I think any teacher worth his salt has been a victim of this kind of crap once in a while. Some administrators are amazing. They go out of their way to support you, but some are spineless weenies. Sadly, there aren't enough of the former. I once had a principal tell me to stop teaching an objective lesson about Buddhism when we were reading a story about India when a parent complained. The next week a Christian group handed out Bibles at lunch and he had no problem with that. Luckily, the school where I work now is led by a very capable administration, but every day I'm nervous that it could change.
So if you've got kids and you don't like something your teacher is doing, sit down and shut up for a minute before you go bitching to the administration. Your momentary discomfort might just be less important than the overall education of the youth of America.
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I don't know. Sounds like an obvious safety issue to me. I had some sharp teachers in school, but I also had a few I wouldn't trust with scissors, let alone firing a weapon around kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it got the kids' attention, but what if the teacher misses the block of wood? Accidents happen no matter how proficient one might be. Maybe the lesson would be better served as a field trip to a firing range, or done with a low power gun...
Teachers with guns, instead of kids? What a concept.
Just have him bring Ross into the classroom next time.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite teacher, 1 of 2 at least- used to bring in firearms and swords throughout a linear time period, of which we would be studying at that time.
ReplyDeleteHe was a history teacher. For a lot of kids, history is boring. But this added little element from his collections not only elaborated on the time period and how people lived or fought- it allowed us to become interested in something other than a board and marker for 2 hours out of the day.
One of my middle school teachers used to bring in a Cherokke axe and mallet and use the most annoying student in the class to mimic a scapling. Everybody loved it, including the "scalped" kid. It was a memorable lesson, but I can't believe she never got a complaint from a whining parent.
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