Sorry/not sorry, but I have to vent to fellow parents about something. I'm a high school teacher. Today is the the last day before we start winter break. Students are taking finals, and the last day for my students to turn in any missing assignments was last Friday- December 10. As of right now, I have 72 out of 144 students failing my classes. Not because the work is hard, but because they made the active decision to not do the work. I have had five students show up at my door this morning begging to turn in missing work. Some of them have even lied to me about their missing work.
Here's my vent- PLEASE, TO YOU FATHERS OUT THERE- TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO HANDLE THEIR BUSINESS. TEACH THEM TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS. TEACH THEM NOT TO CHEAT AND LIE. TEACH THEM A WORK ETHIC. TEACH THEM THE IMPORTANCE OF PUNCTUALITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. TEACH THEM THAT THERE ARE REAL CONSEQUENCES WHEN THEY DON'T HANDLE THEIR BUSINESS.
There is an epidemic of laziness, irresponsibility, and apathy in this country; too many people don't give a shit about handling their business- this attitude is reinforced through social media and parental apathy, and it's going to further ruin the generation of kids that are growing up now. Please teach your sons and daughters to have pride in their work, to try their hardest to be successful, and most importantly to take responsibility for their own success in all things.
This has been my rant/vent/TED talk- please have a wonderful, safe, restful, healthy, and fulfilling holiday season.
It was called “Welcome Back Kata”
This sounds so evil but sometimes I kinda wish I lived in an area where high school wasn’t as competitive so I had a higher chance of getting in to better colleges. That sounds so ignorant but the college process has become so dirty that I find myself thinking about stuff like that :( it’s so sad how college has me thinking in the lowest of ways to try to get to the top. Anyone else feel this way?
Clarification: I’m not proud of how I feeling. Originally an international, I have experienced both sides of the coin and having less is always harder. No doubt it. This post was more to highlight how even after going to a place with many opportunities, one can still feel like they’re hard work isn’t gonna be recognized. This is in no way to take away from those who have experienced hardships with schools; it is just to show how the process makes people in any place sell the dream and makes the miserable.
For context, I have a 4.98 W and there are still like 15-20 kids above me going up to a 5.2, all because I took band and they took another AP class instead. There’s a toxic culture here of being very cutthroat, and all our faculty basically overly encouraging and borderline forcing us to take APs because more test takens/higher scores means better rankings and more funding. We’ve had 3 su*#@%*s at our school in the past four years and even though we have good rankings, we were rated one of the worst for people feeling a sense of belonging.
I am definitely a better placed candidate for college than most, but there are some kids here who have the most insane ECs and well rounded in every single aspect, outshadowing anyone no matter how much work they have put in too.
M25. When I was in high school there was a guy who hung out in the same circles I did. I wouldn’t say he bullied me but it was clear he never liked me and would also make offhanded comments that I could tell were digs at me but no one else seems to notice.
This continued online when I graduated. He would always comment on my Instagram, Facebook or Twitter posts with what I saw as rude comments. For example I posted a picture of being in Italy for my high school grad trip and called it Italia. He commented “sad that a high school graduate can’t spell Italy correctly”.
The worst of it was during my first year of uni he apparently tweeted out “RIP my name”. Lots of people had thought I had died. When I called him out for the tweet he gave some shorty excuse and people forgave him. I didn’t. I blocked him on everything.
Last weekend my old friend group had an unofficial reunion. We spent the weekend doing various things. During the weekend I made sure to keep my distance and not interact with him. Apparently this was noticed by people and one of my friends called me the asshole for being rude and holding a grudge.
The thing is the guy made the same offhanded digs at me the whole time that again no one seemed to Notice besides me. For example he said kept commenting about how I’m still in school (I’m in grad school) and don’t have a “real job” yet (I have GA).
I struggled in math and my parents had me work with a math tutor hired from the UBC math department in grade 10,11. The tutor actually said that I won't get into UBC with my grades. However, I got accepted into Bachelor of Arts. It was disappointing at the time for the school counsellor advise me to drop Math 12 but overall it helped me get into university. Some years later, the tutor saw me on campus and acted surprised that I was studying here!
The administration refuses to enforce the mask requirement stated on the district website and required by county law. I have an audio recording of the principal telling me, among other things, that the superintendent has decreed that we are “not allowed” to suspend students for refusing to wear a mask, and that our only mechanism for improving mask compliance is “taking them into the hall and convincing them it’s the right thing to do.”
I was also told I’m not allowed to show my students data about vaccine effectiveness. My slideshow about vaccine effectiveness (and nothing else) was characterized by the principal as “a PowerPoint about masks that [she] found very politically charged.”
This principal has told some parents, students, and teachers, that it’s a student’s choice whether or not to wear a mask.
The principal completely ignored my email asking for clarification regarding the discrepancy between the official district policy and everything she has been telling us. Today, on my last day, she claimed that the reason she had ignored the email was because another administrator had responded to it with an answer, which was a complete and utter lie.
The head principal instructed several other administrators at the school not to answer my direct questions about the discrepancy between the mask policies at our school and on the district website.
The list goes on.
That's it. I was a chubby, loud, awkward and obsessive 14 years old gal he was a chill, smart 17 years old guy, I barely ever gathered the courage to directly talk to him and I thought I'd never "be in his league". Now, 8 years later, I know as a fact he finds me interesting/cute, and everything is good.
