Teachers in the Public School System

Teachers are people who enlighten, educate, and lead today's youth into learning new skills that can be successfully applied to their life. Teachers are people who possess many special traits that work to help students achieve what they want in life. Teachers act as nurturers, patience and caring for their students' weaknesses, and always eager to motivate students to do their best. While teachers work to enlighten, educate, and lead the new generation of learners, teachers are constantly juggling to make everything suit the needs of the students, the parents, and the administrative assistant principals.

Last month, I was given the privilege to work as a long term substitute teacher for an eighth grade language arts class. Working during this month and a half has given me the insight, and the behind-the-scenes understanding of what teachers really do, how they feel, and obstacles they deal with on a daily basis. Nowadays, students are not motivated to learn, with the justification that they have to attend school. These students come to class, unprepared with the day's lesson plans, and acting completely irresponsible and unprofessional. While working as their eighth grade teacher, when I had assigned projects due a certain time, the majority of the students would not submit in their assignments, with many failing to turn in the projects worth an assessment grade until the semester was over!!Consequently, I had to assign students who failed to turn in their assignments detentions and referrals, which all of these students took so lightly. I certainly did not like the option of giving students multiple chances to redo what they have been given the opportunity to complete. I do not think it is fair for students who have successfully completed the assignment, while giving those who chose not to do their work, chances after chances. If it were up to me, then I would only give students one chance to turn in their late assignment, with the consequence of thirty points deduction. Students need to be given severe consequences for their actions. This can only help their future once they reach college. Personally, I think that with the flexibility and leniency that teachers are on acting, this will give students a reality check once they reach college. College is not a place where second chances are given. You fail means you fail. While working as the long term substitute teacher, I had to deal with several failing students. Unfortunately, the administrators and assistant principals expect that the data shows no failing students to ensure that their school is the best school. Why are administrators and assistant principals wanting to make their school look stellar, and advocating the no failing students rule? Students who fail should be repeated in that same grade level, until they have successfully passed on their own. When any of my students who were failing, the only thing that I was able to do was give them detentions. What does detention really do to make students understand that failing grades are a red flag alert? Contrary to all that, teachers who decided to fail a student are expected to fill out extensive amount of paperwork, asking them to verify what they have done to help the student improve his grades. Personally, I think that the administrators are just working to achieve a zero failing grade, and to be represented as the best school for that school district. Parents do not have the insight to understand that those numbers and data reflecting the failing and passing rates, are all just falsely represented.

While working with eighth graders, I not only encountered the lack of responsibility and the lack of care for school from these students, but I also had to deal with behavior and attitude issues. The majority of these students fail to learn to respect me, as their teacher, and fail to learn to listen and do what is asked of them, I do not like to baby teenagers, who are mature and old enough to understand what they should and should not be doing. While working during this month and a half time frame, students who were disrespectful towards me or another student was given a parent phone call. I do not like making parent phone calls because most parents do not believe that their sweet child is behaving in that disrespectful manner. With that being said, parents need to discipline their child in a strict fashion, so that students can come to school, without any talking back, rude attitudes, and any smart talk moves.

This teaching experience has taught me that students are given such flexibility in school, and this will in turn hurt them. The public school standards seem to have been lowered to raise the passing rates, and making those schools look prestigious.