Reply #87: This is why adults are sheeple [View All]

[silverojo]

You're admitting that you're dummying down the questions so that there's no wrong answer, and students aren't "intimidated" by them.

By all means, don't teach kids to stand up for their beliefs. Don't teach them that saying the wrong answer isn't the end of the world. You're killing these kids with kindness.

Do you know where crippling perfectionism starts? From the notion that making a mistake is an embarrassment. Kids need to have a place where they can make a mistake, yet get reassurance that it's okay, because this is how you learn. That's your job. Right now, you're not teaching kids how to have a healthy attitude about making mistakes and growing from them.

What's going to happen to these poor kids when they're out in the working world? Nobody's going to dummy down the discussion at a board meeting for them. Nobody's going to change their policies and methods to be less intimidating. You need to teach these kids to grow a spine, and you're not doing it.

Apparently, a lot of teachers have failed before you, because middle schoolers are long since past the age of needing to be taught to raise their hands, instead of blurting out answers.

You sound like the speech teacher my aunt had. This woman would let kids like her give their speeches by turning their backs on the class and saying them to the teacher. This was a class that should have been used to help my aunt overcome her shyness, not coddle her. When I had similar trouble in speech class, my teacher gave me tips on how to boost my confidence. Hint: It had nothing to do with coddling me, or pretending I wasn't making mistakes.

You are precisely the kind of teacher who prompted me to get an exhausting, menial job, in order to go to another school and get a better education. Let me tell you, from personal experience, there are smart kids in your class who resent you with every fiber of their being, because you're more concerned about coddling lazy kids than appreciating the hard-working ones.