Jan L. Peterson on mon 11 aug 03
I graduated in 1961. We managed without counselors, teachers' aides and all
those other people. Teachers taught, students learned, school nurse took care
of owies and feelings if the Principal or Assistant Principal couldn't, we had
fights outside that got settled and over during lunch period-no cops. Boys
either made it up or met after school and socked each other until they were too
tired to lift a fist and went off and had a coke together.... Didn't require an
act of Congress to borrow paper and other school supplies from your buddy.
Didn't have suspensions, either. Not even for kids in jail. They were driven to
school, ate lunch in the office, and driven back to jail.
Simpler life style. Our smokers hung around out back of the school. We had
some dopers, but we didn't know it for awhile because these kids were no smarter
straight than high.
Lots of the boys went hunting after school, so there were guns in cars and
trucks. None were ever brought into school, unless they needed a new stock or
repairs. Then they made it as far as wood and metal shop. We never thought
anything about it. We were more concerned about the switch blades some of the
meaner boys carried, and the brass knuckles they had. Never used then in vicinity
of the school, but made us nervous.
We lost friends who got lost hunting, or shot accidentally hunting, or
electrocuted flying kites, but we handled that amongst ourselves. We took care of
one another.
We had detention that usually included extra papers or essays or research
from that particular teacher. You didn't get a vacation, you stayed after school
and in at lunchtime. If you lived out of town, it was double lunchtimes. I
couldn't get detention because I worked everyday. Didn't do anything in
highschool to get detention, anyway.
The worst we got was pulling the fire alarm the first day of school, or the
kid that put itching powder in the airvents. He closed the school three days.
He's somewhere in his sixties, and as far as I know, still on detention. Jan
mel jacobson on mon 11 aug 03
when i began teaching in 1959 at hopkins high
there were 5 people in the `head office`.
don coppins
chuck zealand
mary jones. (school nurse)
and the head secretary delores.
we had a `truant officer`, but she did not
ever come into the office...she spent her free
time with teachers.
if you walk into that office august, 2003 it represents
156 humans. ( i cannot use the term adults..it does not apply.)
none teach kids.
none...hear that -NONE TEACH KIDS.
IT IS SUPPORT STAFF.
i did not leave teaching early because of kids...as don
just said, they are almost always the same.
i left because of the SUPPORT STAFF...they make your
life as a teacher a misery. each one of them has to
create work to seem that they have importance.
but, then, most of them have a secretary that does that.
and about 1/3 of those folks are related to an administrator
from central office...it was 15 in 1959..now 200.
i wonder where the money goes?
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Millie on wed 13 aug 03
this is one of the biggest problems in public education. In the
numbers game in Md, the number of students in the building is divided
by the number of teacher in the building. the problem is that guidance
counselors, administrators ( Principal and V P ) media center
specialist, anyone who has teacher certification even when they are
nowhere near a classroom are considered to be teachers for the numbers.
Also, the numbers game averages the ESOL program with its entire 5
period class load of 20 students, the special ed classes with 10
students per class, the AP classes with their 15 to 20 students per
class with the rest of the class load which in Md usually consists of a
class load of 5 classes of 35 students each. And then they have the
nerve to say that we have an average class load of 23 students.
also with the numbers game that they play is the huge number of
teachers who are counted in as teachers but are "resource" teachers,
Pupil personnel workers, etc, they are at the county board building
and rarely interact with the kids either.
it is sad, but another problem is that a lot of the best teachers are
encouraged to take the classes to become guidance counselors,
administrators, and resource teachers etc. and they are lost to the
classroom.
Millie in Md. the sun came out today for a few hours...it is bright
and cheerful. And we are getting used to Md having moved into the
tropical rain forest.
On Monday, August 11, 2003, at 03:17 PM, mel jacobson wrote:
> when i began teaching in 1959 at hopkins high
> there were 5 people in the `head office`.
>
> if you walk into that office august, 2003 it represents
> 156 humans. ( i cannot use the term adults..it does not apply.)
> none teach kids.
> none...hear that -NONE TEACH KIDS.
> IT IS SUPPORT STAFF.
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