I’m hesitant to attack teachers, because I have met some conservative ones who are five star, and motivated kids compete to get in their classes.
And from what I’ve seen of those classrooms, they are intense. There are few college classes that can produce that kind of intensity. And I noted that these were regular curriculum, not magnet or special classes. Required teacher pre-approval to attend a high school class? Yow.
I also noted that there were zero discipline problems. The kids walked in, sat down, and started to work. A good indicator—high school boys who regularly wear neckties, but are in no way required to do so.
>>I’m hesitant to attack teachers, because I have met some conservative ones who are five star, and motivated kids compete to get in their classes.
And from what I’ve seen of those classrooms, they are intense. There are few college classes that can produce that kind of intensity. And I noted that these were regular curriculum, not magnet or special classes. Required teacher pre-approval to attend a high school class? Yow.
I also noted that there were zero discipline problems. The kids walked in, sat down, and started to work. A good indicator—high school boys who regularly wear neckties, but are in no way required to do so.<<<
Don’t mean to brag, but you’ve described my classroom for freshmen and sophomore English. I’m here at 8:50 a.m. on a Sunday morning to prepare those classes. My contract says I work 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and I tell the representative of the Union Which Supposedly Represents Me that the last time I had a job where I punched a clock I was delivering pizzas. I’m also the guy in the room who yells for merit pay and elimination of tenure every year at contract negotiation time.
There are some very poor teachers out there. It is a crying shame that they can’t get the boot. There are excellent teachers out there, and many of them are conservative, although I understand correlation is not causation.
I wear a tie every day. My students are always expected to sit up straight and remain focused on their job, which is learning. I tell them point blank that the two things in life which matter most are hard work and honesty, and I expect both in my classroom at all times. I sometimes get unnecessary crap from more liberal colleagues but never from parents and students. I go out of my way to be a hard-nosed guy. Students write at least 250 words per class. Spelling and grammar are a major focus, since, using a line from a commercial I’ve heard on talk radio, “people judge you by the words you use.” (No message is more powerful to a 15-year-old than telling them they’ll look good if they do something - and it’s not a line to say that excellent spelling and grammar make you look good as an adult.) Not surprisingly, there’s a line to get into my classes.
Thanks for your support. God bless you. Got to get back to class prep for the week and grading papers.