Teachers are still people...sometimes they're kind of horrible people.

This is slightly ranting, but I'd like to hear some opinions and experiences from other members and discuss.

Full disclosure: I'm pregnant with my first child and I realize I've been over thinking any kind of information that might relate to parenting decisions I may have to make in the future. This is a personal anecdote, so of course I don't know how widely this problem spreads.

To begin: We have new neighbours, a couple in their early 30's who just moved to our very small town from Vancouver. When I came home today, they walked by, said hello and we ended up on their deck for a drink. I can't drink, but I also haven't told anyone I'm pregnant yet. I think my decline of alcohol put them on edge a little, social customs, etc.

We got to talking. Her husband is in advertising. She is a substitute teacher. I inquired if she had many jobs here yet, as I know a few other young teachers she might network with. We got on the topic of why she became a teacher, etc. The more she talked, the more I wanted to leave.
Some points from her conversation:

She only substitutes because she "hates kids and would eventually want to, like, murder them."

If she is at a school very long she, "makes friends with all the popular kids and like, talks to them about partying in Vancouver and drinking and pot and stuff. They're going to do it anyways."

She hates teaching Science/Math/History because, "f-ing smart kids ruin it for everyone. I'm trying to have a conversation about my opinions on something and they're, like, correcting me. I just tell them to save it for real teachers."

I kind of get where she's coming from. I'm not the kind of person who could be a teacher...so I'm not a teacher. I'm kind of saddened that kids in our school district, which is all ready under funded and under staffed, would have to put up with substitutes like this.
Some kids would love it! Of course; but, for kids who are trying their best in school and have a dream to be educated, it would be a sad day to walk into this woman's classroom.

I told her as much, because my filter is at an all time low, and let's say we probably won't be fence friends.

What does everyone think? What are your kids substitutes like? Do you know teachers who just should not be shaping the minds of youth?

a reply to: Atsbhct

Wow. Well she is lucky she said that to you and not me, because I would have punched her in the throat, lol.
Especially saying she "hates kids"...?

I was a full-time volunteer at my kids' school until they went to high school.
That is absolutely NOT acceptable, and I would be reporting her to someone.

I have a grandson who just started kindergarten, and they better treat him well.
There have been teachers I loved, and some I tolerated...a couple I really disliked a lot.

If you think you might "hate kids"...then you should NOT be working with them. Geez, they're little and their lives depend on adults.

Oh...congratulations!!!

S&F
jacy

a reply to: Atsbhct

Quite the opposite

My wife is a full time teacher and she loves it, she loves the kids she works with (11-18) and the team of teachers she works with are hard working and dedicated to the furtherment of not just the kids sciences, but their social development as well. They all work long hours (my wife does at least 12 hours a day with lesson planning and marking thrown in). I you couldn't hope to find a happier worker.

To he teaching is a vocation, not just a job, and shows in the results.

Your neighbour needs a serious rethink in her attitude towards the job, the kids and how she affects young minds, that is a seriously toxic attitude

IMHO

Cody

Thanks JC very remiss of me, congratulations Atsbhct

I home-school so I don't have that problem anymore, BUT! I can say that a teacher's attitude is the #1 reason I pulled my kids from the school. My daughter's teacher didn't like going outside to recess (I don't really blame her it's HOT as balls here BUT....) she would make up bogus punishments or punish the entire class for one students behavior or low score so she could sit at her desk on her phone (and avoid playground duty). She disclosed it to me as I was her "room mom", and my daughter came home daily in a bad mood. Second-graders are supposed to go out 4 times PER DAY, and my kid didn't go outside 4 times a WEEK let alone a day. After two months I went to the administration but they took her side.

Also, my son's 4th grade teacher AND the principal PROMISED me that they could have him reading at a 3rd grade reading level by the END of 5th grade. Un. Accept. Able. I yanked him out before the ink could dry on his report card; and 6 months later he's beyond grade level in language arts, maths, and science. Both children are.

I only intend to continue home-school until we move to a new district next spring. I anticipate my daughter skipping a grade or two depending on where we move.

Jax


a reply to: Atsbhct

a reply to: jacygirl

I laughed so hard picturing Daenerys Targaeryen punching this woman in the throat!

I was so shocked. Maybe she was just putting up a socially awkward front, I honestly hope so. Getting a teaching degree here was once pretty easy. Most courses were elective in nature, and fun. You could go to Maine to finish your degree a year earlier. Now we have a lot of substitute teachers who can't find full time jobs, and I wonder if this is why?

Are they all just jaded pseudo-intellectuals who miss the easy partying days of university?


And thanks!

a reply to: Atsbhct

She sounds completely unfit to be working with kids. She sounds more narcissistic than most of these teen-boppers who post 5+ selfies a day.

It's quite unsettling that she is in education, hopefully she doesn't last long.

a reply to: cody599

It's great to hear about such a dedicated teacher. I bet her "kids" love having her.

Most of my teachers were like your wife, even if I didn't personally enjoy all of their classes, or teaching styles. This is why I was so shocked to see someone so jaded.

a reply to: Jaxsmash

Homeschooling would be a daunting task, it sounds like you made the best choice for your children.

Kids need to be outside!

a reply to: Atsbhct

With principles like that, she also sounds like the type of "teacher" who would have sex with underage students and/or party with them. I am actually concerned about the safety of kids in that school

a reply to: FamCore

Ugh, who knows. She's not a regular teacher at any school, so she probably wouldn't have the chance to go that far.

a reply to: Atsbhct

I was at her school once and some kids came by me as the wife was walking towards me,

To quote

"Here comes Mrs D she's cool"

"More than cool, she's legend"

I couldn't have been prouder of, or happier for her. When she told me she wanted to retrain as a teacher some years back I was dubious to say the least, but I'm her husband, not her master and supported her the whole way through, especially in the bad times.

Best decision we ever made

Cody

a reply to: Atsbhct
It sounds as though this lady doesn't even think of herself as a "real teacher", which goes a long way towards explaining her approach.
My knowledge of "real teachers" comes from knowing them in the family, being in direct descent from three of them, not to mention the uncles and aunts.
On that basis, I would say that real teachers are trying to put across something specific, not just "having a conversation" to pass the time.
Real teachers do not hate kids in general, though that would not stop them from getting annoyed and frustrated by individual cases of classroom misbehaviour. I've heard my mother say (at home) "That child is a little heller".
I wonder how much real teachers have been put off the profession in recent years, as a result of growing problems of indiscipline and inattention. That would leave the field clear for more casual teachers of the kind you've just met.

originally posted by: Atsbhct
a reply to: jacygirl

I laughed so hard picturing Daenerys Targaeryen punching this woman in the throat!

Lol, Daenerys would eat her heart!

I didn't mean to give a negative impression of teachers...there have been some fabulous and truly memorable ones over the years (both mine and my kids'). There were some that were a joy to be around and they all loved the kids!
That's just so important.

I also had a friend years ago who went all the way with her education to become a teacher.
By the time she got the job...she found out that she hated it.
She didn't hate kids...she just wasn't cut out for the job and actually ended up in a factory.

I think sometimes that some people look for a "job" and take classes without thinking about whether or not it's actually suitable for them. Every veterinarian I've ever known has loved animals.

Oh, and back in 1977 when the hot young history teacher came out onto the smoking patio and smoked a j with some of the cool kids...it was cool, lol.
Now it's 2016 and I'm a grandma...who isn't amused to hear a teacher (sub or not) who wants to get high and party with the popular kids!

jacy

a reply to: Atsbhct

A substitute teacher isn't a teacher. They are someone with some free time that babysits when a teacher is sick. My oldest sister is a substitute teacher, and she is a complete moron.

That said, i've put 2 kids through our local system. The oldest is getting his Masters degree, the youngest dropped out and got his GED later that same week. I can say for certain:

- be in your schools ass and don't let them slip
- but at the same time, back them up. Your child can whine abbout the injustice of it all...so what. They need to suck it up and live with whatever crappy school they are in.

School is only partially about Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rithmatic. The majority of it is to learn how to enter the grind without being whittled into a little nub.

No, this gal should not be a teacher. But good teachers are a Godsend. My son is GREAT with kids. He's just so patient and understanding, and he listens to them. After knocking around in jobs for the last twenty years he finally figured out he had to do something or work minimum wage the rest of his life. So he buckled down and has just finished a Master's in teaching specializing in elementary ed. He's probably sub the rest of this spring and chances are, with the teacher shortage in the area, he will have a full time job here come September.

I'm very proud of him and only hope the school bureaucracy and paperwork don't get the better of him. (No child Left Behind is a bureaucratic nightmare.) But he's just the kind of person who ought to be a teacher. Fingers crossed.

a reply to: Atsbhct

i remember once in elementary school fifth grade (so i was like 9 years old), me and a friend where walking down an empty hallway cracking jokes about our teacher, like that he has smelly feet, that sorta thing, turns out he was behind us and we didnt know it, so he grabbed us both by the shirt and drug is into a broom closet and yelled at the top of his lungs less then 3 inchs from our face all sorts of obscenities and anger, i was to frightened to really listen or hear him, it was too loud, very traumatic experience at that age, especially since he was like 6'5" and we were just 9 year olds under 5 feet.
part of his screaming tirade was he was sick of us flunking it was making him look bad and we'd better start raising our grade etc etc.


worked on my friend, rest of the year he was a much harder worker in the class room then he had been before that,
had the opposite effect on me, i refused to so much as pick up a pencil/pen for the rest of my year in his class.

anyways, the point here is just, yes i quite do realize that our teachers are just normal people like all of us and some of them are crapface douchbags too.

also he was regarded as one of the best teachers in that school, because he got higher grades out of his students, which is really just cause he could be a scary ass when alone with the kids, but around other adults friendly and kind as could be.

he was not a substitute, he had worked as a fifth grade teacher at that school for decades.

Thanks for the input everyone. I've been in the garden and away from the thread, but it looks like the general consensus is that most teachers are good, and a lot of substitutes are moronic babysitters.

I'm proud of everyone who either raised/encouraged their loved one who became an amazing teacher; and also everyone who gave a good, hard throat punch (literally or figuratively) to any teachers that messed with their children's education.

To pryingopenthethirdeye: that's a horrible experience, one that likely doesn't happen very often, thankfully.

a reply to: Atsbhct

This is why it is so important for college students to be allowed to have more exploratory path options as they fully decide on their careers. If you're one year away from being a teacher and decide you aren't a good fit with kids, you have no choice but to continue and get your degree.

I'm glad I discovered this early on. I was originally going to teach but discovered I can't handle more than one or two kids at once. So... I became a parent instead!

There are many people that should not be in the career they end up with. Seen it and know a lot of it in the Veterinary field for example. As a kid ran into one of these types of teachers more one than once. One of them lived in the neighborhood, would hurl insults(often racial even towards myself) at children playing in the neighborhood yet on Monday she was professionally respected teacher in the community.