Let me preface this by saying (if you couldn't guess from reading my other posts) that I am a strict teacher. I expect a lot out of my kids, I set expectations, I hold kids to those expectations, I follow through with stated consequences for them not meeting those expectations. I also have fun with my kids, teach them relevance, and show them that accounting and computers (which is what I teach) do not have to be geeky. I teach them to think, but don't give them the answers.
So, yesterday, I had a kid break a rule for the 3rd time (listening to his i-pod during class). This may seem small to a non-teacher readin this, but it's an issue with these kids. I'm not even going to get started on kids who are addicted to their i-pod. So, I took it from him and told him he could pick it up from me the next day. Well, he went crying to his "guidance counselor", aka- school assigned enabler, (which is the biggest waste of financial resources in public education) who in turn talked to our assistant principal about it. Our AP talked to me and told me I shouldn't take kids' property because it's "dangerous". I told her it was my policy and she asked why. My response was that if a kid could not responsibly behave with something, I remove it from the picture. She repeated that it is a dangerous move to take another kids' property. I asked "why" again. All she was able to come up with was that it was "playing God with his property". I asked what I should do and she replied that I should give him another consequence, such as a detention. I said, "Isn't that 'playing God' with his time?" She replied that it's different and that a parent would not be as likely to get upset about that... THERE IT IS!! I cannot believe that she has turned into this. Seriously, making decisions based on what will or won't upset a parent is so saddening.
Now, you should know that the biggest crush to me in the situation is that I previously had a tremendous amount of respect for this AP. She was one of four people in the building whose opinion I actually valued. Now I'm down to three and a crushed "teacher spirit".
I'm not going to go through our whole conversation and debate about this, but I hope you've gotten the jist of it. I told her that I wasn't sure how long I could last in public education. She seemed surprised and concerned, but not too surprised. She went on to talk about a paradigm shift happening. I couldn't agree with her more there. It is a shift towards enabling and taking the problem solving / responsibility off of the individual and putting it onto the institution. This is insane to me. Sure, we have the responsibility to provide the opportunity for kids to improve.
What about the people who do the right thing? What about the kids in class that don't break the rules? The ones that do study? That do show up on time? I will ALWAYS act to reward them, rather than reward the bad kids. A lack of consequence for the wrong do-ers is a consequence for the right do-ers. I was (for the most part) a good kid. It drove me CRAZY to see the bad kids get away with stuff.
So, anyways, I think I'm done. I'm going to keep teachin for now because I need a paycheck. But my energy level to fight for what I think is right is crushed. Starting Monday, I will be waking up to go to a job. It sucks, but most of the people I know wake up to go to jobs, so I shouldn't complain. Not to mention, I chose to go into this career. I have only myself to blame. So, I'm gonna nod my head, like a good worker, and do what the administration tells me. I'm gonna close my door for five hours a day and teach. If they question me on something, I'm just going to ask them what they'd like me to do and do it. Until I figure something else out, that's the teacher I will be. A robot of the main office. Great, this should be great for the kids. I mean, they're the experts. They know, right?
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