Bullied school personnel

In light of the recent video that went viral involving some potty mouthed, hateful children abusing their bus monitor, Karen Klein, CNN covers student on teacher bullying.

 I was bullied by students who claimed I was bullying them or worse.

 http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/22/educators-kids-arent-the-only-ones-bullied/

I am surprised that so many adults think what happened on the bus was an aberration, or shocking, at this point.

http://www.startribune.com/nation/160110725.html?page=2&c=y

Teacher who commented on cleavage resigns

OMG!!!! I was like, you knowww, wearing my clothes and trying to blend in.  Then she made me feel stupid.  How embarrazzing.  See it on fb later. My mom says she won't be around to bother other girls like this.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-teacher-resigns-commenting-student-cleavage-article-1.1052653

Peeing in bucket could cost district $25 K

Actually, it might be more.  Art teacher Gonja Wolf told a student she could pee in a bucket if she had to go that bad.  I suspect she was tired of the "endless stream" of requests, and used some sarcasm, not expecting it to be taken seriously.  Now the student's parents want a $25 K settlement with the district. 

People who haven't taught don't necessarily understand how disruptive and detrimental little things like bathroom breaks can be.  Remember the teacher that took away points when kids said "bless you?"  He had many adults riled up over the small courtesy of saying "bless you."  But in a classroom context it becomes a game which I witnessed myself.  You might get 5 sneezes and "bless you's" in a minute's time.  The same goes for bathroom breaks.  They become an excuse to get out of class, and disrupt whatever momentum the teacher has.  I often had 8 requests for the bathroom in a period.  I probably had about that many academic questions in a year.  I must have been a "bad" teacher like Ms. Wolf.  Note the anger in the commentary on huffington post.  There's a real wave of bitterness in the population towards teachers, in general.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/gonja-wolf-teacher-student-urinate-in-bucket-california_n_1343737.html

Confessions of a "Bad" teacher

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/opinion/sunday/confessions-of-a-bad-teacher.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

An opinion piece by one of those terrible "big salary and pension, hiding behind the union" teachers.  I found it poignant to read that he was in one of those binds where you just can't win.  It is sickening to have administrators hold you responsible for poorly behaved students crammed into a class on top of each other.  The article underscores the prevalent attitude that poor outcomes for students are all within the realm of responsibility for teachers.  Do the students have responsibilities?  The parents?  Maybe it's not surprising that as the culture's fabric becomes torn, and institutions like schools, and the police get left to try and put things back together, that ideas regarding personal responsibility get stretched to the point of absurdity. 

What happens to teachers that have healthy boundaries and say "the student needs to meet me half way or close to it.?"  They get accused of things like "not answering questions in class," or worse.  They become the ones "who didn't care enough," "didn't believe in me," "didn't motivate me,"  "couldn't handle me." If that doesn't work for the students in the hot seat, their teachers get more frivolous or false accusations thrown at them.

Water torture

A third grade teacher, who has used a spray bottle as last resort when students were unruly, is being disciplined.  The mother filed assault charges.

http://myfox8.com/2012/02/21/teacher-accused-of-spraying-kids-with-water-as-discipline/