A teacher!

[Rhusette_me]

A doctor, an engineer, a lawyer and a teacher died at the same moment.. They went to heaven to face God.. But before entering the Kingdom of God, He asked them first one by one on what are the good things they were able to do while they were still alive..

The doctor proudly said, "I cure and make those sick people get well!"

The Engineer proudly said, " I made beautiful bridges and as well as buildings for the people!"

The lawyer proudly said too," I protect and fight for those people who were not able to speak out what's on their mind and those people who were being abused!"

The God was quite impressed with the three and then He noticed that the teacher was quitely listening to the three.. Then Gos asked her, "How about you? What have you made while you were still alive?"

The teacher just stares to the three who were mockingly staring at her, and then faced God and said...." I MADE THEM ALL!!"

-I hope this story brings joy to the heart of all the teacher and aspiring teachers-to-be like me! We should be proud that we are teachers! And we should not bear in mind that we are not just teachers! We teach!

[Rhusette_me]

A doctor, an engineer, a lawyer and a teacher died at the same moment.. They went to heaven to face God.. But before entering the Kingdom of God, He asked them first one by one on what are the good things they were able to do while they were still alive..

The doctor proudly said, "I cure and make those sick people get well!"

The Engineer proudly said, " I made beautiful bridges and as well as buildings for the people!"

The lawyer proudly said too," I protect and fight for those people who were not able to speak out what's on their mind and those people who were being abused!"

The God was quite impressed with the three and then He noticed that the teacher was quitely listening to the three.. Then Gos asked her, "How about you? What have you made while you were still alive?"

The teacher just stares to the three who were mockingly staring at her, and then faced God and said...." I MADE THEM ALL!!"

-I hope this story brings joy to the heart of all the teacher and aspiring teachers-to-be like me! We should be proud that we are teachers! And we should not bear in mind that we are not just teachers! We teach!

Im sorry but I just want to correct some mistake.. Instead of "And we should not bear in mind that we are not just teachers", it was supposed to be like this, "And we should bear in mind that we are not just teachers"!..thankS!

[abufarsi]

Lots of noble professions out there.

Those that can do and those who can't ... teach.

It would be very hard for me to honor a teacher in the Philippines. Perhaps I do not understand.

What parent suggested that the best way to spend school time was to weed the roadway?

I would like to meet the person who felt that it was a good idea to march babies in the national highway. Is that not the old joke? go play in the highway?

Why is 10% of the school year spent preparing for mid term and end of year programs? Do teachers really think that parents sent their kids to school to learn to dance in unison? In my life I have not missed a single employment opportunity, or been limited in my other life's goals because i could not dance in unison.

After they have learned the national anthem, why sing it OVER AND OVER AND OVER? Is there not a single teacher out there who simply says "OK they have it already" This stinks of political indoctrination rather than learning about the world.

If children/parents are too poor to provide "proper" clothing for their children, who's idea was it to deny those children access to education?

If a teacher stands mute in the face of corruption, what lesson is she teaching?

What does it say about work ethic when teachers fail to warn parents or students that they simply will not show up for class the next day?

Why is it necessary for teachers to mention GOD in the classroom? There is freedom of religion and freedom FROM government endorsed religion in the Philippines. Do teachers really think that parents or churches cannot handle the job of educating children of their preferred religion?

If students are taught to respect those in authority, because they are in positions of authority, does it not cheapen those who deserve respect because of high moral fiber? hard work? Planning? EDUCATION????

Now of course, you as a teacher are hired to implement a program designed by others. that what is taught, the books selected to help that child learn, and even the number of children in classrooms is out of your decision making processes. I think this is what is called the Nuremberg defense, " I was ordered to kill those Jews".

There are some things you could not hire me to do, no matter how high the pay... And I do not want my children respecting anybody who does not have the same thinking.

[Rhusette_me]

Lots of noble professions out there.

Those that can do and those who can't ... teach.

It would be very hard for me to honor a teacher in the Philippines. Perhaps I do not understand.

What parent suggested that the best way to spend school time was to weed the roadway?

I would like to meet the person who felt that it was a good idea to march babies in the national highway. Is that not the old joke? go play in the highway?

Why is 10% of the school year spent preparing for mid term and end of year programs? Do teachers really think that parents sent their kids to school to learn to dance in unison? In my life I have not missed a single employment opportunity, or been limited in my other life's goals because i could not dance in unison.

After they have learned the national anthem, why sing it OVER AND OVER AND OVER? Is there not a single teacher out there who simply says "OK they have it already" This stinks of political indoctrination rather than learning about the world.

If children/parents are too poor to provide "proper" clothing for their children, who's idea was it to deny those children access to education?

If a teacher stands mute in the face of corruption, what lesson is she teaching?

What does it say about work ethic when teachers fail to warn parents or students that they simply will not show up for class the next day?

Why is it necessary for teachers to mention GOD in the classroom? There is freedom of religion and freedom FROM government endorsed religion in the Philippines. Do teachers really think that parents or churches cannot handle the job of educating children of their preferred religion?

If students are taught to respect those in authority, because they are in positions of authority, does it not cheapen those who deserve respect because of high moral fiber? hard work? Planning? EDUCATION????

Now of course, you as a teacher are hired to implement a program designed by others. that what is taught, the books selected to help that child learn, and even the number of children in classrooms is out of your decision making processes. I think this is what is called the Nuremberg defense, " I was ordered to kill those Jews".

There are some things you could not hire me to do, no matter how high the pay... And I do not want my children respecting anybody who does not have the same thinking.

I respect your opinion about it abufarsi.. But if you'll read the bible you can see that man cannot live with bread alone! Those students who were attending schools were taught to dance and sing because that is one way of encouraging them what abilities or skills are they good at! We just dont teach them because the government were paying us but because we care for them!

[eStu]

I think that as with any vocation there are good teachers, bad teachers and mediocre teachers, but the role of educator is an important one.

I had some negative experiences with bad teachers towards the end of my secondary schooling despite achieving excellent academic results, but that's just a fact of my life path. I also had good teachers along the way.

Abufarsi, you stated that it would be very hard for you to honour a teacher in the Philippines, and you've outlined some aspects of education in the Philippines that you take exception to, but have you found an ideal education system anywhere in the world?

I agree that having kids weed a highway seems highly questionable on safety grounds... in controlled circumstances maybe something like that could foster a sense of civic pride and duty? In the stated circumstances that's a long bow to draw and I'll assume that the safety conditions were unsatisfactory, so I agree with you on that criticism.

As for spending inadequate time preparing for mid-term exams. Again, I can't comment on the factual veracity but I'll accept it as accurate and comment accordingly. In my experience, there are few if any situations in life analogous to mid-term or final exams. To me those exam situations are a deeply imbedded part of a particular educational culture, but they are in themselves of quite questoinable value. Maybe parts of what we're discussing here are cultural differences. As to the value of singing and dancing? Well, many cultures over millenia have placed a high value on singing and dancing, but even looking through a contemporary Western lens these activities have recognised value in developing confidence, and dare I say it, well rounded human beings.

I agree that bowing to authority without question can be very dangerous, but before we get to the extreme case I think there needs to be a basic level of reciprocal respect maintained in any learning environment so that benefit can be gained. Without basic education how could a person be in a position to make a value judgment on who is worthy of respect?

It seems to me that this thread was started in a good spirit by a (probably) young person who is an aspiring teacher to be. I'm not sure how the actions of teachers in an imperfect eduction system can be compared to those of people who carried out mass murder and attempted genocide... unless those teachers are marching children into gas chambers, did I miss something? If this was meant to be constructive criticism I think I missed the constructive part amongst the hyperbolic invective.

It's good to be passionate about education because it is such a crucial element to children's development, but let's not shoot down or discourage an aspiring teacher-to-be who is probably also at an age to still be learning about life (but then aren't we all?). I'm all for mavericks who buck the system (educational system or otherwise) in an effort to achieve a greater good but ultimately not everyone has the tools to instigate and sustain a revolution, and not everyone would agree on ideal outcomes anyway.

There were a raft of other interesting isuses raised but I think my post is already approaching epic length so I'll end here.

I hope that the aspiring teacher will have a positive impact on some developing lives some day.

[abufarsi]

thank you ESTU for a thoughtful reply.

I knew that I should not have posted those comments about 2 minutes after I did it. This is hardly the place for hard criticism.

This teacher issue is one of my pet peeves.

And yes, it is a radical safety issue as well as a tremendous waste of time to weed the national highway. I have questioned teachers, principals as to the logic of this. Most say that maintaining the grounds underwrites pride in their school. One teacher suggested that she was very overworked and needed to do an hours paperwork each day and could not do it when the children were in class.

They spend 10% of the school class time preparing for a party and program, NOT exams.

We agree completely with regard to respect, I feel it is ALWAYS EARNED, never due to appointment or birth, and as it is earned it can also be lost no matter the position. Unfortunately this is not the lesson in the Philippines. The mayor, SB members, barranguy captains, are all treated with reverence no matter how corrupt, deliberately stupid, ignorant, drunkard, inattentive to their positions or the number of mistresses they have. I am not suggesting that every teacher should insult those who fail to meet basic moral values or mess up in office, but they could point out others who demonstrate a high moral caricature and show why they are worthy of respect, and using news papers show the reverse, thus, preparing students to think FOR THEMSELVES.

This thread was started by a person who claims to be a teacher, tooting his own horn. THE Nuremberg defense "I was ordered to do it", is the same as teachers refusing to confront authority when many lessons are openly counter productive to, good child rearing, good teaching standards, best long term interests of children, obvious safety issues, and of dubious accuracy as to facts or truth. Agreed that no solution is always 100% correct, but rarely does prohibiting dialog use the greatest resources to resolve obvious problems.

[abufarsi]

Rhusette-,me

First off I am going to offer you a personal apology. I am sorry, I was wrong to personally attack anybody in this forum. When making my first post on this topic I did not think I was indeed making that personal attack, but re-reading it I see that you might easily have been offended, personally.

I was also wrong to use your light hearted joke to as a stage to launch my own agenda.

To me, this topic is near the root cause as to much of the suffering that I have witnessed while visiting the Philippines. You can't help but to have empathy with those peoples who try hard to make your visit rewarding, who have such open lives to foreigners, and hardships that are so obvious. This is not an excuse to excuse the inexcusable, but, an explanation as to why I made the mistake in the first place.

Again, sorry, everybody else in here is a nice guy, I don't know why I can't be one.

[Edwin]

abufarsi, most teachers are sincere, hard working, consciencious, considerate, and honest.

I agree that there are a few ineffective teachers, and some that are even mean, but I have gone to school many years and taken lots and lots of classes, and I have had mostly good teachers. I did have one abusive teacher that mistreated me, for no good reason. He was a former prison guard, and I think he just loved power and enjoyed finding people and situations that he could prove he was the big tough guy. At the time I thought it was grossly unfair, but I didn't realize that I was still angry about it until one of my distant relatives asked my daughter if I knew this man, because she knew that we had been where he had been. I reacted, and then I realized that I had unforgiveness in my heart. I had to deal with that because I am a Christian. I had a fifth grade teacher who wanted to hold me back, failing me for that year, and my Dad talked her out of it, and Dad told me that he didn't think she was a very good teacher, but was only there for her money. I never did very well in school, nor did I do very well in Bible College, only well enough to pass. But after about ten years or so went back to school for a teacher's education. Since that time I have gotten mostly all 4.0s including math and science and everything. I learned to read in those 10 years and that helped me. When I take classes I work very hard, and it usually always pays off. I also spent 10 years teaching public school, so I have been on both sides of the issue.

You said that you were sorry for what you posted 2 minutes after you posted. What you have to do is click edit, then you can change anything you wrote, or delete everything you wrote if you want to. On one or two occasions I decided that what I had written was in poor taste, so I deleted it right away, and hoped that not too many people had read it.

[prettysweet]

abufarsi, most teachers are sincere, hard working, consciencious, considerate, and honest.

I agree that there are a few ineffective teachers, and some that are even mean, but I have gone to school many years and taken lots and lots of classes, and I have had mostly good teachers. I did have one abusive teacher that mistreated me, for no good reason. He was a former prison guard, and I think he just loved power and enjoyed finding people and situations that he could prove he was the big tough guy. At the time I thought it was grossly unfair, but I didn't realize that I was still angry about it until one of my distant relatives asked my daughter if I knew this man, because she knew that we had been where he had been. I reacted, and then I realized that I had unforgiveness in my heart. I had to deal with that because I am a Christian. I had a fifth grade teacher who wanted to hold me back, failing me for that year, and my Dad talked her out of it, and Dad told me that he didn't think she was a very good teacher, but was only there for her money. I never did very well in school, nor did I do very well in Bible College, only well enough to pass. But after about ten years or so went back to school for a teacher's education. Since that time I have gotten mostly all 4.0s including math and science and everything. I learned to read in those 10 years and that helped me. When I take classes I work very hard, and it usually always pays off. I also spent 10 years teaching public school, so I have been on both sides of the issue.

You said that you were sorry for what you posted 2 minutes after you posted. What you have to do is click edit, then you can change anything you wrote, or delete everything you wrote if you want to. On one or two occasions I decided that what I had written was in poor taste, so I deleted it right away, and hoped that not too many people had read it.

I agree with u Edwin, any profession deserve RESPECT in one way or another.. There are still more teachers who are noble in their profession.

[Edwin]

I substituted in all grades, pre through 12 for 10 years. I would go into the classroom, read the teacher's lesson plans, take roll, and try to make believers out of the kids. I tried to figure out how much the teacher would get out of the kids and try for just a little less than that. I tried to be tough, but kind. I had seen a lot of teacher and especially substitute teacher that thought they were really going to be strick with the kids, and really lay down the law, and those teachers made a lot of their own troubles. Most all the kids where I taught were glad to see me return, and I had lots of wonderful days. I enjoyed substituting, but I got a chance to work in the tourist industry, and I enjoyed that more, driving buses, giving narrated tours, running lunch tours, providing transportation, hauling people to trail heads so that they could go snow shoeing, cross country skiing. I ran a narrated tour to Rainbow Falls where I told the details of the valley and its history. I met people from all over the world including many from the Philippines, and I had more fun that you can imagine. I did that for 10 years, and now I am retired and enjoying that also. I have just finished taking a nutrition class and a music class, enjoying them both. I love to play the piano, and I think about getting onto my trombones again. Then I have a number of projects that I need to work on, so I have lots to do.