This idea refuses to die and it seems that many people believe it is a good idea and I hate that. I hate that this may come to fruition and I will have to retire. I hate that we have entered the time of Big Brother, because everyone believes that they know best when it come to teaching and education. These misguided people will cause me to leave a job I adore and am good at, simply because the education system is now the most current political football.
Teaching is my second career. I was lucky in that I also adored my first career and when it came to an end, I found teaching. Seeing my kids every day keeps me young and keeps me involved. I spend hours trying to come up with lessons to keep them interested and educate them at the same time.
Now the state of Florida has come up with this idea to put cameras in the classrooms and microphones on the teachers. This is to "protect" the students. Huh? Protect them from what? From me?
This was my past week as far as protecting students. Big fight, 4 students suspended. Girls. I had 2 skip and not show up for class. I had one suspended for leaving campus to smoke an E cigarette. I have students out sick with the virus. Two sent to the office for inappropriate phone use. I spent time waking up students who were sleeping and continuous reminders to put their phones away. (Tik Tok has no place in my classroom)
The ones in class don't know where the Mediterranean Sea is. They cannot tell me why the Civil War in the United States began, or the year. They do not know when the United States entered World War II and why or the difference between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. They think it is funny when we are discussing others in the world who are starving or live under a different political system where education is controlled by government and the propaganda involved.
I spoke to parents of two different students who are failing my class to ask for help in turning them around. They don't know what to do, short of taking the phone away. So take it away. These students are snarky and rude, disrespectful and belligerent, but all I can do is continue to try and get them to do the work before they fail for the year.
I have called and emailed parents with absolutely no response. I have applied for grants to make sure my students have what they need to succeed. I am always at the school for something. Teachers attend sports and buy tee shirts to support the teams. We order popcorn and candy. During the holidays, we buy poinsettias using what little bit of extra cash we have.
We console crying students who simply feel like no one listens. We are always in their corner, yet we are compared to police who wear cameras. They also carry guns. Oh yeah, in Florida they also believe teachers should be armed.
So let's arm the teachers with guns, some are still trying to get that idea passed, record their actions with cameras and microphones to make sure no students are being bullied, a bill now in the Florida legislature and pay them less than a good waiter at an upscale restaurant makes from all the tourist dollars that are coming in to the state. Yeah, those are great ideas.
Let's try this on for size: How about all those people who believe teachers are more bad than good, come visit a school. Sit in a couple of classrooms and walk the halls. Don't interact, just listen. Listen to what the teachers hear; see what they see; experience their day from beginning to end. Then take all this money it would cost to implement this idea of cameras and mics in the classroom and put it to good use in our salaries, Pay us like professionals. The year is 2022, not 1984.
No comments:
Post a Comment