so my professor...

T

tina72382

Cathlete
Hey all, I am so down today, my professor last night made me totally cry. I'm in grad school for education. We have to write autobiographies as term papers. So I said to the whole class that I think I want to be a teacher because I want to teach my students to believe in themselves and believe that they can acheive whatever they want to with hard work and determination. Well, he told me i am niave (that I know, I'm only 22 for god's sake )and that what would I do about crack babies and kids who really DONT have a chance??!! I just cried. He apologized then. This was all in front of the class, but I know my classmates got my back.

But its like, why would I want to teach if I looked at it that way??

Just upset me :( and totally depressed today cause of it

thanks for listening :)
 
Hi! I agree that if students believe in themselves and do the hard work and have determination they can achieve what they want.
The remark about the crack babies and kids that do not have a chance would be more appropriate if you said you would be teaching the mentally disabled or special education and even they can achieve in what they believe!!

His remark was uncalled for. Sorry he hurt your feelings and I hope you are feeling better.

Have a great day..
 
Hi there,:)

That was quite mean of your professor I would say.
Sure, there are kids who really don't have a chance out there. But keep up your positive attitude you have, because that CAN and WILL make a difference for some kids out there, sure you can't help all, but you can help some.
So keep up your great spirit and show everybody, that you can make a difference.

Have a great day
Kristine :) :) :)
 
He is only jealous of your youth,energy and determination! You are already above and beyond him! You can teach my kids anytime!
:) Renee
 
Awww Tina, I am so sorry. I would be very down too. I think your philosophy is a good one and you just keep up your hard work & determination. I truly think TONS can be accomplished through those two attributes. Keep your chin up. You're doing great! {{{Tina}}}
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
Your professor was either trying to simply challenge you to defend your paper by offering a "devil's advocate" type of question, or he's an insensitive jerk. Hard to tell since I don't know him. By the way, long term studies have shown "crack" babies who grow up in nurturing supportive environments turn out not any worse than kids who weren't born to crack-addicted parents. Tell your professor to get current on research before he shoots off his mouth in front of a class.

If you want to teach people to believe in themselves, start with YOU, okay? You are not automatically naive simply because you are 22 years old. I know plenty of 20-somethings who have more brains and more maturity than some of the 40-somethings I know - believe me! Teaching is an awesome profession, and I applaud you for wanting to do it for the right reasons. I believe the greatest gift you can give a child is the ability to believe in him or herself, so call ME naive if that's a naive attitude. HA! I don't think anyone would who knows me, okay?

You have to believe in yourself before you can empower others to do so, so have a talk with yourself and try to view this experience from a learning perspective, okay? I think he may simply have been challenging you to stand up for what you believe in.

Best of luck with school!!

Carol
:)

Edited to add: his delivery of the message, however, sounds to me as being a bit on the harsh side, unless of course he challenges all students in class like this. Then it may just be his way of teaching, however right or wrong it is. Either way Tina, hang in there and try to chalk this up to a learning experience.
 
Tina:

I'm a grad student in Romance languages and your reasons stated seem sound to me. I agree with them, they are what I hope for my students and what I see in action each and every semester. Helping them discover that the limits to what they are capable of achieving go way further than they realized keeps me in teaching and from burning out on all the grading which I loathe with a passion.

Your professor seems to have had a bad day, took it out on you and broke the number one rule of the teaching profession: no matter how much your personal life stinks, whether today or in general, you do not take it into the classroom with you. So, you know, it's not you who should be crying here.

By the time you get to where he/she is, it's possible he or she has taught enough in certain social areas to have seen the limited success of his or her teaching methods given the despair that reigns through the impoverished social area itself. But: is that a reason to give up hope and lose all optimism? It seems to me that your professor is due a reality check and a review of why he or she got into the teaching profession to begin with. It's his or her moment of crisis of belief, not yours. Stick to your guns.

There are also certain professors, and I have met my share of the assholes both at Penn State U and Cambridge U, UK, who have all been male by the way, who get off on the power trip of humbling a female student publically. After the first time it happened to me at Grad school I took my complaint to the head of the department. Course, it did me little good since he was best buddies with the asshole professor in question, but, despite the old boys netowrk that still rules academia, I believe in standing up for myself when faced with condescending bullshit from any quarter. Do the same. What I have learned after 10 years of off-on academic experience is that you have to advocate for yourself; no-one else is going to do it for you.

In solidarity against bullshit from professsors (not including the lovely Kathryn!) and the infantilization of grad students,

Clare
 
Hi Tina,

Do you get to do evaluations of your professors at the end of the semester? It's a regular and required practice at the school I work at. I got a lot of valuable feedback (even when it wasn't necessarily good feedback) from students when I taught.

If you do, you might mention something about it there. Maybe he wanted to insert some realism into a situation that you might face as a teacher, but his comment just came off as toxic.

Keep your chin up. :)
 
Tina - this was absolutely rude and unnecessary of your professor. CREEP! I remember commenting to my high school guidance counselor that I wanted to be a nurse. He said yeah, if all you want to do is clean bed pans all day, like I was some stupid naive kid. Now at 39 I wish I had stayed with my dream, but now I teach high school math and I really do enjoy it. Let me tell you there is nothing better than that student you struggled with in high school cause they were always a jerk or in trouble, all in all a pain in the A$$. Then one day they stop by and say how much they appreciated you believing in them, putting up with all their crap, making them do their work, and they are happy successful people now.

Stay with your dreams...there's no telling where they will take you.

Sami
 
Well if you want to keep a job in that profession you will pass those kids right on through to the next grade just like you would with the kids who perform well. Because, unfortunately, that's the way it works in public schools and Catholic schools these days. Sorry to be cynical but it's true.
I think it's great that you want to instill your beliefs about hard work, achIEvement, and determination into your students. Hopefully you will do just that. But the reality is you will be required to push ALL of the kids through by passing them. And the reality of school systems nowadays is contrary to your beliefs, and mine by the way. Hopefully they will carry those beliefs into the real world outside of school, where it really matters in the end. And you can definitely be part of making that happen.
Teaching is TOUGH. Make sure you are really steeled for it when you begin. I watched my Dad meltdown and quit after 10 years in teaching because of the stress and BS he dealt with on a daily basis.
I know you must think I am trying to shoot you down here. I don't consider you nAIve....or maybe just a little. But you are young. I am just hoping you realize some of the realities of today's education system. In spite of it, I sincerely hope you do succeed in your goals of instilling a good work ethic and belief in oneself into your students.
T

:)
 
I'd like to add that although her professor should definitely not have said what he said, he's probably fed up with the actual reality of what he's seen in the education system i.e. grad students who cannot spell, or perform many other basic functions needed to function legitimately at the college level. You know, the REALITY that we are supposed to sweep under the rug and pretend isn't there.
But hey, you know those asshole male professors! LOL!!
 
Trevor,
Most of the time I agree with you. Even on this I do to a point. I still have belief that there are those that can make a difference. We need good teachers that care about our children and whether they learn. I have an aunt in Ca. that has taught many years, she is in her 60's now. She was forced to quit because of lupus. She still does substituting most of the time. She loves her job. My youngest daughter is almost finished with school and ready to start teaching. She has always wanted to do this. When she was young she used to spend her allowance on things to play teacher with my daycare children. I believe that we need to encourage anyone who is willing to put up with whatever they have to to teach. I do know there are children that are discipinary problems that the system is supposed to take care of because parents failed to do their job. Maybe someone's love for these children may make a difference to one or two.
Diane Sue
 
I know what you mean about believing in oneself and accomplishing our goals through determination. The professor definitely used a bad set of words, and probably, a bad tone too. But what he may have tried to point is that there are real limitations, because we are humans, after all. It may also be dangerous to teach them they can do ANYTHING because anything can be anything...a crime, for example. (Of course, I know you know that.)

That being said, I sympathize with you. What this professor did to you was nothing compared to the humiliations and unprofessional, too familiar environment I suffered in the School of Architecture of Puerto Rico, years back, preceding the onset of my bipolar disorder.
 
You're just starting your career, you're full of youthful optimism.

Somewhere along the way you're going to have a student that has been "dumped" by the education system and the parents. He is going to be in your class for 6 hours a day, for 180 days and then he's going to be shuffled to somewhere else. You'll also have 20+ other students with the same restraints. Do you think you'll make a difference?

I have two children, 16 years old. 1 with Autism (son), 1 with bipolar & ADHD (daughter). They are both honor roll fully mainstreamed at peer level. My son is an Eagle Scout and takes karate. My daughter is a figure skater. If it weren't for the support of my wife and myself these kids would have been left behind in spite of "Leave no child behind" or "leave no child's behind" as it's known in educator's circles.

I've been through the wringer with special ed and the "normal" education system. I'm not bitter, it's like the Christine Aguillara song "stronger".

I hope you'll make a difference but your professor may have been trying to harden you before you get slammed with reality first hand.

Dave
 
Dave,
May I ask what interventions/medications/supplements,behavior modifications, etc. that you used with your autistic son. My son is 8 and is autistic and finally in mainstream 1st grade after years of special education. I am astounded that your son is on peer level. Would you mind discussing what interventions you used to help get him on peer level. My husband and I have been through the wringer the last few years. My son is reading between kindergarten and 1st grade level and we are thrilled since they told us years ago that he would never read. We tried everything from high vitamin B supplements, cod liver oil, the gluten-casein free diet, you name it, we tried it. The only thing that has helped dramatically is the ritalin which we started just this year. I didn't want to medicate him and refused to for years. It causes me many sleepless nights because we are now medicating him. . . . but I do have to admit it has helped his learning tremendously. Would you mind sharing what you guys have done to help you son get to peer level? Thanks for any info.
Lisa
 
So your professor . . .

. . . is a dour, irresponsible slob. Why on earth would he want to discourage a grad student in educating from, like, EDUCATING?

Just put your heart on mute with this guy, gut your way through the class and follow YOUR dream. Educators do have to work with special-needs students all the time, and be prepared for that. But - prepare for that, because it can be an extremely rewarding vocation.

A-Jock
The Daughter of a Teacher
 
I really like Carol-is-fit's response:

"By the way, long term studies have shown "crack" babies who grow up in nurturing supportive environments turn out not any worse than kids who weren't born to crack-addicted parents. Tell your professor to get current on research before he shoots off his mouth in front of a class."

I would suggest that you show some of these studies to your professor, if you think he will hear you --- be wise, of course, about whether or not he can. As a professor myself, I have to say, his comment was misguided and his teaching strategy was poor. [I also admit, I have occassionally been insenstive myself, I hope not that glaringly.] It may be that your professor is very aware of the deprivations some people have, and how hard it is for them to enter the educational systems with an equal playing hand. As one who grew up poor, and as one who has some students who started life really disadvantaged, I know this side of things. His awareness of this, however, is so overwhelming that he may be --- no, he IS --- inadvertantly ADDING to that disadvantage by teaching education students that certain categories of students do not have possibility. This is scary, and I hope he reassesses this position. He needs to be taught as well as teach. I hope he is a teacher who knows how to learn.

I personally am encouraged to read of your hopes and dreams. The most disadvantaged students are those who are taught by teachers who don't see their possibility.
 
Your prof sounds like a boob who hates his job.

I would definitely speak with the dean about what he did and tell him/her that the remark was totally inappropriate. Do they want to run a school and educate future teachers or not? The job is hard enough without having education professionals damning it as well.

Hang in there.
Shopgirl
 
Shopgirl's got a great point. I'm a prof and that behavior is outrageous and unacceptable. If he was trying to "harden you up" for the "real world," then he should have figured out by now a constructive way of doing so. There are a ton of bitter losers in our profession - sorry you have one there but they're pretty hard to avoid.

Good luck with your goals and don't let anyone, including some prof, tell you that they are invalid.

DD
 
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