Posts by Jose Wells3

hiddendriver34 said:Standardized testing would take a massive weight off the shoulders of elementary school teachers—if parents could just stop complaining to the local water utility and go organize some protests outside the National Science Foundation instead.

After reading chiquitin's post, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d honestly rather be working a construction site than teaching in an elementary school. 😁

I was actually just looking at a job posting for a heavy equipment assistant.

If the excavator can't handle it, I'll just fix it with a shovel :rofl

Carl Bishop2 said:I mean, sure, that works if we're talking about standardized national exams. But if teachers are the ones drafting their own tests, things get messy—some might be a breeze while others are brutal—so the actual picture of what everyone knows could end up being pretty skewed.

Don't you see? I take a text based on my students' specific interests and then build grammar and spelling exercises right around it...

I recently ran into someone who truly lives for her career—and honestly, she’s a rare breed. It’s almost like she has a calling; she’s practically sworn herself to it. As someone who isn't particularly religious, I have nothing but respect for her. She’s probably the most devout person I’ve ever met, yet she approaches her work with this relentless, "do it like there's no tomorrow" energy. She even spends her free time tutoring kids pro bono across all subjects. The pay? It barely covers the bills, especially since she's supporting an elderly parent, but the sheer level of enthusiasm she pours into her work is staggering. What surprised me most was how unassuming her faith is; she’s incredibly open about it without making it her whole identity.

People like that actually exist.

Then there's my colleague, a PE teacher. He’s a bit more down-to-earth, sure, but the amount of effort he puts into his students is nothing short of superhuman.

On the flip side, I’ve encountered the sadists. They aren't the norm, just a bitter exception. We're talking about genuinely malicious individuals who thrive on power trips with their students and staff while doing next to nothing for their actual job.

Most people, myself included, fall into that middle ground—the professionals who show up and do their jobs with integrity.

The loudest complainers are always the ones who do the least. You know the type: they fight tooth and nail for every tiny perk, yet they won't even show up for a scheduled class. I once had a colleague who would literally vanish mid-lesson, yet she’d throw a fit if she wasn't paid overtime—even though she didn't take on a single extra responsibility outside her basic hours. The worst part? When she actually decides to try, she’s brilliant. She's a great educator, but when it comes to ethics? Zero. Self-interest always comes first.
We’re all in this together, frustrated by the working conditions and the peanuts we're being paid. ☕

Larry Walker24 said:Sure, go ahead and pad those scores to a 4.6 and see how fast the IRS shows up at your door the next morning.

Oh, I did. And I left a very detailed paper trail, too.

Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

urbantinker8 said:Personally, when I find myself in a spot like that, I usually don't even bother asking for a higher grade—I just make the call and finalize it.
What matters so much to me isn't some arbitrary number, but rather the actual effort put in over the course of the whole school year and that general vibe regarding their work ethic; those invisible qualities are what truly decide things for me when that GPA is hovering right in that awkward middle ground between a B+ and an A-.
Maybe someone will end up with an A based on a 3.3 average simply because of their attitude, without needing extra tests, whereas I might actually push someone with a 3.5 to take one more quiz.
And honestly, all my kids know where they stand, so I've never really had anyone come to me complaining about a grade.

That applies to every single grade in my classroom, not just the As.

rowdypanther12 said:Yeah, mine had a 3.7 GPA once, which was enough to qualify for an A- average of 3.85
I'm fine with it 🤷
My only issue is not giving kids the chance to earn those top marks through their own hard work.

Exactly. You give them the shot. If they take it? Everything's fine in Canada. If they don't? Well, hopefully, they learn something from the experience.

That’s why I start prepping them back in April. Every exam is scheduled out; I make sure they understand the stakes. I call meetings with parents, I hold one-on-one feedback sessions with every single student, I leave detailed notes.

But there are always those who just ignore everything you say and insist on doing things their own way.

Look, I’ve got a C+ on her report card, but her GPA is sitting at a 3.5.

Since the second semester kicked off, she's been working like a total beast. She’s actually applying everything she learned in the first half, making real progress... and frankly, I'm rewarding that effort the way it deserves.

Here’s how my kids are doing:

5th grade, averaging 4.6
4th grade, averaging 3.85
3rd grade, averaging 2.7.

Getting a D is a real struggle for them.

The grading criteria were laid out at the start of the school year. They aren't going to be identical for every single subject, and honestly, I don't get why there's even an argument here? Everything was made perfectly clear during that first parent-teacher meeting and in the very first week of classes when the teachers explained their specific standards to the kids.

It’s not as if we aren't obligated to follow through on this.

rowdypanther12 said:

says:
I've never heard of a school making those kinds of final decisions, just individual professors coming to their own conclusions.

Yeah, you're right. I got the impression from Sarah Hall53 that they don't handle grading or conclusions that way at her school.
Maybe I should rephrase: why is it that some professors decide things arbitrarily while others don't? 😁

It’s because not every component carries the same weight.

I make that perfectly clear to them, and believe me, they get it.

I always leave the door open for them to respond or take a final exam.

redridge13 said:You mentioned earlier that there aren't any kids who don't struggle when transitioning to high school.
- Give me a break. There are plenty of kids who breeze through without the midnight cram sessions, the mental breakdowns, or parents losing their minds.

If we had actual entrance exams—instead of this current mess—my kid would have been able to enroll in the school they actually wanted. Instead, they got placed based on a GPA that shouldn't carry nearly as much weight, especially when you consider how inflated grades can be at some fancy private prep school in downtown Manhattan compared to elsewhere.🙂

And let me tell you, speaking as a parent of kids who didn't get into their first-choice schools, I have heard it a thousand times. I've dealt with people being incredibly condescending, claiming my "golden child" took a spot away from some kid from a rough neighborhood or a tiny rural town outside of Philly, with comments like, "Well, we all know what kind of grading standards they have over there," and other such garbage.

Honestly, I totally agree with you—going back to localized entrance exams is the only fair way to handle this.🙂

Ah, the parental whining about grading standards. Meanwhile, my colleagues from the suburbs pass their exams and then complain they're too hard, while in my class, one student gets a B+ on a test where another gets an A. The pressure in the city is insane. For me? No one's applying it. I've made it crystal clear: if a kid earns a C in my honors course, they should be happy with that. The next generation is just lazy—hardworking Cs are basically killing my subject...

Nosorog, I only tutor kids who had legitimate reasons for missing class—illness, athletes, musicians... strictly pro bono. They’re tougher than my own kid. He chose his path, he had all the support he needed, and I don't see him as any less capable just because he isn't a straight-A student. In fact, I think he's brilliant. Despite missing over 40 percent of classes due to health issues, and with minimal input from me when he asked for help this year, he managed to pull off an A. He hit four Bs in seventh grade despite every parenting tactic in the book, and now he's finding his own way. If you ask me, he wouldn't have gone to prep school at all. I don't micromanage; I let him experience life. I'll just drop a link here or there if I find something interesting and we'll talk.

Here’s how I always frame the argument:

If there is just one kid in a class who can actually navigate this broken system and pull top grades without private tutors, constant parental hand-holding, or any extra help—just pure independence—then the system isn't impossible. It just means some people need to actually put in the work, find better study habits, or simply accept that nothing happens without effort.

As for high school? If you aren't independent, you're headed straight for disaster.

But fine, I'll admit it: those were the clients who kept me in business. Once moms realized they could just pay for a tutor to fix their kid's grades, the money started flowing. By Friday, I was usually tipsy and high on their dime. Honestly, I treated myself to plenty of luxuries back then because money was tight. Let them think what they want.

Does that sound condescending? I couldn't care less if it does; it’s just the truth. Real intelligence is about being resourceful when things get messy. Any smart kid spends the first month scanning the teachers, figuring out their personalities, and learning how to play the game. And if a teacher is terrible? Well, everything you need is in the textbook. If someone can't even finish high school by reading the books and managing their own learning, they have zero chance at a university. Period.

jadetinker85 said:If they want to bury Americans and math teachers under this kind of workload, they should go ahead and cut the number of exams, assignments, readings, essays, presentations, and projects that need reviewing.
How can Americans and math teachers be expected to carry the same or more hours than subjects where you don't even have to grade written work?

Don't sweat it. They can't afford to pay us nearly as little as we're capable of working.🤣

I’m out hiking or traveling almost every single weekend. I don't bother with trips during the work week—that's for people who live in the real world and can just jump on a cheap flight whenever they feel like it.

I’d really love to see everyone weigh in on the public comment period. There are some seriously influential voices out there—why not take advantage of the chance to make yours heard where it actually counts?

rowdypanther12 said:I actually think it’s a pretty decent idea for schools to act more like community hubs—somewhere you can just swing by in the afternoon to play some ping pong or chess, or find a quiet corner to get some schoolwork done if things are too chaotic at home or you just don't have your own space...
But keeping kids stuck in a classroom all day long? That's just overkill.
I honestly don't get how people miss the simple math here. If they're in class until 2 PM with short breaks, then add lunch and longer recesses, they might be there until 5 PM if they have an after-school club, but they aren't staying until 4 AM.

You can literally do all of that right now. For ping-pong, you just check if there's space available. We already provide those opportunities for kids who don't have a good environment at home, and there are more and more after-school programs popping up that function as study groups.

nimblelynx7 said:This is a fundamental failure to understand the law—honestly, it’s a failure to understand the job itself.
The Education Act and its various regulations clearly outline what a teacher can and cannot do, along with student rights and obligations. It explicitly defines powers, duties, and responsibilities. You just have to be able to read.

Take a closer look at the details and let me know when you’d be willing to sign off on this. While you're at it, dive into the grading criteria handbook and those pedagogical guidelines. Honestly, you have to ask yourself: what is the point of a policy if it remains nothing more than dead ink on a page?

mellowskipper said:I was under the impression that you guys already had that in place? Or maybe I'm just mistaken—it feels like something that should have been settled by now, I guess.

Why not? I mean—if my memory serves me right—they have those resources available in healthcare, and I believe social services have them too. Maybe.

That’s how it works—you get a heavier penalty, and you don't even have to file a private lawsuit; it always goes through an official report to the authorities.

You don't actually gain any real authority just by holding that status. Maybe you pick up a few extra obligations since you're technically an official around the clock—it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, I guess. For instance, if you happen to commit some kind of misdemeanor, you’re essentially committing it in your capacity as a public official. It's a messy way to live, really.

Let them come. I’d be more than willing to shoulder the weight of those violations—not that it would be any heavier than what I already carry, being responsible for people's safety in high-risk, rugged terrain. It wouldn't weigh me down. What matters to me is that official proceedings actually get launched. And that there’s real protection in place.

Two thousand? Please. For us, anything under a thousand is just the baseline. Most people don't even come close to that mark. As for me, I couldn't care less about climbing the corporate ladder in this system. Why would I want to join that circus of clowns, letting them "evaluate" my worth just so I can collect their little badges? No thanks.

rowdypanther12 said:kind of like a fox 😂

"Go Fuchs yourself" would actually make a great swear word 🤣

I haven't caught up on everything yet, but I did catch a glimpse of little Ivica.

Look, to make it easy for you to understand: in special education, we aren't dealing with some kind of elite, specialized faculty. We’re just regular teachers with incredibly poor training. We don't even have speech therapists, psychologists, or developmental specialists on staff; we're lucky if we even get a social worker. We handle this as an add-on to our regular curriculum and combined classes. For most of us, it's just pure survival mode. I was lucky enough to land a supervision program so I don't completely lose my mind, along with some psychiatric training and support.

Little Ivica doesn't scream anymore; now he just has these fits of laughter, delusions, tics... honestly, little Ivica doesn't even exist in a classroom alongside four other kids with their own intense struggles, especially when the parents REFUSE to acknowledge it. They reject having a one-on-one aide. Before they even realized how serious their child's condition actually was, they were busy blaming the school for everything. He once hit me in the head with his fist because I stopped him from jumping off a landing—using a grip I learned while working with kids with severe intellectual disabilities—and then he claimed I provoked him. That was it.

How am I supposed to teach them until they're fifteen? I can barely get them to follow a basic structure or respect boundaries. I struggle just to get some of them to speak at all due to specific types of autism. Now, we're expected to keep them in these programs until they're fifteen? Seventeen?

Just recently, one student tried to jump out of a second-story window. Ivica jumped right through a first-floor window and bolted into the woods.

For God's sake, the other students in the mainstream classes are watching all of this happen. And we work with regular classrooms too. Is anyone even asking how a pay increase for extra hours will help offset the toll this takes on me?

Carl Bishop2 said:What does official status actually bring to the table—other than just handing someone a much heavier sentence if they decide to get aggressive with an officer?

Beyond that? It creates a psychological barrier against harassment and attacks.

Authority? What authority? We don't have any.

Paul Davis2 said:Jose Wells3 sounds like a truly dedicated teacher—honestly, I'd love to have them teaching my kids. You, on the other hand, are a bit of a mystery to me; you seem unhappy with your job, yet you wouldn't change a thing about it.

And let's be real—differentiation should be happening from day one, every single period. Anything less is just failing the students.

You aren't reading her correctly. I feel the exact same way, and from everything I've read, Sarah Hall53 is a top-tier professor.

My writing style just comes off as flowery, which makes it look like I have some massive ego or superhuman abilities. The reality? I work hard and I love what I do. My efforts aren't fully recognized now, and they certainly won't be in a standard day-to-day setting. There is no way anyone would work this passionately for the paycheck provided. Besides, I have children who never even needed after-school care. They are brilliant students and incredibly independent; they actually find group work tedious unless they're the ones picking the groups. They don't need this whole circus, and frankly, I don't want it for them.

My students are split down the middle. Among the younger ones (5th and 6th grade), the good ones think this approach would solve all their homework issues. It's a small town, so they don't have those extracurricular options that city kids do. They are the kind of positive souls who would wish for peace and flowers in the world. Good kids. But they don't realize how much they'll suffer when the classroom structures remain frozen in time. Though, one student mentioned that it might be better to group classes by ability level—I'm proud to say I've never once suggested that to them.

The older ones (7th and 8th grade)? They speak about it with such verbal disdain you should probably record them. They literally ask if people actually think they're incompetent idiots. I'll publish their written responses once they finish; we've been sidelined by unpredictable obligations and exam absences, and I want everyone included before we write. Their answers regarding why people enter the teaching profession are all very clear: underpaid, unappreciated, and treated like a punching bag for everyone else. Perhaps two of them still view Branka Shen as a total legend, and even now, that idealism is messing with my head.

Paul Davis2 said:Well, if the pay is $3667, then nobody will be underpaid.

Making anything less than $2,200 a month after taxes—while being tied down by strict government regulations—is basically being underpaid given the current economy.

You really are a one-dimensional person who is impossible to talk to.

If I were allowed, I’d just dump my entire life's work on you: my digital logs, my calendar, my hourly logs and scheduling, my task timers, and my full productivity tracking for the last year. I did all that just to see if my time management was actually off. Every single thing I’ve recorded—every conversation and how long they lasted (especially with parents), every email and the time spent on them, every tiny detail from other duties, every single professional and unprofessional substitution I make just so I can be damn prepared and ensure no one else has to pick up my slack. My contributions to the school, my colleagues, tracking student needs, their individual portfolios, the data charts... Honestly, if I just sent you screenshots of my notes, you'd finally understand what actual professionalism looks like. You’d realize that in 70 percent of cases, the "unprofessional" ones are making inhuman efforts just to maintain teaching standards and decorum, while there's still a small percentage of idiots that need to be purged from the faculty, much like in the corporate world.

In a country where I'm aiming to move, maybe I'll get an extra hour in my day along with 90 percent less paperwork and dealing with parent drama. ☕