Monday, January 19, 2015

My sister annoys the crap out of me

Went to dinner tonight with the parents and sister- didn't let my sister overshadow conversation. I was telling them about a few things at work, and then my sister, Ms. Wannabe A Professor interrupted constantly (she teaches 2 classes at the community college - I think she got hired because she has a super specialized degree, and was one of the few people that can teach it.) Her reviews are horrific. I sincerely hope she will not be hired on full-time. 

Anyways, so I am telling about work, and a student with an ankle monitor, a brick cell phone that his probation officer can call at anytime, and my sister chimes in. My sister must be Mother Teresa when it comes to comforting people. She said she has had a dozen convicted felons in her class. She said she doesn't flinch when they come to class. She makes them volunteers in her classes, she asks them to help her reach things like the overhead projector screen. She doesn't flinch or treat them differently. She loves her felons because they are good deep down, everyone has their own story to share. She said they work the hardest in her class. She said they work harder than the normal student. She said they have tattoos, they are scary looking, but she treats them nicely. Um... dumb dumb, isn't that what a teacher is supposed to do? Why is your situation so much more heroic than mine? I deal with the kids before they get to the point she is at. I asked her those questions and she told me she has had more training to handle them than I have. WTF? What training did you have? Felon 101? I don't get it. I have the little education bits from my education classes while getting my credential -inside the class is a neutral zone, so gang members and kids who are on probation etc. don't tend to act up so much int he class. I have dealt with kids who have ankle monitors, I ran a militaristic style classroom when I taught middle school. I had classroom management, bitch, so I didn't have crazy issues with the kids with records. My sister gets to me. I can't think of any training she would have that would give her more experience than me. I pointed that out. She tried to tell me she read a textbook that had stories about police treatment and a friend wrote a thesis on police interrogations. 

My sister then had to tell me how her students love her so much. They want to walk with her to class. They pull down the overhead screen for her. She writes their names into test questions. She lets them eat in class. Her class is so lively. She is able to get the quietest kids to talk. She is able to engage even the most difficult student. When leaving class she always has a dozen students with her, and they often walk her to her car. Really? I have the hardest time believing that. Her reviews on ratemyprofessor say otherwise. They talk about how boring she is and how difficult the class is. They talk about who she doesn't know what she is talking about. Now I'm an ok teacher - I may be good - but I can promise you, rarely do I have 100% of students engaged, on task, or participating. When I taught middle and did a review game I would have 95-100% on task. When I gave a test I would have 95-100% on task. In the last 2-3 minutes of class when it came to cleanup I would often have less than 20% on task. When I lectured or gave notes it would be 60-80% on task and engaged. When technology was involved in the assignment my personal best was 98% on task - and I'm just going through numbers that had been recorded. But this is part of why I was under so much stress at the middle school. People running around telling me what I wasn't doing when 1 or 2 kids weren't engaged... when I had 60-80% On task. I know this because my school was big on data and we had coaches in our classrooms all the time telling us this information. Even now, in the setting I work at, at an alternative school, I would estimate I have 80-100% on task or engaged at any one time. It is the nature of teaching. I have more experience. I think I have more training. I have taken classes on engagement and teaching students. My brainiac sister has not taken any sort of classes. When your reviews are so bad - not just at one - but 2 campuses - obviously there is an issue. What you're telling me cannot be true. You are trying to overcompensate to make yourself sound better. Even the best teachers I know cannot claim what you claim. I was never one to speak up in class - especially in college - you could call on me and I would say it was the person behind you were calling, even if it were the wall. I just flat out wouldn't talk. 

2 comments:

Aek said...

So . . . does your sister ever look at her reviews? Or does she choose to ignore that they exist?

Mike said...

HAHA... yeah... no. She is perfect. She doesn't need people to tell her she's not.