13 Things Your Child's Teacher WON'T Tell You

I got this from a website on Yahoo!, which itself got the article from Reader's Digest, my father's all time favorite magazine. I read through it, and it is totally amazing and well, shocking I might say. Here is my own thought of each 'thing' that teacher finds annoying and wanted to vomit out, to parents, of course!!! The article are interviews by Neena Samuel.

* The article was originally 13, but I found another article (by the same interviewer), 20 MORE THINGS as the previous article, hence there would be 33 THINGS your child's teacher won't tell you, so I would like to do another thought for this one. But I don't want to cram it up into a single post, as that would be lengthy, so I decided to do the next post dedicated on the extension of the original article.

Just admit it, Yahoo! change our lives just as Facebook does.

My father subscribes to this every month. It's just so addictive.

The article starts with this sentence:

"A look inside a teacher's mind could help you understand lesson plans and maybe even guide your child to perform better."

1. If we teach small children, don't tell us that our jobs are "so cute" and that you wish you could glue and color all day long.

• No one, I repeat, NO ONE wants someone to call their job "CUTE". Ya Amps, that is just out of this world. I mean, who wanted to call their job "cute"? Okie, so if one's job is to clean toilet all day long,  is that cute? I bet you'll be in the hospital after saying that word, or at least going back with a spit in your mouth (I saw this on a TV series, I just can't remember which one). And FYI, some teachers don't like to "glue and color all day long", unless if you're addictive to glue and color, that's another story.

 "Don't tell us that our jobs are CUTE!!!"

2.  I'm not a marriage counselor. At parent-teacher conferences, let's stick to Dakota's progress, not how your husband won't help you around the house.

• Teachers have problems on their own that requires their own attention, rather than sit down and listening to all of your problems. They have children to take care of, even if they're not married (I'm talking about their students of course). They also have partners who won't help them around the house. They don't care, they don't like your problems; the truth is some teachers doesn't care what happened between you and your partner; they care A LOT about your kids, and you should respect that. If they won't tell you about your child's progress, who will? (But there are certain exception, as you will see in No. 10)

 Wife: Now listen carefully, I wanted you to do...bla, bla bla...

Husband: Not again...

3.  We're sick of standardized testing and having to "teach to the test."

• To give you what does standardized test means, here's three four words for you: UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM. Yup, now you know what does standardized test means; where all the questions, the scoring marks, the way they mark, it's all the same. And I guess I have to agree when Malaysian government decided to cancel UPSR and PMR and instead replace it with school-based test. This way they know how much students are falling in their studies and how best to overcome it. Some standardized tests are good for certain high-achieving schools, but what about low-achieving schools? Or, low income, minority-group students? Isn't it unfair to them? And the phrase "teach to the test" means teacher HAVE to teach every subjects that WILL be covered in the test and exam, but as you know, standardized test is pretty much flexible. Questions this year, might not come out in the test next year, so it implies that teach to the test really takes up much of your energy and time. You are WASTED just like that.

 This really brings up memory of my PMR year...hahhhhhhh...

 I am totally WASTED!!!

4.  Kids used to go out and play after school and resolve problems on their own. Now, with computers and TV, they lack the skills to communicate. They don't know how to get past hurt feelings without telling the teacher and having her to fix it. 

• Enough with the problems that some parent faces and go telling the teacher about it (No. 2), now their kids come up to them and tell their problems as well, hoping that the teacher will solve it. Nowadays, as much as adults are wasted on partying, sex, (teaching as well), drinking, etc, kids are also "wasted" on things like computers and TV, plus Facebook, Youtube, American Idol, etc. They should have fun out in the open, interacting with each others, discovering who they are. So for parents out there, encourage your kids to explore the world; have picnics on any free day, go jog together, host party on behalf of them. That way, your kids will learn some valuable lessons of life.

 Outing on a beautiful beach and day like this...OMGness, the moment I'm gonna remember FOREVER!!!

Partying with the chicks!!!

5. When I heard a loud belch, I remember that a student's manners are a reflection of his parents.

• Like father, like son. That is the best expression used to describe this sentence. You see, teachers don't have all the time to carve good manners inside each and every one of their students; they are not capable of such a feat, but what they can do is to remind students what they have done. The job falls literally on the parents. But some manners are NOT from parents, actually. A lot of factors are involved in determining a child's manners; their friends, siblings, cousins, even teachers. So we cannot really blame their parents for belching so loud in the class. However still, parents are involved in guiding their child towards good manners, or at least have some good manners. So parents are responsible after all.

 Wow, they actually define good manners for children. AND THEY EVEN WRITE IT DOWN!!!

 6. Your child may be the center of your universe, but I have to share mine with 25 others.

• Teachers have to be fair to all their students, and they have to. You cannot force them to pay specific attention to your kid when there are other underprivileged kids in their class that requires also a lot of specific attention. They cannot split themselves into 25 equal person and take care each and every one of them with the full attention of a single teacher (or in my case, 31 students in one class). Here, tolerance is the most important issue to be considered.

 Love the concept shown in this picture... :)

7. Please help us by turning off the texting feature on your child's phone during school hours.

• I know it is necessary to have your child "around" you, even when your child are at school, but please help the teacher AND your child by turning off the texting feature on your child's phone during school hours. Not only this will help your child to study better (they are not compelled to text when studying), but teacher will be less annoyed having one of their students in class texting when they're teaching. Some parents out there are too freak out thinking of their child's safety that they make sure they are "closer" to their children when they are off working, or when their child are at school. But please, to ensure your child's future in education, please turn off the texting feature, or go telling the children not to bring their phone to school. Or if you are still concern of your family's safety (some history of violence, disturbance I guess), the teachers are there to protect your child at school. So you don't have to worry at all. Trust the teacher.

Textng N drivng juz' dun mix...

8. Guys who dribble a ball for a couple of hours a game can make up to 20 million a year. We educate future leaders and make about $51,000 a year.

• There's nothing I can say on this one. They've been working hard to educate Barrack Obama, but they can't even afford the same numbers that he get every month? What's up with this world? It's not that I condemned him, football or anything, but teachers should be appreciated in an appropriate way. They have life too, they have materialism embedded in their body. They deserved a pair of Jimmy Choo's shoes, or for men, a new car, or a house. Policy makers should upgraded their salary base, I'm serious.

Barack Obama, the 44th U.S. President

9. We take on the role of mother, father, psychologist, friend and adviser every day. Plus, we're watching for learning disabilities, issues at home, peer pressure, drug abuse, and bullying.

• Teacher is the most versatile position on earth, more versatile than the President himself. No wonder they looks so exhausted at the end of their days. They have so much to handle at school, let alone in their house, in one day! Imagine all kind of things that they have to endure each and every day. To all teachers out there, I salute all of you. Salute to Neena Samuel for publishing the article as well.

 Nenna Samuel, the author of the article

10. Kids dish on your secrets all the time - money, religion, politics, even Dad's vasectomy.

• Parents out there should be careful on what's happening in their house. In addition to the above jobs that teacher have to do (No. 9), they are also proficient in this one: detective. If the teacher can't "get" to your house, the kids will "bring" the house to the teacher. This is the only safe way possible to know whether the condition or the atmosphere in your house is beneficial for the kids. If not, teacher will go a loooooooooong way ensuring that their kids have the most conducive environment possible to learn, not just the school but the house as well. Okie, in No. 2 I type there that teachers don't like to hear about your marital woos, but if the problems between your partner started to become unhealthy to their student, or affect them so badly, their grades started rolling down, this is an exception. Teacher got to act for the benefits of their students. It's the nature of the job.

 Hahahahahhahhaahahaahahhahahahaahhahahahaaaaaaa...

11. Please, no more mugs, frames, or stuffed animals. A gift card to Starbucks or Staples would be more than enough. A thank-you note: even better.

• Imagine you have 25 kids in your class, and each of the kids' parent wanted to give you something nice, for example a mug. So you got 25 mugs in your hand, one time. How about many times, plus the ordinary gifts like, frames, stuffed animals, etc? Gosh, you could open an antic shop selling all those things. Truth to be told: teachers hate those things, well not hate-a-lot I guess. Not that they did not appreciate it but, somehow, like I said before, they deserve even better. An honest, thank you note is a powerful way of conveying the message that you are thankful of all the hard works the teacher been putting to educate your kids. Even better, speak it out. They'll be touch by this simple, but effective kind of gesture. Not having someone to spend your afternoon with? You could take the teacher to go have some coffee and lunch with you, provided that you have the permission of your partner (or if you don't have partner at all, you could call it a date). That way you could express your thankfulness to them.

Except for a bunch of cool, stuffed animals like Garfield here, teacher don't care what you are going to give them unless it is.........

.........Starbucks!!! OMGness, that waffle looks so delicious.

12. We love snow days and three-day weekends as much as your kid does.

• They are so busy teaching the prime ministers, presidents, Republican, Democrats, even criminals all around the world, they don't have time for themselves to learn how to flirt effectively with the opposite sex. Don't blame them; again they deserve a break. They also wanted to have snow days EVERY day, summer break all year long, and three-day weekends as well. I've read this article before on the effectiveness of the three-day breaks. It give kids enough, if not ample, time to refresh back their memories and to re-learn back what they have been studying before, and to finish their homework of course. Teachers, on the other hand, are able to develop their lesson plan, and to review and practice teaching so that it would be so interesting for the students, plus they have enough time to search materials for their next teaching. So it's a win-win situation after all.

Love the quote!!!

13. The students we remember are happy, respectful, and good-hearted, not necessarily the ones with the highest grades.

• Even if you kids have the unbelievably highest grade of all time in your school, but if that comes from someone with a bad attitude, sorry, it won't be remember much in those gray-matters of the teacher. And F***, I don't know how to elaborate on this one. Guess it's up to you guys to sum this one up.