no_hypocrisy
no_hypocrisy's JournalI'm a teacher.
I've taught pre-K to high school as a regular teacher and as a substitute teacher. Including special needs children of all ages.
What parents of the children I teach should know (but ignore) or are willfully ignorant about:
1. I pay attention to your children where you don't. And that includes bad behavior. I correct them and/or give them praise.
2. I have to teach them self-control, decorum, societal rules, etiquette, how to be polite and respectful because you don't.
3. I encourage them to try, even if we both know they'll fail the first few times they try. I am their advocate.
4. I give them courtesy when they don't deserve it.
5. I am concerned about the adults they'll become.
6. I want them to succeed.
7. I am 25 different teachers to a single classroom.
8. I know my job isn't easy, but I believe my presence is moving society forward.
9. I want a child who doesn't speak English to be as successful at the end of their academic careers as those who are fluent. And vice versa: I want all children to speak, read, write, and understand Spanish easily.
10. I want children to catch me making mistakes and calling me on them.
11. I want children to accept their mistakes and use them as building blocks for learning.
12. I want children who have the ability to fulfill their dreams. My job is to help them.
13. I mediate disputes among them as classmates and teach them fairness and listening to each other.
and 14. You can't get just anyone to do my job. It takes years of experience, patience, and belief in John Dewey, Piaget, Froebel, and other educational philosophers.
Two girls were born on this date in 1948.
They grew up just three miles apart in suburban New Jersey: one in Bergen County and the other in Passaic County.
One became the most popular senior in her high school. Captain of the cheerleading squad. Star of the HS plays. Glee Club. Straight A's. Went on to Indiana University Bloomington. Jane Pauley knew her. So did Kevin Kline.
The other became a chorus conductor at age 14. Studied piano since 7. Graduated from Mannes. Has had a career in professional music for more than half a century. Well known, respected, and admired. Music Director of a church.
The first girl is Angela Atwood, nee DeAngelis. You know her as one of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), the group that kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in 1974. She had divorced her husband, Gary, and moved out to California with Bill and Emily Harris. She became radicalized as she volunteered to teach prison inmates how to read. She was the one who spent an inordinate amount of time, trying to radicalize Hearst. She would die with her "comrades" in a police shootout and fire three months after they kidnapped Hearst.
The second girl is my friend.
Both started out with so much promise for success in their lives. Almost identical socioeconomic environments. Same l'air du temps. Same culture until early adulthood.
Atwood is buried about 5 miles from where I live, not far from where she grew up, at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, the same cemetery as Fr. Mychal Judge, of 9-11. On one side of an obelisk is her nickname, "Angel". The only local person who will talk about Angela Atwood is a quiet middle-aged librarian who went to school with her.
One girl became diverted from her dreams and died young. The other girl is celebrating her 75th birthday right now.
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Member since: 2003 before July 6thNumber of posts: 46,083