The State of US Teachers
-We will need over 2 million new teachers in the next 10 years. -Twenty percent of teachers quit within the first 3 years of their teaching careers. -33 percent of teachers quite within the first 5 years of their teaching careers. -The main reason teachers quit is because they feel they are not making enough money. Starting teachers can make as little as $20 000 per year, barely above the poverty line. -Other reasons to quit include: misbehaved students, disrespectful students, whining parents, angry parents, growing families, desire for change, and long hours in the classroom. Teachers feel that their profession is not fully appreciated or understood. Many will meet highschool friends and be laughed at when they tell them what their job is. -Teachers find it difficult to cope with the wide range of students in every classroom- different races, religions, and financial levels. -Students want to be teachers because they feel they can positively affect a child’s life and because they excel in a certain subject. They like being able to help their own communities. -Many of our long-lasting teachers were inspired by past teachers and other role models in the education system. -One top teacher wanted to be a movie-star, a missionary, and a mechanic as a child. She feels that as a teacher she can be all three of these things. -A teacher that does not have set expectations of her students or strong inner will power will likely leave the profession quickly. -Teachers are very stressed and they lose sleep and personal downtime because they worry about their students and they have so much marking to do. -Teachers generally think poorly of themselves and consider the jobs they do to be of a low quality. This is because they are so hurried in the day that they simply can’t do all the things that they want to do. -Teachers have to realize that they don’t have the power to make a student succeed and that, although they can try, they cannot make a student hand in an assignment. -The best teachers are the ones who can find something about every student that is good and love and appreciate each one equally. -The best teachers realize that teaching involves more than covering the curriculum with students . It involves counseling them about their futures. Many children really don’t know what to do in life and the teacher is the person who will put them on the right path

A look at the schools in Edmonton Alberta
Alberta has a unique and appealing school system that is worth looking into. It has a variety of schools that cater to special groups. The public school system was losing a lot of students before it came up with its new program.
Some of the new schools they have designed are already in place elsewhere in Canada, but never in the public school system. One of their hits is a native school, where students of native ancestry are not so likely to lose their heritage. They begin each day with the burning of incense and a sort of prayer. Another hit is the all-girls middle school. At a difficult time in their development, the girls do not have to worry about dressing up and looking pretty for their beau. Instead they can focus on their education. This is an exciting opportunity that many parents are taking advantage of.
Other schools include a military school for highschool aged boys. This school teaches them such things as military heritage. There is a kindergarten to grade 12 arts school for parents who want their children to have more exposure to the arts rather than the sciences. Of course, the majority of schools are just your typical public schools, but everyone has the option of attending the specialized schools if they wish.
After these new schools opened, the enrolment rate in the public school system skyrocketed. And why not? If a parent is paying big dollars for their child to attend a private school, and then the public schools offer the same sort of program free of charge, why not take advantage of it! It is a win-win situation. And the children are more eager to learn if they are in a program that interests them.
Perhaps this is the way to go for the rest of Canada. Obviously, by catering to the needs of individuals, you can satisfy an entire group of students. Some may argue, however, that this is not Canada. Everyone is equal and we should all bring our differences together into the same classroom. This is a nice idea but it just doesn’t work in the classroom. Students are frequently racist and inconsiderate when given the chance to be. If they are segregated into interests groups, perhaps they will be better able to see the similarities between each other. For example, all the students in the arts school will share a common interest in art whether they are Muslim and black or Catholic and white.

Teachers in the Special Education Field
Special education, says James Kaufmann, has ten problems today. It is considered to be: (a) ignorant of history, (b) apologetic for existing, (c) preoccupied with image, (d) lost in space, (e) unrealistic in expectations, (f) unprepared to focus on teaching and learning, (g) unaware of sociopolitical drift, h) mesmerized by postmodernist/deconstructionist inanities, (i) an easy target for scam artists, and (j) immobilized by anticipation of systemic transformation. James M. Kauffman, Commentary: Today's Special Education and Its Messages for Tomorrow. Vol. 32 no, Journal of Special Education, 01-15-1999.
James Kauffman writes for the Journal of Special Education, and he most definitely has a true trend here. Special education is a diminishing program, at least it is in Ontario. The constant government cuts to education have saw its budget being slashed in every area, resulting in a system with more troubles than the students it serves.
Special education used to involved small remedial classes with extensive help for troubled students. My daughter once attended a session because her Rs sounded like Ws. Now, however, these classes are a part of history. Students who are behind or in need of extra help are simply sent to the basement, where one, or at most two special ed teachers serve a school of 700 people. It is rather daunting.
This new program is not just hurting the students who need extra help, nor just the teachers who have lost their jobs; it is hurting the entire system of education. Stronger students must wait in boredom as classroom teachers spend significant amounts of time with the struggling students. Less material can be taught and students fall behind their peers at other schools.
Obviously Kauffman’s ten points are the result of a lack of funding. It is extremely difficult to correct any of there things if the money isn’t there. Teachers need to speak to their boards, talk to the trustees, and even send letters to education officials. We need to let our governments see how much our special education systems are suffering as a result of their funding cuts. Obviously a poorly funded education system can not provide students with a rich and sufficient education. It should be part of a teacher’s goal to reverse these funding cuts. Until then, teachers must do as much as they can for their struggling students, including giving them extra help even after school and during lunch break. In this way, students will not become disillusioned and behind.

It is a well established fact that white teachers are a dominating majority in America. This is all very well, but is the lack of colored teachers due to racism or simply a lack of interest in the profession?
There has been a trend where as the student body continues to rise, the colored teacher population continues to decline. This may not seem terribly problematic at the moment, but it takes something out of education. America is a multi-cultural place and children need exposure to new cultures. As well, students of different races and religions should have the chance to learn with teachers of various races.
The truth is, people of color have more trouble becoming teachers. The privileged white society tends to dominate the classrooms with their own ideas and procedures. These include such things as admitting fewer students of color to college because the admissions committee favors whites. People with unusual names ( commonly racial minorities) have less chances of success in school. A study on this saw teachers marking papers with names of various students. The students with normal names fared much better than the ones with unusual ones. White teacher have a significant impact on whether other races succeed or fail in school. The sad part is that of all migrants to the country, 40-50% never finish highschool.
To effectively teach students of different races and cultures requires creativity, adaptability, and of course no racism on behalf of the teacher. One of the most successful approaches is creating lessons that incorporate unique cultures into the daily lessons. If you have someone from Pakistan in your class, ask them to talk about their life there, and the difference in their new country. Ask them about their schooling and see if you can come up with something that will be a little bit more suitable for them. And, if you typically study a story about racism against a Chinese person, perhaps you could find something different if you have a Chinese student in your class- these types of things make students very uncomfortable.
The goal of education is to teach children and to develop a desire for lifelong learning (among other things). This cannot possibly be achieved if the student is unhappy, uncomfortable, or confused. Teachers must do everything they can to make sure each and every student has the best possible education, and must individualize the lessons as much as possible for each unique individual.

Should you turn to Teaching if you hate your Job?
A man I know was an extremely wealthy business man who played the stocks and worked with pensions and investments. He was living high, if you like, and had everything he wanted . . . almost. But every time he went to work, he found that he was a little less happy about going. He realized several negative characteristics about the professional person he was, and wanted to change.
This man, Bob, made many confessions to me. He said he was cheating people out of their retirements, robbing people of their savings, and making money at the expense of his fellow human beings. He was also tired of traveling for hours every day by train, car, and taxi to his workplace in the big city. He was rarely home to enjoy himself and all his luxuries.
Bob quit his job, not without must harassment from colleagues, to become a teacher. He went to teacher’s college and took on a job at a high school close to home. Only then did he find happiness, he says that he is actually helping people now, and benefitting society. Because he is so happy with his job, he can really make an impact on his students and has their full respect. Bob is a favorite teacher at his school because he is so positive and interested in his work. Sure he is not making nearly as much money as before, but he has found happiness- and in my opinion money cannot compare to happiness.
Teaching is a nice job compared to many others. It has good hours, good facilities, professional colleagues to work with, excellent benefits and more. There is always a job to be found if you are willing to move around a bit. There are so many available jobs that few teachers can stay unemployed for long. One of the key things to remember, however, is that you have to have a way with children to successfully teach them. If not, it will be a nightmare.
Teaching is a way to “salvage your soul”, but you have to be the right kind of person for the job. If the motive for leaving your old job is laziness, don’t go into teaching. Conversely, if you are ready to become an active and prominent person in your community, and you find that your old job is not allowing you to do this, I encourage you to look into teaching.

Consider a Teacher Exchange
More than one teacher has been able to combine the best of both worlds by participating in a teacher exchange program. These programs involved traveling to another country, swapping houses with another teacher, and being paid the same salary as usual to teach in another school for a set period of time. Such teacher exchanges are very common nowadays.
It is an excellent way to travel and to spend an extended period of time in the region of your choice. You will have weekends to travel around the area. Most teachers plan ahead so that they are in the country during the summer holidays, in order to do some more extended travelling before settling into their temporary home.
Teachers will meet many new people. They will learn new ways of teaching and new techniques for dealing with students. They will learn new cultures and new curricula. The teacher they trade places with will teach their usual class back at home. This can be a great benefit for the students, especially in today’s globalized world. The teacher will bring new ideas, new ways of learning, and new enthusiasm to the school.
Exchange teachers have to plan ahead to make sure their trip goes well. There are hundreds of web sites dedicated to helping us do just that. One of my favourites is www.ats.com.au/~hoddo/ This website allows you to look up hundreds of teachers without charge. It allows you to post messages to other teachers telling them about your job. You can subscribe to an e-mail list and read messages from all different kinds of teachers until you find the perfect match for yourself.
Many other websites charge for their services. If you are interested in links, the above one has a link page with many other places to check out. Every teacher is encouraged to investigate this opportunity. The school boards must both be contacted and the principal must give the go ahead before it can take place, but this is rarely a problem. Many teachers bring their entire families along and put them into the school system in the new country. The kids can usually stay in the same grade level and not be kept back a grade when they return.
A teacher exchange is an exciting opportunity that allows you to keep your job and salary while going on the adventure of a lifetime. I know many teachers who have tried it, loved it, and done it more than once. They all seem to have stronger professionals. A teacher exchange is just one other

The other day I had a rather interesting experience which showed me how easily principals at certain schools can create negative environments for their students. I was supply teaching at an inner city school. The classroom I was assigned to had a kitten. I am allergic to cats, so I had it removed from the room. The principal agreed to keep it in the office.
For three days I provided exemplary teaching for the students. The weekend came and went. Early Monday morning I received a call from one of the dispatchers for supply teachers. They still needed a supply teacher for this class, but another school needed one as well. The problem was that the principal had requested one that was not allergic to cats. She had complained to the dispatcher that she had been stuck with a rowdy kitten in the office all week.
Now it was my class, so the dispatcher said I could go back regardless, or I could take the new class. I was still half asleep, but I decided on the new one. I was shocked that the principal would put the well-being of herself before that of the students. Education has been proven to be most effective when students have the same supply teacher for the duration of the real teacher’s absence. This principal cast this knowledge aside for her own well-being.
I voiced this event at a recent meeting for supply teachers. They were as shocked as I was. This incident has made one thing quite obvious. The principal of a school has a critical role in the well-being of the school, the students, and the community. If a principal puts anything but the students first, the school is going to be much less than it could be. I have noticed this at my own children’s schools as well. . .
One of my children has a principal who does not get along with the teachers at the school. She is extremely good with the students, but the teachers loathe her. She is impossible for them to deal with and her word is law. She doesn’t understand the word compromise. This has led to the loss of the majority of the school’s experienced teachers. Today the school is full of less experienced, less passionate teachers who do their jobs, but do not do them well. This has adversely affected the student population at the school. Many have taken sick leaves, and even the vice-principal has retired. All this because of a principal!

There are many forms of discipline in the schools of the world. It is difficult to know just which methods work best.
To talk to the problem child in class or alone? Although it may seem best to yell at the child in front of the class to create maximum embarrassment, the lone method seems to work better. By talking to the child alone, he or she has no peers to impress and is less apt to mock you. As well, a student feels much smaller when alone with a teacher than when he or she is in the midst of a large group of peers. This can lead to fear, repentance, and reform; all of these are essential to resolution of the problem.
Detention or Extra Homework?
Here is a hard one. Detention is usually more effective. If a student is misbehaving in class, there is a great possibility that he or she will not bother to do the extra homework. This will leave you, the teacher, in a sticky situation the next day. If you schedule a detention, you do have extra work for yourself, but the student is sure to be punished. A compromise between the two is having the student do a set amount of work during the detention and allowing him or her to leave if he or she finishes early.
Down to the Principal or Out in the Hall? Students dread going to the principal and would much rather sit in the hall. The seriousness of the offense should guide you in your decision. Don’t send a student directly to the principal unless they have done something despicable. Give them a warning. Be wary of the hall, however, because a student sitting all alone is likely to attract other students walking by.
Rewarding the Good or Punishing the Bad? Many teachers ignore the good students and spend their time on punishing the bad ones. I know some math teachers who give out rewards called math bucks for various good things a student does. These include homework, answering questions, and coming to class prepared. Math Bucks allow students to leave the room for a washroom break. They can also be handed in on test days for extra marks. This entices the students to do the things the teacher desires so that they can win some math bucks. It is also an excellent way to reward good students.
In younger grades the entire class puts their heads down if the majority is acting up. This calms down the room quickly. It is easier to control younger students because they tend to be more

Active Listening
In Teacher’s College, one of the most important tutorials covers the concept of active listening. This concept is so simple that many people underestimate its power and potential. Active listening is a characteristic that makes a person stand out- be it in the job interview, the classroom, or the home.
Active listening is a commonly misunderstood term. Many people believe that it involves listening to a person intently. Well, that is a part of it, they are missing a large portion of the definition. Other people believe that it means being able to give advice to the speaker. This is generally incorrect.
Active listening is a concept that involves a listener and a speaker. The listener must give the speaker their undivided attention. The listener must not make any inappropriate body signals- looking at a watch, staring blankly, crossing the arms defensively etc. The listener must not interrupt the speaker until he or she is finished speaking.
Once the speaker finishes, the active listener will summarize their feelings. They will create a summary sentence starting with “You feel.....because...” Below is an example:
An angry mother comes into the classroom and begins to talk about how upset she is with her daughter’s grades. She continues on about how worried she is about her daughter being kept back a grade.
As the active listener in this example, the teacher would quietly and intently listen to the mother. When the mother finished, the teacher would summarize the monologue. Perhaps she could say: “So, Mrs. Smith, you feel anxious because your daughter is not progressing at the level you would like. You are worried because you think she might be kept back a grade.”
This seems awkward in such a situation, but it has amazing results. The mother will be surprised that you are such a great listener and will be more respectful of what you have to say. Many teachers would become defensive and start an argument in this situation. This is definitely a bad idea. Just letting parents explain their feelings to you is a way to help them shed the stress in their lives. They will feel like they have thrown a huge burden from their shoulders. It is a great way to begin an parent-teacher interview. As well, many employers will ask you if you are an active listener and ask you to respond to what they say accordingly:
Here is an example for you to try: A colleague comes to you and tells you about her day. She says: “A kid broke a window during his temper tantrum and nobody bothered to do their homework. I don’t know why I even bother with teaching. Honestly, I just feel like quitting right now.”

For those who love working with technology, sharing media, keeping materials organized and teaching students, a job as a library/media tech teacher can be a way to get the best of both the teaching world and the library science world. Those specializing in this field will be able to use technology and library resources to enrich the curriculum of students from all grade levels.

Many jobs that focus on educational technology will require applicants to have more than a standard bachelor’s degree. An increasing number want these specialists to have a Master’s in a related field such as library science. It can also be advantageous when pursuing this career path to get a firm grasp of a variety of technological devices that are used to manage library materials and deliver educational content to students. Most positions in this field will also require teaching certification, which is an important factor to consider when preparing for this career during college. Additional coursework in child development and lesson planning can also be a great help.

The duties of a library/ media tech teacher are varied. They must be able to look at the curricula for a wide range of grade levels and find ways that technology can be used to aid in the learning process. These teachers must also be able to adapt to using new technology and be able to teach both students and other teachers to use it as well. They must be able to work with students from a wide range of backgrounds, including those with disabilities, so that all students have equal and unbiased access to the school’s educational resources. Library/media tech teachers must also be good leaders and communicators, as they must work with teachers, administrators and students to create goals and to seek out and implement new technologies. They must also be able to effectively manage a budget for new resources and technology.

The most successful library/media tech teachers will be those who are passionate about their work and who have a true desire to discover and share new resources and ways to learn. They must be well organized and have a good deal of patience to work with a diverse group of students and teachers, some of whom may not understand or be able to immediately grasp new technologies. Those wishing to pursue this career should work on their communication skills, as these form an essential part of the job, both when working with teachers and with other staff members.

With technology becoming an ever more present part of the educational experience, job opportunities for library/media tech teachers are growing all over the nation at elementary and secondary education schools. Salaries for the position will vary depending on the geographic location of the school and the level of experience of the applicant. Those who want to combine a variety of interests in the field of education, including teaching, resource management, and implementing new technology should consider this career.

University of Illinois linguist Dennis Baron explains how a simple grammar lesson can lead to a clash of civilizations.

Everybody knows that a noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. It's one of those undeniable facts of daily life, a fact we seldom question until we meet up with a case that doesn't quite fit the way we're used to viewing things.

That's exactly what happened to a student in Ohio when his English teacher decided to play the noun game. To the teacher, the noun game seemed a fun way to take the drudgery out of grammar. To the student it forced a metaphysical crisis. To me it shows what happens when cultures clash and children get lost in the tyranny of school. That's a lot to get from a grammar game.

Anyway, here's how you play. Every student gets a set of cards with nouns written on them. At the front of the classroom are three buckets, labeled "person," "place," and "thing." The students take turns sorting their cards into the appropriate buckets. "Book" goes in the thing bucket. "city" goes in the place bucket. "Gandhi" goes in the person bucket.

Ganesh had a card with "horse" on it. Ganesh isn't his real name, by the way. It's actually my cousin's name, so I'm going to use it here.

You might guess from his name that Ganesh is South Asian. In India, where he had been in school before coming to Ohio, Ganesh was taught that a noun named a person, place, thing, or animal. If he played the noun game in India he'd have four buckets and there would be no problem deciding what to do with "horse." But in Ohio Ganesh had only three buckets, and it wasn't clear to him which one he should put "horse" in.

In India, Ganesh's religion taught him that all forms of life are continuous, interrelated parts of the universal plan. So when he surveyed the three buckets it never occurred to him that a horse, a living creature, could be a thing. He knew that horses weren't people, but they had more in common with people than with places or things. Forced to choose, Ganesh put the horse card in the person bucket.

Blapp! Wrong! You lose. The teacher shook her head, and Ganesh sat down, mortified, with a C for his efforts. This was a game where you got a grade, and a C for a child from a South Asian family of overachievers is a disgrace. So his parents went to talk to the teacher.

It so happens that I've been in a similar situation. We spent a year in France some time back, and my oldest daughter did sixth grade in a French school. The teacher asked her, "How many continents are there?" and she replied, as she had been taught in the good old U.S. of A., "seven." Blaap! Wrong! It turns out that in France there are only five.

So old dad goes to talk to the teacher about this. I may not be able to remember the seven dwarfs, but I rattled off Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, North America, and South America. The teacher calmly walked me over to the map of the world. Couldn't I see that Antarctica was an uninhabited island? And couldn't I see that North and South America were connected? Any fool could see as much.

At that point I decided not to press the observation that Europe and Asia were also connected. Some things are not worth fighting for when you're fighting your child's teacher.

Anyway, let's get back to nouns. School grammar texts typically divide nouns into person, place, or thing. More advanced grammars separate nouns into animates and inanimates, or abstracts and concretes, and they further complicate matters by including phrases, clauses, and entire sentences that aren't actually nouns but function like them. None of this lends itself to buckets, and none of these systems specifically mentions animals. In English, though, animals can clearly be things: "The dog is hungry. Feed it."

However, animals can also be persons: "Babar became king of the elephants when the old king ate a poisoned mushroom and died." They can even be ideas, like the Cheshire cat in "Alice," or the Loch Ness monster: they're not real, so they must be ideas. I guess an animal can't very well be a place, but I'm sure some reader will attack me for placism, arguing yes, it can.

But that's not the point, is it? The point is that lots of nouns don't fit neatly into noun buckets. What is East? Is it a place or an idea? Can it exist without West? Or North and South? Calling nouns persons, places, things, ideas, or even animals, is a way to help students recognize nouns when they stumble upon them. It is not meant to limit the imagination or categorize every possible noun the mind can come up with. Anyone looking at all closely at language must see that its categories are suggestive, permeable, inconclusive. As linguists like to say, all grammars leak. Some teachers find this indeterminacy uncomfortable.

Is the point of the noun game to see whether students recoginze possible nouns as nouns, or whether their view of the universe agrees with the teacher's? Is education fitting things into buckets, or wondering why the categories don't fit the facts? Does education consist of grading you on how well you can play a game?

So what do I advise Ganesh's parents to do? Forget it, that's what. Ganesh has done more thinking about the nature of language than his teacher has. His performance in the noun game won't keep him out of Harvard, or Ohio State. The teacher isn't going to change. The grade is not important. It's the thought, not the noun, that counts.

This commentary is based on an actual incident that occurred more than a decade ago. An anxious parent called the National Council of Teachers of English for advice, and I responded with an earlier version of this essay that appeared in Inflections (vol. 2, no. 1, 1994), a Council newsletter. The parent, who received a copy of that response, discussed the issue with the school principal, who was moved to schedule a schoolwide assembly to increase awareness of cultural diversity among students and teachers.

Dennis Baron is professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois and writes regularly on linguistic issues at The Web of Language.

For many students, math can create an abundance of hidden anxieties. Many children will dismiss math as "stupid" if they have any difficulty or frustration with the topics. As a parent or a teacher, you may find it hard to motivate students to complete math worksheets. Here are some tips to help your students tackle math and overcome anxieties.
1. Keep a positive attitude.

Many parents and teachers are anxious about math themselves, either because they are unsure of how to teach it properly or because they themselves were poor math students. Children can pick up on these emotions easily, so keep your tone and your attitude positive.
2. Make sure the child understands the assignment.

For homework or classroom printable worksheets, if you see students struggling, ask them to explain what the assignment is or how they should complete the particular problem. You should be able to gauge by the response whether or not they fully understand, or if they need further assistance and explanation. Parents may want to look over homeschool worksheets to make sure that the assignments are being done correctly.
See our Math Worksheets



3. Explore math in your day to day routines.

Elementary school children are well aware of their daily routines, and it is easy to incorporate math into their everyday lives. For example, you can use the minutes left on the clock until lunchtime as an exercise for subtraction, or multiplying the number of boys and girls in the class.
4. Explain math as a way to solve problems.

While math does utilize the methods of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, it is also so much more than these concepts. It can be used to solve problems. Explain to your child how math works to solve different problems, such as knowing how many pieces of cake you need to cut. Go beyond printable worksheets and explore likenesses and differences in your daily routine. This will demonstrate the value of math in their every day lives.
5. Get the kids talking.

Ask your child to complete math problems by talking through the steps. This will allow you to see exactly where his or her train of thought is and where there might be confusion. 6. Teach money skills Even young kids understand that things cost money. By getting them a piggy bank, you can use money as a way to teach counting, addition, and subtraction skills. Older kids can even use fractions and percentages when trying to determine how much money they have saved up towards a desired item. For example, if a movie they want costs $20, and they have saved up $8, they have saved up 2/5 of the amount, or 40%.
7. Teach time.

Both digital and analog clocks can be useful tools for teaching your child time. Discuss seconds, minutes, hours, and days.
8. Make math fun.

You can combine teacher worksheets with games to make math more interesting. Play games with flash cards that use different math skills as a way to help your student practice.
9. Computers make useful tools.

Today's students are much more comfortable and confident on the computer than their parents were at the same age. There are a variety of computer games that incorporate math skills. Older students may be excited about spreadsheets or calendars as a way to practice math.
10. Parents and teachers should maintain communication.

Teaching math relies on both the teacher and the parents to help the students learn the skills that they need. By keeping clear communication about the types and frequency of homework assignments, teachers can help identify problems early, working together with parents to solve the issues.