U2democrat
Blue Crack Addict
who drives you more crazy...the students...or the parents?
Ask the Public School Teacher
- Thread starter Sherry Darling
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
OP
OP
Sherry Darling
New Yorker
Absolutely there were kids who got me out of bed in the AM. Lizzie, Libby, Lamar 
( whose father beat the out of him), Angelica, Glory, Chris who taught me a few guitar lessons after school (the suck up ), Jessie and Aaron, brothers in my drama class, and so many others...
Man I need to get my portfolio back out and look at it again.
I am most passionate about writing and literature. I was totally unprepared to teach writing especially. Lit. was a little better. I had to seek out my own training to teach writing. I agree with Martha--I don't think of teaching as a art or a science. It's a craft. There is genius, and instinct, in some, but it can be learned, too. Anyway, each new book for me is a new view of life. It challenges, inspires, touches and humanizes. And writing! Words are a playground, I would tell them. As I "unlearned" how it was supposed to be taught, and let me own common sense guide my lessons, I learned to trust my students' need to express themselves and their pride in a job well done. Slowly as I got better at this, and I still have a long way to go, we published and peer reviewed and they started to see writing as something they could use to have fun, express or explore an idea, or persuade.
Now you've got me going....I'll stop.
Final question: the parents always drive me more crazy.
( whose father beat the out of him), Angelica, Glory, Chris who taught me a few guitar lessons after school (the suck up ), Jessie and Aaron, brothers in my drama class, and so many others...Man I need to get my portfolio back out and look at it again.
I am most passionate about writing and literature. I was totally unprepared to teach writing especially. Lit. was a little better. I had to seek out my own training to teach writing. I agree with Martha--I don't think of teaching as a art or a science. It's a craft. There is genius, and instinct, in some, but it can be learned, too. Anyway, each new book for me is a new view of life. It challenges, inspires, touches and humanizes. And writing! Words are a playground, I would tell them. As I "unlearned" how it was supposed to be taught, and let me own common sense guide my lessons, I learned to trust my students' need to express themselves and their pride in a job well done. Slowly as I got better at this, and I still have a long way to go, we published and peer reviewed and they started to see writing as something they could use to have fun, express or explore an idea, or persuade.
Now you've got me going....I'll stop.
Final question: the parents always drive me more crazy.
U2democrat
Blue Crack Addict
Sherry Darling said:
Final question: the parents always drive me more crazy.
that's what i expected.
[Q]
Sorry, I have a few questions:
You have to sit for an exam prior to teachers college? Is this on top whatever High School exams you have to do?[/Q]
YES
[Q]What is MA? And you said for Elementary Certification. Is this for Primary School (teaching 4-12year olds) or something else?[/Q]
MA = Massachusetts
Primary school would be 1st grade through 6th grade or ages 5-12
[Q]Then when they take the content program after the provisional test, how long have they been studying? [/Q]
Content would be a test in your education specialty area....
[Q]When you get the provisional license do you have a Bachelor Degree at this stage or is the Master's and Bachelor degree all rolled into one? [/Q]
Provisional is Bachelor's Degree
[Q]Do you think doing all the additional work has helped you as a teacher or do you feel that teachers are born and the education is just an opportunity to develop resources for use in the classroom? [/B][/QUOTE]
As in any class it depended on the instructor. Some benefitte dme, and some, did not. I think people are BORN to teach. It is a gift that cannot be taught. I think the resources along the way help those born into it.
Sorry, I have a few questions:
You have to sit for an exam prior to teachers college? Is this on top whatever High School exams you have to do?[/Q]
YES
[Q]What is MA? And you said for Elementary Certification. Is this for Primary School (teaching 4-12year olds) or something else?[/Q]
MA = Massachusetts
Primary school would be 1st grade through 6th grade or ages 5-12
[Q]Then when they take the content program after the provisional test, how long have they been studying? [/Q]
Content would be a test in your education specialty area....
[Q]When you get the provisional license do you have a Bachelor Degree at this stage or is the Master's and Bachelor degree all rolled into one? [/Q]
Provisional is Bachelor's Degree
[Q]Do you think doing all the additional work has helped you as a teacher or do you feel that teachers are born and the education is just an opportunity to develop resources for use in the classroom? [/B][/QUOTE]
As in any class it depended on the instructor. Some benefitte dme, and some, did not. I think people are BORN to teach. It is a gift that cannot be taught. I think the resources along the way help those born into it.
Macfistowannabe said:
History, Reading, Math
I love helping students learn to LOVE reading. I feel I have done a decent job at it, when I get storuies about kids starting their own literature groups to continue reading in the summer.
History, because I love the history of the area I live in. There are so many resources to teach about the pilgrims and the revolution.
Math, because I have worked my ass off to become good at it.
U2Bama
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Otherwise it may have been quite innovative.
~U2Alabama
~U2Alabama
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
U2democrat said:
PARENTS!
hiphop
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Sherry Darling said:
What you also know Montessori!
omg you´re so intelligent.. I got a friend who is very much into Montessori´s methods. also another friend a social worker likes her.. ..however, sometimes I feel you know everything that I know :shy grin:
OP
OP
Sherry Darling
New Yorker
Thanks Hip hop--that made my day.
Do you think that too many kids are put on Ritalin just for being kids, and that it's overperscribed? In my kids' school it seems like half the kids are going to the clinic for their 'medication' 
I have volunteered a lot at the school in the past and it seems to me that it's handed out too easily and that maybe only 1 in 10 of these kids really needs it. I don't like it because I fear it leads to a life of chemical dependency. No, my kids are not on it and I wouldn't do it even if they asked me to. What is your opinion on this, hyperactivity and hyper medications?
I have volunteered a lot at the school in the past and it seems to me that it's handed out too easily and that maybe only 1 in 10 of these kids really needs it. I don't like it because I fear it leads to a life of chemical dependency. No, my kids are not on it and I wouldn't do it even if they asked me to. What is your opinion on this, hyperactivity and hyper medications?
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
U2Kitten said:Do you think that too many kids are put on Ritalin just for being kids, and that it's overperscribed? In my kids' school it seems like half the kids are going to the clinic for their 'medication'
This is a common misconception, although I'm sure it can happen at times. I wonder if the same parents who refuse to "medicate" their child would deny them heart medicine, insulin, etc. ADHD is a medical condition. It can be somewhat controlled through diet and behavior modification, but medication is the way to keep it under control. Many children will end up medicating themselves so they can maintain some self-control. ADHD left unchecked can lead to major self-esteem issues, it interferes with learning, and it interferes with appropriate social development. I would put my own child on ADHD meds in a heartbeat if I felt it would help him learn and develop appropriate social conduct.
OP
OP
Sherry Darling
New Yorker
Hi Kitty--I really have to confess that I don't at all feel qualified to answer that. I have my suspicions that it's overdiagnosed, but there are a lot of kids out there with problems that medicine can help, too. 
I feel like I'd need to know a lot more about neuroscience to answer....
I feel like I'd need to know a lot more about neuroscience to answer....Thanks Sherry! Martha, I know there are some kids who really need it, but the number of kids I see on it seems unusually high. Sorry but I am convinced some teachers want the kids medicated into being little zombies instead of kids. A few kids DO need it, I'm sure, but what I'm saying is that it seems to be way overused and in many cases the kids are just being kids. It's not natural for kids to sit down and behave, it doesn't have to mean there's anything wrong with them. They could just be brats, or could feel unchallenged by the work. I do believe in some cases the 'hyperactivity' is caused by diet and that can easily be controlled. But I hate to see so many kids on this stuff. I have to say I agree with Montel Williams (he's the one I got the one in ten number from) when he says how can you tell a kid to take their medicine, it will help you feel better, and then tell them that other drugs are 'bad' and they should learn to live without them? In our school, they had to change 'drug free school zone' and 'just say no' to add the word 'illegal' since so many kids asked about their drugs being bad. I just think there is way too much of it. No my kids have never been accused of hyperactivity or ADD and no I wouldn't deny them life saving medicines, I don't think anyone would except maybe someone with extreme religious beliefs.
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
I'm not going to fight. You asked my opinion and I gave it. 
I think it is OVER prescribed esp. to BOYS.
That said, I also agree with Martha that there are cases in which the child needs it.
It really needs to be done with the proper people involved in the decision making process.
I get really pissed when I am having NO management problems with a child in school, and they come in sluggish for a few days at which point I call home and find out that the child has been put on a drug because the parents cannot control their child at home.
That said, I also agree with Martha that there are cases in which the child needs it.
It really needs to be done with the proper people involved in the decision making process.
I get really pissed when I am having NO management problems with a child in school, and they come in sluggish for a few days at which point I call home and find out that the child has been put on a drug because the parents cannot control their child at home.
BostonAnne
Refugee
I was very hesitant to use any drug for ADHD, but after over a year of experimenting with small doses (My doctor wanted me to control the situation and I erred towards less) my daughter got the proper dose (by an neurologist). This school year, her social life has changed tremendously and I am thankful that she now has friends.
martha
Blue Crack Supplier
Dreadsox said:
This is such a pain. To find out the kid has been medicated and the parents don't tell the teacher!
They don't tell the person who is in charge of the child for six hours.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. We put Johnny on [stimulants, anti-depressants, Lithium, you-name-it] and we didn't tell you. In case he has a serious reaction to his meds, you won't know that he's on meds and will have no idea that it's a medical emergency."
DUH.
Quick question, might seem kind of strange.
Do you guys have stocks of epinephrine pens (needles) in your class?
There was a seminar done recently where an American Immunologist said that some counties have a rule that every child who carries an epi pen must have a double in the classroom and the teacher additionally has to have a number of extras present.
I ask because like Ritalin, this is one of those hotly debated "are we overreacting" topics in pediatric medicine today.
Do you guys have stocks of epinephrine pens (needles) in your class?
There was a seminar done recently where an American Immunologist said that some counties have a rule that every child who carries an epi pen must have a double in the classroom and the teacher additionally has to have a number of extras present.
I ask because like Ritalin, this is one of those hotly debated "are we overreacting" topics in pediatric medicine today.
Macfistowannabe
Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
I used to have a perscription for ritalin. I don't think it really did anything for me. Although I had a friend who was turned into a complete geek since he took it.
martha said:
Martha
Looping really helped me figure stuff like this out QUICKLY this year.
It also helped me in the opposite direction as well.....knowing really quickly that what we did last year, the kid stopped over the summer...
Abomb-baby
The Fly
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2004
- Messages
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What,s your opinion of uniforms in public schools? Would it make the learning environment better for you?
Dreadsox said:
I am not sure either, to be honest with you.
Certainly, peanut allergy is through the roof. It has become an epidemic.
The question that is being debated is whether all the children who are diagnosed with a peanut allergy and subsequently given epi pens have anaphylaxis. It's an interesting question.
Generally, pediatric (and adult) allergies are absolutely mind-boggling in the first world today.
A_Wanderer
ONE love, blood, life
I was presented with a choice when I was 12, to take medication to improve attention span etc or not. I decided not too and my mind caught up on it's own, I think that there are situations where such drugs are neccesary but I also think that often there is overmedication for "problems" that may be the way a childs mind matures.
fly so high!
Refugee
This is a very old thread, i know....but i stumbled across it as i was seraching for ADHD threads!
You see......just recently my little boy who will be starting kindy next year may have ADHD, i realise we need to get him assessed properly.....we kinda know deep down,think he has ADHD,the daycare has sort of touched on the subject before but i fobbed it off thinking they were over reacting, after all he was only 4yrs old at the time and what kid at his age listens when he is spoken too!
But to make it even more worrying is the fact that many teachers believe that ADHD does not exist, some say it's not real and that it is only a term used for mis-behaving kids....see that's the thing.....My son is'nt the naughty type, he is active but not extremely exhaustive! He will be turning 5 shortly and i'm wondering from a teacher's perspective is medication the way to go, do the children on medication perform better at school?
We will be seeing the GP this week for a referall.
You see......just recently my little boy who will be starting kindy next year may have ADHD, i realise we need to get him assessed properly.....we kinda know deep down,think he has ADHD,the daycare has sort of touched on the subject before but i fobbed it off thinking they were over reacting, after all he was only 4yrs old at the time and what kid at his age listens when he is spoken too!
But to make it even more worrying is the fact that many teachers believe that ADHD does not exist, some say it's not real and that it is only a term used for mis-behaving kids....see that's the thing.....My son is'nt the naughty type, he is active but not extremely exhaustive! He will be turning 5 shortly and i'm wondering from a teacher's perspective is medication the way to go, do the children on medication perform better at school?
We will be seeing the GP this week for a referall.
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