Quotations about Teachers and Teaching

1. A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops.

2. What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation.

3. The important thing is not so much
that every child should be taught,
as that every child should be given the wish to learn.

4. Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life,
those the art of living well.

5. What office is there which involves more responsibility, which requires more qualifications, and which ought, therefore, to be more honorable than teaching?

TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS

It is most important for the students to respect you as an educator and as a professional person capable in your field. Each teacher demonstrates this professionalism each day of the school year, not just at in-service meetings and professional conventions.A beginning teacher will often have difficulty establishing himself as a leader in the classroom and in maintaining relationships that are clearly teacher-student. Often, this teacher is not far removed from the age of the high school student. The problems that result from too close a relationship will, at the very least, undermine one’s teaching. The respect of the other students will be lost as well as the respect of the other teachers. There are many people entering the teaching profession after careers in other professions. The same admonition applies here as well; be a teacher-leader.
A teacher will not like all of his students and it is unrealistic to believe that all of the students will like every teacher. Although it is not necessary that all of the students like a teacher in order for him to be effective, it is necessary for the students to respect him. Remember, students are not looking for a friend in the teacher; they have their own friends. Instead, they are looking for a teacher whom they can respect and to whom they can look for leadership. Students do not respect teachers who allow relationships to become mixed. They are too young and immature to know when a relationship as a friend ends and a teacher-student relationship begins again.
Almost every school has a part-time or full-time counselor. Refer students to these people who are trained to handle their problems. Whenever students have special problems, the counselors usually notify the teachers so the information can be beneficial in the classroom. Whenever teachers detect abnormal behavioral patterns in students, a counselor should be notified so the student can receive expert help if it is needed.

Be especially careful about trying to solve student problems that relate to the home. As a teacher you will hear one side of the story from the student. The side you hear may be honestly but emotionally told and may represent part, but not all of the truth. There are occasions when the teacher can be of significant help to parents who recognize a problem in their child and wish to correct it. Students can be helped immensely when the teacher, counselor, and parents work together. Understand, however, that it takes a great deal of understanding, training, and a certain ability to deal with people, to affect a student’s life in a positive manner. Honest but poorly aimed attempts at counseling may create more problems than previously existed.

Some Ideas About the questions to be asked at The Discussion

How is she interacting with the other students?
Does she follow directions when they are given?
Does my daughter seem to prefer group or individual work/play time?
Does she participate in group activities?
How is she doing with any individual work?
Is she doing anything at all throughout the day that would be considered repetitive? (You could give examples like hand flapping, only looking at a specific book, toy, etc.)
Would you honestly consider my daughter to be (shy) (stubborn)?
How is she progressing academically (reading, math, etc. for her age)?

If I were you, I’d get her checked at least by her pediatrician and other doctors because some teachers do not know what to look for and may water down their answers out of fear of upsetting a child’s parent(s).

Should students attend parent/teacher conferences?

Your experience is intriguing to me, #9. I taught for 28 years, and I’ve had plenty of administration/parent/teacher/student conferences, and most were productive and inspired some kind of positive change in student–and often parent–behavior. I taught in both Christian school and public school, and, admittedly, these kinds of meetings were more effective in the private schools that in public. But it was generally encouraging for the students because, while we addressed the issues we all knew were problem areas, we were also able to affirm the positives and potential from each teacher’s perspective.

I’m not recommending this for every circumstance, for sure, but I have seen it work. New homework patterns, attitude changes, and some specific help (even something simple such as checking in with each teacher at the end of the day) generally made a difference in the student’s educational progress.

Everyday Problems Stress Teachers the Most

Stress levels of teachers in the Washington region have jumped to new heights since the sniper attacks began nearly three weeks ago. Yet teachers are credited with keeping their classrooms from boiling over. “They are bearing up in an unbelievable fashion under unbelievable conditions,” said Prince William County Superintendent Edward L.Kelly.

Even without the pressures of a violent crisis, teachers complain that their jobs, while rewarding, are getting harder because of too few resources, too much paperwork, crowded classrooms, students with emotional problems, low pay and high-stakes standardized tests.

a report of a teacher about their professional stress-
My biggest stress has to do with the issues that kids come to school with that are so difficult to identify. I’ve had these children for two months almost [this school year] and there are still issues that hold up their educational process. I talk to parents but still can’t get the children to attend to the task given. It’s not an academic problem, it’s a social problem.

Yes, we’re dealing with the stress of the sniper. That explains away the last week or so, but we’ve been dealing with this issue since September. I don’t know if this is a holdover from September 11, but I find that more than ever, these kids have different things on their minds and are finding it hard to pay attention in school. . . .

I try to handle it to the best of my ability. I don’t let a lot of things bother me. I decided a long time ago not to let financial matters and other things get to me. But the kids have a harder time.

ARE TEACHERS UNDERPAID?

I BELIEVE TEACHERS ARE UNDERPAID!

I used to be a high school teacher before becoming a stay at home mom, so I’m a bit biased on this debate. I have yet to find another job in the area in which I live that requires a bachelor’s degree and pays less than a teacher. One day while paying the bills, I began to realize that if my husband and I divorced, I would lose my car because my salary wasn’t enough to cover rent, groceries, utilities, and a car payment. It’s insane.

There are many problems with our nation’s public school system. I saw that when I was teaching. I believe that we would get more quality educators if we would pay them more. Many good teachers quit and do something that pays more money. I was one of those teachers. I quit because my salary was too small to have paying daycare fees for 2 kids make any sort of sense at all.

Something else that the general population is unaware of is that most teachers spend around 20% of their salary on teaching materials. The government does not provide teachers with money to buy teaching supplies and education materials. As a teacher, I even bought a classroom set of novels from Barnes & Noble because the school lacked the funds to purchase the book I wanted to teach.

I know that some of you will think that teachers are over paid because they get summer vacation and their workday ends at 3:30 every day. But, what many people don’t realize is that teachers work way past 3:30. It takes time to grade papers and prepare lessons. Many teachers work well past 5:00 in fact. There were many times that I was still grading papers at 10:00 at night. In addition to working late, being a teacher requires participation in extra curricular activities. Some school districts require teachers to attend all of the home football, basketball, and baseball games. Many people also believe that summer vacation is still 3 months, and that’s not true either. The only full month teachers get of summer is July. Many teachers work till mid June and start back up in mid August. Also, I know a lot of teachers that teach summer school during their summer break because they need the money.

Teacher Vs Parents

There are individuals who, throughout the day, experience extreme levels of pressure in their Stress Tank, but manage to keep their tank from exploding until the school day is over and they get home.

It’s also common for these individuals to have strong reactions during the day that go unnoticed by teachers and peers. For example, it might look like they are listening and paying attention when, in fact, they have completely shut down their system. Or they might lock themselves in the bathroom during recess – just to get away for a while – without anyone noticing.

For these individuals, a long day, full of demands and expectations, can cost a lot of energy and often comes with a price. It can be compared with how most of us would feel after the first day at a new job. Can you imagine feeling like that every day?

Furthermore, the communication between parents and teachers can become problematic and challenging when they see two different pictures of how things are going.