Stupid Award

[Veronica]

Teachers are not nurses, babysitters or day care providers.

If you have not been in a classroom with 33 kids in it, you need to go see one. Don't go to an old school built in the 50s or 60s. Go to a new fangled one, built in the 90s or later. Classrooms have gotten smaller over the years. The kids are crammed in and have no space. One kid sneezes and poof everyone is infected. We are not allowed to have hot water in faucets available to the children. They might burn themselves. Plus there aren't enough faucets for the six kids to use when one kid in their table group sneezes. Oh and it's a really good use of academic time to have 6 kids wash their hands every time one of them sneezes.

Hand sanitizer you say... who's going to provide it? I can't buy replacement copies of one of our core lit books because there is a freeze on spending. Thank you very much guvinator.

If your job doesn't allow you to take sick time to spend with your sick kids, maybe you should not have had children in the first place. Their health is not the teacher's responsibility.

Every day that I am out sick is a day of academics lost. I know this because of the chaos I find when I return from being sick and from watching the absolutely disrespectful way kids treat substitute teachers. I am not talking about just a little extra whispering here, but flat out rudeness. Maybe it's just the school I'm in, but we have some extremely disrespectful kids and parents. It is also not only the teacher's job to teach children to have respect for others. Parents need to have a part in that too.


Must go hack up a lung...

V.

[Crankin]

I agree, V. I always cringe when kids and teachers get awards for perfect attendance. Everyone gets sick!

[SandyLS]

My Grand daughter's high school did the trophy idea one better (well, worse, I guess). If the kids missed under a certain number of days they did not have to take final exams! Talk about a reason to spread germs around!

[sarahlou]

I just have to chime in here having been a substitute teacher every day for two years (thank god it is over). I was sick at least one week out of every month if not more. I had kids come in with globs of green from their nose to their chin and much, much worse. When the teacher was out sick I usually got what they had soon after (it is hard to sanitize a teacher's desk).

As for the rude kids and their rude parents, they're everywhere. I had the principal call me in to his office after he had a complaint about me from a parent- apparently asking their "highly gifted" third grader (who couldn't/wouldn't shut up all day) to "zip their lips" was offensive. I thought I was being rather reserved as I really wanted to tell this child to "shut the *(&^%$# up". And then there are the teachers who don't leave lesson plans and expect the day to go smoothly... Ahhh, I don't miss it one bit!

Feel better soon.