Saturday, February 12, 2005
School daze
As the acknowledged know-all, tell-all pundit of all topics great and small, I am about to venture into an arena where even angels fear to tread, the field of elementary school education. This is where it all begins. Show me a kid who can't read by the time he graduates from elementary school and I will show you the next quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. The truth of the matter is that
most kids who fail to learn to read in the early years in grammer school don't make it through high school much less College. I contend that the most important
educational entity in our school system is the elementary grade school teacher,
because he or she must take the unfinished product , mold it and fine tune it into what hopefully will emerge into a useful member of society, a full blown,
functioning human being......and as any parent or teacher will tell you, that is no easy task.To begin with, the school day for elementary school children is too long. By the time the day is over, little tempers have frayed and little attention spans have gone the way of the dinosaur. The final hour of class for the teacher can be. a living..uh...heck.The kids are grumpy, the goodies handed out for good behavior are gone (bribes) and everybody has to go to the bathroom...
including the teacher.I know of an instance where a third grade teacher kept a jar of pennies and a gum ball machine on hand. She would dispense one penny at a time to each child who's behaviour warranted a reward (bribe) and allowed he or she to purchase a gum ball. One day a substitute teacher came to that class and when attempting to follow instructions regarding the gum ball/penny
jar proceedure lost control and ended up with twenty little gumball loaded.
pooched out cheeks blowing bubbles all over the place. That was one sorry substitute teacher. The fact that I was that substitute teacher is totally irrelevant.
These things don't usually happen until that final hour and I urge the school board to heed my words and lop off that final hour and give the kids and the teachers a break. It might just save America.
If any teachers or parents are planning to pay me a visit, be advised that I have
requested admission into the witness protection program.
George Morin
Auburn
most kids who fail to learn to read in the early years in grammer school don't make it through high school much less College. I contend that the most important
educational entity in our school system is the elementary grade school teacher,
because he or she must take the unfinished product , mold it and fine tune it into what hopefully will emerge into a useful member of society, a full blown,
functioning human being......and as any parent or teacher will tell you, that is no easy task.To begin with, the school day for elementary school children is too long. By the time the day is over, little tempers have frayed and little attention spans have gone the way of the dinosaur. The final hour of class for the teacher can be. a living..uh...heck.The kids are grumpy, the goodies handed out for good behavior are gone (bribes) and everybody has to go to the bathroom...
including the teacher.I know of an instance where a third grade teacher kept a jar of pennies and a gum ball machine on hand. She would dispense one penny at a time to each child who's behaviour warranted a reward (bribe) and allowed he or she to purchase a gum ball. One day a substitute teacher came to that class and when attempting to follow instructions regarding the gum ball/penny
jar proceedure lost control and ended up with twenty little gumball loaded.
pooched out cheeks blowing bubbles all over the place. That was one sorry substitute teacher. The fact that I was that substitute teacher is totally irrelevant.
These things don't usually happen until that final hour and I urge the school board to heed my words and lop off that final hour and give the kids and the teachers a break. It might just save America.
If any teachers or parents are planning to pay me a visit, be advised that I have
requested admission into the witness protection program.
George Morin
Auburn
