This article makes all teachers sound like puppets of the state. Gatto states, "teachers are.. agents of the state - or they are fired," claiming that teachers have to follow certain ways of teaching and can never introduce new ways to teach. He says that teachers don't treat themselves or their work seriously, and I just disagree with that. Of course there are terrible teachers out there who hand out worksheets and don't use creative ways of teaching students, but the teaching profession isn't alone in incompetent employees. All professions have individuals that don't perform up to standard - it's impossible to have 100% of all doctors in the U.S. be the best; it's just not realistic. Gatto also days that "whatever is wrong with teachers, it's clear that colleges and teacher certification procedures have been unable to fix it," suggesting that new teachers are unqualified. The problem doesn't lie in the future teachers themselves but in the way the state and the government run the schools. As a future teacher I feel hopeful and excited that my education about becoming an elementary teacher will one day become the norm. We are pushed in our classes to integrate various subjects together and find new ways to involve every student in the learning process. It's unfortunate that our education isn't always applicable to the job we land. Gatto shouldn't call teachers agents of the state or people who aren't whole; rather, he should put the state and the government at fault for making everything standardized. With standardization in the classrooms, students are forced to become bi-products of education and forced to rank among fellow students in terms of academic achievement. If the structure of schools and curriculum was loosened, teachers could teach students with more freedom, enabling them to use their education and training to their full ability.

I found this article to be very untrue as well. It is stated that teachers aren't allowed to do what they think is best for students and they give up thinking seriously about them. I don't find this true at all, almost all teachers I know care deeply about their students and never give up thinking seriously about them. I also do not believe that the problem lies in that teachers are bad and doing poor jobs. I feel that the problem lies in the fact that teachers hands are tied by the state in so many ways. Teachers must teach certain curriculum that is layed out by the state and must give standardized testing, the only thing teachers have to be creative about it the way in which they teach this material they are given. The author also talks about cynical teachers who complain and quit but this can be found in any job and any profession. People are often unhappy about their careers, it is not right to just say that this is specific to teachers.

I think that it is difficult for us to imagine losing our passion for teaching because of the system right now, because we are young and fresh and haven't even really begun, but I think the sad truth is that it absolutely is a possiblity for a teacher to lose heart. I am not saying it is the teacher' fault, or that they are necessarily bad teacher, I just think that the system can break a person down. If you look at, teachers really are like puppets. They have to teach the curriculum they are instructed to teach. I do feel that we have a certain amount of freedom as teachers. A freedom to be enthusiastic about what we are teaching, and a freedom to do what we think is necessary to get our students excited about the material. However, you could not walk into your classroom and say "this is what I feel like teaching my students" and it was be okay. Teachers do not get to decide what they students learn, but they do have some control in how they learn it.

Unfortunately, I think that there is some truth behind the article stating that obviously the colleges are not fixing the problem. I feel very blessed to be at ASU, because I feel like I have received the chance to be a good teacher and to really make a difference to students. I think that the education program at ASU is exceptional. However, I do not think that all students at all colleges are receiving the same amazing education. We have to keep in mind that ASU was originally a teacher's college and it still has a very strong reputation for being a great school for future teachers. But there are many many other colleges out there that offer degrees in education, but do not have this reputation. What kind of teachers are they possibly creating? It is hard to say.

I don't find this article untrue. I see where he is coming from and I understand why he is angry. To me, the overall picture is that Gato is saying teachers loose sight of why they became a teacher. Going into the school system, there's so many restrictions on teachers that they are no longer aloud to do "out of the ordinary" things. I think Gato is just trying to say that we should challenge the school system and reconstruct the system into something more modern and something more satisfying for the diverse nation we have become.

Out of all the schools and classrooms I have ever been in or have observed, I've seen maybe three out of the hundreds that showed me something new and effective.

I was lucky to have found a teacher that guided me and took me under their wing. Unfortunatley, that's not the same for most of the people I went to school with or grew up with. A lot of the teachers I met were puppets and a lot of them are the reasons why people like my family never graduated or decided to do more with their lives.

I believe there is a lot of truth to this article. While I believe that a teacher should not go into the profession without the kind of passion that I feel right now, it is a sad truth that many teachers do just that. Throughout my high school career I witnessed many teachers who seemed to have their mind on other things. They did not bring joy for the subject into the classroom and it in turn made the students miserable. While I do believe this article holds a lot of truth I do also believe that there are a select few teachers out there who really hold a passion for teaching. I believe that as the article said teachers should teach as if each one of these students were her child. There is so much standardization in the school systems that students are not learning fully. While teachers may not have complete control over this I do believe that they can create a fun learning experience for their students.

I do believe there is much truth in this article to, but I do not think it is as bad as most people make it out to seem. If anything i thought this article did a great job of making me aggravated which in turn made me motivated. I think that there are so many teachers out there that have lost there passion and we need to go into the classroom with the passion we have now and try and stay motivated. We need to be a new kind of teacher. Now it is realistic that we keep in mind that there will be difficulties and hard times, but if we really love what we do then we need to continue to teach with passion and love for the subject. I agree that we can create a fun learning experience for students, as long as we continue to love our job and never start to dread it. It seems to be the teachers that make students miserable in classroom are very much miserable themselves and maybe that is why they have no passion to teach. I also agree that so many teachers have other things on there mind while teaching, and this is just life! We are all human and we too will have things on our mind while teaching; but we have to keep in mind the things we have learned from our experiences and try not to let those things get in the way of really passionately teaching students.

I do understand how teachers can lose their passion in teaching. We are all anxiously awaiting our student teaching and graduating so we can have our own classroom so we can use the tools that we have gathered over the past few years, but do we really know what we are in for? Of course we don't. I know we have great ideas about classroom management and creative ways to teach, but have we really been taught how to deal with certain types of students? I am not making excuses for teachers, but as an older student, I can understand how many lose their passion because their creativity and their freedom of teaching style is taken away. Or it could be because there are too many students in the classroom that require something special or are disruptive.
I feel that there are many more great teachers in the classroom than are being given credit for. I do not agree with the standardization, but also know that we have to be willing to challenge our administration and make a difference. We have to stay passionate, because if we aren't passionate about our students' education, then who will be?

I believe that teaching has so many different components that no matter who you are, you are never going to agree on the same things as someone else does. In the article, “Bitter Lessons: What’s wrong with American Teacherâ€

I agree with Christin that the part about the teachers and surgeons was very interesting. It is crazy to think about all the hoops that must be jumped through and all the people that have to be contacted in order to make one decision for a student or the classroom. However, with the surgeon they can use what they know and make an informed decision on the spot. I was thinking back to the conversation that took place in class as far as teachers having the power that they give themselves. As teachers we are going to have to make choices in our classrooms and with our students and we have to decide how to go about making those decisions. I know that it will be hard to be in a situation like that, but if you know completely that the decision will benefit the student, then it seems that the decision should be made. We are here for the students and we should do all we can do make decisions that are in there best interest. In the "Bitter Lessons" article he makes a bold statement by saying that most teachers are afraid to make decisions because they could be fired. I thought this was aggrivating but at the same time, it made me think that there might be alot of teachers who fear loosing there jobs and that may hold them back from making the best decisions for the students. I think we need to be confident in the classroom and remember why we are there!

Gatto was very negative about teaching and the things teachers have to go through to just simply teach, and of course, there were parts that I disagreed with and thought that he was being a jaded, unpleasant person. However, there were also parts that were painfully true and that I did agree with. As someone earlier said, we found this article hard to relate with because we are young, and passionate, and vibrant future teachers who are so excited to educate and help young people in ways that they haven't before. However, with this passion and young viewpoint also comes naivety, and I think that it this naivety that helps and hinders us. We are so quick to criticize Gatto's opinions and disagree with him, but realistically, a lot of the things that he said are true. After 30 years in the education system, dealing with administrations, problem students, the DPI, and state standards that we don't agree with, how optimistic and pleasant are we going to be about the education system? I think that as future teachers, we need to understand that things aren't all going to be tear-filled, inspirational moments in which we rise above diversity and opposition and completely put our students and our morals above everything else facing us. I mean really, the world isn't a movie. But we should also keep in mind that we became teachers for a reason, and it's important to remember what drew us to this profession before we get lost in the politics and reality of it all. We should always try to keep some aspects of our idealism so that we don't forget what's important to us.