Man, I am glad it's over. Not really it wasn't that bad. On the first day of class when Mrs. Quinn stated, “that this class would consist of blogging instead of being a traditional style English class” I was seriously thinking about dropping the class. I was already apprehensive about taking English for the semester anyway so when she said blogging, I was sure I didn't want to be in the class. I had seen blogging before on political topics, but didn't particularly care for everyone stating their opinion on the article that was written. It seemed like most of the blogger comments seem to take pop shots and each other comments which would then turn into a blog argument instead of concentrating on the article. That's what I thought blogging was, but boy was I wrong. Blogging as I see it now gives every individual the opportunity to share their thoughts on matters near and dear to their heart. Blogging has allowed me to follow experts in the career field I plan on going into after I retire from the military. There are also many good sports blogs that I have found since this English class started. I will continue to follow a few of the blogs, of the people in my community and maybe one day I will create another blog.
Lastly, I have enjoyed creating and posting my thoughts on this blog, but this will be my last post. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my post and special thanks to anyone who took the time to post a comment.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Time to Raise the Wages
If you were to ask most teachers the question why do they want to become a teacher? Ninety- five percent of them would probably say they didn't come into the profession for the love of money. Through talking with many teachers most of them normally state they teach, "because they feel they can make a difference, they love teaching children, and they have a strong need to give back to their community". In today's society we place actors, actress, athletes, lawyers, doctor's and everyone else that make a substantial amount of money up on a pedestal. It is time for this to stop. It is time to stand on the National and state Capitol steps to help get some type of legislation passed for teachers to receive higher salaries. In addition to an overall salary increase for all teachers; those few teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty should be entitled to some type of incentive pay.
I personally think the system works totally against teachers. I say this because most teachers don’t go into education profession for the money they generally teach because of the love for children. Since in the past money wasn’t a major factor, it was easy to get a way with paying teacher such small salaries. But with the cost of living skyrocketing and the loss of good teachers leaving the profession; wages are starting to become a serious problem. How can it be justified that teachers are responsible to educate the next generation and they are literally being paid scraps to teach. I would think that this in itself would put most people on board, to fight for higher teacher wages. Also in today’s society, just like all other profession, teachers are being required to obtain more education and training than ever to receive licensure. So why shouldn’t theacher's be paid more for their services?
Many on the opposite side of the isle seem to argue that teachers make enough for the time they spend working. Some preach that teacher’s work from nine to three daily, but that is totally false. Teachers spend countless hours putting together lesson plans, grading assignments, and conducting conferences with parents and administrators. Not to mention, all of the after school activities they have to help coordinate and assist with such as PTA, sporting activities, school dances, etc. So anyone who believes a teacher job is complete at three o’clock should get the facts straight before than began to speak. It is also often said teachers only work nine months out of the year therefore that constitutes why their salary is so low. I have spoken with many teachers that have been teaching for years and they all have said “it’s a lot closer to ten months than nine”. Think about this as food for thought. Have you ever been to a Thanksgiving or Christmas day parade and witnessed the different schools marching. Be aware that the teacher's that are out there supervising, who aren't being paid, voluntarily gave up part of thier holiday so that your child can march in one of the two parades. Do you think the same can be said for anyone else who helped prepare for the parade? Or the Police Officer who will conduct securityfor the event? I like to tell all the critics that someone sees the need for change because; The American Teacher Federation conducted a survey in 2007 that concluded that the average salary for a public school teacher’s rose above 50,000.00 for the first time ever.
Every since I was a small child I have heard numerous amount of people who say “don't go into teaching, because teachers don't make any money”. This way of thinking has been going on for too long. There are too many good teachers leaving the profession and too many good prospects not becoming teachers because wages are too low. If this trend continues and we don’t start paying teachers more this powerful country will start to decline.
I personally think the system works totally against teachers. I say this because most teachers don’t go into education profession for the money they generally teach because of the love for children. Since in the past money wasn’t a major factor, it was easy to get a way with paying teacher such small salaries. But with the cost of living skyrocketing and the loss of good teachers leaving the profession; wages are starting to become a serious problem. How can it be justified that teachers are responsible to educate the next generation and they are literally being paid scraps to teach. I would think that this in itself would put most people on board, to fight for higher teacher wages. Also in today’s society, just like all other profession, teachers are being required to obtain more education and training than ever to receive licensure. So why shouldn’t theacher's be paid more for their services?
Many on the opposite side of the isle seem to argue that teachers make enough for the time they spend working. Some preach that teacher’s work from nine to three daily, but that is totally false. Teachers spend countless hours putting together lesson plans, grading assignments, and conducting conferences with parents and administrators. Not to mention, all of the after school activities they have to help coordinate and assist with such as PTA, sporting activities, school dances, etc. So anyone who believes a teacher job is complete at three o’clock should get the facts straight before than began to speak. It is also often said teachers only work nine months out of the year therefore that constitutes why their salary is so low. I have spoken with many teachers that have been teaching for years and they all have said “it’s a lot closer to ten months than nine”. Think about this as food for thought. Have you ever been to a Thanksgiving or Christmas day parade and witnessed the different schools marching. Be aware that the teacher's that are out there supervising, who aren't being paid, voluntarily gave up part of thier holiday so that your child can march in one of the two parades. Do you think the same can be said for anyone else who helped prepare for the parade? Or the Police Officer who will conduct securityfor the event? I like to tell all the critics that someone sees the need for change because; The American Teacher Federation conducted a survey in 2007 that concluded that the average salary for a public school teacher’s rose above 50,000.00 for the first time ever.
Every since I was a small child I have heard numerous amount of people who say “don't go into teaching, because teachers don't make any money”. This way of thinking has been going on for too long. There are too many good teachers leaving the profession and too many good prospects not becoming teachers because wages are too low. If this trend continues and we don’t start paying teachers more this powerful country will start to decline.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Keeping the Parents Involved
The process of education starts at home with your parents from the time a child is born. That is the reason why as a teacher it is just as important to communicate with the parents--- as it is with the students. With the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) it is a requirement for teachers to keep the parents informed and involved in regards to their children education. It is extremely important that as teachers we must have an ongoing open relationship with the parents to ensure proper development and guidance for our students. My seventh grade teacher once told our class that “if I could get every parent as involved as much as my parents were involved in my educational endeavors that the whole world better off”. At the time I was listening but never really cared about what that meant.
There are several types of parent teacher conference settings, but the type of setting that is most intriguing to me is the home visit. This was the type of visit that was highly encouraged while I was recruiting for the Army. A great advantage of the home visit is that it puts you right in the middle of the family’s home where they feel most comfortable. As we all know when someone is comfortable they tend to be more honest and upfront with you and less likely to lie or be defensive. This type of visit is good because it gives you the opportunity to see in what manner the student is living. Most importantly it shows the parent, student, principal, and administrators that you as a teacher are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.
When I become a teacher I will also communicate with my students parents by way of newsletter. On Friday I will send a newsletter home informing the parent what is to come for the following week. This practice should increase parent and student communication at home. This technique will allow the parent to help prepare the child for the upcoming week’s lesson over the weekend. Being a recipient of this newsletter will show parents that it is important to me that they are totally involved in their child’s education. The information in this newsletter will give the parent the opportunity to discuss the lesson with their child prior to the lesson being taught. I believe this type of involvement will encourage the parent(s) to become more involved into my curriculum.
Since technology has become so important with the passing of information it will be extremely important for me to develop a website that my student’s parent can access at anytime to see what is going on in my classroom. This site will show all current and past assignments and projects, test dates, current events. It will also have a calendar with all pertinent information that parents need to know such as when teacher workdays are scheduled, holidays, and when report card will be due out. During orientation I will ensure that I get the email address and phone number of every parent as another way of communicating. When dealing with email as a teacher it will be extremely important to check my email twice a day and reply back in an appropriate timely manner.
Last but not least, the most important gesture in communicating with a parent in regards to their child is to follow up. Following up with a parent after there has been some type of communication shows the parent that you genuinely care about the well being of their child. Once you have shown the parent that you sincerely care nine out of ten times they will put more effort in promoting academic success for their child. Now I truly understand the statement that was once uttered by my seventh grade teacher.
There are several types of parent teacher conference settings, but the type of setting that is most intriguing to me is the home visit. This was the type of visit that was highly encouraged while I was recruiting for the Army. A great advantage of the home visit is that it puts you right in the middle of the family’s home where they feel most comfortable. As we all know when someone is comfortable they tend to be more honest and upfront with you and less likely to lie or be defensive. This type of visit is good because it gives you the opportunity to see in what manner the student is living. Most importantly it shows the parent, student, principal, and administrators that you as a teacher are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty.
When I become a teacher I will also communicate with my students parents by way of newsletter. On Friday I will send a newsletter home informing the parent what is to come for the following week. This practice should increase parent and student communication at home. This technique will allow the parent to help prepare the child for the upcoming week’s lesson over the weekend. Being a recipient of this newsletter will show parents that it is important to me that they are totally involved in their child’s education. The information in this newsletter will give the parent the opportunity to discuss the lesson with their child prior to the lesson being taught. I believe this type of involvement will encourage the parent(s) to become more involved into my curriculum.
Since technology has become so important with the passing of information it will be extremely important for me to develop a website that my student’s parent can access at anytime to see what is going on in my classroom. This site will show all current and past assignments and projects, test dates, current events. It will also have a calendar with all pertinent information that parents need to know such as when teacher workdays are scheduled, holidays, and when report card will be due out. During orientation I will ensure that I get the email address and phone number of every parent as another way of communicating. When dealing with email as a teacher it will be extremely important to check my email twice a day and reply back in an appropriate timely manner.
Last but not least, the most important gesture in communicating with a parent in regards to their child is to follow up. Following up with a parent after there has been some type of communication shows the parent that you genuinely care about the well being of their child. Once you have shown the parent that you sincerely care nine out of ten times they will put more effort in promoting academic success for their child. Now I truly understand the statement that was once uttered by my seventh grade teacher.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
