Life is Not a Constant Disney Ride

Here is an article out of London that makes my heart warm. I love it because it goes against the conventional wisdom of the so-called professional educators and administrators who have surrendered to the idea that teachers need to constantly capture the kids attention and the need be entertainers more than teachers. Boring lessons 'are preparation for life'

Teachers say children need more boring lessons to help them deal with the world beyond the classroom door.

Pupils needed to get used to the idea that life wasn't a constant "Disney ride", said delegates at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers annual conference yesterday. "I don't have the energy to do all-singing all-dancing lessons every day, five-days-a-week, each term," supply maths teacher Zoe Fail explained, to loud cheers. "Children are not bored enough. They are over stimulated. Being bored encourages thinking skills and imaginative play."

Oh, man. This is HERESY!!!

Barry Williams, a lecturer at Hertford Regional College in Cambridgeshire, said that those who believed his teaching style was dull "just don't understand the nuances and subtleties of my lessons".

HA! HA! I'm gonna save that last quote for next years *PDAS.

"When they say to me: 'Mr Williams, that girl is looking out of the window staring at a tree,' I say: 'Do they not recognise the advanced stages of Zen Buddhism which I have brought into my lessons?' I am in fact producing adults who will be able to watch party political broadcasts."

Teacher after teacher said that they believed their students to be incapable of handling the mundane aspects of everyday life beyond the television screen or interactive whiteboard.

True. True.

Antoinette Lavelle, from Cottesmore St Mary's RC Primary School in Hove, said: "In some lessons the skills you are practising might be boring, but are very important in the development of knowledge, such as learning times tables or long division."

Watch it madam. You are speaking common sense which is frequently lacking in public education and in the schools of education at the university.

*In Texas, a PDAS is a teacher's formal evaluation of a classroom lesson plan that is observed by an administrator. This one time evaluation can make or break your entire year or teaching career.

Oh, great. Just what the world needs, another blog.

According to goggle Blog Search, there are currently 2,565,746 blogs with the word"teacher". So why should any one care about another teacher writing another blog? Well, I don't care what anyone else thinks. This is therapy. After putting up with a 131 (on roll) teenagers all day, teachers need to occasionally vent (if you spend any time in public education you would understand). I was thinking about starting a "reflective" journal during my first year of teaching, but never got started. I'm not some youngster fresh out of college with his first teaching job. I spent 15+ years in the business world before I got into teaching. I feel this is a major asset to me and my teaching style. I got into teaching because I wanted to do it, not because I wanted paid summers or become head coach of whatever team.

I guess my ultimate goal is to "share" those experiences, express how I see the profession, and give readers an occasional laugh. If you want more than that, go find something else to read. I'm only one man.