Teacher writes loser on 6 grader's paper

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Im trying to understand why that was necessary am I missing something:waitasec: This teacher should be happy he doesnt have my kid in his class.
 
I think they should start testing the teachers instead of the students. If they fail they get a warning, if they fail twice, they get a small pay cut. Then three strikes and you are out. I think this would give them incentive to come up with better teaching methods. I know it would take a lot of work to get this going, but try it in a small county that the children are failing, under the current grading policy. JMO
 
This is somewhat on topic.

I'd really like to see (but I know it won't happen) an overhaul in the way teachers are educated. Maybe start with teaching colleges, rather than colleges with education majors. Then more practicum opportunities, and more time with master teachers. Becoming a teacher should, in my opinion, be something akin to becoming a doctor. It shouldn't be something that a person should just go into because they don't know what else to do. Becoming a teacher needs to be a more difficult thing to do, to weed out people who aren't really into it. I think that will raise the respect level for teachers, as I think as a group of professionals, teachers aren't really treated the way they should be (not that this guy should be treated well, he's an idiot). But I really do feel that if more respect were added into the job title (respect from both those seeking the job and those in the community), you'll see a better group of incoming teachers and an improvement in student education.

This is just my opinion. I don't know how old this "loser" guy is, but I have seen some examples of lack of professionalism in the new teachers in my own school district. Nothing major, but little things that make you scratch your head.
 
Mr. E said:
This is somewhat on topic.

I'd really like to see (but I know it won't happen) an overhaul in the way teachers are educated. Maybe start with teaching colleges, rather than colleges with education majors. Then more practicum opportunities, and more time with master teachers. Becoming a teacher should, in my opinion, be something akin to becoming a doctor. It shouldn't be something that a person should just go into because they don't know what else to do. Becoming a teacher needs to be a more difficult thing to do, to weed out people who aren't really into it. I think that will raise the respect level for teachers, as I think as a group of professionals, teachers aren't really treated the way they should be (not that this guy should be treated well, he's an idiot). But I really do feel that if more respect were added into the job title (respect from both those seeking the job and those in the community), you'll see a better group of incoming teachers and an improvement in student education.

This is just my opinion. I don't know how old this "loser" guy is, but I have seen some examples of lack of professionalism in the new teachers in my own school district. Nothing major, but little things that make you scratch your head.
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Actually, the newer teachers around here at least have some enthusiasm for their new job. I have no experience with any other state, just my own, but it doesn't take long for a very gifted teacher to become overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork that must be completed. A good friend of mine is a third grade teacher. It is not unusual for her to spend HOURS per day involved in paperwork, then she must grade tests and prepare for the next day. My mother and MIL are both retired teachers. They spent about an hour a day doing paperwork and grading papers. Now, every time a teacher turns around, the school board or state board is demanding more of them.

Also, because Louisiana is a "high stakes testing" state, the teachers are using curriculum especially designed by the state of Louisiana (that ought to make everyone gasp aloud!) to teach ONLY the skills that are tested on the LEAP. It is utterly ridiculous for a state that scrapes the bottom of the barrel most years to think it can design its own text books, and yet some noodle head has managed to think just that and do it! Gifted, creative effective teachers are literally standing in front of a class without the opportunity to exercise their gift. It's a shame.
 
The statistics for new teachers leaving the workforce are huge, something like 50% in the first five years leave teaching all together.

I think there are fewer parent volunteers now than there used to be, too, to take the load off of teachers. I remember even in the 80s, when I was in high school, seeing parents around. Maybe there are just more parents working? Or it's too difficult legally to have volunteers in schools?
 
kgeaux said:
My son (mentioned in an earlier post) who got the negative messages written on his math papers had tested FOUR grade levels above 6th grade.....but they stuck him in a "regular" math class because, apparently, to pass the LEAP test in Louisiana, a child must be able to write his answers down with sentences, instead of just writing "20,978." Like this: When I add 2 to the number 20, 976, the answer is 20,978." "Regular" in his school really amounted to "Dummy Class" because so many of the students were far behind grade level.

My poor kid had been doing algebra at home, and he was stuck in a 6th grade class with a teacher who was WAY past her prime and who held a grudge against home-schoolers. She'd write things like "Let's see if algebra helps you now!" and "oh, even a three year old could write a better sentence."

I guess it is pretty obvious by now that I absolutely hate the public school system. Apologies to those who give a care and try to do their best in the system, but nothing I have seen in a public school can come close to comparing with an education.
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I'm sorry your son went through that... My son sometimes has a hard time showing his work too. Thus far I have sent a note back on the homework he had a hard time using an example to show his work, then I explain the answer the teacher sends back on the written homework.

I can't believe his teacher would actually write something like that.....

Ay yi yi. I guess our children have to learn how to deal with some very ignorant people in this world. It just should be their teachers they have to learn that lesson from.
 
I wonder if this teacher has written similar notes on other kids work? If not, then it's definately a case of this kid being singled out and bullied by this particular 'teacher'.

I know my DD'd teacher marks tests and homework on weekends. Wonder if the 'teacher' in question had maybe downed a few drinks on the w/e before marking the work? BUt it's not the only time he did it either.

If this happened to any of my kids, I'd be at the principals office around the clock, demanding a formal verbal and written apology from the teacher to my child.

Then get the kids to teach the teacher about respect, manners, and the effects of bullying.
Make him write out 5000 lines saying 'It is not okay to call children losers- I am the true true loser". He's acting like a kid, so he should be treated like one.
This isn't a teaching style- it's a sick deluded man trying to inflate his own ego, by bullying a kid.
And if the kid was making errors, doesn't that mean the teacher has failed , rather than the child?
JMO
 
There is absolutely no legitimate reason for a teacher to react this way to a student's paper. EVER!

The teacher in question has been teaching 10 years at the same school.

That leaves me with two questions:

Has he always been this kind of teacher?
or Has he never been challenged?
 
All I thought was, I am glad it wasn't my daughter's teacher when my daughter was that young. I was young too, in my early 20s, and I might have gotten arrested because of punching the teacher. I am blessed, and enlightened, but I don't mess around when it comes to family.
 
Mr. E said:
This is somewhat on topic.

I'd really like to see (but I know it won't happen) an overhaul in the way teachers are educated. Maybe start with teaching colleges, rather than colleges with education majors. Then more practicum opportunities, and more time with master teachers. Becoming a teacher should, in my opinion, be something akin to becoming a doctor. It shouldn't be something that a person should just go into because they don't know what else to do. Becoming a teacher needs to be a more difficult thing to do, to weed out people who aren't really into it. I think that will raise the respect level for teachers, as I think as a group of professionals, teachers aren't really treated the way they should be (not that this guy should be treated well, he's an idiot). But I really do feel that if more respect were added into the job title (respect from both those seeking the job and those in the community), you'll see a better group of incoming teachers and an improvement in student education.

This is just my opinion. I don't know how old this "loser" guy is, but I have seen some examples of lack of professionalism in the new teachers in my own school district. Nothing major, but little things that make you scratch your head.
Click to expand...

You are very right! When I decided during my freshman year of college to change my major from Drama :blushing: to Elementary Education, my counselor tried to talk me out of it with the argument that I was too smart and would be wasting myself. :waitasec:

WTH? Even at 18 I made the argument that you WANT teachers to be smart. Right? It infuriated me then, but when you see the quality of SOME (not all by any means) teachers, you realize that the advisors are somewhat to blame if they think teaching is for people too dumb to do anything else and urge the good students on to another major.

And I'm not that smart. It's not like I was going to cure cancer or solve world peace if I hadn't gone into teaching!

ITA that they should put student teachers into classroom situations from the very first opportunity. I volunteered at a local school thinking it would help me get admitted (HA!). That is how I learned that I didn't want to teach the older kids, but preferred 1st-3rd grade. But it wasn't required of me - by the time I was required to have in-classroom experience, I was less than a year from graduation and wouldn't have wanted to change my major again. I know several people who were unhappy with the beaurocracy of it all, but it was "too late" to switch.
 
Last year when my DD was in 5th grade, she came home from school very upset.

She said one of her classmates, a little boy, tried to tell the teacher about a book he had read over the weekend, the "teacher" rolled her eyes and told the little boy to "get a life".

Now, even though my DD was not involved in anyway, she was so upset because she said the little boy looked like he was about to cry. She said he turned red and several students laughed at him.

What gets me is he was telling her about a book he read!!! How many 5th graders spend their weekends reading a book. Teachers should be thankful for those kinds of students not putting them down.

It was horrible.

There are so many good teachers out there. But, there are lots that have no business being in a classroom. IMO
 
I don't want to sound like I'm defending anybody. It is definitely not okay to roll your eyes at a student or tell them to "get a life." But, and I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just throwing it out there, sometimes I have students say something happened that didn't happen. Not because they are lying, but because sometimes there are 20 kids talking to you at once (like right before the bell rings), and you might be talking to one person, but another person thinks you are talking to them. For example, my last period class is usually pretty wild. They've had a whole day of eating sugar and drinking caffeine, and they are wired. So when they come in I'll have students come up to me to ask me things ("Can I go to the bathroom? I this due today? Can I have an extension?), and students telling me things ("Guess what happened this weekend? Hey, it's my birthday!"), and sometimes the conversations get mixed-up and somebody will think I answered their question, when I really was talking to somebody else.

Does that make sense? Regardless, I don't think a teacher should be telling any student to "get a life," but I just thought I'd throw that out there.
 
I am thrilled when a student tells me he read a book. Today a student grabbed me the minute I walked in the door, said she had written a play over the weekend, would I read it? These are unusual events. I have students who flat out refuse to pick up a book. And our administrator pretty much feels we teachers should be doing nothing short of tap dances to keep the students interested. Dumb it down, turn it into entertainment.

I plan to leave teaching after this year if I can land a different job.

I want to leave before I feel like writing "loser" on someone's paper. Seriously, I have never done anything remotely like that, but there is a reason 50% of teachers leave the field within 5 years.

I have said this before on WS so forgive the repetition, but I came to the realization that my salary after 6 years teaching was a mere $69 too much for my kids to qualify for free or reduced lunch at school.

Now that I am single again and facing 3 kids in college next year I must try to make more money. It wouldn't matter how much I love the profession, I can't afford it. It is sad, I am actually pretty good at it, but no longer happy, or able to secure a financial future.

This guy sounds like a jerk.

But expecting miracle workers in the classroom given the low salary, increased pressure because of high-stakes testing and requiring more and more in the way of non-teaching duties is unrealistic on the part of the public. Not to mention teachers having to deal with a steady stream of disrespectful, ill-prepared kids and difficult parents.

Eve
 
Mr. E said:
I don't want to sound like I'm defending anybody. It is definitely not okay to roll your eyes at a student or tell them to "get a life." But, and I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just throwing it out there, sometimes I have students say something happened that didn't happen. Not because they are lying, but because sometimes there are 20 kids talking to you at once (like right before the bell rings), and you might be talking to one person, but another person thinks you are talking to them. For example, my last period class is usually pretty wild. They've had a whole day of eating sugar and drinking caffeine, and they are wired. So when they come in I'll have students come up to me to ask me things ("Can I go to the bathroom? I this due today? Can I have an extension?), and students telling me things ("Guess what happened this weekend? Hey, it's my birthday!"), and sometimes the conversations get mixed-up and somebody will think I answered their question, when I really was talking to somebody else.

Does that make sense? Regardless, I don't think a teacher should be telling any student to "get a life," but I just thought I'd throw that out there.
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I agree that I'm sure that sometimes happens.

But, in this case, it was not the wronged child who told me the story.
It was my DD. And, she was VERY upset about it. She teared up while telling me about it.
She saw it. She saw him turn red and look like he was about to cry.
She heard the other students laugh at him.
She is very tender hearted and she has a great deal of compassion towards people.

I also had issues with this teacher. She was a very rude, mean spirited person who had no reason to be in that classroom. It was one of those things that make you thankful when summer comes around.

A 5th grade teacher should not be that way.
 
Kimberlyd125 said:
I agree that I'm sure that sometimes happens.

But, in this case, it was not the wronged child who told me the story.
It was my DD. And, she was VERY upset about it. She teared up while telling me about it.
She saw it. She saw him turn red and look like he was about to cry.
She heard the other students laugh at him.
She is very tender hearted and she has a great deal of compassion towards people.

I also had issues with this teacher. She was a very rude, mean spirited person who had no reason to be in that classroom. It was one of those things that make you thankful when summer comes around.

A 5th grade teacher should not be that way.
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It's pretty sad when a 5th grade TEACHER inspires this kind of reaction in a child. Adults in teachers' positions can make such an impact on a child, and it is up to the adult to make that impact positive or negative.

I remember very few teachers from my youth. The one that sticks out the most? Horrible. He used to look at my shirt that was somewhat see-through and say, "Nice shirt." Disgusting.

And, like eve, when a student is excited about reading, a teacher should be 100% for it. Which always puts me in an awkward position when my readers (and there are so few readers in the 11th grade) would rather read than do work.

There are times when I think a teacher gets the short end of the stick, but this doesn't sound like one of them.
 
I'm going through something similar with one of the readers of my dissertation whose comments are mean spirited and really discouraging. I think he thinks he's "funny," but really he's just a jerk. If it's this hard at 30, I cannot imagine what it does to a 6th grader! All I know is, being treated like a loser really makes you feel like one, and give you the urge to quit. My heart goes out to this child who deserves much better.
 
I am ok with suspension IF the teacher in question is forced to reevaluate his methods, perhaps some sort of new training. I am all for second chances but the teacher needs to go if it happens again.
 
2sisters said:
I am ok with suspension IF the teacher in question is forced to reevaluate his methods, perhaps some sort of new training. I am all for second chances but the teacher needs to go if it happens again.
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I am, too. If his district is anything like mine, budget cuts have affected teacher development. Trips to workshops have been suspended indefinitely. Not that you need a training workshop to know not to write "loser" on a student's paper...but maybe he needs some help figuring out how to handle his frustrations and how to motivate students.
 
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