On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 14:43:59 GMT, Lewis Hartswick
brought forth from the murky depths:

Larry Jaques wrote:

Public school teachers really aren't required to know actual subjects.
They concentrate in "education" theory and union dues. That might
explain a lot.

They do too teach. They teach diversity, self-esteem,
political correctness, and a whole lot of other very
necessary things to thekids who can't find the USA on
a map by the 8th grade...

http://diversify.com

My wife substitutes all over the city and I have been volunteering
at a high school for several years, eating lunch with a group of
teachers and I tell you it's AMAZING how little the teachers seem
to know of so many subjects. No wonder the kids can't find the USA on
a map or do the simplest arithmetic. :-(
...lew...

When I was being retrained at Coleman College in '87, I
watched a newly certificated teacher come into the computer
electronics technology courses without even knowing what a
resistor was. In 6 months, he wasn't bad, but surely couldn't
teach anything to me from experience. I was astonished at how
teachers are thrown into precarious positions and expected to
teach something they themselves do not know.

I queried the teacher about it and he said that every long-term
teacher he'd talked to (pre-tenure, so under 10 years, I guess)
had been through the same thing. Perhaps that's a newish trend
in the U.S. I sure don't like it. I'm glad I had old-school
teachers for the most part.

And I'm glad for my 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Hankins, at Trinity
Cathedral School in Little Rock. She wasn't a Sister and didn't
cram religion down our throats. Her compassion took away my fears
of school and made me like it again. That feeling hung on even
through some real jerks of teachers, but I had a different attitude
after Ms. Hankins. I didn't let the jerks get me down.

Mr. Workman, the wood & metal shop teacher in 9th grade (and my
Basic Aviation teacher in High School) was a crazy old coot who
enjoyed the hell out of life, and learning, and teaching. That
kind of enthusiasm is truly infectious and I had lots of fun in
his classes.

After high school (and immediately into auto tech school), I
didn't appreciate the fun of learning again until I was forced to
go back to school after an accident. Coleman opened it up for me
and I haven't stopped avidly reading and learning since then.

Praise (the powers that be) for good teachers and BOOKS!


--
Impeach 'em ALL!
----------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Website Application Programming