Posts Tagged “high school”

A class of teachers

One of the things I do to keep me amused during the summer break is attend a water aerobics class. I was mildly surprised to see how many other teachers used this particular class to liven up their break as well. Approximately 80% of the class are a mix of Elementary, Middle School and High School teachers, including the instructor for the class. She is a middle school PE teacher. Perhaps this is why she remains unruffled by the behavior of her students.

Teachers have to be the worst students to instruct. The talking is non-stop. This is not really an exercise class, more a wonderful time to catch up on all those family and life type conversations you can’t have during the school year. “Is your daughter home for the summer from college?” “Are you planning a big vacation?” “How are your kids’ 4H projects coming along?” “Did your road finally get blacktopped?” Oh, the variety of conversations is unconstrained. I have learned new dessert recipes, discussed world events and been asked to volunteer at 4H judging; all while flailing milk jugs over my head to work my triceps.

Of course, it’s not just talking; the talking out of turn or talking back is rampant as well. Remarks are made intermittently to the instructor throughout the class. “Good lord, what did YOU eat last night that WE are paying for this morning?!” “Hey, let me guess, Jumping Jacks are next, right?!” “If we pay more for the class, can we do less?” These outbursts are interspersed with: “Uh, what did she say? What are we supposed to be doing? I wasn’t paying attention.” “Whoops, I missed that last “GO” part!” “How do we do that one again?” There is giggling, laughing, catcalls across the pool , and commonplace unruliness. Before you know it though, the hour is up and we are all on our way. Funny, we all hear her when she says, “That’s it!”

It’s a good thing our students don’t attend this class, if they saw how we behaved, we would never get them under control!

I pulled this article from ABC’s news section…thought it was interesting and would share.

“The Calif. Gov. Wants to Save Money by Dumping Printed Books for Online Texts; Is it Feasible?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking a page from high school science books in an effort to shrink California’s $24 billion budget gap.

In fact, he wants to take the entire book — and do away with it.

By next fall, Governor Schwarzenegger intends to make free, open-source digital textbooks available for high school math and science classes throughout California, a move that he says will help reduce the more than $350 million the state spends annually on educational materials.

Some critics doubt the idea will result in any immediate cost savings — and question a plan that might require investment in technology and teacher training at a time when schools face deep budget cuts.

But if California embraces open-source materials, which are now increasingly used on college campuses, a nationwide debate over traditional textbooks is bound to follow.”

Just curious as to what different teachers feel about this and what states you are from.