For me, it shoudl just be a regular week. I teach 7th grade at a low socioeconomic school. I have yet to get something, even a handmade card, from any of my students. in fact, the behavior has been really bad this week (I’ve been sending kids out of my room - something i rarely do - left and right) I had to post a note on my board saying “Teacher Appreciation Week.” to get the kids to say “We appreciate you” in an incredibly rehearsed voice.
I know why I got into this profession; I wanted to touch the future and make this world a better place. Lord knows we are not in this profession for the money. Weeks like this make me wonder.
In your opinion, why do teachers not get the respect we deserve?
I don’t know why teachers don’t get the respect they deserve, but I want to give “props” (a Jim Rome-ism) to you, Home of the Braves, as well as a few other dopers who I believe are teachers: Phouka, Ruffian and AudreyK (I think Audrey is, or technically was, a graduate teaching assistant).
I certainly have respect for the teaching profession, having thought of being one myself. Opted against it because, while the thought of teaching motivated students interested me, I didn’t want to have to motivate the disinterested ones (Yeah, yeah, I know this means I wanted the easy part and not the hard part)
Overall, I guess most of us have a hard time forgetting the bad things in life, and many of us have had some truly bad teachers along the way. I only had one teacher that truly made a positive difference in my life, and I never took the time to say thank you. He went out of his way to help me in his class, and it affected all my classes for the balance of my last two years of high school. So, don’t give up, even if you only impact on one of those minds you are trying to unlock it will be worth it, even though you may not ever know it. And since I did not get the chance to say it to him, allow me to say it to you…Thanks, for the job you do, it is a tough one.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, Home of the Braves!!
IMHO, teachers do not get anything NEAR the appreciation that they should get.
I, myself, teach English to university students in S. Korea (don’t be too impressed, any native speaker could do my job! It mostly involves just talking to the kids and teaching vocabulary/idioms…), but I wouldn’t even consider teaching in the US… to kids of any age!
So kudos to you! I’m truely glad that there are people like you, who love children enough to actually put up with the sh*t that you put up with, and still try to teach them something. God knows that there are a plethora of people out there who DON’T care! (include in this group a lot of parents!)
Home of the Braves, we love you! Keep up the good work!
HotB, thank you for being a wonderful teacher. I know how much your teaching has affected your students. I’ve seen some of them come back to you, keep in touch with you, let you know how you’re doing. You are touching the future (and you know that I’m with DRY on this one… I wanted to teach, but only the ones that wanted to learn - You’re far braver than I to do as you’ve been doing since we got out of college). Remember, these particular students may not say thank you now, but there are the ones that may come back and say thank you later.
As far as the OP, I think part of the reason is because it isn’t cool to like school. Teachers are the enemy, in many kids eyes (especially in the school you’re teaching in, on the regular side rather than on the Magnet side) As a general rule, though, m’dear, you know they respect you more than they do most. I’ve heard the stories you’ve told. You’re making a difference in their lives. Remember that, hold tight to that. Even if they don’t show it, you’re helping to steer them along the path of what’s right.
I think a lot of individual teachers do get respect – at least they do by me and the people I hang with. But the profession doesn’t get automatic respect for a couple of reasons.
If somebody is a medical doctor, you know right away that they are reasonably intelligent, well-educated, and had to pass their Boards to become a doctor. There is, more or less, a national standard. But teachers don’t have a standard and individual teachers vary from really, really good to really, really bad. And, right or wrong, MDs – as a group – will enjoy greater status because we know that, at a minimum, they’re smart, educated and motivated enough to make it through all the crap they do to become a practicing doctor.
So a teacher who really makes an impact on a kid, probably made that impact more because of personal motivation to be a good teacher rather than because the standards to become a teacher require that person to be great at what they do.
I guess it kind of comes down to quality control. Good teachers suffer because of the mediocre or bad teachers. I don’t know if this post makes any sense, either, but I thought I’d give it a shot.
Here in the UK, we have a degree course for new teachers (2 years, I think). Don’t you have something similar in the US?
I teach (chess) and also run a tutorial group for 12 students. I had a ‘tough guy’ in the group for 2 years. He wasn’t rude, but used to make sarcastic remarks and try to show that nothing mattered to him (except for girls and alcohol). I was always polite, but thought I hadn’t got through to him at all.
Anyway about a year later I took him for a computer games course (yes, I do have an unusual syllabus!). After one lesson he stayed behind to say that he felt I was the best teacher he’d ever had … because I had respected him!
He explained that the teenage years can be a real struggle (absolutely), but now he had confidence in himself. So he was finally able to be a regular guy - passing exams and being friendly.
So keep the faith HotB - carry on being a role model of politeness and intelligence!
… because I had respected him! 