Monday, June 23, 2008

i'm just here for the pay check...

So this dates back to last week when Elliott came to share his poetry with our class. During his "presentation" he spoke openly about his disgruntled feelings concerning school and some of the teachers that he has had the (dis)pleasure of crossing paths with. One of his biggest complaints was this idea that teachers just "show up to get a paycheck" and they don't really care what happens to the students because they get paid either way. Well, last week (Friday it must have been) I was talking with some fellow teachers at my current job, and without prompting or prodding by yours truly, one of the teachers mentioned how sometimes they tell their 'slacker' students that its their decision to do the work or not because, at the end of the day, this teacher will get paid either way. I almost started laughing out loud. It is so ironic that after our discussions Thursday that one of my colleagues brought up this same idea and spoke about how they say this sometimes to their students. Knowing this teacher, I can see how this teacher would use this in a joking manner with students that they have built a relationship with. However, I can also see how students that didn't like this teacher (which I don't really know of any) could take this as ammunition to not like the teahcer. Anyways, thought it was ironic, thought I would share.

3 comments:

Genna said...

I can't believe they said that right after we were talking about it. When I was student teaching I definitely ran across some teacher who both their peers (the other teachers) and the students knew they didn't care too much. Students could even tell just from the lessons that were planned if the teacher put time and thought into their class.

Tamara Niquette said...

It's funny because I hope that Elliott and other kids from RCSD dont think that it's just their teachers - that it's just teachers from urban schools. I mean I'm from one of the least urban schools and I know many teachers who said that, even during classes and to our faces. I think it's bound to happen anywhere in the country and for some people, obviously, it's true. It's strange to me that, out of every career, someone would do it "just for the paycheck." Ha, they're not that big and it's not one of those jobs that are just easy to sit back, relax, and wait to get paid...

Heather said...

I just don't know what to say. Ugh. I can do any job "just for the paycheck."