Why my job sucks/rocks

[Jedieb]

One of my students can say all of the following:

when I was 5 years old I was so disturbed I use to eat out of a dog dish
my mommy is a drug addict and a hooker
my daddy is an alcoholic
my Grandfather started seeing a 20 year old woman
my Grandfather and his girlfriend wanted to sell drugs out of our home but my Grandmother wouldn’t let them
Grandfather beat grandmother up and sent her to the hospital
Grandfather tried to have people from social services take Grandma away, they even came and arrested her and asked her a bunch of questions
Grandfather once tried to shoot grandmother
Grandfather eventually got sent to jail
Grandfather is out of jail now
Grandmother is engaged to a new man, he’s nice but I still love my Grandfather
my baby brother doesn’t know who his Daddy is because Mom is a hooker
he asks Grandma who is real Daddy is all the time but Grandma doesn’t know what to tell him
I was molested by a pedophile a couple of years ago

And this kid isn't even a major behavior problem. He actually made the A/B honor roll. Gives you an idea of just how bad some off the hard cases are. His last problem now means for over half of the years I've been teaching I've had at least one student that's been molested by someone.

This is why I go to work. You have to fight the good fight. Give back to others. Occasionaly put your needs on the back burner in order to serve. If it's all about you then it's really about nothing. Now let me get off my soapbox and show my son the carded yellow Clonetrooper I won't let him play with. :smokin

[CMJ]

Geez man...it takes a brave man to goto a job where a kid tells you stuff like that.

[JMK]

Yikes. Provided that student can remain normal, he can make one helluva rockin biopic in the future!

[darth_mcbain]

Wow - that would scare the !@#% out of me if I had to listen to stuff like that at work.

[Wei Wu Wei]

So what is it that you do? You teach, or you are a counsellor, or a psychologist? Poor kid. You go, Jedieb! You are the man!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Wei, teching falls into all three, IMO. Heck, being a moderator here at swfans sometimes does too..although its insignificant compared to being face to face with things like that everyday.

Amazing, I'm so glad there are teachers like YOU, Jedieb, in our schools. :)

[jjwr]

Good job Jedieb! I'm glad this kid found a great teacher like you to help him through this portion of his life.

[BUFFJEDI]

Dang!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jedi Master Carr]

It is shocking. Looks like you are doing a good job with him Jedieb keep it up:thumbup

[Marcus Telcontar]

Jesus. That's an eyeopener

[JonathanLB]

Teachers are very influential, yes. The best teachers really have a chance to change the lives of their students, whether or not they realize it. I mean, sometimes a teacher might never know how profoundly they affected one of their students.

Then again, to be honest, most of my teachers are, well, average. They teach me some useless information in an unethusiastic manner, don't talk about real issues that relate to my life, and they aren't especially personable either.

My 7th grade English teacher Sid Eaton really was one of the first people to recognize my love of writing and encourage me, so that is where I wrote my longest document at the time, a 65 page strategy guide. Then in junior year, Mr. Wendt, to whom I partially dedicated my first book, made a huge impact on my writing and he was one of the greatest teachers I have ever had just in general. He never raised his voice, and he never had to do so either. His look alone commanded respect. He looked at kids who were talking, and they knew right away they were supposed to be quiet, and they apologized, and he never got mad at them, he never gave them a dirty look. Everyone liked him, literally, so they felt bad if they were talking when they shouldn't be, and they stopped. I've rarely seen a teacher command such a high degree of respect from his students without ever exerting verbal force, like actually telling people to be quiet or getting angry. He is a great one. It'll be sad when he retires, which I understand might come this year... I still talk to him the few times I go back to visit high school (only done that like 3 times actually).

Mr. Neville was my French 1 teacher and he never really taught me much of anything because I already knew it all (I should have tested into a higher class, but I felt I should just start all over again and make sure I had a solid base). Nonetheless, actually he was a good friend to me in freshman year of high school when I had few or no other friends. He was just a 23 year old guy, right out of college, we talked sports, mainly NFL, video games, movies, he was just like a kid basically :) Very nice, awesome guy, even if he wasn't exactly a great teacher. We talked by e-mail a lot too, hehe. I realize other students would consider that "pathetic," but I actually happen to enjoy getting to know my teachers. It's one of the most fruitful things usually to form a good relationship with a teacher, and I do not mean for your grade, but just in general.

I talk to my film professor here at college a lot and not because I want him to know me or because I think it'll help my grade, but because this dude is awesome! Five published books on film, he is a total expert, he is a great resource and I love movies, so I enjoy talking with him.

I definitely greatly respect teachers, and I know they must have it really hard sometimes, especially given that teachers are basically never famous, never rich, and often underappreciated. They do, however, make a great difference in the lives of many people. More than most professions, they have a profound ability to affect a large number of people in more than a superficial way.

As a film critic like Ebert, you can certainly reach a lot of people and "affect" them in some way, but let's face it, you're still just talking about movies, you're not changing lives. Of course, filmmakers can change lives, the great ones, but great teachers, despite no fame and relatively little money, can make huge differences too. So way to go, EB. :)

[Jedieb]

For those that don't know I teach in an Elementary school. I have two groups of 10-12 year olds this year. This year isn't any worse than any of the other 8 I've taught. The child I described above isn't even one of the real problem children I have. I have a couple of others that are in even worse shape. Their family situation is actually worse in some regards and there's little I'll be able to do for them. I have one student that literally has not been able to get through a single week without being sent to the office for disciplinary problems. When you've been in school for just over 40 days and visited the office over 30 times you've got problems. Year in, year out 3/4 of my kids qualify for the Free Lunch program. Which means they live in households that bring in well under 20K a year. And that's usually a family of 3 or more trying to get by on that amount of money. Throw in the fact that most years 1/4 to 1/3 of my students are being raised by grandparents because parents are nowhere to be found or simply too irresponsible to raise children effectively and you get an idea of what most teachers are up against. A child that goes home to two married parents that have been there for that child's whole life is a small minority these days.

I still consider myself LUCKY. Despite teaching in one of the rougher parts of my city, we're still not that bad off. We're not a major district because our population is under 100,000. There are plenty of classrooms out there with 30-50 Elementary students crammed in there with only one teacher to work with those kids. In cities like L.A. teacher burnout shortens most careers to less than 5 years. I've read that most teachers quit after their first three. I don't think I could put up with the working conditions that most teachers face in major cities across the country.

It's not all doom and gloom. It's a pretty good gig if you're built for it. Not many people get to make kids laugh every day. I made Homer Simpson drooling noises when we were reading about Smithfield hams... delicious, suculent, tasty hams.... mmmmmmmmmmm

Now I have to go. I just had a student urinate on himself because he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his testicles. Another boring day at the ol' office.:zzz

[Oishii Sakana]

Jedieb, you are to be commended. I'm really impressed with you.

[Brielle Acaana]

Keep up the great work, Jedieb! Its teachers like you that help mold the next generation!

Its amazing sometimes that all these kids need is just someone to listen to them.

One boy at our school is teased a lot by the others because his mother left his father for another woman. Hes angry most of the time and last year we had a major run-in with each other. But once I understood where his anger was coming from, I started overlooking a few things that he did, minor infractions.

And when he realized that I was going to jump him about everything, he lightened up and now once in a while he comes and talks to me. And I listen. I dont give advice...Im simply there for him to unburden some problems on.

And I like to think its helped both of us :)

[Jedieb]

Sometimes listening is the only thing you can do. It can be just as effective as talking. Good for you.