me with a couple of learning disabilities. The teachers all looked at me, one who worked in my elementary school when I attended, said “I must have slipped through the cracks” And I have to disagree. No one cared. Just like the girl in my class, no one cared. I was overweight, had trouble focusing, and liked to make friends with teachers. I got screwed for it.
I fell through the holes in the system. I figured out I didn’t need their rice-paper thin “support” it was worthless. No one and I mean no one will look after your children but you. If you think the teachers that you leave your children to care at all, only a very small number do. Most of them are in it for the high salaries and great vacation time. Your child’s education is of little matter otherwise they’d pay attention and not let one of us “fall through the cracks.
I’ve turned into a sarcastic, insightful, intelligent, and witty person. I didn’t have help from many of my teachers. I had one professor in college that literally stalked his students who didn’t attend class. He would type out the entire lecture and email it to them, he would also devote all of his time to his students. He sat in the smallest office imaginable where there was absolutely no room to sit or stand and you couldn’t see past the piles of paperwork. That my dear readers is dedication. When a teacher spends every waking minute giving all their energy helping, instead of gossiping over how your child looks like, and then grading them for that instead of their intelligence and merit. To add insult to injury. The school district I work for is considered one of the best in New York State. The average pay for an average teacher here is 90,000 a year. Maybe because we all look “pretty” for the most part.