Tuesday, January 24, 2012

an inspiring story

This is a really neat story - really.  I just don't understand why there isn't more being said about teachers right now - and more being done.  (Sorry if I keep bringing it up, but I think it helps if we are all thinking about it, and we are prepared with our own arguments when the subject comes up...)

I mean, I know there is a lot being said, but I guess it doesn't feel like it because nothing is being done.

On a side note, I must return briefly to the teacher who notified her student that she wouldn't be calling on her any more... (I wrote about her earlier).  This week she humiliated the same student in front of the class by requiring her to hang up an assignment on the classroom wall.  The other students had put their papers up, but this student quickly put hers in her desk after the teacher handed them back.  The teacher called on her and insisted that she hang up her paper.  She had received an 'F' grade and there were red marks all over her paper.  The student quietly said that she couldn't hang it up.  The teacher insisted again and as she stood by the wall, humiliated, and hung up her paper, the teacher asked, "Do you know what you did wrong?"  The student replied, "Yes," and sat down quickly in her chair.  She told her mother later, amidst more than two hours of sobbing, that she had absolutely no clue what she had done wrong.

My 3rd grader came home yesterday and enthusiastically announced that he had no homework.  He said that his teacher had missed them so much and was so happy to see them that she didn't want to give them any homework, (school was cancelled for a few days due to a big snow storm).  He said that he had "a great day!"

Wow, what a contrast. 

6 comments:

From A Doctors Wife said...

Great article! Being a great teacher doesn't mean doing great big things, it is usually just little things done frequently. My heart hurts for that little girl who continues to have conflicts with her teacher. What a difference just little gestures can have in the day of a student.

Carrie said...

I canNOT believe that teacher did that to that girl. How awful!

Going now to read the article...

Barb's blessings said...

Liz,
I had a teacher like that for the first half of 1st grade and it scarred me for years. Please tell the mother to go to the school and DEMAND that that child be moved to a different class with a different teacher or she should just withdraw her and home school her. She probably works out of the home so that may not be an option, but please tell her not to wait one more day.

It took me years clear into my 20s to believe that I was capable and smart in spite of my mom's and dad's belief in me because of the public humiliation that 1st grade teacher gave me. When my birthday came in May, my mother wanted to throw me a big birthday party and some of the kids in my class wouldn't come because I was the dumb girl.

Please tell her to RUN -- don't walk -- and get that poor child away from that awful teacher. Honestly, I don't know why people like that end up in education. They should be running our prisons or something instead of filling them with their failures.

Love you, AB

Britt-Marie said...

That was a neat article. Thanks for sharing your find. It really can't be said enough that good teachers can influence the future of so many and why it's so important to have *good* teachers in our classrooms.

Anonymous said...

That teacher is bullying that girl. It makes me mad enough that I want to call her principal and I have no idea who it is. If no one stops her she will keep doing it.

Steve and Katie said...

I'm with Barb 100%. That little girls mom needs to do something, and fast. Treating a child like that is absolutely not acceptable, and it really will leave long lasting effects - No matter how loving and nurturing her parents are. Ooooh. It just makes me so angry!!