Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Week 4 - Professionalism in Teaching
Now that you have read chapter 2 about the professionalization of teaching and we discussed a few of the issues in class, I would like for you to reflect upon your 13+ years of schooling and the examples your teachers have set for you. You need to think of a time, experience, or memory of a teacher doing or saying something that exemplified that he/she was truly a well-respected professional. OR you can write about a time, experience, or memory of a teacher doing or saying something that was not professional. Do not use names when you are talking about this teacher. It can be a simple issue like "One of my high school teachers always wore shorts to school." Or it can be a complex issue such as "One of the high school teachers used to go to student parties on the weekend and drink alcohol in front of the students." After you state the issue, type a few sentences about why you thought it was professional or unprofessional and how it affected your learning. Please be sensitive to the fact that this topic is very subjective. Something you might think is unprofessional another person might think is not a big deal. Let's be aware of people's differing opinions. We need to make sure we keep this post PROFESSIONAL:-)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My sophomore year of high school I had what I, and many of my classmates, would call an unprofessional teacher. This teacher was letting her personal issues enter the classroom and definitely caused a distraction. Almost every time the class met, this teacher would give us worksheets and then exit the classroom to the hall and talk on the class phone or sometimes their personal cell phone. This probably wouldn't have been as big of an issue if this teacher had not gone to the hall to usually yell or use foul language to the person they were talking to. Also, this yelling on the phone almost every time during class went on for up to half of the class period. I think this majorly affected learning the material because we were always given multiple stacks of worksheets to almost teach ourselves instead of being educated, and during tests it became impossible at times to concentrate because the teacher was in the hall yelling.
ReplyDeleteHeather M....
ReplyDeleteWOW that is ridiculous! Do you know if that teacher is still teaching at your high school?
I can't remember any of my teachers that acted unprofessional, but I did have a few who dressed unprofessionally. They just looked like they rolled out of bed and put absolutely no effort/thought into how they looked. I think you need to look professional because its a way to distinguish yourself from your students. If you look professional you will get the respect you want.
ReplyDeleteI also had a teacher who dressed very unprofessionally. This teacher wore crocs to school every day. This bothered my classmates and I especially since the school I went to required us to wear strict uniforms. If we are supposed to dress up to a certain standard why shouldn't our teachers?
ReplyDeleteI had a teacher in high school who was just out of grad school and he graduated from our high school. He let us call him by a nickname his friends called him, some people even called him by his first name. He had coached many of the boys at basketball camps when he was in college so he was always "gossiping" with them about sports and other school activities during class. Random students would skip their regular classes to come hang out in our room, there was a constant flow of students in and out of the room. I had him two semesters in a row. He had apparently been talked to by someone about how he was being unprofessional by having friend relationships with his students instead of teacher-student relationships and he completely changed. He wouldn't let anyone call him anything over than Mr. H and the only time people were allowed to talk about anything other than algebra was after school. He still made it fun but he had definitely switched over to being professional. It was a very different atmosphere during the second semester and I feel like I learned more than during first semester.
ReplyDeleteAlex...
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, if the students have a dress code than teachers should have to follow a similar or stricter one. The students shouldn't look nicer than their teachers.
I had a teacher in middle school that would throw markers across the room. One time this teacher through the marker and it hit a students in the face. As a teacher you do not know how well a student can catch even if you are a good thrower. I do not think it is professional to throw things across the room because this is what can happen. As a teacher you could easily injure a student.
ReplyDeleteHeather M.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that going and yelling in the hall is very unprofessional, but I also think it is unprofessional to use your cell phone in school. If the students get in trouble all the time for using them I don't think the teachers should be able to use them constantly as well.
In High School I had a teacher that was more interested in talking with the students about their personal lives and sharing their own personal stories than in teaching the class. When I was in school I found this entertaining but now that I look back I realize that it was very unprofessional. Our class was always behind and we really did not learn the material that we were supposed to. When it came time for tests, the whole class would struggle so the teacher would just curve all the grades. This class was a joke and none of the students really learned anything
ReplyDeleteI had a literature teacher last semester that would enjoy commenting on everyone’s thoughts in class. Sometimes the comments he made were inappropriate for a class room. Although many of the students would laugh I believed that there is a fine line between having fun with the students and going to far. The incident I thought was very un appropriate for class was after a girl answered a question about the reading odyssey the teacher replied with a sexual comment as a joke. The whole class got quiet. I thought that even though he was trying to be funny. The teacher needs to think about what he’s going to say to the students before he blurts out and inappropriate comments.
ReplyDeleteJamie
ReplyDeleteI think what your teacher did was as well. Throwing things across the room sets an bad example for the studnets. As a teacher you must always think about what you are going to do before you do it. All it takes is one mess up by the teacher and the school can get in major trouble.
Kelly...
ReplyDeleteI also had a teacher like that in High School but it was woman. The same situation happened and the second semester that she was there the head Principle had a talk with her and then she changed. It is fun having a teacher like that for a little but then it gets out of hand.
I also had a teacher that I thought conducted her class very unprofessionally. The teacher would come in to class a few minutes after the bell, give out a book assignment, and then talk to their favorite students about all the high school drama going on that day. So we were having to teach ourelves the school work while the teacher and couple of students would sit around her desk and not do the assignment. As long as she was going to gossip with them she should have made them turn in the homework assignment for the day to be somewhat fair to the other students but she didn't. I felt like it was very unprofessional the way she acted.
ReplyDeleteEileen...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It was fun having a teacher like that, but in retrospect I see that I really didn't learn much in that class besides for what people did that weekend. And my teacher also had to grade the tests on a curve to have everyone do well because of the fact that we were all social and had little education mixed in.
There was a teacher that many people at my highschool that many students thought acted unprofessional by invading students personal lifes and talked behind students back.Don't get me wrong the teacher was a nice person and did also help students out.A lot of students really looked up to the teacher.Sometimes the teacher just tried to help students in need but would sometimes would get to personal with the student when some students didn't want the teacher to get overly involved.I liked this teacher and was also a coach of mine so we had a could personal relationship but I felt sometimes he was unprofessional when he did that.When I am a teacher/coach I will never talk bad to my students about other students and so much invade their personal life.
ReplyDeleteEileen,
ReplyDeleteI agree I think teachers talking and invading students personal lives is very unprofessional.
As an athlete I spent many long hours in the Training room doing rehab. There was this one in particular trainer who did act very professional. While doing stretches, he would explain what he was going to do then do it. Made me feel more comfortable and I never felt as if he was invading my space.
ReplyDeleteEmily:
ReplyDeleteWow, is that teacher fired yet? haha she should not be teaching if she just wants to be involved in the "high school drama"
my junior year i had a young algebra teacher that just got his degree. for the first part of the year he would always boast about how hard he partied in college, and also made marijuana references frequently. because of this not many students took him very seriously so when he tried to get us to buckle down and do some work no one was interested because they took the class as a joke.
ReplyDeleteemily,
ReplyDeletei've never had a teacher gossip with other students, that's kind of funny to think about. it sounds like she acted more like a student then a teacher.
All through my years in school every teacher i can remember having were quite professional. Atleast in a sense that they were not unprofessional. I mean the most unprofessional thing i sit through is when teachers play favorites which would kind of drive me up the wall. But i knew it and the other students knew it, making it quite funny, and the teacher lookin maybe a hint of silly.
ReplyDeleteI had a teacher who was very inappropriate in class he would be very inappropriate towards girls he would stare at there cleavage and would tell guys who asked a question to figure it out on our own and he would do the whole problem for the girls except write the answer and he would help whatever girl was wearing the skimpiest outfit that day.
ReplyDeleteEileen, I also had the same kind of teacher. And just like you, at the time it was entertaining, and whether or not the knowledge i missed out on would be super useful, i think i did miss out on alot. I think that conversation like that would be okay every so often, or for a couple minutes out of the day, but need to concentrate on getting out the curriculum
ReplyDeleteMy high school coach for cross country was very professional when it came down to our training...he did not have any favorites like some coaches are.my coach always put the top runners on the varsity squad based on their ability not on age.he was always fair about things he never choose favorites he treated everyone the the same..he cared about his runners and well being..i became real close to him and not he is on of my best friends...he was hard on me when i needed it and treated me like his son. even when he treated me as his son he never treated everyone the same..one of the most professional person that i had the privilege to have met..
ReplyDeleteAna i totaly agree with you in the professionalism that the trainers in our school showed.For the most part they did a great job and handled the situations the right way...i guess we can say that we where fortunate to had have good trainers...
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that teachers need to dress professionally... I have a professor that dresses completely unprofesoinal! It is distracting to me..he always wears wrinkled and untucked shirts and it does not project the type of professionalism that I think a teacher, especially at the college level should project.
One of my absolute favorite teachers ever models the type of teacher I want to be. She was always very appropriate with her dress, conversations with students, and her personal life out of school. I think that it is important for teachers to keep their personal lives in check because it can do major damage to their professional lives. Anyway, this teacher was always kind and considerate especially when dealing with sensitive topics. I really admire her for her quality teaching skills.
ReplyDeleteI had a teacher in high school that would just pop a movie in or give us a worksheet and then play games on her computer the whole class period. The only thing I learned in that class were some vocab words we had to do for busy work while she would sit and not pay attention to us. I thought it was very unprofessional and if she did not want to teach, why become a teacher?
ReplyDeleteKellen, I also had a teacher like that and it was really annoying. It was always the girls with short shirts on that got payed attention to and it was disgusting to see a teacher flirting with his students.
ReplyDeleteWhen i was in high school, there was a teacher that would constantly pick favorites in his class. he was the teacher that was in charge of STUCO, and helped the class president run graduation. So while he ran all of these things, he would always talk to certain people in the club, mainly girls. i have always that that it was very paculiar that he always did this, and many other students thought so to. I believe that when you are a teacer, you know that students will make assumptions like this, i know now that these accusations are not true, but at the time i did not. When i become a teacher, i will make sure that i have a good relationship with my students, but also have that space that is clear to all other students with both teachers and students.
ReplyDeleteJamie,
ReplyDeleteI no those kind of teachers, i had a teacher that would put a movie in and sy "i have a headache, so everyone shutup and watch this movie". and i agree, teachers like that are very lazy and not well prepared.
I have never really had a teacher who was not professional. Most of my teachers were very professional. I did have one teacher in highschool who would use some inaproperiate language in class or throw some things at kids who were sleeping or not paying attention. Although this person would do these things occasionally, everyone loved the teacher and enjoyed the class. This person was a great teacher and it didn't affect my learning or anyone elses learning at all, their teaching ways were just a little unorthodox.
ReplyDeletewill,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Most of my teachers were very professional but some did play favorites. The students could usually tell which did make it funny but it would affect the students learning a little bit.
Monica Granda...
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if the teacher is still at my high school, if they are hopefully they have changed their ways!
Instead of talking about a teacher, I wanted to share a story about one of my middle school principals. He was very unprofessional and kept it a secret for many years. Luckily, one day, a student came open about one of his experiences in the pricipal's office, and so the principal was arrested on the spot for forcing sexual acts with a minor. It was a major deal in the community. Multiple news casts came to the school that week and interviewed many people. Through out the week, more and more students confessed that they were also forced into sexual acts with the principal. This whole situation was very disturbing and embarrassing for everyone that was associated with the school. For a while it remained as a "Top Story" on many news channels, therefore our school was the butt of every joke. No parent wanted to send their child to the school any more which was ashame because our school was ranked pretty high with academic standards. Seeing everything that had to happen due to the actions of a perverted, old man has taught me a lot. I realised there must be a strict boundary line between the relationship of a student and teacher and must be kept conservative and professional-like. If the line is ever crossed, there will be serious consequences.
ReplyDeleteJamie S....
ReplyDeleteI had a similar situation in high school! Also, I like your statement that if a teacher is just going to pop in a movie and not want to teach, why be a teacher?
Jaime S,
ReplyDeleteI, also, have had a teacher that should not have chosen to be in the education field. My teacher would ask us just about every day what we felt like doing in her class that day. Of coarse none of the students would want to do work so she let us play Scategories, then, she would sit at her desk for the remainder of the hour and text. The only thing I learned in that class, was the way to not teach. She was never prepared with lessons so therefore, our so-called "Honors" class was quite a joke.
During my senior year of high school one of the art teachers in my school was having a relationship with one of my friends who was also a senior. When administration found out he was fired but other than that no action was taken against him and there is nothing stopping him for getting another teaching job. I though it was ridiculous that he was still able to go out and find a new job as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteLike ashley and jamie i have also had teachers that were not cut out to be teachers, my math teacher would always give us permission to text and make phone calls during class s well as tell us stories about the dates she was going on and the guys she was talking to. Very rarely did we ever do math and at the end of the year everyone in our class failed the final.
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteI can't stand teachers like that! Some teachers think they can fix all of the students problems and the learning experiences of the other students suffer when they don't get the appropriate amount of attention. I had a teacher almost exactly like the one you described. I felt like I had a lot to learn from this teacher, but he was always too busy chatting it up with popular girls.
I had a teacher that showed up to the hospital for a friend of mine last year. She conducted herself as if she was at the school, and didn't let her own emotions spill onto the already tense atmosphere. She stayed very strong for the rest of the students who needed it. I think that may quite possibly be the most professionalism I've seen from a teacher, and neither of us were anywhere near a classroom.
ReplyDeleteMy senior year in high school, My government teacher had an affair with a student while out of town on a debate trip. It was on the news and really gave a bad reputation to our school. He was later fired. I think it is really unprofessional to even hang out with a student out side of school.
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteEven though i said teachers should not hang out with students out side of school, i think they should be there for the students during hard times. What your teacher did is an excellent example of proffesionalism!
My freshman year of high school there was a group of senior guys who thought they were completely the hottest set of guys to walk the face of the earth. There had been some accusations that one of the young and cool teachers was sleeping with one of the boys. Now this teacher didn't really dress appropriately either. After awhile the assumptions became the truth this teacher had been sleeping with one of the boys but had also slept with a couple others as well. She was also partying with them and buying them alcohol. The teacher ended up resigning because she knew she was wrong and would be fired, and the boys had to sit out of like 5 of their basketball games their senior year. I didn't really like that the boys weren't punished for what was going on. This young teacher is now teaching at another school out in Kansas & she still talks to a couple of those boys every now and then. I think that all teachers should dress appropriately and if they are a teacher then by that time they should know what is appropriate to wear and what isn't. Teachers shouldn't be nice and young teachers need to be firm when teaching in high schools to keep the temptation away from getting emotionally involved with their students.
ReplyDeleteKelly, I have had many teachers like the one you described and it is hard to learn from teachers that are like that, on other hands it’s nice to have someone to talk to. But teachers need to be professional their classes should be their main priority; they’re there to better their students not to socialize. But today I think teachers don’t realize that they aren’t having the student teacher relationship they’re trying to be the friend instead and when they do that kids take advantage of them and it becomes a stressful learning environment, at least that was the case for me.
In high school I had a teacher that always wore shorts to school no matter what the weather was like. I was actually unconsciously inspired by this because I wear shorts year round as well and I generally don't like to wear pants because it is uncomfortable. This teacher was my science teacher and also my football coach and he was a great teacher. He always came to class prepared and new his material and he also presented it in a way that was very easy to grab ahold of and apply it. The best teacher I ever had though is a teacher at Lindenwood and he is one of the smartest men I have ever met. Like my science teacher, this professor new his material very well and could teach the class off the top of his head and he could answer just about every question that a student threw at him. He also presented his material in a way that wasn't too difficult to understand in which case it was easy to learn it. Another thing he did was forced you to learn the material rather than just memorize it. This made class difficult because it required a lot of studying, but by the time the semester was over you had a very good grasp of the material he taught.
ReplyDeleteAshley J.,
I had a similar experience at my high school except our principal had only been getting with one of our high school girls as far as we know. He was fired as soon as they found out, but im not 100% if there were charges pressed against him. That is a very sad story about your school and it disgusts me that teachers or even principals have to take it to that level.
My PE teacher in highschool was a guy, and he was constantly trying to be everyone's best friend and be the cool teacher. Most people liked him at first, but after a while a lot of the girls became uncomfortable and everyone was talking about it. He ended up being accused of sexual harassment by a student during my senior year. Many people think the girl was making it up because no one witnessed what happened, and she said it happened during class. However rather she was lying or not, I think he would not have been accused if he didn't constantly cross the line with students. The fact that he tried to be buddy buddy with all of the students made people uncomfortable and in my opinion was very unprofessional.
ReplyDeleteAlex,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that that is an example of being professional, but situations like that can easily turn into a bad situation, so teachers need to be careful because outside of a classroom it is a lot easier to cross the line