I'd pick some level of professional frustration over working the hours the average American works, any day.

Really? Most dedicated elementary teachers I'm acquainted with put in about 10-11 hours a day counting staying after and what they take home to finish. In addition, at least a couple of unpaid weekend days a month or more planning and prepping in their classrooms. In their first years under contract, virtually all states require pursuit of advanced coursework or degrees and few districts pay for that tuition. Beginning teachers often spend their "free summers" going back to college at their own expense.
It's a convenient myth that teachers don't put in as much time as private sector professionals. Once they've earned their chops, summers become a bit more free. They are also unpaid.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Anyone read Time's cover story this week?

Teaching is a profession, not a job. Real teachers facilitate learning. The best teachers are those who inspire curiosity in their students.

The age group is also a factor. I can teach elementary kids and middle school kids in small groups, but I'm only effective with HS kids one-on-one or in a mixed age group. I'm most effective teaching adults, because in almost all cases they want to be there, and that's at least half of the motivation to learn.

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“Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” ― Robert A. Heinlein

Yup. Tenure isn't offered anymore at my school district. I had a friend get in before they killed it off.

Well, its hard work and made much harder by all the pols who are making it an issue. I never thought I could do it, though teaching juniors and seniors in college was pretty nice. It was surprising how much drama there was even there with childish things like missing class and people not contributing to a team equally.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

State law here. Probably in the lower 10% for quality of education.

I can see maintaining discipline as a real problem for a shop teacher. The next thing you know some stupid kid has removed his fingers messing around.

You should do what my old shop teacher did, made a hell of an impression on us.

He had this solid piece of harder foam rubber that was about 2 inches thick. It was about the same consistency of human skin, like a hand. He passed it around and made sure we all had a feel, then he turned on a standing belt sander and pushed it against the sanding surface. Instantly, the entire block was shredded and jammed through the 1/4 inch gap between work surface and sanding surface and fired down to the floor.

After that he looked around and said, "imaging if the rest of your arm was attached to your hand and that happened. All it takes is a micro second of inattention."

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You've pretty much described the standard ghetto classroom in the USA today I think. actually a lot more than just the ghetto.

I never will be a teacher but I've been in classrooms enough in the last fourteen years to know what's what. Some folks have it, some don't. I've seen some folks who fold within a few months and others that make a go of it with the same kids.

The single most important thing seems to be iron discipline. Everything else is BS psychobabble. If the school has a decent approach to discipline use it. Send them to the office regularly, the instant they infract. Fro small things as much as for big. Like that NY mayor who cleaned the place up. Repeat as necessary, etc. Remember you have to clean up the ghetto before you can achieve anything with it.

Of course if the school's administration is weak you are screwed.

They need to fear you. Respect blah blah bs babble etc can come later.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

A clear understanding of the difference between discipline and punishment is needed to learn an appreciation for the value of discipline.

Discipline really had little value in my life until I was in college and had to compete with people who had discipline. Up until that time things came easily enough to me without discipline.

I volunteer each orchestra at one of the poorest schools in the district. One of the techniques I was taught was a thing called positive narration. You give the command, like "OK everyone sit down." A few kids will sit, then you start naming the kids who sit, like "I see John sitting, Jane is sitting..." and very soon most of the kids will be sitting.

It's freaking amazing.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

[QUOTE=John Galt;3402317 I'm most effective teaching adults, because in almost all cases they want to be there, and that's at least half of the motivation to learn.[/QUOTE]

Same rule pertains to mental health issues. In my experience the child tends to want to remain the same. In fact they are only seen by a professional usually because of difficulties suffered by others with them. Where the adults really want and desire the help to change.

I have seen the brightest young minds amount to nothing over the years all too often. Part of it has to be the home structure. This is a waste society cannot afford either but is becoming even more common than ever I believe.

I got a bright young fellow off of drugs reciently. Now he is just become a dealer. With the easy money he will not develop into anything worthwhile I suspect. We cannot counter this with much effect as all too much of our society is based on money today more than values. In some ways we try to teach children having already set a poor example as a society they must be aware of.

I have lived long enough to really believe that a real effort to rid society of substance abuse was not taken is another example. The price to me seems far too high of not having done this. Even worse is it seems to still be very much growth oriented. We just seem to have too many negative precursors in society established today to advance as one much.

Perhaps there is just such a thing as too much freedom. Everyone just doing whatever they want to sounds good. Removing the long established sane perimeters and values is not working that well now in far too many cases from what I observe.

This is not meant to be a negative post. Just an expression of what I think is being downloaded on to teachers far too often in many regional areas.

Pretty sure half of the kids would think it's funny or not care.

What grade(s) do you teach? I remember senior year I took shop class. Nobody screwed around with the equipment and the teacher got a lot of respect from my class and everyone was willing to learn. My high school was a combination of low-class, middle, and high-class students.

It isn't just "ghetto" schools. Some years back at a nearby very upscale public high school the auto shop teacher broke up a fight in his class. Two knuckleheads were going after it and wouldn't stop so he called security. When security didn't show up in time and one kid was seriously beating the other he physically stopped the kid. Parents sued because their little darling got a bruise and the teacher was fired.
As it happened, this fellow was a retired pit mechanic for one of the big Nascar teams and had not only provided himself but virtually all of the equipment in the auto shop. When he went the program folded.

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You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting