|
Hi I teach high school algebra to kids of below average intelligence and some with emotional and behavioral problems. People saying "just give the kids calculators" are wrong. It's fine to use calculators once you get to high school. But I get lots of kids who have zero conceptual understanding of even the most basic math. They cannot add, subtract, multiply or divide single-digit numbers without using a calculator. If I ask "what is six times zero?", they need to check on a calculator - they do not know. Obviously being unable to do even the simplest operation mentally makes learning more complex concepts very, very difficult and time consuming for these kids. They can't manipulate fractions, can't find common factors, can't perform operations with negative integers, exponents, decimals, scientific notation, can't estimate, can't round, they have no idea if the answers they get even make sense given the question. Fluency in basic operations is a prerequisite to "higher" math. I'm not talking higher like calc, I mean higher like Algebra 1, Geometry 1, you know, high school graduation requirement-type courses. These kids were done such a disservice by their elementary and middle school teachers. It is very sad, because they don't want to feel dumb, don't want to struggle, but they simply lack tools. That is the root of a lot of the behavior problems I deal with on a daily basis, too; they would rather be a "bad kid" than a dumb kid, so they will do anything, and I mean anything, to get out of classwork. Of course they need to engage MORE and work HARDER than the honors kids to remediate skill gaps while simultaneously acquiring new content knowledge, but many of them have totally disengaged from school and from learning; they haven't given a poo poo for years in some cases. People who say teaching is easy and overpaid make me feel a little peeved. Yeah it's easy if you are teaching the top 10% of motivated Advanced Placement white kids, which is probably what a lot of goons remember from school. Those kids teach themselves, basically, yeah its easy as hell. Get down in the pits with the lower end. You have no idea how dysfunctional a lot of kids and families are. Come do my job for a month and tell me its easy.
|
#
¿
May 16, 2018 07:40
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 13:38 |
|
|
therobit posted:
I give out about 10 pencils a day. Probably over 1000 pencils per school year. Not only do kids not bring supplies to school, anything you give them, they will lose in a day or two, or forget at home, or whatever. Then it is an excuse to do nothing in class. "What, mister? I don't have a pencil!" I have to start every class period by asking who needs pencils. I have to provide notebooks, binders, paper - basically anything we are going to use, assume half the class can't afford it, will forget, or doesn't care enough to bother to go to Wal-mart or whatever to buy it.
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2018 07:45
|
|
|
Return Of JimmyJars posted:You can get 1000 #2 pencils for $80 on Amazon and 160 spiral notebooks for about the same price. The IRS provides a $250/year tax credit to teachers who buy their own supplies. Thanks for the comment. Yes basic school supplies are quite affordable which I have no problem giving them out. I don't think teachers need to make as much as a GP or an engineer. Of course I'd love a modest pay increase like anyone else. I make enough to provide food, clothes, shelter, and medical care for my family so I'm fairly satisfied on that front. What I object to is your idea that being a good teacher is an easy job. If I just stood I front of the room reading a PowerPoint the room would be a circus within 5 minutes. Yeah talking about basic math is easy, getting a bunch of ADD phone addict punks to pay attention and actually learn some skills is really challenging. Not in the same way as being a longshoreman or oil rig guy of course ffs
|
|
#
¿
May 16, 2018 17:00
|
|