6 posts shown.
Kate Allen said:So, I’ve got one daughter starting first grade and the other in second. Her teacher is on the older side—probably somewhere in her 60s—but honestly? She is incredibly patient with the kids. Right from the jump, she’s kept three of us parents in the loop. Plus, she actually stays current; she brings in these printed handouts for us and talks about modern parenting techniques. It actually feels like she might even follow 🤣🤣🤣 because she’s totally living in the present rather than stuck in the Stone Age. I have nothing but praise for her.
The other daughter's teacher is young, and man, she is a total genius! I was actually pretty nervous about how things would go since we just moved to a new city and started at a new school, but it turned out way better than I expected. Knock on wood—because I definitely don't agree with the idea that all older teachers lack patience; this one has plenty. None of our meetings have lasted less than two full class periods, and the woman really knows her stuff. Seriously, major props to everyone working in education, because I know for a fact I could never do it!!!!
I know someone like that too!
I really wish I hadn't spent part of my career working in a school system—if I hadn't, I might still hold a decent opinion of teachers and professors. The whole idea of teaching being a "calling" feels like pure science fiction to me now. You have these instructors in their 60s who spend an entire period just screaming at kids, or teachers gossiping about one another right in front of the students... then there are the younger ones, barely out of college, strutting through the gym in high heels while bickering over some young PE coach. And don't get me started on faculty meetings, where everyone agrees on a decision only to turn around and mock that exact same decision in the breakroom later. Then you see the grading—it's all based on "my students are all honor roll because I'm such a great teacher," making every page in the gradebook look identical. There's blatant favoritism toward wealthy parents, while those from lower-income families just get looked down upon... and of course, there are always those five people who end up doing absolutely everything for the entire staff. They handle all the organization and stay at the school for 10 or 12 hours a day simply because they actually care... they're the ones the students truly love and go to before anyone else, yet they get mocked by colleagues for being "fools" or for sucking up to the principal. Those people chose this path. The rest are just counting down the days until the holidays or retirement, letting kids out of class five minutes early just so they don't get stuck in the hallway rush, leaving everyone else to deal with the chaos for a few extra minutes...
That’s why I say I regret working in education. Now that I'm a parent, I find myself second-guessing every move a teacher makes—though I never doubt my own kids. I don't fall for that "my child would never" illusion, because I know exactly how they behave at home, so it actually surprises me when they tell me they're behaving perfectly at school.
I truly admire the teachers who can endure working with children, who actually do their jobs and find joy in it, but most people just follow the crowd—they decide that for that specific salary, they aren't going to sacrifice their mental health, so they just go along with it. They blame the parents for failing to raise their kids... but again, a school is supposed to be an educational and developmental institution, which means half of a teacher's job is actually the character development of the students. But because of all the pressure regarding standardized testing and other nonsense, that developmental side gets buried under grades, since grades are used as the sole metric for whether a teacher is actually doing their job or not.
And nobody can tell me that if 20 out of 25 students fail a test, it's not because the material wasn't explained properly. I had one teacher who gave us "idiot tests" because she assumed we were all idiots. She would literally copy math problems onto the board from a hundred-year-old notebook, and if she made a typo while copying, we were the ones who had to correct her.
I agree that there are bad apples in any profession, but it feels like lately, they've been multiplying...
Anthony Gray said:It’s really not about whether the kids are "good" or "bad." Honestly, regardless of their temperament, it isn't exactly a vacation for me when I'm on a field trip—I spend the entire time gripped by this constant, low-level anxiety, just double-checking that everyone is accounted for, breathing, and hasn't wandered off into traffic. In an ideal world, I’d much rather be going on a trip with people I actually *choose* to spend time with—even if it meant shelling out a fortune from my own pocket to make it happen.
Anyone who hasn't had the experience of managing a group of children in public simply cannot grasp the reality of the situation: it is purely, and quite frankly, an immense weight of responsibility, not some delightful little privilege.
Honestly, I'd be all for giving teachers extra benefits for every single field trip. But the reality is, this isn't some optional hobby—it's part of the job, right alongside lesson planning, parent-teacher conferences, and everything else. It seems like most people who decide to go to college for teaching think—well, they think it's easy, lots of downtime, plenty of holidays, and that's pretty much it...
But an American school is meant to be an educational and developmental environment, which means the social and emotional growth comes first. We need to give these kids way more than just what's printed in their textbooks.
It really frustrates me when I see teachers heading for the exit before their students even leave the building—it's clear they haven't truly grasped what being an educator actually means.
Adam Evans62 said:Regarding the whole thing about buying worksheets, workbooks, tests, and stuff through the school and the fees involved
...
At the first parent-teacher meeting, we let parents know what educational materials are needed. We show them the catalogs where every single item's price is clearly listed. We decide together what actually needs to be bought—what’s essential, what’s optional, or what could potentially be photocopied (even if that's technically illegal) just to save everyone some money.
The price parents pay is the catalog price. What we as the school pay is that same price without sales tax. Depending on school policy, that money either goes to the teacher, into a general fund, or covers things like field trips or gifts for Saint Nicholas.
And trust me, it’s not like a teacher can get rich off this. It’s more of a headache to collect the cash, dealing with people for months who haven't paid for one reason or another, or even dipping into my own pocket (I've done that plenty of times because publishers want their money the second they deliver the materials) and then wondering if I'll ever see that money again.
What blows my mind every single year is that the people with the least money are always the first to pay, and there's never any trouble with them... most of the time you're fighting with the ones you know have the cash!
Look, I'm not a charity. Why should I pay for someone else's kid's supplies out of my own pocket? 🤷
As for "free education"—it's free in the sense that you aren't paying for the knowledge we pass on to your kids (which you'd definitely pay for at a private school, where it would cost you something like fifteen thousand dollars a year), but you do pay for the tools used to teach that knowledge (textbooks, field trips, etc.). If you want to know why it works that way, take it up with the government. As educators, we have nothing to do with it.
I agree that calling education "free" is presented poorly. It isn't truly free—once you buy the textbooks and pay for various field trips, you're easily out a few hundred dollars a year. 😢
I honestly don't see the issue with buying materials through the school.
No one is being ripped off. If parents bought these worksheets themselves, they'd end up paying even more at a local bookstore 🙄. I always give people the option to go find the stuff themselves if they want to, can, or have the time, and in eight years, nobody has ever actually taken me up on it. 🤷
I agree, but you have that sales rep who drops off the flyer for the teacher to hand out to the kids, then quietly mentions in the hallway—hey, you get a 15% cut of that total price.
Kevin Bailey2 said:Is there a contract where you aren't held morally responsible for everything a kid does, or one that promises you won't have to deal with aggressive, high-maintenance parents?
I wouldn't say so.
Thank you so much for those "perks"—taking kids on all those field trips, excursions, and whatnot. My nerves just couldn't handle it.
But I also heard about a case where two teachers took a group to a summer swim camp—ten days at the beach—and it turned out they were basically the star students themselves. It really makes me wonder what would have happened if, heaven forbid, someone actually needed saving from drowning...
Charles Murphy6 said:It’s actually a relief to see a few Teachers in this group.
So, I’m looking for some straight talk here—give it to me straight.
When those workbooks and activity packets are being ordered for the kids at the start of the school year, do you guys get a kickback from the publishers?
To be blunt—in a situation like ours where we’re paying for all the materials, if we’re looking at $57supplies for 27 students, the Teacher ends up pocketing roughly $167.
And please, don't even try to tell me otherwise; I work in a school, so I know exactly how the gears turn.
Specifically, in my school, that extra cash is supposedly funneled toward the kids whose parents can't afford the supplies, acting as a sort of unofficial fund.
Is that how you all handle it??
Is it the same setup as when kids sign up for various magazine subscriptions??
I’m dying to hear what you have to say about this...
Of course they get a commission—whether it's for workbooks, Scholastic materials, or any other publisher... I actually know of a case at my school where a Teacher organizing a summer camp trip let her preschooler grandson go for free, and she told us herself. Besides, I used to work at a publishing house, so I'm not just guessing. What a teacher decides to do with that commission is entirely up to them. Whether they buy extra supplies for a student whose family is struggling or keep it for themselves... that's their call. But I also know that publishers always provide an extra copy or two, specifically to help out the kids who might not have the funds.
I’m new here, so I figured I’d jump straight into this topic 🙂
Basically, my son is in 6th grade, and lately—it's been a total disaster!!!
I mean, I remember going through puberty myself, but I honestly have no idea how to handle his...
Anything I say to him is wrong; if I even try to have a serious conversation, he just breaks down into tears immediately... and he’s always been a bit stubborn, but now he’s just 🙂
Yesterday at the PTA meeting, the teacher said she doesn't know what to do with them anymore—grades are slipping, and their behavior is becoming impossible...
The thing is, he’s actually an excellent student—really bright, and his grades are perfectly fine—but I’m terrified he's going to start following the crowd.
Is there any way to fix this, or do I just have to wait for it all to pass?
And then there's still the next stage of puberty waiting for us!!! 🙂