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Thursday, October 18, 2007
Have You Visited A Classroom Lately?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I recently attended an excellent workshop for ninth-grade social studies teachers in Atlanta Public Schools.
The workshop provided us the opportunity to share the best practices for teaching our children and also gave me a chance to soak up more information from my intelligent colleagues, who are masters of their subject.
Afterward, I began to wonder: Why do so many people have negative feelings about teachers?
I have taught in three different school systems, and all I hear from non-educators is about how inadequate we are. That really upsets me.
Although there are a few bad teachers (just like any profession), good to great teachers are the majority. We are not the sole reason some of our students are not achieving at high rates.
I am not here to bash or blame parents, but do not expect your child to succeed based on the teachers’ efforts alone.
How many times have you actually contacted your child’s teachers? How many times have you sat down with your children and probed their minds to see what they are learning?
Teachers consistently try to better themselves so students can achieve great things. Excellent teachers come from rural, suburban and urban classrooms. And they have the intelligence, the patience and the love for a job that blames them for situations out of their control.
I ask you: Have you visited a classroom lately?
Today’s guest blogger has taught for eight years in schools in Baton Rouge, Houston, and metro Atlanta. To be a guest blogger here, send an e-mail on any education topic to bgutierrez@ajc.com. Please include the words “guest blog” in the e-mail’s subject field.
