01-01-2017, 03:11 AM
Having been a substitute teacher for about ten years I may have some insights on education that few teachers (who teach only one grade or subject; I have taught practically all of those within K-12 education, both in public and charter schools)... I try to be at school as soon as I can be so that I can read the lesson plans and put stuff on the board. That hour is my planning time... and I use it to the fullest. I will have plenty to do, and I don't want to face away from the students at any time.
What is substitute teaching? It's acting. But if one has Asperger's, everything that one does is an act.
One difference between public and a charter school is that the charter schools do not have playground supervisors; I get to do that in a charter school. That is one cost-saving measure that charter schools can do.
But I do not grade homework, and I never put anything into the teacher's grade book. There's always some chance that I will put the day's grade for "Maria Alvarez" into the space for the grade for "Bobby Allen", or vice-versa, a chance that I will not take. I put it on a paper for the regular teacher to transcribe.
...I also know where the problems are in the classroom -- mostly parents who don't value education, kids not having breakfast (when you have a focus on hunger pangs you might not have a focus on the lesson or the assignment), and the usual drugs and alcohol. Maybe teachers can work miracles, but if Mommy and Daddy are on meth... God help that child. All children need a genuine parent in the home -- and by parent someone who takes an undeniably adult role in life.
What is substitute teaching? It's acting. But if one has Asperger's, everything that one does is an act.
One difference between public and a charter school is that the charter schools do not have playground supervisors; I get to do that in a charter school. That is one cost-saving measure that charter schools can do.
But I do not grade homework, and I never put anything into the teacher's grade book. There's always some chance that I will put the day's grade for "Maria Alvarez" into the space for the grade for "Bobby Allen", or vice-versa, a chance that I will not take. I put it on a paper for the regular teacher to transcribe.
...I also know where the problems are in the classroom -- mostly parents who don't value education, kids not having breakfast (when you have a focus on hunger pangs you might not have a focus on the lesson or the assignment), and the usual drugs and alcohol. Maybe teachers can work miracles, but if Mommy and Daddy are on meth... God help that child. All children need a genuine parent in the home -- and by parent someone who takes an undeniably adult role in life.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.