Extra Credit Assignment: Teachers Cope With Very Different Challenges

Mr. Babylon is a high school teacher who works in New York City's Bronx. Thanks to a less-than-thoughtful colleague, his professional life just got needlessly more complicated. What happened is that another teacher used some sort of hook, crook, bribe, or "other" leverage in order to get an administrator to exchange one of her terribly-behaved classes for one of Mr. Babylon's better-behaved group of students. Now Mr. Babylon is "stuck" with another teachers "challenging" class.

What's a teacher to do when a co-worker pulls this type of unprofessional maneuver?

Post-Hip Chick had an awful teaching day that featured: a vandalized lock, (That would not allow the door to be opened all day.) the filing of a police report for an assault against her person, and a false fire alarm that resulted in the entire school population standing in the pouring rain for some 10 minutes.

Be sure to read Post-Hip's preceding entry here for some insight into what many modern classroom teachers have to deal with.

At least her awful teaching day was offset somewhat by a great teaching night that involved a good turnout of students for "slam poetry."

Ms Frizzle is coping with what we out here in California sometimes refer to as the "March Doldrums." It seems that as soon as the calendar says March, many students come to believe that summer vacation has already begun and work slower and slower and slower.

How can we as teachers motivate the unmotivated?

Polski3 is having to cope with a principal that seems to be losing control of his school. Each time Polski makes a suggestion for improvement, the Principal says to him: "Thanks for letting me know. I'll take care of it." (The problem is, according to Polski, nothing is ever done to improve the situation, which continues to deteriorate.)

How is a teacher to help affect positive change when working with an inert site administrator that seems to have his head in the sand?

Please consider submitting a post to the Carnival Of Education: Week 5. Submissions may be sent to owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive all submissions by 10:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, March 8th.

To view the latest edition of the Carnival, click here.

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