Recent Comments:
Where Have All the Male Teachers Gone? {News Bloggers}
Aug 13th 2008 5:41AM My dad is dealing with this kind of situation right now. He was fired from his teaching job because a student accused him of "touching" her. He's a music teacher. He pressed her fingers down on the correct piano keys while teaching her how to play a piece. Girl got upset, told parents he'd "touched" her, parents got my dad fired. Girl...is failing 5 classes and got into a fight where she pulled a knife on another student, yet somehow wasn't expelled for that offense.
26 years of exemplary teaching service, all down the toilet. Even if (when) they clear him of this charge in the court (he's taking the school to court over this), he will never be able to go back to teaching simply because that accusation will always be there to haunt him.
Why Teachers Hate 'No Child Left Behind' {News Bloggers}
Jul 25th 2008 5:23PM P.S. To bob:
I'm not sure where you live that the teachers receive such amazing pay and benefits, but I can ASSURE you that it's not that way in most places.
Average starting salary for a teacher is $28,500. When you realise that a teaching license requires at least a bachelor's degree, and often a Master's degree, in the required subject, $28,500 is a pitiful salary for a professional who has spent 4-6 years acquiring the education to earn that salary. My dad, after 27 years of teaching in public education, just now earns about $47-48,000. He, with his Master's degree in school administration, chose to remain in the classroom and earn half of what he could be making, because of the love for his students.
Don't blame the teachers for the failings of the students. In elementary school, the teachers have a lot of contact with their class, because they only have one group of 25-35 kids. But in middle school and high school, a teacher may see 200 students each day. If the PARENTS of those students are not doing anything to educate/raise the kids, there's only so much that a teacher can do in the hour or so that they see that kid.
Why Teachers Hate 'No Child Left Behind' {News Bloggers}
Jul 25th 2008 5:10PM My father has been a public school music teacher for 27 years. He loved his job until NCLB was passed. Since then, it's become a living Hell for him to go to work every day. He still loves teaching the students, but the administration and policies make it almost impossible for him to give each student the kind of attention they need. When you teach a music class, you MUST give each student at least some individual instruction if they are to properly learn from the course.
NCLB is part of the reason I decided not to go into public education. I was going to follow in my dad's footsteps and teach high school choir/orchestra classes, but after seeing how broken down my dad has become because of his job, I just don't know if I could handle it. Perhaps I'll get a teaching license in the future, after my first bachelor's degree is finished. But for now, the public education system is broken to a point where a complete overhaul will be needed in order to fix it.
Scary Spice: Wheelchair Won't Cramp My Style {TMZ}
Jun 24th 2008 6:32PM In defense of Mel B., sometimes there are hip/joint problems that can make it very, very difficult to walk if something twists the wrong way or is particularly painful that day. I have patella-femoral syndrome, which causes my kneecaps to ride crookedly in their grooves, and the cartilage in my knees is slowly being ground away. I also have weak hip joints, partially because of the patella-femoral syndrome, and I can purposely pop my femurs out of the hip sockets. Sometimes they do it on their own, which isn't entirely a pleasant experience. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at me, but sometimes there are days when I can barely walk because of the pain in my knees and hips.
Oh, and TMZ? Calling that adorable little girl "unwanted" is really, really low.
Obama's Birth Certificate Holds No Surprises {Political Machine Blog}
Jun 13th 2008 9:32PM When I turned 21 last summer, and got my driver's license renewed, I had to get a new copy of my birth certificate, as we couldn't find my original one.
My new birth certificate looks EXACTLY like this one! I was born in this state (Colorado) on the other side of the mountains, and I am definitely not a terrorist subversive planted by...whoever.
We ended up finding my original certificate a couple weeks after getting the new one, and they look very, very different.
That's One Angry Hillary Supporter {Political Machine Blog}
Jun 1st 2008 7:40PM P.S. The last time an election like this happened, it ended up being a three-way election between two experienced politicians and an upstart young Illinois senator with a questionable background and little previous experience.
The upstart, inexperienced, young Illinois senator ended up winning. Abraham Lincoln went on to become one of the greatest Presidents in our country's history.
That's One Angry Hillary Supporter {Political Machine Blog}
Jun 1st 2008 7:37PM There is NO logic in voting for McCain if Hillary doesn't win the primary.
She had the name recognition and the years of political experience, and she had every chance to win the primary. Unfortunately, Hillary put together an unorganised and sub-par campaign. I believe this was because she didn't expect to have any real competition. Unfortunately for her, Barack Obama put together one of the most successful campaigns seen in recent history. He has garnered one large part of the vote that, despite being seen as "unimportant" by many people due to our age, actually has a pretty good idea of what is going on in the world and what path this country is taking.
College students are registering to vote in record numbers, and many of us are going for Obama. We'll vote Hillary if she gets the nomination, because we understand that McCain is another 4 years of Bush. WE are the people who are going to be paying back the $9.2 trillion debt for the rest of our lives! I've heard a lot of people saying that votes from young people shouldn't count because "we aren't experienced enough and we let ourselves be led by bad candidates." Well guess what? Most of us really aren't that naiive. The few bad kids you see on TV do NOT speak for the millions of us who are actually doing something with our lives.
Vote Obama or Hillary, NEVER McCain. America needs someone who is for ALL of the people.
Does Obama Have 'White Women' Problem? {Political Machine Blog}
May 30th 2008 3:44PM Like JL above me, white woman voting for Obama.
I'd love to vote for a woman President, and if Hillary somehow gets the nomination I will still vote for her, since she's better than McCain. So don't accuse me of being some self-hating woman who is so pressured by men that she won't vote for a woman President. That seems to be the excuse which many of you make for those of us women for whom Obama is the first choice.
I've read everyone's political platform. I agree with Obama's ideas the most, then Hillary's since hers and his are very similar, and I don't agree with McCain enough to vote for him over Hillary or Obama.
Why any Hillary/Obama supporter could vote for McCain over either of the Democrat candidates, if their favourite loses, is beyond me. The policies both of them outline are very similar, but they are lightyears different from those of McCain. Are you so spiteful toward "the other guy" that you would rather vote for someone whose ideals you completely disagree with, than to vote for the person who got the nomination over your favourite, even though they will be upholding nearly the same ideals as your fave?
It just doesn't seem logical to me. Vote Hillary or Obama, never McCain! Those of us who will not be able to get healthcare on McCain's $5,000 tax credit would sure appreciate being able to afford our medications, and not being turned down by every insurance company we apply to since he'll take away the employer incentives for providing healthcare benefits.
THINK. The next President will likely be appointing two Supreme Court justices. If McCain does what he has promised, and ends "Activist" (read: liberal) rulings by the Supreme Court, then we will have a major power imbalance. The majority of Supreme Court justices will be very conservative, which means we can kiss Roe vs. Wade goodbye (McCain has already promised that).
If you MUST vote for someone besides Obama, vote for ANYONE but McCain! There are quite a few third party candidates to choose from this year!
Face Off: Should the Delegates Be Seated? {Political Machine Blog}
May 29th 2008 5:27PM I have mixed feelings on this matter. The PEOPLE from Florida and Michigan had no say in when their primaries would be held. The governments of these states are completely at fault. As such, the elected officials should face sanctions, but not the people who never wanted for this to happen. The votes should be counted.
On the other hand, there is the problem of who was on the ballots and who did/did not campaign, and the fact that because people knew their votes would not count, many of them did not vote at all. I think the Clinton campaign is being extremely devious about this, implying that it's Obama's fault that their delegates are not being seated, and therefore ensuring her of a win if a re-vote is held. This fiasco is NEITHER candidate's fault, so neither of them should be holding the other accountable for it.
About two weeks ago, Michigan tried to seat their delegates by giving Hillary 69 and Obama 59 (I believe those were the numbers) but Hillary refused this offer. I am not sure why, since this basically portioned out the delegates according to the original vote, with the "other candidate" votes going toward Obama since none of the others on the ballot are still in the race. I believe that she could insist on up to 73, but no more than that, because then she would be asking for more delegates than she earned with her 10% margin.
If there is a fair way of seating the delegations, we need to do it.
Teacher Lets Students Vote Autistic Kid Out of Class {News Bloggers}
May 29th 2008 5:12PM This kind of thing makes me sick. My father is a teacher, with 27 years of experience, and I used to want to follow in his footsteps. I cannot imagine the kind of teacher who would do something like this to a mentally disabled student.
If the teacher had a problem with the student, she should have PRIVATELY voiced her concerns to the student's parents, and suggested that they enroll him in a class for special-needs children.
Some kids with Asperger's Syndrome can function normally in a classroom, but some cannot. It sounds like this child may have been wrongfully "mainstreamed" and should probably have been given some special education before attempting to integrate him with his non-Asperger's peers.
I was bullied absolutely mercilessly through elementary school, and it had long-lasting impact on my social development. I'm a (mostly) normal person, with some personality-based side-effects of being a "gifted" student. The other students did not understand this, and I was ostracised until 8th grade, when I began to realise that I needed to "conform" in order to make the bullying stop. This child may never realise that, at least not for a long time, due to the nature of his disability.
The teacher should, by all means, be fired immediately. If she is capable of doing this to one student, she has probably done it to others and will continue to do it unless there are consequences. She should probably find another career that doesn't involve dealing with sometimes unruly children.
