How did *I* become a teacher?

[akdonn]

Ok, so when I was in school I thought teachers were mostly stupid. They went to high school until they managed to get a diploma, then they went to college for four years, and then a couple of years in "teacher training" and they were qualified to teach ME everything *I* needed to know for becoming part of society? I don't think so...

Fortunately I lived in Alaska, and back then it was still more of a frontier atmosphere where a smart kid could get into stuff; I wrote letters to the editor, and after I graduated from high school I got to know some political officials, and hung around Bush Pilot businesses. My dad kicked me out of the house at age 17 and that was really a fortunate break because I built a camper on the back of my old pickup truck, moved in and ended up going to Anchorage Community College.

As luck should have it, I became active in college and by the time I finished my bachelor degree I was also a full reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. Then I started my own publishing and public relations company from scratch, doing political campaigns and advertising-supported publications, and sold it at a profit after six years to become an aide to a legislator. I moved to the capital of Alaska, Juneau, where I lived on a sailboat and worked a number of office jobs. Ultimately I took classes in automotive technology, marine technology, and took classes until I had a Master's Degree and a teaching certificate! I worked in traditional "big box" schools in Juneau and Anchorage, but now I work in a High School Completion Program for kids who need a diploma but don't suceed in regular school.

I hope I can be a reference for members of this forum.

[Darthmat]

This is very interesting, and i know for a fact that an insight from someone with that kind of a job will definatley help this forum.

BUT ENOUGH SERIOUSNESS!!! LET US BATTLE WITH LARGE TROUTS!!!!!

[youvebeenthunderstruck]

Hi, thanks very much for joining. It really is appreciated, and I say this not as an admin (we're very loose here as far as administration goes), but as a member of the site. Teachers never join here, except to post comments in the articles section, but they leave the forums alone where honest debate takes place.

It would be great if you could inform other teachers you know that the invitation is always open to come visit the forum. Written debate is always better than spoken debate, because you're given more time to think. It's very rare that the students are adequately represented, and if we can't do this in a school system we can at least do so on a forum. Basically, we'd like opinions.

So, hi.

[arthasmenethil]

Hi. If you do tell other teachers about this site, please make sure they have an open mind. I hate seeing biased comments.

[Evasion]

Welcome.

[Darthmat]

christillusion Wrote:Hi. If you do tell other teachers about this site, please make sure they have an open mind. I hate seeing biased comments.

That's why they should come here, so we can show them teh oher side.

[youvebeenthunderstruck]

christillusion Wrote:Hi. If you do tell other teachers about this site, please make sure they have an open mind. I hate seeing biased comments.

WE are biased. The site is geared to people who hate school.

Any teacher, tell them to come here. Politely, of course. Say we would really love to have them.

[akdonn]

Did I mention that I *still* think a lot of teachers are stupid?

[Darthmat]

Yes, i think you did.

But don't feel pressured into making yourself sound so anti-school for our sakes. I am not saying you were just there but that's what it seemed like.

[akdonn]

Actually, I love school. But school is a state of mind. If you can learn from your environment, that can be school If you pursue interests that teach you to do things, that is school. Even people who are put in prison are in a kind of school--the school of hard knocks.

The secret to school is: Think like they do, then out-think 'em!

[youvebeenthunderstruck]

akdonn Wrote:Actually, I love school. But school is a state of mind. If you can learn from your environment, that can be school If you pursue interests that teach you to do things, that is school. Even people who are put in prison are in a kind of school--the school of hard knocks.

The secret to school is: Think like they do, then out-think 'em!

Look, many people who go to prison don't actually learn from their actions. And as the current legal structure is set up, somebody who is doing no harm is going to get imprisoned unfairly anyway. The way I see prison is that it's simply a detention center so that the person can do no more harm to the world temporarily, not for a learning experience, although any experience can be a learning one regardless of anything.

It's true that school is a state of mind, but I don't think you need to be forced to go there for 12 years, to sit and suffer (not all kids suffer, but a fair number do, and I don't think it's right) under one model, when it has been established that everybody has different interests, learns at a different speed, and is just, well, different. It's also true that you can make school easier if you think it's easier. This is what every motivational speaker who comes to any school says. But honestly, if you keep telling people that, nothing gets done. Somebody has to say "this isn't good enough".

School does not equal education.

[Halla]

The best argument against school isn't that you can't learn; it's the moral argument. The state is forcing children to go to a place against their will with a gun pointed to their head.

[arthasmenethil]

I am against school, but I would still go if it wasn't required. I have a lot of friends at school.

[akdonn]

No question about it, the state forces us to do all kinds of stuff and if we don't do certain things there are consequences. But, I frankly see school as the last *free* thing anybody gets from government. Once you are out of public school, you can only pay for what the state imposes on you from then on.

At the "school" where I work in Downtown Anchorage we are simply providing a meaningful approach to education for students who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education--in a way that suits their lifestyle or circumstances. Alaska pays a lot of money per kid to provide education and the big box schools gobble up the money and fart out some kids who go somewhere and a bunch who don't. We have homeless kids, kids who hate school and quit, and kids who cannot succeed in the traditional format, and we get "home school" funds to help them succeed. By individualizing their program they choose what kind of learning they want to do to qualify for the same diploma everybody else gets, but it is done through an alternative route of their own design.

In a way it is kind of challenging the traditional model directly.

[Halla]

akdonn Wrote:who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education

No one is entitled to anything, be it health care, "social security", or government indoctrination.

[Bob Dole]

Ah. Hello, hello. Welcome to School Survival. Just some things you should know: Ignore the idiots who might attack you simply because you're a teacher and support school. Like any other forum, we get our fair share of idiots. Other than that, most of our members are fairly to very intelligent and a few are geniuses in their own right. You'll be debated about some things, and if somebody says something stupid that ticks you off, don't sweat it. Your beliefs will be challenged and occasionally insults will fly. Just try to stay away from the stupidity and you'll be fine. Other than that, welcome aboard.

[akdonn]

Thank you for the welcomes. I have been monitoring this forum for quite some time and have a pretty good grasp on the general tenor. Let me say, when I was a youth I was very outspoken and "anti-establishment." I experienced the Alaska Earthquake and flew to several outlying areas immediately after the shaking quit. I did a lot of crazy shit; over one summer I hitch-hiked for Alaska to New York and back over the Trans-Canada highway. I challenged authority, and sometimes I said stuff when I didn't know what I was talking about. Throughout school my parents told me that if I got a spanking at school then I could expect another one when I got home, and that happened on several occasions.

Today I hear a lot of adults talk about the "bubble wrap" children, who are spoiled rotten because their parents coddle them and don't make real demands of them. Has my generation, and the generations that have followed, created a bunch of brats who won't be able to maintain the levels of intelligence and "can-do" resourcefulness to maintain our standard of living as the major population centers (China, India, Russia, the Middle East, etc.) begin to challenge our national values? How can the investment we as a society make in public education be re-focused to raise our future potential for peace and prosperity in an ever-more dangerous world?

I agree that our education system is flawed, and I have studied a lot of the thinking that has been the basis for our education system in the United States. I also worked as an advocate for public education to the Alaska Legislature, where we argued for millions of dollars to build schools and provide programs for hundreds of rural communities--as well as the big population centers in our state which is 1/5 the size of the entire continental U.S.

When I was a kid living in rural Alaska (Yakutat) we had two one-room schools; one for the white kids and one for the Natives until 8th grade. Because we had no high school I had to leave my family at age 15 and go to Washington where I lived in an apple-picker cabin and went to school for my freshman and half of my sophomore years. When I returned because my family moved back to Anchorage I had changed. In Anchorage I finished high school exactly in the middle of my class and have had three 10-year class reunions since then. How amazing to see how people change when they have to deal with the realities of life after school!

[thewake]

Hello, welcome to this forum.

I've got to say that you seem to be a reasonable person (of course 6 posts is all you have, time will tell). I'll tell you this:
You seem to be the kind of person that wants to keep America "on top". You know, keep us with the highest GDP, biggest army, the best of the best. You want to do this through schools, right? Well, I don't.

I actually don't want us to be the biggest and best, in my opinion the entire country should split into a few smaller ones. It would allow us more safety from becoming a giant Empire, and I don't want the Man eating up my taxes when I'm older just to send some kids to school. That's the parent's job. Heck, the "can do" resourcefulness wasn't derived from the sterile environment we call "educational" centers no matter what form they may take place. It was derived from wisdom and "good ole American know how" gotten from experience. Of course since we've Americanized the world it's more of a universal thing now, isn't it?

And I would rather deal with the realities of life after school, at least it is real. At least I can choose to work or starve. What choice does school give me? Heck, I can't even choose to sit or stand. Sometimes I dream of grabbing my Bible and a pocket knife and running away. At least I would be free, and the way I see it: There is no such thing as too much freedom.

Sorry if I ranted, I just wanted to give you a feel of my views. Of course if you've been monitoring these forum, you may already know them.
Good luck with those kids, maybe you can be the person that understands them, and makes a difference for them.

[akdonn]

It's true, I work with kids who realize they are better off having a high school diploma than a GED. They have found out what "life after school" is all about without having finished what they started and they only have a small window of opportunity to 'get 'er done! Some of them want to finish high school so they can join the military.

Neither my brother or sister graduated from high school, and their kids are now having kids who are not going to graduate either. They are satisfied to work in menial, service jobs and live from payday to payday spending money on toys and eating fast-foods. They have a very shallow view of the history of our country, are vulnerable to every scam, and seem to think the life we live is guaranteed forever. This lower class has little to contribute to society and throughout history such people have been expendable when push came to shove.

The year I graduated from High School men landed on the moon--a major achievement by any standard. I have watched Alaska go from a poor state where the government took the first $20 of every working person's paycheck in January for a "school fund" to being rich beyond most people's imagination! Alaska has some $30 billion in a savings account from oil development, and the state government sends everybody an annual check ($1,500+ this year) once they have lived here at least one year. In addition to being a very great blessing, this bounty also comes with some future obligations, in my opinion. Doesn't it seem reasonable that without well educated Alaskans running the state that money will just become a target for every rip-off artist in the world?

I think education is the only protection we have, but some people are going to "get it" and some aren't! Regardless of how you feel about traditional education, the real question is how are we going to maintain our freedom and standard of living--or would you rather be a slave?

[Darthmat]

Halla Wrote:

akdonn Wrote:who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education

No one is entitled to anything, be it health care, "social security", or government indoctrination.

According to the government, no. According to basic human rights and decencies, yes.

[SoulRiser]

About 5 hours ago I was replying to this thread when the power went off... so, let's try this again

Welcome

Sounds like you've had quite an interesting life up til now.

Quote:Actually, I love school. But school is a state of mind.

I like learning stuff, but I don't like to call it "school", because people will get confused and think I'm talking about that building that people get forced into every day

Quote:But, I frankly see school as the last *free* thing anybody gets from government.

Yay, free torture! (Sorry, couldn't resist). It's like that other guy said at some point... where was it again... ah, here it is. That's one way of making the best of a situation you'd prefer not to be in
At least after school, you get paid to do stuff you don't want to do. Sure, you still have to pay the government, but at least you can switch jobs if you want to. Maybe you even get a job you like

Quote:I did a lot of crazy shit; over one summer I hitch-hiked for Alaska to New York and back over the Trans-Canada highway.

Crazy shit is fun

Quote:sometimes I said stuff when I didn't know what I was talking about.

I think everybody does that sometimes.... it's just that some people never stop

Quote:Today I hear a lot of adults talk about the "bubble wrap" children, who are spoiled rotten because their parents coddle them and don't make real demands of them.

My parents never "demanded" much from me. I don't think I'd have handled it very well if they did, I was very sensitive from being bullied all the time at school. I'm mostly over it now, and while I'm glad my parents were so supportive, I'm tired of being dependent on other people, so I'm changing that. I don't like the term "spoiled rotten".

Quote:How amazing to see how people change when they have to deal with the realities of life after school!

True that. Maybe if they were exposed to the realities of life sooner, they'd learn to deal with it sooner, and ultimately make more progress in their lives.

Quote:They have found out what "life after school" is all about without having finished what they started and they only have a small window of opportunity to 'get 'er done!

Not really. Anyone can go back and do school later if they want, but you only get one childhood. It's all good and well to finish what you started, if it matters to you. If it's just something someone forced on you, then it's not some fancy honourable act after all.

Quote:Regardless of how you feel about traditional education, the real question is how are we going to maintain our freedom and standard of living--or would you rather be a slave?

I'm not sure what you mean by that?

[HeartofShadows]

Welcome to the party!
I have met some teachers in my life that were not to into school so your not the enemy or any of that wishwash just because you are a teacher.

[Halla]

darthmat Wrote:

Halla Wrote:

akdonn Wrote:who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education

No one is entitled to anything, be it health care, "social security", or government indoctrination.

According to the government, no. According to basic human rights and decencies, yes.

It's the other way around.

[Darthmat]

Halla Wrote:

darthmat Wrote:

Halla Wrote:

akdonn Wrote:who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education

No one is entitled to anything, be it health care, "social security", or government indoctrination.

According to the government, no. According to basic human rights and decencies, yes.

It's the other way around.

Ok, politicians claim what you say is true but it's not.

[Halla]

darthmat Wrote:

Halla Wrote:

darthmat Wrote:

Halla Wrote:

akdonn Wrote:who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education

No one is entitled to anything, be it health care, "social security", or government indoctrination.

According to the government, no. According to basic human rights and decencies, yes.

It's the other way around.

Ok, politicians claim what you say is true but it's not.

You're confusing me. Politicians created social security, health care, and public schooling. How can you say that they are against all these things?

[Darthmat]

Halla Wrote:

darthmat Wrote:

Halla Wrote:

darthmat Wrote:

Halla Wrote:

akdonn Wrote:who are entitled to an education--with standards set by a state board of education

No one is entitled to anything, be it health care, "social security", or government indoctrination.

According to the government, no. According to basic human rights and decencies, yes.

It's the other way around.

Ok, politicians claim what you say is true but it's not.

You're confusing me. Politicians created social security, health care, and public schooling. How can you say that they are against all these things?

The ycreated it, but do you see everyone getting health care and social security who needs it? And about the public school system....

[thewake]

akdonn Wrote:I think education is the only protection we have, but some people are going to "get it" and some aren't! Regardless of how you feel about traditional education, the real question is how are we going to maintain our freedom and standard of living--or would you rather be a slave?

The fact is the way school is now education doesn't teach you to be open minded, it controls your thoughts and is basically here to teach you to do the simplest of academia and hate learning. People in government realize an educated populace is hardly a manageable one. Whether in a democracy or not. So they fill our heads with progovernment propaganda.
i.e. Drugs are Bad, Abstinence Only, School School Spirit(only a precursor to blind loyalism to the gov't), etc.
And no matter whether I agree or disagree with the stuff like that they teach or not that is up to the kid to adopt as a belief and the parent to teach to them. Not the schools.

People need to be antigovernment and antiauthoritarian to preserve freedom, but how can that happen when the very schools set out to "protect" freedom are controlled by the ever expanding bureaucracy and the politicians(the majority of which are power hungry scum), something adamantly opposed to freedom.

The only answer: Privatize them and separate them completely from government subsidies, wages would potentially rise and school would be more efficient.

Actually we should privatize nearly everything, but that's just my opinion.

[Alucard483]

How long has this topi cbeen dead? It says since nov 2 for mea dn i know thats not right. Anyway welcome to the forum. I know exactly what you mean by bubble wrap children. I compleatly agree with your theory about them as well. By any chance are you a republican?

[hellfire]

akdonn Wrote:Ok, so when I was in school I thought teachers were mostly stupid. They went to high school until they managed to get a diploma, then they went to college for four years, and then a couple of years in "teacher training" and they were qualified to teach ME everything *I* needed to know for becoming part of society? I don't think so...

Fortunately I lived in Alaska, and back then it was still more of a frontier atmosphere where a smart kid could get into stuff; I wrote letters to the editor, and after I graduated from high school I got to know some political officials, and hung around Bush Pilot businesses. My dad kicked me out of the house at age 17 and that was really a fortunate break because I built a camper on the back of my old pickup truck, moved in and ended up going to Anchorage Community College.

As luck should have it, I became active in college and by the time I finished my bachelor degree I was also a full reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. Then I started my own publishing and public relations company from scratch, doing political campaigns and advertising-supported publications, and sold it at a profit after six years to become an aide to a legislator. I moved to the capital of Alaska, Juneau, where I lived on a sailboat and worked a number of office jobs. Ultimately I took classes in automotive technology, marine technology, and took classes until I had a Master's Degree and a teaching certificate! I worked in traditional "big box" schools in Juneau and Anchorage, but now I work in a High School Completion Program for kids who need a diploma but don't suceed in regular school.

I hope I can be a reference for members of this forum.

think you can get the blue prints for any school