Elementary school teachers
in Students & Teens ·
Jason Ortiz5 said:Honestly, I really don't know... It feels like people here act like every single high school senior is part of some mindless zombie horde, where all they care about is getting wasted, smoking, breaking things, and ending up in a jail cell or the ER. 🤷 I’ve heard so many stories about graduation trips that go perfectly fine without any drama at all... Sure, I’ve heard about the ones where everything goes south, but I’ve never gotten the impression that's the rule.Fast food places like McDonald's—that shouldn't be the move. It could be an exception, but it should be optional. Personally, I would never take kids to unhealthy fast food spots. But if a teacher wants to (for $0.00 a little extra cash) take the class somewhere they actually choose, and if the parents are on board, I think that's great.
For a second there, I actually thought you were being well-meaning. But then, of course, you had to mention that the teacher is doing it "for $0.00 a bit of extra cash". 😉 Should we be paying teachers more just to take kids to McDonald's? Of course not. It always comes back to money... As soon as an educator does anything "for $0.00 a little extra cash," suddenly everyone acts like they deserve a monument built in their honor... 🧐
Do you have any idea what people working regular jobs in the private sector do $0.00 for a little extra cash? Or even just for their salary? They’re just happy to have a job. And if they actually love what they do and find it fulfilling, they aren't out there rubbing it in anyone's face.A movie trip for a grade? No. An appreciation of art? Yes. I'm pretty sure the kids taking the test weren't all people who skipped the movies. And for those who went, and for whom it was considered an educational outing by their parents, why not?
So, half the class goes and the other half takes a test? What about the rest? Are they just sitting there picking their noses and staring out the window? 😕 And what about the kids whose parents might want them to go, but the budget just isn't there? Does every parent need to have the same amount of disposable income? Does experiencing art really have to be tied to scraping for a grade?So, what’s actually the issue here? These exemptions? Honestly, just handle them at the school district level.
I mean, sure, that would be a great plan if a) most parents weren't struggling just to put food on the table, and b) if they weren't terrified that standing up for what they believe in would end up hurting their kids in the long run. 😉
It seems like most seniors breeze through their graduation trips because everything is planned to a T. Between the teachers running prep sessions, parents staying on top of things, and clear rules being set from day one, there’s zero guesswork. Even the logistics—like travel coordinators vetting hotels and ensuring staff are strategically stationed on the same floor as the students—make sure someone is always watching over them, day and night.
Charles Murphy6 said:I find one general phenomenon fascinating across all our middle schools—specifically grades 5 through 8.
Why is it that certain teachers always seem to have students stuck in summer school while others just follow their own whims—and honestly, I wouldn't dream of coming in over that—it really is true.
And it always ends up like this... why??
It’s already common knowledge that there are teachers who hold remedial exams just so they can avoid the hassle of dealing with kids, handing out a failing grade just to get them out of the building as quickly as possible. To me, that is completely unacceptable.
When it comes to grading, there are numerous factors to consider, including the social circumstances a child is living in.
I want to know how often you actually keep side notes to back up every single grade you issue??
And I want to know how many of you actually follow the grading policy and have a copy of it posted right there in your classroom??
Since the exam schedules for the entire semester are posted upfront on school bulletin boards and websites, it’s actually pretty easy for a parent to check if everything is being handled according to the official Grading policy.
When it comes to grading, I get the sense that failing grades are sometimes handed out based on a student's social or family situation rather than because a professor can't spare an extra 45 minutes for a retake. It’s about deciding whether those ten extra days before a makeup exam will actually help a kid who hasn't grasped the material all year due to circumstances beyond their control—and I'm not talking about laziness. Students already get endless chances to fix their grades throughout the school year. If they haven't managed to turn things around by now, maybe a teacher feels that giving them a failing grade is just adding insult to injury, especially if their home life is already a mess. Is that fair to the rest of the class? Probably not. Is it fair to that specific kid? It probably is. I know a retired school counselor who always said she didn't enter education just to become a bureaucrat.
Of course, you have administrators putting the squeeze on teachers to bump up grades—sometimes because parents are breathing down their necks, other times just to make the school's stats look better. You end up with some professors who cave to the pressure and others who don't; it’s why some students breeze through while others end up stuck in summer school.
