leasheryn's Blog

I can not comprehend what is happening in our world today. Teacher's were an absolute authority, someone to be respected. I can remember one time seeing one of my teachers in a grocery store and freaked out. I was certain she had no need for earthly goods such as food, she could not have been human, walking the same earth as I in an ordinary life.

How is it that all positions of authority have fallen? How is it that a parent does not know where their children are? What is so important to us that we are not taking the time to monitor our own children? Clearly the teacher has taken advantage of this situation and should be punished, but let's take a little more time to find out why little Johnny or Susie needs to go to their teacher's house after school.

you do realize that the ages of some students and new teachers are relatively close and teachers have the trust of the students. there are still some good teachers out there. the situations aren't new, just more common.

No, there shouldn't be an age minimum for teaching, the younger teachers need to gain some maturity in the head though. When I was 27 I was a serious mother of 3, I didn't have any inclination to go out and party, actup or drink, or even think of teenage boys. I would have never sat down and played childish games for my own pleasure (although I played all kinds of preschool games with my own children). Young mature adults who were teaching 20 or 30 years ago were just that...MATURE and they didn't have the mindset to be "friends" or "play" with the little kiddies they taught. Young teachers today still want to be teeny boppers when they should be serious minded adults.

I haven't a clue Mustang, the whole thing is just getting creepier and creepier. It must be global warming...yeah, that's the ticket! Our brains are getting fried (and we didn't even know it)...Gore tried to warn us though.

Yeh but in wood shop? Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! *lol*

A lot of the problem is adults are playing shildrens games like children and not setting an adult example. It's okay as Loo said to play games with children but not for your own pleasure or even for competitiveness. An adult playing or competiting with a child puts the adult on the same level as the child and the child never learns to respect the adult because the adult has a child's mind in an adult body.

As for teachers, I also have to ask, don't these people have social lives or know people of their own age to talk to or go out with? Are they so friendless that the only ones they can attract are children? You would think an adult would want to be with adult society and not talking about video games or Idol with a bunch of kids. It's just too weird for these teachers to hang with the kids.

Patriot, there's a difference between fantasy and reality. Boys and girl do fantasize about their teachers. It doesn't mean it has to become reality. When it becomes reality, the illusion is gone and never what it was meant to be in actuality. When it goes too far, it's called RAPE.

Leasheryn, I must disagree that teachers deserve respect simply because they've been hired as a teacher.

Although I did not attend school in Florida, I was singularly unimpressed with 80 percent of my teachers. Many of them had only a superficial understanding of the subjects they were teaching, and only a few were inspiring.

In secondary schools, I was occasionally sent to the principal's office because I was arguing with a teacher that what they were trying to teach was incorrect.

Of course I would give evidence to the principal, who eventually asked me to simply come see him if one of my teachers appeared to be misunderstanding the material. That's pretty well what got me through high school.

Just as important as FCAT, I want to see strict testing for teachers not only on their ability to teach, but their ability to understand the concepts they're trying to teach.

The 20 percent of really good teachers, who know their stuff well, who can explain difficult concepts as opposed to forcing rote learning, are the real heroes.

In summation, teachers deserve no more respect than any other public employee until they prove their competence.

Cranky, I'm sure you are in the full understanding that respect is not a given thing; respect is earned. It's never been differently nor ever implied.
Teachers are respected when they teach well and uphold high standards; they are also respected as examples to their students and their ability to inspire. They are NOT respected when they put themselves at the same level as the students and act like children in the classroom.
VBG, you would think when a teacher leaves school, they would want to get away from children and socialize with their own peers. Best of luck in your teaching career. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and know where you are headed.