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School Daze
Jun. 9th, 2004 09:06 amI have a number of friends who are teachers and librarians. Some I have known for years and others I met on the internet through various newsgroups and lists. Some of the internet people I have met at conventions that I have been to. Really kinda neat putting a face to a name.
In a larger city in the Midwest, a teacher had a conference with a parent about the student who was acting out in class and disrupting. The teacher knows that the student is intelligent and can do the work. He “just dunna wanna” in his words. The mother comes in and accuses the English teacher of being a racist. Why is she a racist? She insists her students use proper english and diction in the classroom. That’s it. She wants the students to learn how to , as the mother put it, “sound white”. I can remember in one of my English classes in High School, the teacher would not let any southernism sneak into the class room. She insisted on a neutral accent or Newsman English. She wanted her students to be understood by anyone who spoke English. It had more to do with getting us ready for the job market rather than suppressing a culture. I was lucky that my parents insisted that we all speak properly so we have no accent or , according to some, sound Canadian. The ability to speak clearly does weight in when one is looking for a job in the future. The principle did back up the teacher’s right to run her classroom as she saw fit. The mother insisted that the student be put in another class. I think she did her kid a great disservice.
In Arkansas the schools are sending home report cards that are grading the child’s weight. I am appalled. These schools haven’t a clue what the kid’s home life is like. This is only going to lead to more teasing and probably more incidents of anorexia and bulimia among older students. The school district says it will be on the lookout for those health problems. They want to help the students so along with the grade will be helpful health information to help the parents with their children’s “problem”. I can see Cartman taking his home to his mom and saying “I’m not fat. I’m big boned. They are just picking on me.” What’s next grading students for popularity?
In a larger city in the Midwest, a teacher had a conference with a parent about the student who was acting out in class and disrupting. The teacher knows that the student is intelligent and can do the work. He “just dunna wanna” in his words. The mother comes in and accuses the English teacher of being a racist. Why is she a racist? She insists her students use proper english and diction in the classroom. That’s it. She wants the students to learn how to , as the mother put it, “sound white”. I can remember in one of my English classes in High School, the teacher would not let any southernism sneak into the class room. She insisted on a neutral accent or Newsman English. She wanted her students to be understood by anyone who spoke English. It had more to do with getting us ready for the job market rather than suppressing a culture. I was lucky that my parents insisted that we all speak properly so we have no accent or , according to some, sound Canadian. The ability to speak clearly does weight in when one is looking for a job in the future. The principle did back up the teacher’s right to run her classroom as she saw fit. The mother insisted that the student be put in another class. I think she did her kid a great disservice.
In Arkansas the schools are sending home report cards that are grading the child’s weight. I am appalled. These schools haven’t a clue what the kid’s home life is like. This is only going to lead to more teasing and probably more incidents of anorexia and bulimia among older students. The school district says it will be on the lookout for those health problems. They want to help the students so along with the grade will be helpful health information to help the parents with their children’s “problem”. I can see Cartman taking his home to his mom and saying “I’m not fat. I’m big boned. They are just picking on me.” What’s next grading students for popularity?
