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 respect for other teachers 
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This has absolutely nothing to do with anything we're talking about in class, but I think it's an important thing for us to think about when we're teaching. The way teachers get along with one another can really make a difference in the kind of education children are getting. I have a story for you:

I talked to my mom today. She's an elementary school music teacher. She sees each class for... I think about an hour a week, which isn't much. She is constantly having to work around the schedules of the other teachers, yet she is expected to do a show with each grade every year. Today she wanted to quit her job because of two things:

First, at the beginning of the year she had sent out a letter to all of the classroom teachers asking that they let her know far in advance if their classes would be missing music for a field trip. Today she was told BY HER FOURTH GRADE STUDENTS that they would be missing Thursday's class for a field trip, even though they are supposed to have a performance a week from today. None of the teachers had bothered to tell my mom. They claimed the field trip was in the daily memo, but it had actually been left out. Of course none of them even read the memo or bothered to correct it. As a result, the performance will have to be cancelled or postponed, if they can find another date.

The other thing was that the fifth grade teachers decided that there are several students who need special counselling, and they scheduled this during music class, of course. If this is the schedule, those students won't have music for three weeks, and won't be able to perform in THEIR show.

Not a single fourth or fifth grade teacher apologized to my mom. In fact, some of them got angry with her when she sent a very civilized email asking them to notify her in the future.

Regardless of what you all think of the importance of the arts, they ARE in the schools, and they ARE part of a well-rounded education. It is not fair to cause students to be unable to participate or give a performance after their hard work, especially if it's because of a lack of communication.

Please keep this in mind when you all are teaching. Arts teachers have legitimate classes too, and they ARE people who have feelings. A little cooperation can make all the difference.

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Lillie Jones


Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:36 pm
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ALL teachers deserve equal respect, as well as equal time. You're right Lilly...arts are an important part of our schools and contribute to a well rounded education. Yes, music is an elective, but it is still needed and deserves the time that has been set aside. It was very rude and inconsiderate of the teachers to take away the students time in your mothers class. Not only was it disrespectful to your mother, but the kids will be at a disadvantage when it comes to performance time. Willingness to coperate would ease the stress on both sides of the coin. It's only fair that teachers inform other teachers when there is a change in plan. Thanks for sharing!

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*Jennifer Clark*


Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:06 pm
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I also agree with Lillian and Jennifer. It is disrespectful of the other teachers not to let Lillian's mom know about the field trip. Since they have a performance then your mom should get time with them another day besides their normal day. I can see their teachers fighting against that though because they sound inconsiderate already. If I was your mom I would have a talk with the principal. Can he/she do anything about it? Maybe the principal could prevent it from happening in the future.

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*Kelly*


Tue Oct 10, 2006 10:18 pm
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I hate that this happened. It is hard for me to believe that those teachers are so unconsiderate to your mother, who works just as hard as them. Respect is huge for me and obviously something these teachers are lacking. Thank you for sharing--coming from someone who will be teaching the core subjects, I will definitely keep this in mind.

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Anna


Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:31 am
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Communication is the KEY -

I believe that good communication requires good listening and good speaking skills whether we like or dislike someone, because how well we communicate with our co-working teachers we will play a huge role in the success of the children in our classrooms. It is terrible how Lillian Jones’ mother was treated and how her co-workers were inconsiderate. I know that respect and good communication between teachers will benefit our students, parents, and us. When we share information, we will learn more about what is happening within our different classes (main and elective classes) or school programs. As future teachers, we will be able to support each other and help encourage our students to respect one another with good communication skills.

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Melissa Venant


Sun Oct 15, 2006 4:43 pm
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I really hate that happened to your mom, and I'm sure happens to teachers every where all the time (especially teachers of the arts). I feel like sometimes teachers may get so wrapped up in what they are doing that they can't concentrate on anything else. The first thing that came to mind when I was trying to think of a reason why those teachers would do something like that was EOG's. I think that takes a serious toll on all teachers through out the school year. They are constantly drilled about having perfect scores, how it will reflect on them, and living up to standards. That's a hard thing to face. I think it's easy to have a mindset that we have to get good scores out of the students in our class, and we don't want them to do anything else when that kind of stress kicks in. That's why I have a problem with standardized tests.
What I'm trying to say is in no way justifying what those teachers did, because making sure that everyone gets a memo is easy to do. I'm just saying that in my experiences working with teachers, they get so stressed out about testing that they don't think about anything else.
I hope that in the future I can remember that test scores are not everything, and I don't need to worry about loosing my job only because of that. I think by working with my coworkers I can achieve that.
Another quick point that I wanted to make was that it's also important to remember that the arts give students a chance to release that stress, and really express themselves. That is one reason why I am thinking about getting a minor in art. For me that was one of the best parts of my school career.

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Jessica Beckworth


Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:13 pm
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I agree with Jessica. I think that teachers do get so wrapped up in the fact that they must teach everything to their students in order for them to do well on the EOG's. In this particular situation, the other teachers are being inconsiderate of how Lillian's mom felt. Sometimes I guess it is hard to realize that regardless of what you teach, if you are a certified teacher then you had to get the same degree as all the other teachers, and just because an art or music teacher does not have the kids as much as the general ed teachers does not mean that they are any lower than the general ed teachers. The music and/or art teachers should be treated as equally as all other teachers.

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Katy Dellinger


Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:23 am
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Often this is the case in a lot of schools. I dont understand why teachers do this but they all do at some point. For me, sports were not important. I was involved in academia clubs and music. Choral Music was my life and I did so many great things with it. My other teachers never understood if I had a performance or anything else to do with MY music, but they always understood if a student had a sporting event, etc. that they had to miss class for. It all falls back to equality and the arts are NEVER as important as sports to most schools.

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Courtney N. Cox


Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:45 pm
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