Oh my. Do you want the condom story, stripper story, dick story, cylinder story, another good principal story, bad prank story, or anal story?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, no*, yes, yes.
*Oh what the heck, give us that one too! Any or all appreciated. 
All of the above.
1 Not sure if this is universal or an oddity of my district, but in our school the teachers make a big deal about having the kids cover their books immediately when issued. So we rush off to buy the covers or cut and fold grocery sacks to cover the books because, as some teachers put it, they would be marked down if they didn’t. What is the big deal about covering the books? Do they help future resale that much? Are there more important kids coming down the pike later on that we’re saving the covers for so that they can look at them?
2 It’s been my experience raising five kids that they encounter the most bullying in the middle school years. Do you agree that middle schoolers are more prone to this? And if you see bullying going on but not in your class, do you take action and if so, what?
How do you handle a child that is obviously intelligent but either can’t be bothered to do the work or is so unorganized they lose assignments?
Have you ever had a problem child with parents that were so oblivious to the problem they blamed you, the principal, the classmates, the bus schedule, the color of the dry erasers, etc, everything except their Darling Blameless Child?
I find that as a middle school science teacher I spend anywhere from $100 - $250 per school year. I tend to buy school supplies, supplemental books, AR books, and lab supplies. The district I work in is not terribly well off, so I tend to spend my own money to make sure my students get to do cool lab work.
These are very tough situations. With a kid who is talented, yet unmotivated, the first thing I try to do is get to know them personally. I try to find out what they are interested in. If I can talk about these things in class and relate my lessons to them in anyway–even if it’s as simple as using them in an example problem–they tend to start paying more attention because they know I’m listening to them.
It is obvious to me that I am willing to work harder for people that I care about. If my students get to know me and care about me, I know they will work harder for me. I’m very open with them, and try to act the same way in front of them that I do in my everyday life. Kids can always spot a pretender.
The second situation you brought up happens all the time. I would guess I run into this on a weekly basis. I just try to listen to everything the parent has to say, explain my point of view, and try to convince them I want what is best for thier child. If this doesn’t work, I have to pass them on to the principal.
I’ll be back later with the stories.
I’m not a teacher, but in my own personal experience, which is not too long ago since I graduated high school in 04, this is definitely the case. In high school I got along well with most of the people who picked on me in middle school.
What do you do when a student “hits” on you?.. It seems teachers sleeping with their students is all the rage (according to the news) nowadays…
You might as well start researching Home Schooling now. 
Teachers have crappy days too. It is entirely possible that in your universe , you are seeing what you have shared with us. In HER universe, her husband was throwing up blood for 3 hours the night before and she’s not responding the same way to you because it is all she can do to get through the day and if it wasn’t Day 2 of school she would be at the hospital with him instead of her overbearing pushy aggressive condescending know-it-all manipulative mother-in-law.
I have been around professional educators for my entire life. Mom was a Special Ed teacher, then a principal of the S.E. school, my wife is a music teacher. Yeah, I married my mother. What of it? 
Be on time as best as you can, be a supportive parent to both your kid AND the teacher and let teacher know that you regard her as a keystone on Team RSSchen.
I now teach college and adult aged folks. Only a few days at a time. I also spent a year and a half as a substitute teacher, a role I took dead seriously. The elementary kids hated me, because I cleaved unto the Lesson Plans, subject by subject, time allottment by time allottment. All of the work was completed, and notes were left for every teacher on children who were problematic.
I loved subbing in Middle School. Had I not returned to my career, I likely would have taken a masters in Ed in Social Studies.
RancidYakButterTeaParty, the issue of bladder control is waaayyyy up there past complaining about the building, kids, pay, food, admin, supervisors, tenure, school board. As a child, I listened with awe and fear as Mom described situations akin to your “slide into first” experience. :eek:
Cartooniverse
RancidYakButterTeaParty, what kind of expectations do you have for substitute teachers? Being one myself, I really like teachers that go the extra mile making sure a sub is prepared- leaving a message on the sub hotline about any special details, and lesson plans. I’ve seen a wide range of extremes- ranging from pages of instructions I attempted to meticulously follow, to nothing at all, and having the principal just shrug at me and say ‘wing it’ :dubious:
One way I measure a teacher’s dedication is how determined they are that I follow the instructions. I have had teachers who were out with pneumonia call the classroom, asking me if everything was ok. Personally, as a sub, I would rather cover for a teacher with high standards, and work my butt off trying to follow their plans, then a teacher with such a low expectation for subs that they just leave a video and submit me to having to watch the same 50 minutes of ‘Aladdin’ 5 times in a row
Let me apologize for the long absence. I’ve been dealing with a big school related problem actually. I’ll ge to that later
The news. News about teacher’s mistakes is a hot item, and I understand why–we’re working with kids. Trust me that these stories represent only the smallest fraction of teachers. Any case is one too many, but they are still rare.
I have never had this happen, to my knowledge. I’ve heard kids say things like “Janie likes you”. I usually ignore these statements. If kids persist, I talk to them in private about respecting Janie, me, and acting thier age.
If a girl actually “hit” on me, I would immediately take the student to the principal and have them explain what happened. I would document the incident, and probably tell my union representative as well. I would also contact the parents, or have the principal contact the parents.
I’ve got one, inspired by this thread.
Do most teachers choose favorite and least favorite students on the basis of things like politics as expressed in an essay written for a class assignment, or is the kid’s personality and behavior in class more likely to make a difference?
My wife is the registrar at a middle school, and at this time of year she has a long line of parents at her desk, DEMANDING that their li’l darling be placed in honors classes. Because if they’re in honors now, that’ll give them a leg up getting into honors in High School. And then they’ll be able to get 4.3 GPAs, which means they can get into Stanford, and nirvana will be achieved.
:rolleyes:
Do you have this problem, or is it something about our school district?
Personally, my favorite students and least favorite students come from their personality and behavior. Mostly personality, as I tend to tolerate behaviors better from students I enjoy.
I believe all students have a right to any opinion they want. It doesn’t necessarily have to match my point of view.
I teach an advanced placement math class, and I don’t have anyone asking to be in it. I have some asking to get out of it, as a matter of fact. This issue might be that many honors classes are easy. Many honors teachers give good grades to everyone just because they are in the class. If they were smart enough to get in there, then they must get a good grade right?
I see these classes as an opportunity to challenge the best minds in the grade level. I want these kids to learn as much as possible. I make my advanced math class more challenging than the rest, and it should be. Most of the students still get good or decent grades, but they learn early on that they are going to have to work very hard to get those grades.
Yep.
Alright, back to story time…
For a Geometry lesson, I asked students to bring in examples of 3-d shapes from home. Most kids brought in rectangular prisms (cereal boxes, tissue boxes) or cylinders (cans of soup). We were discussing each one and its attributes, when I noticed that Ben had taken James’ shape from his desk and was playing around with it.
I stopped briefly and said “Ben, stop playing with James’ cylinder”.
The kids all looked at me with that “is it ok to laugh” look, as I tried my best not to start busting at the seams as I realized the double meaning of my statement.
It wasn’t much of a lesson after that…
I teach computer science at the Middle and High School levels. Last year, instead of 3 HS and two JH classes, it ended up the other way around, and I took a loooooooong time to sign my contract for this year.
7 years teaching all middle school? My’s hat’s off to you. How do you do it?
Thank you sir. I love the middle school kids. Can’t pinpoint why exactly, but it probably has something do due with my own experience in middle school. I can relate to these kids well.