Texas High School Student Teacher Rant Goes Viral

[Howlett]

One of my good friends actually stood up in Geometry class and asked, "how will finding the area of the shaded part of a circle help me in life?" Obviously, no answer. The teacher just told him to see him after class lol.

Another one of my friends asked a question to clarify what the teacher was saying. The teacher responded with "Are you stupid?" and not in a playful tone either...dead serious, like:

I lost a lot of interest in high school and just graduated because there would have been hell to pay if I didn't (even though my parents did nothing to encourage me).

This is what school taught me: Students' only motivation to graduate should be to...graduate, go to college, get a job. And during all that time, they learn nothing about life or life skills. What they learn is how to find the area of the shaded part of a circle.

Welcome to life. Do you think our grandparents and great grandparents had a better education? I think not.

 

[Howlett]

Jesus H Christmas, no wonder people think kids are so entitled these days. "You're not teaching me good enough!"

You're lucky you're being taught at all. It's not a teachers job to force you to learn.

 

[DirtyHarry]

Welcome to life. Do you think our grandparents and great grandparents had a better education? I think not.

I'm well aware of what life I'm living in. Doesn't mean you can't desire something better...that doesn't mean "teach me better". It means "teach me **** that affects me and tell me why I should care"

 

[Howlett]

I'm well aware of what life I'm living in. Doesn't mean you can't desire something better...that doesn't mean "teach me better". It means "teach me **** that affects me and tell me why I should care"

You absolutely can, but don't expect it to be handed to you. Teachers generally say "Here is the information, do what you will with it."

Then when they fail, it's blame the teacher time.

 

[Howlett]

I'm well aware of what life I'm living in. Doesn't mean you can't desire something better...that doesn't mean "teach me better". It means "teach me **** that affects me and tell me why I should care"

That's the theme song of kids who don't want to learn. "Algebra...when will I ever use this?"

 

[DirtyHarry]

You absolutely can, but don't expect it to be handed to you. Teachers generally say "Here is the information, do what you will with it."

Then when they fail, it's blame the teacher time.

I understand it's not the teacher's fault most of the time, they get paid to say this and that. But take my teacher for example, she easily taught the curriculum and made us care enough to show up to class. It wasn't just Shakespeare and Great Gatsby with packets.

That is a rarity, but as I have learned, it is possible to make "bad students" care enough about something that even if they don't pass a class or aren't the smartest, they learn something that they can take out into the real world.

And I don't blame teachers all the time btw

 

[Darthphere]

What right thing? Disrupting a classroom to preach his rage?

Sorry. Eff that kid. Seems pretty damn selfish to me.

Its hilarious because you came in here and we're all like "Why is everyone jumping on and judging the teacher?" Yet, you have no problem judging the kid. What if the teacher was in the wrong here? I sure as hell don't know what the real story is here but your stance upon entering this thread is extremely hypocritical.

 

[DirtyHarry]

That's the theme song of kids who don't want to learn. "Algebra...when will I ever use this?"

You don't get it do you? EVERYONE asks this question, not just kids who "don't want to learn". It's just that most just shut up and pass the class without LEARNING anything. What they do is memorize, you memorize things you don't care about if they are crucial to reaching a certain "goal" you (or someone else) has set for yourself.

You LEARN things that interest you and you care about. Doesn't matter what it is, hell a lot kids know more about Star Wars than algebra even though they spend five days a week "learning" about it.

Most things I "learned" in High School have faded away.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Too bad that higher education comes at a steep cost.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well now to be fair, it's not like individual teachers set the curriculum. Your math teacher isn't the one making you do any of that. They're really just paid to prepare you for the tests. Now who the hell makes those tests– or rather, who decides what is on them is a very interesting question.

Don't shoot the messenger / person who is supposed to help you pass those stupid tests.

 

[DirtyHarry]

Yeah, the reason kids have to memorize all that is because of the people pulling the strings. Although some teachers just genuinely don't seem to care

 

[Alex_Spider]

America has a great reputation when it comes to higher education (universities), but schooling? Not so much. Finland is currently the world leader in that regard.

Thanks for clarifying

 

[Alex_Spider]

Too bad that higher education comes at a steep cost.

Really it is that high? You should see the Australian universities man. Got to be really rich to get a degree.

 

[Teelie]

It really is that high. Most students who go to college without a scholarship or grants, basically, anyone who pays their way, pays a lot. $40-50,000 or higher depending on the school. And it's often not worth the cost.

 

[Howlett]

Its hilarious because you came in here and we're all like "Why is everyone jumping on and judging the teacher?" Yet, you have no problem judging the kid. What if the teacher was in the wrong here? I sure as hell don't know what the real story is here but your stance upon entering this thread is extremely hypocritical.

Let's just say for the sake of argument this teacher is one of the bad ones. The video starts with the student standing by the door, on his way out. So he already did something disruptive enough to get the teacher to tell him to go to the office. He then proceeds to come back in and throw his little tantrum, disrupting the class even further and for longer. While what he's saying could possibly be true, that is absolutely the wrong way to go about it. So to me it comes off as less genuine and more an immature "Ill show you!" Rant.

So whether or not the teacher is a bad one, the student is clearly the instigator here. And again, it's not the teachers impossibly unrealistic job to entertain these kids and touch their hearts like in a Disney movie.

 

[Baramos]

Waiting for Superman is riddled with inaccuracies, and it has since been revealed that most of Michelle Rhee's supposed accomplishments in improving D.C. area schools can be attributed to widespread cheating and corruption on the part of administrators and teachers.

Charter schools rarely provide a better education for students, although the worst offenders are cyber charter schools, an ever-growing option here in PA, which provide a demonstrably WORSE education simply by the fact that students routinely shirk their work or have work completed by parents while they goof off. What was originally an idea which would be appealing to a minority of self-motivated students who were finding it difficult to excel in a public school environment has turned into a free-for-all, where failing students are enrolled in cyber charter schools and suddenly see a vast improvement in their grades that is obviously based on an invalid measure of their abilities.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Really it is that high? You should see the Australian universities man. Got to be really rich to get a degree.

Not saying it's worse than other counties, but many college students (including me) will be in thousands of dollars in debt. When I graduate. I'll be $50,000+ in debt. Many students are much worse than that with double that amount to the point where many people are asking if college is worth it financially, especially since it's tough to get a good paying post-graduate job.

 

[Baramos]

Price is why I chose a public university for my bachelor (Secondary Education). When I graduated I only had a loan to pay off of $15,000 or so. I'd say the total tuition couldn't have been much more than $25,000, although that's not including housing costs and gas and so on...I've only been able to find substitute work since besides so it was definitely the right move to do it as cheaply as possible. Pretty much everyone I graduated with either had to move to an entirely different state to find a full-time job or are stuck in the same kind of muddle as me, applying to every school in the hopes that when a position opens up, it isn't eliminated due to Corbett's draconian education cuts.

 

[Figs]

It really is that high. Most students who go to college without a scholarship or grants, basically, anyone who pays their way, pays a lot. $40-50,000 or higher depending on the school. And it's often not worth the cost.

So damn true.

My friend just graduated from the Academy of Arts in video game design.

I feel sorry for him because he owes in the range of what you posted and in this day and age, he didn't learn much more than people who download or buy some of those same design programs. He should have just went that route and spent hours teaching himself.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I think the whole attitude towards education needs to change. Curiosity should be encouraged. Parents need to be hands on in helping their kids with their school work and conveying to them the importance of learning. The kids need to be told that sometimes, its ok to not be entertained. Let's face it, not every student is going to be entertained by every subject. It is impossible to make that happen. Just because you find a subject boring doesnt make it go away. That's life.

Teachers also need to be genuinely interested in the subjects they teach. Hopefully, their enthusiasm will carry over to the students. I dont know what the teacher in the video is like but I really hope he or she was at least trying. If not, they need to be disciplined or removed. Students, parents and teachers need to be held responsible for kids education.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Waiting for Superman is riddled with inaccuracies, and it has since been revealed that most of Michelle Rhee's supposed accomplishments in improving D.C. area schools can be attributed to widespread cheating and corruption on the part of administrators and teachers.

Charter schools rarely provide a better education for students, although the worst offenders are cyber charter schools, an ever-growing option here in PA, which provide a demonstrably WORSE education simply by the fact that students routinely shirk their work or have work completed by parents while they goof off. What was originally an idea which would be appealing to a minority of self-motivated students who were finding it difficult to excel in a public school environment has turned into a free-for-all, where failing students are enrolled in cyber charter schools and suddenly see a vast improvement in their grades that is obviously based on an invalid measure of their abilities.

Where do you get your notion that many cyber students let their parents do their schoolwork?

I'm just curious.

 

[Victarion]

I've seen peer-reviewed articles about cyber students and cheating; it seems higher for them than students that're actually in the classroom.

You're right Hobgoblin. I hated my high school American History. My teacher just read verbatim from the textbook, so he lost me quick. I think being able to go deeper than what's the in the texts can help spark kids' interest in the subject. For example, if I'd known a bit about Native American culture and how it clashed with the settlers' culture, or maybe the Americans' mindset vs the British mindset around the Revolutionary War, I'd have been more interested.

 

[Howlett]

I've seen peer-reviewed articles about cyber students and cheating; it seems higher for them than students that're actually in the classroom.

You're right Hobgoblin. I hated my high school American History. My teacher just read verbatim from the textbook, so he lost me quick. I think being able to go deeper than what's the in the texts can help spark kids' interest in the subject. For example, if I'd known a bit about Native American culture and how it clashed with the settlers' culture, or maybe the Americans' mindset vs the British mindset around the Revolutionary War, I'd have been more interested.

The problem with that is that there is only so much time in a school year.
Teachers already have to cram so much information from the school curriculum into such a short time frame that there really isn't much room for anything else.

 

[Victarion]

The problem with that is that there is only so much time in a school year.
Teachers already have to cram so much information from the school curriculum into such a short time frame that there really isn't much room for anything else.

There was time to recap the ball games. But I do have friends who teach now; there is a ridiculous amount of paperwork they have to do for their superiors before they can start running their lessons.

 

[Howlett]

There was time to recap the ball games. But I do have friends who teach now; there is a ridiculous amount of paperwork they have to do for their superiors before they can start running their lessons.

Right. The teachers really don't have much of a say in what gets taught each year. The school board and board of education decides on the curriculum and what is to be taught.

Teachers can try to squeeze in extra lessons if they really want to, but there just isn't enough time for extra stuff, and if someone complains, they can get in trouble for that.