Hifiman
Senior Member
Yes, I said it. I am absolutely convinced that the failure of education is purely our fault. Often times I have a fairly steady stream of students coming into my room for a time out from other classes. Sometimes I just point to a spot and leave them alone. Other times I ask a few questions. It's the responses to those questions that have told me everything I need to know.
Generally I try to find out what brought them to my classroom. It's almost always "nothing." Nothing? Yes, I kid you not. Nothing. These students tell me how unfair their academic endeavors can be at times. And I'll tell you, they're right. It is unfair.
I've learned that the issue is with the teachers. Teachers, please, it's not the "offender" who was talking. It was a neighbor. And for those bad students who were talking, I am assured it was just to pass along information about the lesson. Apparently many of you are not clear with your instructions and if it wasn't for these few brave souls none of your students would have any idea what to do. I assume their own papers are blank because they're picking up your slack.
Other times it's worse yet. They've been picked on by someone else and you caught the wrong person. Seriously. If you would just take fifteen or twenty minutes to hear the story unwind you would likely find that they were forced to rip up someone's paper or throw their book to the floor because a friend of a friend of a friend of a kid in the next building happened to have heard at lunch from another friend that this person's best friend heard this person's best friend...oh, it get's lost in the translation, but trust me, the trail is quite clear. You neglected to gather the details.
Please do a better job tomorrow before these innocent children lose trust in the system.
Generally I try to find out what brought them to my classroom. It's almost always "nothing." Nothing? Yes, I kid you not. Nothing. These students tell me how unfair their academic endeavors can be at times. And I'll tell you, they're right. It is unfair.
I've learned that the issue is with the teachers. Teachers, please, it's not the "offender" who was talking. It was a neighbor. And for those bad students who were talking, I am assured it was just to pass along information about the lesson. Apparently many of you are not clear with your instructions and if it wasn't for these few brave souls none of your students would have any idea what to do. I assume their own papers are blank because they're picking up your slack.
Other times it's worse yet. They've been picked on by someone else and you caught the wrong person. Seriously. If you would just take fifteen or twenty minutes to hear the story unwind you would likely find that they were forced to rip up someone's paper or throw their book to the floor because a friend of a friend of a friend of a kid in the next building happened to have heard at lunch from another friend that this person's best friend heard this person's best friend...oh, it get's lost in the translation, but trust me, the trail is quite clear. You neglected to gather the details.
Please do a better job tomorrow before these innocent children lose trust in the system.
