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Although it is true that certainly someone can learn by
checking a book out of the library, the most efficient system
that we have is a teacher/student. Take one child, left to
wander around with access to a library on the corner and the
hope that he will self-educate, and another child with a
dynamic teacher and we know the outcome. I can't be replaced.
A school can get another hot body to teach in my classroom,
but they won't get the numbers I get. You said yourself in
one of your other rants about data and numbers and how they
seal the deal. My admins know they could replace me with an
unknown who is scratching her head trying to figure out how to
get the kids to be quiet and listen. They can hire some
newbie to stand up and print lessons off of Pinterest, like
the one with the really, really cute color coordinated
classroom and students sleeping and texting. They can get
someone that gets umpteen parent complaints...or they can keep
me. I know what I am worth. I once got a job in the middle of
the year, and once in a district that only had ten openings. I
can get another job. I will never be reduced to your factory-
worker, pathetic, groveling stance. There are ALWAYS jobs
available for a dynamic teacher who knows how to conduct
direct instruction and masterfully drives a classroom hitting
targets with hard to teach kids. That's me. Stop scaring
teachers into thinking that if they are treated like dirt,
their boss owns them. It isn't true.

On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
> No your students have a great capacity for learning, they
> can learn from many sources and don't need you to
> facilitate their learning. A well motivated student with
> access to a library can learn far more than you could
> teach them.
>
> No if you leave you just get replaced. I know you'd like
> to think your that important but your not. Your expertise
> is valuable, though I don't know if its a lot if value or
> not.
>
> No you can't get a job anywhere, there aren't vacancies
> everywhere.
>
> On 7/16/14, retort wrote:
>> The children can't learn without ME. But they can learn
>> without
> a
>> principal. A teacher has a great deal of power. Teachers
>> just don't understand their power. Most try to play the
>> game, and
> they
>> think if they are "good" they will come out on top. This
>> is how PsyGuy would have you play. Don't listen--it
>> doesn't work. If I walk out in the middle of the year, my
>> kids are up a creek
> without
>> a paddle, scores tank, and the school looks bad. I don't
>> buy the factory worker thing. I bring my expertise to the
>> table and that's worth a lot. Sorry, PsyGuy, you can tuck
>> your tail, but I can get a job teaching anywhere. Life is
>> a two way street.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>> No schools are very much a business. No your not a
> subcontractor,
>>> you get a W-2 at the end of the year not a 1099, and
>>> "you" are
>> not
>>> a separately incorporated entity contracting your
>>> services to
> the
>>> district, as a temp service might. You are as much hired
>>> on a contract by the organization (the district) and are
>>> directly employed by them. I know youd like to think of
>>> yourself as an independent contractor, because then the
>>> natural flow of the argument would easily support the
>>> idea that the school/district doesnt direct your work,
>>> but your not an independent or sub contractor, your a
>>> direct employee, and your employer very
> much
>>> has the power to direct and dictate your work. You dont
>>> have
> to
>>> work on a factory line to be an employee (as opposed to
>>> sub contractor) and you cant legally be required to do
>>> anything
>> illegal,
>>> this is true in any job or position or career, you do
>>> have to
>> make
>>> sure you can prove your case and that you were asked to
>>> do something illegal or criminal. Changing a grade or
>>> being
> asked to
>>> change a grade is not illegal, a teachers grade is
>>> final, unless
>> it
>>> meets certain criteria, and most principals simply say
>>> that
>> criteria
>>> is met.
>>>
>>> You are as much a free agent as your free to accept or
> decline
>> the
>>> districts offer of employment, but accepting it very
>>> much
> makes
>>> you a direct hire employee.
>>>
>>> On 7/16/14, re: psy Guy's comment wrote:
>>>> PsyGuy favors comparing education to business, which is
>>>> a fallacy of argument. Schools aren't a business. It is
>>>> true that we have a boss, called a principal, and
>>>> generally speaking, if your boss tells you to do
>>>> something you do it or you risk insubordination which
>>>> can get you fired--that part holds true. We are more
>>>> like an architect, you don't hire one and then try to
>>>> have an incompetent tell him how to design a house. The
>>>> part that does not hold water is that teachers (when
>>>> compared to the other world) are more like
>>>> subcontractors. We are put on a contract to deliver a
>>>> service, and when a principal asks a teacher to do
> something
>>>> as unethical as changing a grade, the case can be made
> that
>>>> the teacher's reputation and career could be affected
>>>> by
> going
>>>> along with something depending on the circumstances.
> There
>>>> was, in fact, a case where a principal directed a clan
>>>> of teachers to cheat on state testing by changing
>>>> answers. The teachers went along with it, and ended up
>>>> facing criminal charges. We don't work on a factory
>>>> line, as PsyGuy would describe. We are essentially free
>>>> agents that contract with the schools. For me, I
>>>> maintain high ethics at all times. We have to defend
>>>> our teaching to the community at large and in the end
>>>> my job is on the line if my scores aren't strong. Most
>>>> of the principals I have worked with don't know how to
>>>> lead in the area of instructional design and many don't
>>>> seem to know much about classroom management either.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>>>> No business owners are the only ones unsupervised.
>>>>> Principals are very much supervised by both the board
>>>>> and the sup.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sure teachers careers can be ruined from evil
>>>>> principals, but thats no more or less true than in any
>>>>> profession or business. You can have an evil VP that
>>>>> ruins your banking career just as easily.
>>>>>
>>>>> Well if your supervisor tells you to change the grade,
>>>>> Id change the grade. Why anyone would think you could
>>>>> tell your supervisor no, and keep your job baffles me.
>>>>> Theres a reason its called a supervisor subordinate
>>>>> relationship. If im going to lose my job its going to
>>>>> be over money or seex, not one students grade.
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7/16/14, anon wrote:
>>>>>> Thank you for a great post. It is the truth. PsyGuy
>>>>>> should just shut up on threads having to do with the
>>>>>> abuse of teachers
>>>>> because
>>>>>> it is clear he knows nothing of what he is talking
>>>>>> about.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Principals are the worst supervisors in the economy
>>>>>> for the simple reason they aren't supervised. It's
>>>>>> rare these days to find one who is any good at all.
>>>>>> Teachers can and do get their lives destroyed just on
>>>>>> a principal's whim, and anybody who denies this
>>>>>> reality is either a liar or an idiot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> All it takes to get a career ruined is to refuse to
>>>>>> change a grade when a principal orders it because of
>>>>>> a parent's complaint. All it takes is to get sick and
>>>>>> use FMLA to have a career ruined. It's all about
>>>>>> covering for a principal's or other administrator's
>>>>>> worthless ass no matter what the consequences to
>>>>>> others.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 7/16/14, Empathy and Sympathy wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> PsyGuy? Are you a naturally self-superior, didactic,
>>>>>>> person, or do you have to work at it? Bottom line
>>>>>>> is, are you for real? Or just putting everyone on.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What in the hell makes you think you know a single
>>>>>>> thing about what other people are experiencing and
>>>>>>> the motivations behind how certain administrators
>>>>>>> operate and why they do as they do.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Sure, you are right in that the job of a principal
>>>>>>> is to manage the school and the teachers. And that
>>>>>>> it is the job of the teacher to adapt to a new style
>>>>>>> of
> management
>>>>>>> if required.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But if you think you can make a silly blanket
>>>>>>> statement that all administrators are propelled by
>>>>>>> nothing more than a desire to better their school
>>>>>>> with nothing personal involved when it comes to
>>>>>>> teachers, then you must live on Planet Altair-4.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Whether it fits your fanciful vision or not, there
>>>>>>> are some principals out there who are mean, stupid,
>>>>>>> vindictive, tyrannical, and have no conscience at
>>>>>>> all when it comes to destroying teaching careers.
>>>>>>> And if they have it in for you, then no amount of
>>>>>>> attempted adaptation on the part of the teacher is
>>>>>>> going to change it.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> One bit of proof is that more and more teachers are
>>>>>>> finally relating it, and many others are leaving in
>>>>>>> droves (as another poster said), because their
>>>>>>> physical and mental health, and even sense of
>>>>>>> personal dignity, cannot forever withstand the
>>>>>>> assaults .
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> When was the last time *you* (if you ever were at
>>>>>>> all) in a classroom? What are *your* credentials to
>>>>>>> presume to lecture REAL teachers who know first hand
>>>>>>> of what they speak of, as to what they need to know?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Your post is about the most insensitively, boorish,
>>>>>>> that I have read it a long time. I don't mean with
>>>>>>> me...I am tough enough to handle it, but with Mini.
>>>>>>> Again, when was the last time you ever bent over a
>>>>>>> desk to help a student or contribute to the teaching
>>>>>>> realm. Far as that goes, when was the last time you
>>>>>>> ever bent over for
> work
>>>>>>> at all, unless it was to kiss some C-Scope
>>>>>>> executives patootie (yeah, I have read you before on
>>>>>>> this one).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ordinarily, I wouldn't make comments like this to
>>>>>>> anyone. But your post was beyond the pale and shows
> an
>>>>>>> appalling ignorance of the realities of teaching
>>>>>>> today, and what more and more educators are forced
>>>>>>> to
> endure.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 7/15/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>>>>>>> Well they arent dictators, they are your
>>>>>>>> supervisor, and
>>>>>>> their job
>>>>>>>> is to manage you and the school. Thats means that
>>>>>>>> things dont always go your way, and maybe your no
>>>>>>>> longer a good fit for the school and its
>>>>>>>> leadership. Its your job to be flexible
>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> adapt to your schools leadership and culture, not
>>>>>>>> the other
>>>>>>> way
>>>>>>>> around. Being a good fit for 15 years doesnt mean
>>>>>>>> you can
>>>>>>> just
>>>>>>>> keep repeating that behavior indefinitely.
>>>>>>>> Professional good professional adapt to change.
>>>>>>>> Including changes
> in
>>>>>>>> management. I really dont know why people can think
> not
>>>>>>>> getting along with your boss is going to somehow be
>>>>>>>> okay.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 7/15/14, mini wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Thank you so much everyone for your support. I
>>>>>>>>> will
> be
>>>>>>>>> substitute teaching. Like some of you are. Because
> we
>>>>>>>>> need to make a living. I can never get past this
>>>>>>>>> because employers look at your last job, even if
>>>>>>>>> you worked for them before with a great record. I
>>>>>>>>> am leaving TX because I can't afford to live here
>>>>>>>>> anymore. I will have to go and live with family.
>>>>>>>>> That is why I named the good guys and bad guys in
>>>>>>>>> my situation. For Psyguy yes this is a job, but in
>>>>>>>>> the private sector I at least would have 6 months
>>>>>>>>> to prove myself. I didn't get that in a 4 month
>>>>>>>>> contract. So, I can only assume it was a hack job.
>>>>>>>>> Why,I don't know? Like I said before my direct
>>>>>>>>> supervisor and co- workers were very kind, they
>>>>>>>>> showed me the ropes,
> they
>>>>>>>>> answered my questions. I got along with them.
>>>>>>>>> Thank you everyone. I know I have lost. I just had
>>>>>>>>> to say something to someone. Thank you! Thank you!

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