Education

[teachercd]

10 minutes ago, funhusker said:

Heck yes!  Even the kids will comment about how nice it is with them gone.

 

Then we’ll talk about how we shouldn’t feed the beast and give the kid a audience when they get back.

 

Next day, all the kids are laughing at “armpit farts”…

I think non-teachers watch Dead Poets Society and think that is what class should look like 100% of the time.

 

I was looking through my class rosters the other day and I already know which classes will be super easy and I will look like Robin Williams and which ones I will look like Tom Berenger (The Substitute, amazingly bad movie!)

[GSG]

@teachercd @funhusker

 

You ever have kids who are "runners"? 

 

My wife doesn't get them anymore because she's in a modular building and if they got out of there that would be a s#!tstorm 

 

 

[teachercd]

Just now, GSG said:

@teachercd @funhusker

 

You ever have kids who are "runners"? 

 

My wife doesn't get them anymore because she's in a modular building and if they got out of there that would be a s#!tstorm 

 

 

Ha! Once there was a kid on my floor that ran out of the building

 

When I taught at an inner city school I was told, by 7th grade girls, these gems

 

"My grandpa is going to make you rest in pieces"

 

"I told you I am not opening my f#&%ing book!"

[funhusker]

2 minutes ago, GSG said:

@teachercd @funhusker

 

You ever have kids who are "runners"? 

 

My wife doesn't get them anymore because she's in a modular building and if they got out of there that would be a s#!tstorm 

 

 

We usually have at least one a year.

 

We get a new one this year: a “sitter”

 

They kid apparently refuses to leave classrooms he likes.  Admin at his old school would physically wheel him on an office chair to where he needed to go…

[BigRedBuster]

4 minutes ago, funhusker said:

I’m not actually asking you to evaluate them.  But why did you like them?  Was it the same reason for all?

 

Im guessing it’s mostly because they created an atmosphere where your kids were safe and felt comfortable.  They took the time to build a relationship and left a mark on your kids.  I don’t know how you can measure subjective things like this.

 

But those intangibles are what make good teachers.

 

 

First off.  The very basic is, do they know the subject and are they teaching the subject well.  No, that doesn't mean that every kid gets an A.  We had a Chemistry teacher for about 8 years where she was just horrible in this aspect.  A friend of mine was a fellow science teacher and he would talk to me about how horrible she was.  When my daughter was in the class, she would be struggling to explain something....get frustrated....and turn to my daughter and say...."can you please explain it to them".  My daughter would and everyone would get it.  Frustrating.  But....this is the very base line minimum that a teacher should be able to do.

 

Meanwhile, my friend who was the other science teacher, was actually my teacher in HS.  He just retired about 5 years ago.  He taught biology.  He then developed an anatomy/physiology class for seniors.  This class was so good, that he's proud to say that something like 35 future doctors went through that class.  My daughter, who became a dentist, would actually use the notes from his class from HS in her college classes.  They were much easier because of his class.  He wasn't just a teacher that concentrated on the good students.  I was a very solid C student back then.  He motivated me to raise my grade in his biology class from a D to a B.  I tease him now that I wouldn't have been able to even know how to have kids if it weren't for his human reproduction section.

 

These two teachers should not get the same raise every year.  There should be a system in place where one is recognized and gets better pay.

 

What made a teacher stand out?  My kids tended to be good students.  So, for them, I wanted a teacher that challenged them, while at the same time, doing it in a way that allowed them to be successful and enjoyed learning the subject.

[BigRedBuster]

36 minutes ago, funhusker said:

They approve salaries and pay schedules.

I believe the administration (principal and Superintendent) would do the evaluations, suggest what the pay is and the board would OK it....with very seldom adjustments.  Adjustments would be mostly from a budgetary standpoint or if they REALLY think one is way off.  And, then, there would be a dicsussion back with the administration as to why...before the adjustment happens.

[funhusker]

3 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

First off.  The very basic is, do they know the subject and are they teaching the subject well.  No, that doesn't mean that every kid gets an A.  We had a Chemistry teacher for about 8 years where she was just horrible in this aspect.  A friend of mine was a fellow science teacher and he would talk to me about how horrible she was.  When my daughter was in the class, she would be struggling to explain something....get frustrated....and turn to my daughter and say...."can you please explain it to them".  My daughter would and everyone would get it.  Frustrating.  But....this is the very base line minimum that a teacher should be able to do.

 

Meanwhile, my friend who was the other science teacher, was actually my teacher in HS.  He just retired about 5 years ago.  He taught biology.  He then developed an anatomy/physiology class for seniors.  This class was so good, that he's proud to say that something like 35 future doctors went through that class.  My daughter, who became a dentist, would actually use the notes from his class from HS in her college classes.  They were much easier because of his class.  He wasn't just a teacher that concentrated on the good students.  I was a very solid C student back then.  He motivated me to raise my grade in his biology class from a D to a B.  I tease him now that I wouldn't have been able to even know how to have kids if it weren't for his human reproduction section.

 

These two teachers should not get the same raise every year.  There should be a system in place where one is recognized and gets better pay.

 

What made a teacher stand out?  My kids tended to be good students.  So, for them, I wanted a teacher that challenged them, while at the same time, doing it in a way that allowed them to be successful and enjoyed learning the subject.

This is a great reply.  And I agree that your Bio teacher seems much better at the job.

 

But the question remains, what quantifiable traits of him can be used to defend a raise?

 

To me, it sounds like the Chem teacher should have been run off.

 

I also might be in a minority, but I’m not one to complain about how teachers are compensated in NE.  I’d always take more though.

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

41 minutes ago, funhusker said:

I’m a firm believer that school performance is a reflection of the parents/families of the district.

I agree.

[teachercd]

2 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

First off.  The very basic is, do they know the subject and are they teaching the subject well.  No, that doesn't mean that every kid gets an A.  We had a Chemistry teacher for about 8 years where she was just horrible in this aspect.  A friend of mine was a fellow science teacher and he would talk to me about how horrible she was.  When my daughter was in the class, she would be struggling to explain something....get frustrated....and turn to my daughter and say...."can you please explain it to them".  My daughter would and everyone would get it.  Frustrating.  But....this is the very base line minimum that a teacher should be able to do.

 

Meanwhile, my friend who was the other science teacher, was actually my teacher in HS.  He just retired about 5 years ago.  He taught biology.  He then developed an anatomy/physiology class for seniors.  This class was so good, that he's proud to say that something like 35 future doctors went through that class.  My daughter, who became a dentist, would actually use the notes from his class from HS in her college classes.  They were much easier because of his class.  He wasn't just a teacher that concentrated on the good students.  I was a very solid C student back then.  He motivated me to raise my grade in his biology class from a D to a B.  I tease him now that I wouldn't have been able to even know how to have kids if it weren't for his human reproduction section.

 

These two teachers should not get the same raise every year.  There should be a system in place where one is recognized and gets better pay.

 

What made a teacher stand out?  My kids tended to be good students.  So, for them, I wanted a teacher that challenged them, while at the same time, doing it in a way that allowed them to be successful and enjoyed learning the subject.

This is great but how do you evaluate them?  There is nothing concrete there other than your daughter telling you something, which we agreed should not be part of the evaluation.  And you didn't mention any reason that the other dude should get paid more.  You just said he motivated you, why is that his job?  That is your job and your parents job, his job it to present the material.

 

So your evaluation would have this on it:

 

1.  Challenge students (Remember the curriculum is not created by the teacher, neither are most of the tests but that can depend where you are at)

2.  Make it enjoyable for the students (I totally get this but it is clearly not measurable) 

3.  Allow students to be successful (I don't totally get this but sounds like evaluating final grades)

 

Again, I have taught a very long time and I can't think of one teacher that I taught with that "didn't know" what they were teaching. But I am sure it can happen.  

 

[teachercd]

2 minutes ago, funhusker said:

This is a great reply.  And I agree that your Bio teacher seems much better at the job.

 

But the question remains, what quantifiable traits of him can be used to defend a raise?

 

To me, it sounds like the Chem teacher should have been run off.

 

I also might be in a minority, but I’m not one to complain about how teachers are compensated in NE.  I’d always take more though.

 

 

I agree.  I will take more!

 

Should we open up this merit pay for coaches too?  Because that Elk North girls BB coach should be making some crazy bank...she is going to win 4 straight state titles!

[funhusker]

8 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I believe the administration (principal and Superintendent) would do the evaluations, suggest what the pay is and the board would OK it....with very seldom adjustments.  Adjustments would be mostly from a budgetary standpoint or if they REALLY think one is way off.  And, then, there would be a dicsussion back with the administration as to why...before the adjustment happens.

In theory this sounds good.

 

In reality, we already don’t have our principals doing what they need to do during the day as far as teacher support and student discipline.

 

Adding in 50 pay raise evaluations sounds like a lot to take on.  

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, teachercd said:

This is great but how do you evaluate them?  There is nothing concrete there other than your daughter telling you something, which we agreed should not be part of the evaluation.  And you didn't mention any reason that the other dude should get paid more.  You just said he motivated you, why is that his job?  That is your job and your parents job, his job it to present the material.

But, yet, I'm told teachers are evaluated every year.  So, teachers are evaluated....but we can't evaluate teachers?

 

I thought I made it pretty clear why he was a better teacher.

 

4 minutes ago, teachercd said:

3.  Allow students to be successful (I don't totally get this but sounds like evaluating final grades)

We had a spanish teacher here for a very long time.  EVERYONE knew she sucked.  She would teach in a way that the top of the class got it.  But, anyone who slightly struggled to get it, flunked or almost flunked the class.  However she was teaching it, it wasn't in a way that marginal students could understand it.  There was no middle ground. Either you got an A in the class, or you were struggling to just pass.  I know (good) parents that would go in and talk to her about what their kids needed to do to understand the subject better and raise their grade.  She never had suggestions or ideas.  Funny story about her.  I know a kid who was from Mexican immigrant parents.  He was literally one of the top three students in the class and gave a fantastic speech at graduation.  He was bilingual and was always translating for his parents who struggled with english.  He almost flunked the class.  Let me reiterate.  A bilingual student who speaks fluent english and spanish and was extremely intelligent....almost flunked spanish.  This is an example of a teacher that obviously knew the subject but wasn't teaching it in a way that allowed students to be successful in her class if they even slightly struggled.

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, funhusker said:

In theory this sounds good.

 

In reality, we already don’t have our principals doing what they need to do during the day as far as teacher support and student discipline.

 

Adding in 50 pay raise evaluations sounds like a lot to take on.  

Just create another Asst Superintendent position, give that person 250,000 a year and then they can hire an evaluator for each building!  

[BigRedBuster]

2 minutes ago, funhusker said:

In theory this sounds good.

 

In reality, we already don’t have our principals doing what they need to do during the day as far as teacher support and student discipline.

 

Adding in 50 pay raise evaluations sounds like a lot to take on.  

I I'm not trying to pretend that I have all the answers.  But, in my mind, these types of evaluations would be at the end of the year when school is out.  Admittedly, I don't know what a principal and superintendent does for the month after school is out.

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, BigRedBuster said:

But, yet, I'm told teachers are evaluated every year.  So, teachers are evaluated....but we can't evaluate teachers?

 

I thought I made it pretty clear why he was a better teacher.

 

We had a spanish teacher here for a very long time.  EVERYONE knew she sucked.  She would teach in a way that the top of the class got it.  But, anyone who slightly struggled to get it, flunked or almost flunked the class.  However she was teaching it, it wasn't in a way that marginal students could understand it.  There was no middle ground. Either you got an A in the class, or you were struggling to just pass.  I know (good) parents that would go in and talk to her about what their kids needed to do to understand the subject better and raise their grade.  She never had suggestions or ideas.  Funny story about her.  I know a kid who was from Mexican immigrant parents.  He was literally one of the top three students in the class and gave a fantastic speech at graduation.  He was bilingual and was always translating for his parents who struggled with english.  He almost flunked the class.  Let me reiterate.  A bilingual student who speaks fluent english and spanish and was extremely intelligent....almost flunked spanish.  This is an example of a teacher that obviously knew the subject but wasn't teaching it in a way that allowed students to be successful in her class if they even slightly struggled.

The kids that speak Spanish and come to the states struggle hard in Spanish class, not always but often.  Think of it this way, I speak English but did not get A's in all my english classes.  In theory every kid in America that is an english speaker should get an "A" in english class but it doesn't happen because it is more than just speaking.  It is sentence structure, conjugating, proper word use and so on.

 

I could take a 9th grade English right now and I would struggle in it. 

 

Again, I am totally fine with getting paid more for being great at my job...but you are not giving any concrete ideas.

 

 

4 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I I'm not trying to pretend that I have all the answers.  But, in my mind, these types of evaluations would be at the end of the year when school is out.  Admittedly, I don't know what a principal and superintendent does for the month after school is out.

I think they go through our desks!