That subreddit paints a realistic picture of what it’s like being a teacher, but I find it overly negative. While there are a myriad of reasons why education in the U.S. is in a bad place, there are also a lot of fulfilling and heartwarming moments to being a teacher that don’t get brought up over there.
I teach middle school in a state with a cell phone ban. We had our first year with the phone ban last year, and I thought it was an improvement.
Phones can be very detrimental to the school experience. For one, it is very difficult to teach kids who are already unwilling or resistant to learning while they have a piece of technology they are literally addicted to in their hand. Secondly, phones and social media contribute to a lot to the bullying, violence, and general misbehavior that occurs at schools.
My school district also provides all students with an iPad, so they have their own school-provided tech. In my experience, this comes with their own problems though. I often feel like I am playing “whack-a-mole” keeping kids off their iPads (playing games, etc.) during instruction. It’s nice to be able to incorporate technology into lessons, and it definitely is more convenient for teaching, but I don’t think the trade off is worth it. For example, the cheating with A.I. was off the charts for me last year.
This coming school year, I am looking to incorporate more paper and pencil assignments into my teaching. A lot of my students seem to favor assignments where they aren’t using their iPads. I think most agree that these kids’ eyeballs need a break from the screens.
Also, to people with concerns about the phone ban, students are allowed to bring their phone to school. My state’s law states that the phone must be turned off and in the student’s backpack during instructional hours. Students may be on their phone at school before and after classes start. In the event of an emergency, no one is going to care if the students get their phone out their bag to call their adult. So, kids will retain access to their phone. In fact, most of the students carry their phones around in the pocket and none of the teachers generally care as long as the student isn’t blatantly using their phone during class time. If a kid is caught using their phone during class time, they have to turn it in to the main office for the remainder of the day will escalating consequences for repeat offenses.
Also, I’m sure it varies from teacher to teacher, but I am very understanding when a kid needs to contact a parent/guardian. I will always allow my students to use the phone in my classroom, call a parent from the main office, or use their cell phone in the hall as long as the kid asks permission and explains the situation.
Who is the “Nothing Ever happens” guy?
We should blow up Deimos.
HEYYYY YOU GUYSSSS
I played WoW during this event. It was honestly one of my favorite gaming memories. It was so fun turning all the auctioneers and flight masters into zombies and reading everyone cry about it on the forums. Also, I liked that as a zombie, Horde and Alliance could communicate with each other. It was just a really fun and unique experience.
Give Cyberpunk 2077 a try. I thought it was amazing. I may have cried at the ending…
I think my favorite Civilization game is actually Civilization Revolution. It is a casualized console release, but I feel it has just the right amount of complexity to be a really fun, chill game. Also, I like going for an economic victory in that game.
Check out the album titled The Holy Bible by The Manic Street Preachers.
I think we should arm all the good students with firearms to protect teachers and others from the bad students with guns.
Eclectic taste!
For me it’s mostly a lot of 80’s post-punk and synth pop type of music (think Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, Bauhaus, etc.) I just associate that music with a time in my life when I was young and carefree. Feels good man.
Pretty fucking weird.
This post has some real The 9th Gate vibes. Love it. I hope you find your book someday.
I teach tweens at a middle school, but don’t have children of my own. The school I work at is in a low-income area of a deeply red state in the US.
Here are some of my observations:
Many of these kids are legit addicted to their phones and short-form media. (But who isn’t in this day and age?)
I am concerned about the type of content boys are being fed. Lots to very young Andrew Tate fans and such. I overhear a lot of misogynistic or racist ideas being discussed very casually. Despite the outliers, I think many of my students are just baseline more understanding of other races, those that identify as LGBTQ+, and more aware of their emotions. Interracial relationships and friendships are common. Looking back, the 90s (when I grew up) was rife with casual racism and hate.
Some of the girls are shockingly vain. My school uses iPads and these kids will just stare at themselves in the camera non-stop. It’s kind of weird.
Social media definitely fuels a lot of dumb pranks and idiotic behavior around the school. (Again, this isn’t an issue specific to teens.)
The learning gap between the high achievers and low achievers is staggering. I have wonderfully bright students as well as students that are functionally illiterate at 12-13 years old. This is more a failure of an education system than a fault of the kids though.
These kids seem nihilistic/apathetic in a way I don’t remember me or my peers being at that age.
All-in-all, I’m remain cery hopeful of these kids, but their addiction to technology and the kind of content they get served by the algorithms is very concerning. I can’t imagine going through life without much of a formal education and building your entire worldview around social media.
That’s really heartbreaking. I’m sorry for your loss.
Damn… What happened? Did she just go down the conspiracy theory worm hole?
I switched careers and became a middle school teacher at 40. I am now 42 and finishing my Masters of secondary education. It’s never too late.
This will be my 6th year working in education.
I agree teaching often feels totally pointless. I have to remind myself, as a teacher in a low-socioeconomic status school, that I could very well be one of the most responsible and accessible adults in some of these kids lives and take solace in that. I try to at the very least be a positive male role model (the boys need one) for my students even if they aren’t necessarily always learning the content I’m trying to teach them.
I totally agree on your last point as well. The standards to be a teacher are way too low. I work with several adults that should never be allowed to be responsible for educating children. Those people make all the rest of us look bad.