How can education improve when bad teachers are in the classroom to stay through tenure, and new teachers won't stay in the classroom? Many schools are thankful for a warm body to show up in the classroom that isn't the fourteenth sub of the month, whether students are learning or not. Schools seem to be taking whatever they can get these days and most teachers hired are still working on a degree on the subject they teach or are lateral entry. Are future teachers not getting the preparation they need to be the best at their job? It's a tossup on where to even began to improve the educational system. Will we be the beginning of change and prove that the statistics are wrong?

I think that the only way to change the system is to start in your own classroom. Can I, as a first year teacher, go to the legislature and start making laws? No, but I can give my best effort to make sure my students are taught and cared for. I know this sounds hokey and cliche but I firmly believe that its the truth. The most revolutionary kinds of change occur on a grassroots level first.

I agree that we should try to be the teacher who is different, who actually does care about teaching and the classroom, but I do know that some teachers aren't like that and it does seem to be becoming a problem. I know that one of my good friends who graduated last May had a hard time finding a job. One reason being that most counties around her were on a hiring freeze. And there weren't any jobs being opened up because teachers were staying a half of a year longer because the state changed some retirement benefits. I am not completely sure of the details of that last reason but it was something similar to that. I don't believe it is good to force a teacher to stay longer to get more benefits, which in effect was what they were doing. I believe that many teachers can be great teachers way past retirement age, but when they themselves are ready to retire and they have to stay an extra half year or so, it could cause problems in their teaching. It could also cause problems for the students because they have to switch teachers after Christmas.

I absolutely agree with Lauren on the fact that so many schools and school systems have gone so far down hill that it's almost difficult to think about. If our schools are this bad now, who knows what they will be like by the time most of us have children. But who's fault is it? The teachers, the principal, or just the school system as a whole? It's hard to pin point that, but in my opinion, it's everyones fault who is involved with the school, all the way down to the parents of the students. If something isn't right, it needs to receive attention and be fixed, instead of just being overlooked. If a teacher sees something being done by the principal that they don't believe is right, it needs to be brought up or if a parent doesn't like something the teacher is doing, they need to talk to someone about it. Nothing will ever be fixed and our schools will never improve if nothing is done. I also agree with Nikki, in that if you are a first year teacher, you aren't going to have but so much say-so, but you should do what you can, starting with making your classroom an amazing and wonderful place for students to learn. It is the responsibility of everyone involved in the school system to initiate change and improvement.

I know that their are bad teachers out in the school system, I personally have had some really awful teachers. But the fact of the matter is, their have always been bad teachers. Its not just now in our generation that some teachers have hired that are bad at their job. Its just now there are really good teachers out in the world, and they are making a difference and making the other ones look bad. I believe that teachers graduating in our generation are going to be some of the best teachers ever. We have been taught brand new concepts that will help the next generation of students learn quicker and more effectively. Of course their will be some bad apples in the bunch but, I think education just gets better with every generation. As future teachers we should strive to make the percentage of bad teachers as small as possible when we go into the schools.

Every school has there share of good and bad teachers. I think the reason school keeps bad teachers is because they are "comfortable" with them and they think there aren't a lot to those from. We always hear about the shortage of teachers. However, I think there are a lot more students entering the field today. I even know of a student who graduated with a teaching degree and had a really hard time finding a job. Since there are so many more students going into the teaching field, I think schools will have a better selection and can find worthy teachers. Our generation of teachers can make a difference if we want to.

I agree that every school has there fair share of bad and good teachers, but I also feel that there are more students choosing education as their major. Hopefully all of the students becoming teachers will allow us to rid our school systems of "bad teachers". I had plenty of teachers that were bad, but then I also had teachers that were amazing. I definitely think that Nikki has a point that as new teachers the only place that we can start is in our classrooms.
Going in a different direction...last class we talked about how important schooling is to our society. Well, CMS is requiring all of their assistants to have degrees and if they don't have one now they can either go back to school or attempt to pass a couple of tests. I think that it is great that they are requiring the assistants to have more schooling, but my mom has been an assistant teacher in CMS for 12 years and they don't count her degree as an X-ray technician as a degree because it was a two year degree that she earned by participating in a two year program in a hospital. She is a fantastic assistant and the entire faculty loves her but because of this new rule she would either have to take these tests or go back to school to keep her job. Both of those options have financial obligations that she would be responsible for, mean while they are not offer assistants a raise if they go through all of that to keep their job. There are many assistants at this school that have decided that because of their age it's not worth it for them to go through all of that and when the deadline arrives they will have to resign. I understand that education/schooling is important, but why are they dismissing assistant teachers that have proven that they know what they are doing when there is already a shortage of teachers?

I agree with a lot of the posts that we need to be the best teachers we can be. I think that goes along with picking a topic to teach that you are truly passionate about. If a teacher is not passionate about the subject that they are teaching then it will be very hard for them to get through to students because they will be able to tell that they are not into it. Some of my best teachers in school were the ones that you could tell really cared about what they were teaching. I think too many teachers go into teaching for the wrong reasons.

I agree that its important to be passionate about your subjecet, but its also important to be passionate about who you are teaching.

I agree with you all there are a lot of bad teachers in the school systems, but there will always be bad teachers. Honestly, i believe there will be people in your class who will eventually be bad teachers. I think it is really hard to find a good teacher! A good teacher must be made up of a lot of different things: passion for the subject area and students, creativity, openmindedness......It is easier to find a bad teacher than a good teacher. I think many bad teachers are left in the schools to teach because it is the easy way out, the teachers may know and be passionate about the subject area but that does not mean that the teacher qualifies as a good teacher. Yes, this does mean as future teachers we should strive to lower the percentage of bad teachers in school and learn to be well rounded to meet all the characteristics of a good teacher.