Teacher Helps Students Cheat Because She Says They’re ‘Dumb As Hell’

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You know growing up I can still think of a few teachers off the top of my head who I will always remember for the rest of my life. On my death bed when images of the memorable moments flash through my consciousness these teachers will be included I have no doubt.

These teachers were just like the ones you described. Enthusiastic, firm, and truly loved teaching. The lessons I learned best in school both academically and in some cases mentally were from these fine teachers. These were people who also proudly told others what their professions were. I can fondly remember each one of them as I type this. It's their classes where I too learned the most and to this day still remember the curriculum and class lessons those teachers shared and taught.

sadly these same teachers even though they worked in private schools (nice well regarded private schools too) were only paid 28K a year. THese teachers who deserved more would go to work in cars that they would have to crawl out the passenger side door because their own wouldn't open. And yet they stoically went to work everyday. Because they loved to teach. I wish I could shake their hands right now and say thanks if I could.

reply to post by moniesisfun


Yes sir I have noticed that too. A lot more of them around these days, and they're breeding. I've come to the same conclusion you have regarding failing an open book test.

What a strange story. It's kind of sad that it came to that point.
Though, I am not surprised to see this in United States.

My mother is sitll in contact with my kindergarten teacher, im 30 so yes the ol lady is still rocking hard.

Her take on it is with the advent of teaching tools (the computer, power point, the internet and so on) she feels teachers have become complacent, they no longer have to work like she did as an educator, she feels that these people no longer have to sift through terribly worded essays from children who missed out on learning to print. They no longer have to comb over written answers and find where a child is failing misserably.

The tools teachers have been given she feel has made them care less about there students because you have so many and they are really just a number where as in the past you were able to form a bond with students and parents. The whole school ideology has changed so much in the even 12 years since I graduated, and even more since I first entered the public school system in 1987. I remember being able to have good thought out conversations with teachers who actually cared.

Unlike the conversations I have had with my daughters teachers now adays the teachers seem very disconnected maybe its the constant labour unrest in my province and the disdain towards our teachers with which I am not faultless (unions and such just are a prick in my side another thread) but they in my mind care less about the student and more about there future employment to form the bonds needed to have struggling children confide in them to the point of being a help.

This being my opinion generated from talking to one Mrs Osbourne my kindergarten teacher from some 23yrs ago, and for her it's even more glaring how far we have come from where we used to be..

SaneThinking

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


As someone living in Cherokee County, only about 30 minutes north of Atlanta, as well as our county at one point also being under watch for cheating due to our rising test scores, and as a mother of 2 girls, ages 11 and 5, one in 6th grade, the other just going into Kindergarten, let me tell you, we have a serious serious serious problem with teachers today, teachers of tomorrow and the future of our children... which of course, ultimately will lead to the future direction of this country..the outlook is not good.

My first daughter, and you know what..before I even begin, let me go on record just to say... I know... I know that every single parent thinks their child is the next genius, and just smarter than the average child. There is just something in us that wants that. But, my first child, truly is ahead of the curve. Talking full sentences by 8 months, making coherent thoughts and answers. Writing her letters and recognizing their sounds by age 3, she picked up things like a sponge. It was the little things, like recognizing a song was also a song from someplace else, but being sung by a different person, etc. She's goes to preschool, at a baptist church and was one of the best children in the class. Reading by the time she was done. She goes ahead to public school, Kindergarten, and our trouble begins. Now, again, this child was potty trained since 10 months. (Not by habit, or schedule, she would tell me she had to go potty) I'll list the problems by numbers and grade.

Kindergarten
1. She pooped in her pants the first week. When I approached the teacher about it, she told me that yes, my child had asked to go, but she was still learning which children just wanted to go to the bathroom for fun and which really had to go to the bathroom. The main problem? my daughter had to sit with the poop in her pants for an hour and a half.
2. Constantly on red (green=good, yellow=small infraction red= bad) this was a child who just came out of preschool as best behaved.

So..problem? her teacher was 8 months pregnant...3 weeks away from giving birth. The helper in the class room? his 8 year old son had just died that past summer from leukemia. The teacher went on leave and the substitute came in....she was a from the marines! if anyone was going to be haywire on these kids, it would be her... right? my daughter immediately returned to Green colors, only to return to red when her original teacher came back. Despite all this, she ended up in the gifted program and passing her tests and class with highest marks. If a child is that much of a problem child..how do they accomplish that?

1st grade
1. Placed in gifted clusters, at this point, she's reading at 3rd grade level. If she moved or sneezed she was sent to the principal's office. She came home each day...telling me, her teacher didn't like her. In art class, they had this program where they made a drawing and it got turned into actual pictures on magnets, or mugs, the art teacher drew a teddy bear on the board as an example, my daughter not fully understanding, thought they were suppose to draw the teddy bear, so she did..and got in trouble. At 6..was this really a huge deal?
So, the following year...2nd grade, she made a friend and would walk that friend to class..which was down the 1st grade hallway, she would try to stop in to say hi to her 1st grade teacher, this teacher, told my child, that she did not need to stop by her class, and to not go down that hallway. Things were worked out with the principal on the matter...problem? the teacher had a brain tumor..and died that following summer.

2nd grade
Huge problem.... See, over the summer, 3 college girls had moved in next door to us, and the one was training to be a teacher, she asked to use our child as her internship and took her to college with her for a few days. Well, my daughter's teacher for 2nd grade was a college student. Let me repeat that... a college student...not yet done with schooling. She left early everyday so she could go to her classes, and in true college fashion, if papers were graded on the weekend after a night out on the town, the always had to be checked over by parents at home. My daughter actually moved up one whole grade level one semester. Problem was..she turned out to be someone we really liked, just not as a teacher.

3rd grade...district changed and she had to move schools. All her friends were transferred. But, we ended up with an awesome awesome teacher. She was from New York, no children of her own, and loved her kids.

4th grade
disaster! disaster disaster. We ended up with this teacher who main answer was "I don't do that" for everything. My daughter at this point is reading at 12th grade level, straight As, no tardies, no missed days. Also, no honor rolls, or recognition for any of her achievements.. like 500 for relay for life. more to follow:

reply to post by Nkinga


She also apparently doesn't teach. The children were handed a packet on Monday, it had to be turned in by Friday. That was it. This teacher didn't participate in spelling bees, school functions, recess was inside, never outside. No parties..which isn't a huge deal, school is for school, not parties..but come on..not even a cookie... the worse part was however, that if they didn't finish their work by Friday, there wasn't really any consequences, they could turn it in whenever they finally finished it. She never posted the grades till the last minute..so, if your child was having trouble, you didn't know it..she never sent anything home..she just, placed a packet on the desks on Monday, and returned to her seat..that was it.

5th grade
this is where it gets even worse.... my daughters gets the same teacher from 4th grade! again the packets. At this point, my child is college level reading and we are supplementing her learning at home...trips to local colleges, constants trips to book stores, science experiments at home, etc etc etc. Museums, you name it.

another point to this.....the teachers all tell me the same thing..all their lessons, all their "teaching" is all geared to one simple thing...the CRCT. nothing extra, nothing fun...just for simple learning.... everything they do is to prepare them all year for the CRCT. Now, heres the clincher.... the CRCT is in April, school here does not let out till the last week day of May. Once the children take the CRCT...thats it. School is done...they have to sit in class for 1 month because of the required hours..but there is no school work, no more grades..nothing..for a solid month..they do absolutely nothing, because all the learning was for the CRCT..and nothing else, once the CRCT comes, there is no need to teach them anything else.

So, we have a few problems here. Incompetent teachers, and "No Child Left Behind" Act that does squat, and teachers who have to be sure a child who does not test well can pass a test in order to keep their pay. None of this does any good for the teaching and learning of our children. You can imagine my excitement and happiness when we found out that Cherokee County has been exempt from this ACT and is now on its own scale of accomplishments. Only 4 weeks into school, and my daughter is just blossoming, its incredible..she's learning something new each day, they are allowing her to take the 8th grade reading, writing and language classes, they've begun these technology academies..it's wonderful.

But, I will leave you with one last daunting thought: The teachers...in your local community are primarily those you went to high school with. From my experience, most people do not grow up (personality wise) past 6th grade. You are who you are. So, those people you went to high school with..they are the ones coming up on the forefront to be your child's teacher.... I don't really feel to secure about that..do you?

reply to post by Nkinga

I am so grateful that you have taken the time to type such a long reply on the thread to very carefully explain your own situation. I take it by the last bit there that the situation has been resolved in your particular case by the exemption from the NCLB Act? If so, I am glad to hear the children in your area have been given a path out of testing based education.

Your story rings true and hits the mark because I'm watching this very thing in my own schools and where my Son has been attending. We have good "grades" on our schools, as judged by the state testing that NCLB mandated for that, but that IS the problem. As you note, everything ...and that really is everything....is geared to those tests. If it isn't on the test? It isn't worth wasting precious time on and so, simply isn't taught. Whatever it takes to pass the kids and hence, the test. My son was excluded (special needs) from even sitting for the tests two years because (I believe) his status would have hurt the scores. The reasons given aren't important because they had no relevance to the matter at hand. It was meant to gloss over... (sigh)

I can't help but think, while I read and researched this story on Atlanta, that the testing and HIGH stakes which are tied to the outcome of them is what really drove this scandal of so many teachers and principles alike. The need to succeed from the need to maintain or increase funding levels drives everything now, it would seem.

I do not believe Bush meant or foresaw this outcome to what even I thought was a petty logical idea at the time. Schools were not better...not in producing literate children, so testing to see just how illiterate they were seemed the reasonable thing to do. I suppose the idea that the whole system of education would come to be defined by those very tests should have been foreseen....


I'm not sure how a solution comes that properly applies across 50 very different states and hundreds of smaller areas which are all so different from one another. Perhaps this is where far more control at the state and local level...and closer to the accountability of the citizens/parents most directly effected by the policies comes in.

Perhaps we just need to stop looking for solutions as they appear on paper and apply common sense when things are obviously not working..both with people hired and with systems that simply fail, whatever the intentions started as.

Thanks again though....Parents like myself can see this is happening all over and not just in a banner headline story like the thread is based on or our own specific school system.

it doesnt bother me that there are so many stupid kids that just means there will be less competition for the scarce jobs that are available to my daughters when they graduate from college next year. They have always done very well in school and got top grades so hopefully they won`t have a problem finding jobs because there will be less competition for those jobs.
The world needs garbage collectors and fast food employees too so let the stupid kids do those jobs,without stupid kids where would the next generation of meanial manual laborers come from.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Hi Wrabbit2000,

I have posted links, videos and other information, including many comments. I just don't think people care as much as they claim....they complain but very few make the effort to find out anything more, I am not sure why...you would think that our children would be the most important responsibility to us. Anyway...I don't see making a thread on the worldwide education system being productive....the people involved only blame the children or parents to justify what they are participating in (just sad) and the parents and children for the most part have no recourse or protection at this point in my opinion.

reply to post by ScatterBrain


I hear ya Scatter.. I really do. It does seem hopeless and just pointless to try and communicate things like this. All too often, that is actually proven out. At least in the short term. I'm not preachy, or meaning to be, by any means here and just sharing my personal view..so please look upon it that way.

Having said that.... I believe it's worth the effort to communicate things of importance like that. The why is intangible, but something I've come to accept that way. Perhaps only a few people who matter would see or even just hear about a thread of that nature..what we're talking about...and would appreciate it's truth and meaning. Maybe only 1 out there does. So a whole effort...to reach one person you'll never know, hear from or meet.

Perhaps though..just maybe..that one person is or will some day be in a position to make decisions that DO make a difference. By having the perspective, perhaps those decisions are made in a way they would not have otherwise been. We can never really know how or how much efforts we make effect others.....but to not try, assures nothing will be effected by what was never shared...and hence...never learned by others.

(If I sound a like a fortune cookie....I'm sorry.. I'm working to exhaustion on something big right now and don't want to say much more...but the above is key and core to why it's worth doing, at least for me. We gotta try... ...)

reply to post by Tardacus

Who knows what the future holds, but it sounds like you'll have little to worry about. I don't know how much the skills which seem important today will make the difference for people in the near-mid term future...but general intelligence and the ability to adapt and overcome challenges that can't be foreseen will make all the difference, in my view. On that, events to come will absolutely cut the wheat from the chaff and in ways no cheating or score padding will do any good for. By what you describe, your daughters are well prepared for whatever comes.

For the kids the system has so badly cheated and left unprepared for life....it's a sad thing to contemplate what futures they may see in the years to come.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Well, good because I am tired. I gave you that one link and if you just go and read the legislation (go back to goals 2000 act)... read the actual legislation and if you have any questions I will answer them if I can (note how, even back then, the healthcare act that recently passed connects to it perfectly...pretty ingenious huh). you can private message me. If you can't find some material (like the old propaganda or other related material) let me know...I have been noticing information beginning to disappear altogether from my newer searches.
Here is a link that goes back before goals 2000... this woman explains exactly what they were doing back in the early 60s that people today still don't realize. I think people can't accept or see the potential that was taken advantage of since.



If you watch the whole video and take notes as to how and what is being done... you ought to be able to see why young kids who can't even read yet, have such strong beliefs when you would think they would be too young to form such complex opinions...AND they think they came to their solutions themselves.
Pay close attention to how each person and their families, etc are profiled and categorized...understanding the implications on how they are being used and manipulated will help you see how divisions are planned in society.