Silly things teachers think will work

[NAR4]

One of the teachers at my child's school (he is in sixth form) thinks giving out yellow cards and red cards for 'bad' behaviour in class will somehow motivate 17 year olds.

At my 14 year old's school (a different school) he was asked to write a letter to Father Christmas during an English lesson. The teacher was dead serious. REALLY?

I pressume that nether of these teachers have children of their own, but should surely have been taught at uni that these things were completely age inappropriate.

Apart from the "gold plated pensions " bollocks, I'd like to pick up on a genuine misunderstanding.

There is a difference between parental interference and parental support.

Teachers do not need parents ringing up or emailing all the time about every last thing, or arguing why "darling Jocasta" didn't deserve that detention, or can't do it because she has dance class, or something else equally undermining to the school behaviour management system.
This wastes teacher time, undermines their authority, and is a major pain in the backside. You would have had a letter or email explaining exactly why they got a detention, and I'm sorry but your precious darling will never tell you the whole story or context.

Parental support means the parent has read and understood the home-school agreement that they signed. Parental support means that when "precious Louis" gets bollocked at school, he also gets bollocked at home by people whose opinion matter to him. Parental support means sending your child to school on time, fed with actual food not energy drinks, with pens and pencils etc.

I teach in an affluent catchment area that I could never afford to live in. The less affluent kids tend to be the nicer, and actually we tend to get better parental support for them. The more affluent kids tend to think they can argue their way out everything, think that rules don't apply to them, and then Mummy will rescue them anyway. Which she will try to do. That's parental interference.

Rant over,

Oh, and my sixth form students just love getting the paints and sugar paper out to eg draw structural formulae, and love getting sticker...

Some of what is going on in schools must be a bit silly or we'd have better educated and better disciplined 16-year-olds. I go with the National Curriculum rather than blaming teachers.

Yet if a parent says they don't want children like this disrupting the school and you get lectured by teachers about inclusion.

No, teachers aren't wild about having violent kids in the classroom either, I think you'll find.

Inclusion is why they're still in the classroom. But that's not the fault of teachers.

Better educated & better disciplined by comparison with...?

I quite like most of the 16 year olds I teach, & they're certainly better educated than I was at a well-regarded but rather complacent grammar in the 80s.

& I don't have violent kids in my classroom. Rude & objectionable ones sometimes, or lazy.

Noble: "really you can't extrapolate that teachers simply ignore the views of parents from the response to the OP on this particular thread. " I didn't do that then - don't know why you said that. But I'm quite happy to say that some do, and I'm saying it now. But I didn't extrapolate it from anything.

ET: "I do not therefore think that ALL parents have no clue."
You shouldn't say things like this then:

"The OP is not a teacher, and therefore has no idea whether such things are "silly" or whether they "will work". "
"why WOULD the OP know whether things were silly and whether they worked? It's not her job to know such things"

because clearly, from these statements, you do. I don't mind if you want to disagree with yourself here.

See there's the problem Raven. Low expectations. You just look at the outcome and think there's no possible better outcome.

What noblegiraffe has said.

What baffles me is that teachers are somehow being blamed for these children being in the classroom when surely this is a parental fault.

Did the teacher bring up the child to think it was OK to threaten them? No.

Brycie - I don't think all parents have no clue. Some of them are also teachers.

Parents need to take some responsiblity for their children. Too many kids come to school thinking they can do what they like. They get that attitude from home, not school.

"No, teachers aren't wild about having violent kids in the classroom either, I think you'll find."

Well I had a conversation with a bunch of teachers where I said children should be removed and I was spit roasted. So while they may not be wild about it they're damned if they'll allow a parent to say so.

How are you defining low expectations?

"I don't think all parents have no clue"

That's terrific - now try not to repeat your earlier sweeping generalisations or I may have to reach for my red pen!

No, Brycie, we said the vast majority of situations necessitating removing students could be successfully handled in-house by use of Inclusion/Isolation Units, rather than by permanent exile to Siberia or feeding to the school's attack dogs.

(Although I'm not so sure about Naveed...)

You said "in comparison with what"

I don't need to look at outcomes anywhere else in the world in order to believe we could do better. That's the difference.

"rather than by permanent exile to Siberia or feeding to the school's attack dogs."

oh yes, I remember suggesting those

No actually I think I remember suggesting isolation units and... being spit roasted anyway.

No one marks in red any more. If you had the faintest idea what you were on about, you'd know that.

I don't want violent children in my classroom. And there have been a few.

This "bunch of teachers", were they really saying they want violent children in their classes? How strange.

And anyway, IF you read my comments properly, you'll see my "why should she know" comment was specifically about the OP.

But I do mark in red pen sometimes - generally when DD has stolen my favourite green or purple ones, but also for assessed practical papers....

Bless. Not keen on being caught out huh.

Yes I knew, but I thought an adult might be able to cope with the "damage to their self esteem". Perhaps I was wrong.

Apparently it's too violent to mark in red. Looks like blood.

Oh, cross posts...

As a parent, rather than a teacher, I am reluctant to write off the education of a group of people who will be sharing society with my children.

Not quite the same as tolerating aggression in my lab...

Who could do better?

The students?

Or the teacher, trying something new that someone who knows very little about it kneejerks as 'silly'?

I think the Father Christmas letter idea for GCSE is fabulous. My year 11s could tell you why it's a good exercise, since they are well-drilled in what they need to do to get a good mark for q.6 of their English Language Paper.

"It's not her job to know such things" - sweeping generalisation

"The OP is not a teacher, and therefore has no idea etc" - sweeping generalisation

Nothing to do with the op - all to do with whether or not she/he is a teacher.

But they're not allowed assessed practical papers back though. So it won't inflame the blood lust...