Teaching with 3 weeks remaining

Is it fair for teachers to go to school everyday counting down the days til' the summer? Today I heard, "three days left this week, a four day week, a full week, a four day week . . . then summertime" Is this a quote from an apathetic teacher or a honest, candid, expressed frustration from a terrific teacher?

In this case, I would say the quote is from a terrific teacher teaching a troubling curriculum to troubled teens. The curriculum is troubling because the curriculum does not resolve the trouble in the teens life. What is the purpose of education if it does not alleviate some pain and solve some problems for the learner? What good is a knowledge of the past that ignores or does not connect with the issues in the present?

With three weeks remaining, teachers are trying to keep the students' minds focused on education NOT vacation. With three weeks remaining, teachers are trying to see the (student) progress and transformations that have occurred over the course of the year. If teachers do not see any progress (with three weeks remaining), it is understandable how they may feel like they are failures and the year was unsuccessful.

The only solace when faced with such a disappointing self-evaluation could be the fact that it is almost over. And for many teachers, it becomes glaringly clear why they would say, " . . . three weeks remaining".

Consider this!

Troubled teens are not the same as troublemakers.

Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Good teachers provide bridges over troubled waters for students. However, great teachers show students how to build their own bridges over troubled waters.

Which Comes First? Teaching or the Teenagers?

Are teachers in schools FOR the teens or TO teach? Another question that lives in the same neighborhood is, "Are teachers paid to teach the curriculum or to teach the students?" The questions are simple, the differences are subtle, yet the correct interpretation(s)/answer(s) are absolutely necessary.

Some feel teachers are in the classrooms to perform the art/job of teaching. The other camp feels teachers are in the classrooms for students, the customer(s)/consumer(s). The position taken on this question both informs and directs the secondary teachers' objectives and methods inside and outside the classroom.

Teachers who say teaching is a teacher's first and foremost responsibility in the classroom may overlook or become insensitive to the trouble in their students' lives.

Teachers who believe the teens are the first and foremost focus and responsibility of teachers in the classroom may feel the need at times to sacrifice teaching content material in order to model (and teach) compassion and caring.

Is it OK for a teacher to abandon a whole lesson in order not to abandon a child?
Is it OK for a teacher to ignore teaching the scheduled lesson in order to not ignore the child's (unexpected) needs?

YES, it is OK.
It is OK for teachers to skip a whole unit if necessary, in order to make a child feel whole.

Do you agree?

The 3 T's : Teaching Troubled Teens

Teaching is hard. Teaching teenagers is harder. Teaching troubled teenagers is even harder than that. If you don't believe me, walk in my footsteps through reading this blog. If you are a fellow teacher, please add your own war stories to this discussion. What I tell you may at times sound unbelievable, a bit exaggerated, or quite frankly "lies". However, everything I tell you will be ABSOLUTELY TRUE.
Some stories may make you laugh. Others will make you cry. However, you will respond.