What’s on your mind?

[ClaraStahlbaum]

What comes to mind is how few and far between reasonable minds are these days. A lot of people I come across have an agenda or strange ideas about how to handle things. My tolerance for dealing with people is at an all time low with various situations I've had to put up with recently - I don't understand how some people rationalize bullying, harassment, and hate. I can't imagine living like that.

 

[Apple fanboy]

What comes to mind is how few and far between reasonable minds are these days. A lot of people I come across have an agenda or strange ideas about how to handle things. My tolerance for dealing with people is at an all time low with various situations I've had to put up with recently - I don't understand how some people rationalize bullying, harassment, and hate. I can't imagine living like that.

I think the places you hang out and the age of the people make a big difference.

But I've also learnt that if people are not people I want to be around (where I can) I just give them a miss. Obviously in the work setting it's a bit different. You have to mix with people you would rather not. I just try and avoid them as much as possible. WFH 4 days a week helps a lot.

 

[boswald]

What comes to mind is how few and far between reasonable minds are these days. A lot of people I come across have an agenda or strange ideas about how to handle things. My tolerance for dealing with people is at an all time low with various situations I've had to put up with recently - I don't understand how some people rationalize bullying, harassment, and hate. I can't imagine living like that.

It's really exhausting, isn't it? I don't have the energy to filter out the good from the bad anymore, so I just keep to myself. It's lonely sometimes but overall better for my sanity.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

I think the places you hang out and the age of the people make a big difference.

But I've also learnt that if people are not people I want to be around (where I can) I just give them a miss. Obviously in the work setting it's a bit different. You have to mix with people you would rather not. I just try and avoid them as much as possible. WFH 4 days a week helps a lot.

I must say it sounds like a luxury to work from home 4 days a week. As for the people in general, usually it is just online friend groups that eventually pose issues from time to time. When that happens I usually withdraw myself and find other places to be.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I must say it sounds like a luxury to work from home 4 days a week. As for the people in general, usually it is just online friend groups that eventually pose issues from time to time. When that happens I usually withdraw myself and find other places to be.

This is basically the only online place I hang out. That helps! As for working 4 days at home, it took a lot of negotiating to get that. But they owe me a lot of goodwill and favours over the years.

 

[rm5]

What comes to mind is how few and far between reasonable minds are these days. A lot of people I come across have an agenda or strange ideas about how to handle things. My tolerance for dealing with people is at an all time low with various situations I've had to put up with recently - I don't understand how some people rationalize bullying, harassment, and hate. I can't imagine living like that.

I get it. Especially when you're thrown in undesirable situations so many times, it becomes difficult to maintain patience with people. Only piece of advice I can give (which is probably unhelpful) is to not be around those people. Be around engaging, interesting, multi-talented people. Those are some of my best friends. Be around people who make you laugh. A couple teaching colleagues in particular always make me laugh. At some point, it also becomes your choice. You can impart happiness on yourself with any number of things. Find something you enjoy that forces you to clear your mind and just focus on that one thing. For me, that's learning classical piano pieces - all my attention has to go to learning the notes, the phrasing, articulation, and my own interpretation of the music. Playing jazz doesn't do that for me because I can improvise without thinking. But that's just a personal example - I really think it's important to find something that captures all your attention, that you enjoy.

 

[rm5]

Thinking about my teaching, I've been leading middle-school ensembles this summer. I think I must be one of the hardest teachers at this particular place. I am not letting students get away with poor technique or only halfway learning the music. I am also not allowing them to use sheet music or any notation - if they do, it must be extremely sparingly, and they can't rely on it. Rehearsal starts on the dot and ends on the dot. They must play this music well and practice on their own. Obviously some students don't like that, and instead just want to have a good time - I get all of this takes away from their good time. But I want students to not just learn the stuff, but also improve. If they ever enroll in a semester-length class, these week-long summer classes should prepare them for more challenging and intricate music in the longer semester classes.

I've of course also given them my thoughtfulness and attention. We spend the first chunk of the first rehearsal with students going around introducing themselves, saying where they go to school, what their musical background is, etc. That builds community within the group from the start. I'm also arranging all the music for them, so I'm also putting in a lot of work for their benefit.

A lot of teachers in general seem to just teach the stuff and not help their students improve in a concrete way. Improvement takes a lot of effort and practice, and I think it's important to foster that in the classroom as much as possible, to motivate them to practice on their own.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thinking about my teaching, I've been leading middle-school ensembles this summer. I think I must be one of the hardest teachers at this particular place. I am not letting students get away with poor technique or only halfway learning the music. I am also not allowing them to use sheet music or any notation - if they do, it must be extremely sparingly, and they can't rely on it. Rehearsal starts on the dot and ends on the dot. They must play this music well and practice on their own. Obviously some students don't like that, and instead just want to have a good time - I get all of this takes away from their good time. But I want students to not just learn the stuff, but also improve. If they ever enroll in a semester-length class, these week-long summer classes should prepare them for more challenging and intricate music in the longer semester classes.

I've of course also given them my thoughtfulness and attention. We spend the first chunk of the first rehearsal with students going around introducing themselves, saying where they go to school, what their musical background is, etc. That builds community within the group from the start. I'm also arranging all the music for them, so I'm also putting in a lot of work for their benefit.

A lot of teachers in general seem to just teach the stuff and not help their students improve in a concrete way. Improvement takes a lot of effort and practice, and I think it's important to foster that in the classroom as much as possible, to motivate them to practice on their own.

An excellent post.

You write that (as a teacher) you want the "students to not just learn the stuff, but also improve."

I agree completely with you.

However, even as I concur, the key (musical pun intended) thing - in my experience - is for the students not just to learn and improve, but to want to learn and to want to improve. Without that - in other words, if they lack motivation - this happy outcome will not come to pass, unfortunately.

 

[Macky-Mac]

An excellent post.

You write that (as a teacher) you want the "students to not just learn the stuff, but also improve."

I agree completely with you.

However, even as I concur, the key (musical pun intended) thing - in my experience - is for the students not just to learn and improve, but to want to learn and to want to improve. Without that - in other words, if they lack motivation - this happy outcome will not come to pass, unfortunately.

Leading the students into wanting to learn and wanting to improve is more desirable than being the strictest teacher...especially for middle school age children.

What should be avoided is having the kids go away thinking and feeling "...well that wasn't any fun..."

 

[Apple fanboy]

Good teachers are hard to come by. Not sure I ever had any.

 

[boswald]

Good teachers are hard to come by. Not sure I ever had any.

I miss a lot of my teachers growing up. I guess I got lucky?

 

[Apple fanboy]

I miss a lot of my teachers growing up. I guess I got lucky?

I doubt I could name more than a few.

I was hardly a good student. Couldn’t get out of education fast enough. Started full time we work at 15. Haven’t stopped since.

 

[boswald]

I doubt I could name more than a few.

I was hardly a good student. Couldn’t get out of education fast enough. Started full time we work at 15. Haven’t stopped since.

I think that's a great thing. It teaches you crucial life skills; you learn the value of the dollar, and best of all, you learned how to save. You have "street smarts," which not a lot of people have (myself included).

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think that's a great thing. It teaches you crucial life skills; you learn the value of the dollar, and best of all, you learned how to save. You have "street smarts," which not a lot of people have (myself included).

I have a degree in the school of hard knocks!

Look if I knew what I know now I’d have advised my younger self to pursue an education. It has limited my life choices.

But my skills are learning and adapting as I go. What I do today is vastly different from what I was doing as a teenager. For that matter the world is very different. Computers, internet and the like. It’s all very different.

I will say that most of the 20 somethings we employ straight out of university have no clue what is required of them in a workplace. Often they lack common sense as well.

 

[WriteNow]

Leading the students into wanting to learn and wanting to improve is more desirable than being the strictest teacher...especially for middle school age children.

Probably true.

One of my 8th grade teachers was not very strong with discipline, and even then, I thought it was sometimes a problem. But he was FABULOUS for sparking interest--and not just what he officially taught.

Meanwhle, I can think of teachers who were strict. I remember one social studies teacher in particular. Most of my memories of him are of him yelling (you could hear him down the all with doors closed!), strict format requirements for assignments, having parents sign a report card one time, etc. I'm not sure I remember anything he actually taught. I don't remember having any real interest in it.

Another social studies teacher was pretty strict. I have wondered what it would have been like having him for half the day, which would have happened once they changed to a middle school. But while he liked having parents see and sign our tests, he also did things that probably helped encourage interest.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

Good teachers are hard to come by. Not sure I ever had any.

I had a few good teachers when I was in school. I remember their names well. Those teachers actually cared a lot about the school and the students - however this was many years ago, they've long since retired. Then of course in school I had some other horrible teachers who didn't care about anything.

 

[WriteNow]

I think I remember all teachers by name back to first grade. I don't have anything but shadowy memories before then, and those memories don't include names. I have fond memories of a number of teachers. But, looking back, I don't think I had the best possible learning expereince from some of the teachers I liked. I think they meant well, but they were faced with realities outside their control, like district policy of how things were to be taught, as well as the students they got.

An English teacher's composition class, for example, had no value for me, but I think he pretty much was forced to "teach" it with text book exercises by school policy. Every English teacher did it that way. (My mother ranted a lot that writing can only be taught by actually writing.) But he had a sense of humor, which made the drudgery less oppressive. Later, I had the same teacher for a literature class that usually was full of the best students. Except the year I had it. He had to dumb it down, or else he'd fail 3/4 of the class.

 

[ClaraStahlbaum]

I think I remember all teachers by name back to first grade. I don't have anything but shadowy memories before then, and those memories don't include names. I have fond memories of a number of teachers. But, looking back, I don't think I had the best possible learning expereince from some of the teachers I liked. I think they meant well, but they were faced with realities outside their control, like district policy of how things were to be taught, as well as the students they got.

An English teacher's composition class, for example, had no value for me, but I think he pretty much was forced to "teach" it with text book exercises by school policy. Every English teacher did it that way. (My mother ranted a lot that writing can only be taught by actually writing.) But he had a sense of humor, which made the drudgery less oppressive. Later, I had the same teacher for a literature class that usually was full of the best students. Except the year I had it. He had to dumb it down, or else he'd fail 3/4 of the class.

I remember most of, if not all of my teacher's names except my Kindergarten and first grade teacher's name. I remember a lot of my classmates, etc quite well.

For me, the worst times in terms of my experiences with teachers was definitely in High School. I had some bad teachers in high school.

I remember my 8th grade math teacher quite well. He was a great teacher, great personality, very caring towards the students. In the start of every class he'd play some sort of calming music during the class, and want students to let go of their stress. He genuinely cared about everyone. Now I see him online in other places, he's a very miserable person these days from the looks of it. Sad to see how he turned out and who he became.

 

[MacMorrison]

Meta is contemplating always-recording glasses.

How could this possibly go wrong?

 

[decafjava]

Meta is contemplating always-recording glasses.

How could this possibly go wrong?

No thanks Zuck. 🙄

 

[MacMorrison]

Right up there in the anals of history with Kohler's Dekoda "smart toilets" 📹🚽

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have had quite a number of good teachers - some in primary school where it really matters, a few more at second level, and several at university, from whom I learned a lot (including what to do, and what not to do, in the classroom, invaluable when I became a teacher myself).

However, while I loved both studying and teaching at university - where one could savour the saving grace of students actually studying subjects that they had applied to study, that they had wished to study, in other words, where one could assume - or, hope for - an interest in the subject on their part, which is something that truly matters - you couldn't pay me enough to teach disinterested, sullen, moody, adolescents - at second level. Between raging hormones, peer pressure, exam pressures, no thanks. Just, no. No.

And I am full of admiration for those who can - and wish - to do it.

Successfully challenging, and stimulating and sustaining the interest of a roomful, a bunch of hormonally challenged teenagers, of differing abilities, of differing degrees of interest in (and motivation to study at) your subject, (yes, there will always be a handful of students at second level who actually are interested, or whose interest can be stimulated) and widely differing levels of maturity, is a skill not many people can lay claim to.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have had quite a number of good teachers - some in primary school where it really matters, a few more at second level, and several at university, from whom I learned a lot (including what to do, and what not to do, in the classroom, invaluable when I became a teacher myself).

However, while I loved both studying and teaching at university - where one could savour the saving grace of students actually studying subjects that they had applied to study, that they had wished to study, in other words, where one could assume - or, hope for - an interest in the subject on their part, which is something that truly matters - you couldn't pay me enough to teach disinterested, sullen, adolescents - at second level. Between raging hormones, peer pressure, exam pressures, no. Just, no. No thanks.

And I am full of admiration for those who can - and wish - to do it.

Successfully challenging, and stimulating and sustaining the interest of a roomful, a bunch of hormonally challenged teenagers, of differing abilities, of differing degrees of interest in (and motivation to study at) your subject, (yes, there will always be a handful of students at second level who actually are interested, or whose interest can be stimulated) and levels of maturity is a skill not many people can lay claim to.

I recently watched the Education Yorkshire series which was an eye opener.
From the girl that had obviously used AI on her homework who couldn’t be punished because she wouldn’t admit it, to the boy playing up and being escorted by I think 4 teachers to try and manage his temper tantrum.

Then the head admitted they employed Primary School teachers to help those that are so far behind.

 

[WriteNow]

However, while I loved both studying and teaching at university - where one could savour the saving grace of students actually studying subjects that they had applied to study, that they had wished to study, in other words, where one could assume - or, hope for - an interest in the subject on their part, which is something that truly matters - you couldn't pay me enough to teach disinterested, sullen, moody, adolescents - at second level.

I don't know what differences exist between "university" in other countries and "college" here. Apart from naming conventions... But I do know it's very possible to have disinterested students in a college class, due to the requirements for obtaining a certain number of credits outside one's major. And I'd bet the problem becomes more of a problem when there is a specific class required. The college where my father taught required a specific writing class at the end of his career. I think they themed some sections--presumably in hopes of making it more interesting--but I'd have to bet that a lot of students in there, regardless of theme, were only there because they were told they had to be there. And the class was probably not the most fulfillng for the interested student or whoever taught that class. It was probably better in the 80s when the writing requirement could be satisfied with any writing class. Most went with Ye Olde Faithful English 101. But many would take something else, and I bet those "something elses" were better classes.

One "joy" of teaching at that college was that nature of the institution meant professors would have to regularly teach classes that were not reliably filled with the dedicated students. English professors would get stuck with 101. to cite one example. I think the first class for majors could be a problem, too--students might have had good intentions, but then realized "this isn't for me, but I'm stuck for the semester." It would be entirely possible that of the 5 (I think) classes taught a year that only one would be filled with dedicated students. Maybe a couple more would have some decent students. And the remaing classes? Well, that's why a professor might keep a bottle of cheap booze in his or her desk drawer.

 

[WriteNow]

And I am full of admiration for those who can - and wish - to do it.

I am, too.

I remember talking to a former middle school teacher. He'd found it both a great experience at it's best, but it was a very hard teaching job. He was no longer a teacher when I knew him.

My school district started the transition to middle schools when I was in junior high. There was a chance for teachers to move to the high school, but even though high school had some benefits (incluidng more demanding subjects, and no 13 year-olds), some teachers apparently preferred staying at the junior high/middle school level. Some teacher moves, in fact, were from one junior high to the other the first year of 4 year high schools (and last year of junior high). That repeated when they moved the 6th grade up, although I think i can see an elementary teacher deciding "I don't want to deal with teenagers."