So, what now? I hate writing without a purpose, so I didn't want to just ramblog (ramble-blog, and yes, I made that word up). As much as I know you'd just love to hear about my progress with our high school musical preparations of Guys & Dolls, I figured I'd spare you. What I would like to talk about are some current events that I feel affect not only the world, but myself and my life as well. I hope you enjoy Hot Topic #1.
Teacher Suspended After Second-Graders Perform Sex Acts in Class
Yes, you read that correctly, and here's the link to the story: Can I say I'm outraged? No, not really. Not that I'm not upset, but that's not quite the right word to describe it. Disappointed, disgusted, perplexed- the list could go on and on. As a relatively new teacher I have a fairly recent memory of the classes and training I received in order to get my Bachelor's degree, so my reaction to this is more of a: How? How could any certified, reputable teacher not notice what is going on in his classroom? That being said, this Monday is my third and final observation as a first year tenure-track teacher, and in my pre-observation meeting I mentioned that my classroom management is a concern of mine. Before I become labeled a hypocrite, lets put these two situations into perspective.
As a chorus teacher, I often find myself doing two jobs at once: musician, and teacher. Relying on purely voices to create the music in our class, guess who gets to portray (a really REALLY bad impersonation of) Beethoven at the piano? Moi. I love teaching and I love music, but I often find myself struggling to do both justice when faced with my 60+ students in senior high chorus. I can't read piano music, turn pages, adequately listen, conduct, juggle flaming bowling pins AND be a fantastic disciplinarian at the same time. If I could, I could probably have landed a fantastic time slot on America's Got Talent, but it's just not in the cards...
...back to my point. Yes, I struggle to maintain a distraction-free environment while I'm working with my students, but when I see gum chewing- I address it. When I see cell phones- I confiscate them. I have trained myself to be able to know both my students and my environment to a degree that I can spot things while I am simultaneously sucking at piano and listening to my ensemble. Can I also take the time to say that my students ROCK and they usually don't present any catastrophic sorts of problems for me to address in the first place. Let's re-focus, though: 60 14-18 year old co-ed students going through puberty with an often times distracted teacher. It could, at times, get ugly.
Now, let's fast forward to the situation at hand. A second grade classroom in Oakland, California. There were TWO instances found of students performing sexual acts on each other. Really? REALLY?! Like one wasn't enough? The explanation from the teacher was that he did not see it happen, which in all honesty isn't that bad of a response when you think of what circumstances could have been, but is still not an excuse. Not at all. As someone who has willingly chosen to be an instructor, role model, and supervisor of young, impressionable minds it is his responsibility and job to make sure that things like this don't ever even have a foundation to begin, let alone occur in the classroom on two different occasions. There is not one moment where any of those students should have been out of his supervision, and the fact that they were for a long enough period of time to "experiment" is just plain lack of responsibility.
Maybe the kids saw it at home. Maybe they saw it on TV. Maybe they really wanted to experiment because they were very curious. All potentially true statements, however, the only definitive "maybe" in this situation is that just MAYBE, that teacher should have kept a close eye on his students. "Not seeing it" is not an excuse. If I assess that there are students missing that should be present, a big 'ol red flag jumps out at me and I take the necessary measures. I don't care how you spin it, he was just plain negligent and should be held responsible for not maybe what the students did, but that they had an opportunity to do so.
The word "teacher" is such an understatement. As I was taught in my methods classes, we wear many hats. We are teachers, but also disciplinarians, counselors, coaches, advisors, mediators, listeners, and supervisors. Any person that thinks for a second that teachers (and their actions, for that matter) do not have a lasting impression on their students need to take a large dose of reality, because this is what we sign up for when we get our degree. We help mold and shape our students to meet future challenges, (oh yes, I did just quote the General Brown mission statemet) and to be positive influences on society. Any lapse in our vigilance, no matter how brief, can have an effect on our students, and I sincerely hope that this teacher takes his (paid!) suspension to start thinking about other career options.
Could not agree with you more :)
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