sure there are some crappy teachers out there that fail their kids, but if kids aren’t in a place to receive sound pedagogy ain’t a darn thing a teacher–even the best of them–can do about it. i have a friend who is an excellent (math) teacher (and this is not simply my opinion, but also due the fact that she has gained a reputation in her department and in the district for the strength of her practice–so much so that she’s been asked to co-autheor a well-noted curriculum in the field). yet, this celebrated teacher still has students who skip her class on a consistent basis and some who actually come to her class high. many of her students fail her class. does she fail to provide interesting curriculum? no. is it her fault that kids bunk her class or are failing? for the most part, no.

i don’t want to blindly jump on the blame the teacher bandwagon.

i dunno pa, maybe you should give a go at teaching. judging from what you shared, i’m sure the profession (and the kids) would love to have you (and perhaps you’ll find teaching isn’t as simple as you seem to think).

You may have never had a good teacher. Through all of grade school, I can count the good ones I had on one hand. Through college and grad school, I can count those on two fingers ;->

All I know is when I raise my garage door and start puttering around with my stuff, the neighborhood kids flock around like seagulls to a loaf of bread.

They know I won’t deny them, and they know some interesting lessons are in the offing because I’m willing to explain anything to them in terms they can understand and we’ll build working demonstrations they can play with and handle. Magnetism, Aerodynamics, Newtonian physics, etc my garage is full of things of wonder for kids.

word. i wasn’t quite with the implications of the first line of the article either.

also, i’m not sure if i buy the “if you make the curriculum interesting, they’ll come” line of thinking. yeah, for a minority of students this may hold true, but for others, nah. i think a lot of it stems from where the kids are developmentally, socially, and otherwise.

I remember one teacher when I was in H/S who literally was running out the door at 2:30. You could set your watch by that guy. Yea, he was terrible.

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