Student Suspended Over Sleeping Teacher
COMMENTARY | Students are supposed to live up to rules and standards of their school districts while teachers aren't. A substitute teacher in Mustang, Oklahoma, proved this exact theory recently.
A freshman at the local high school snapped a picture of the snoozing sub with their cell phone. Doesn't seem like a problem right? It is twofold. First students aren't supposed to have their cell phones turned on during class time. Rather than giving the said student detention or taking the phone away and calling their parents, the school suspended the student.
The student probably wouldn't have been caught taking the picture if they wouldn't have put it up on a social network site like Facebook. The sleeper got off scot-free for playing possum in class while the student was punished for taking action.
That incident leads to the next reason why this student shouldn't be suspended for their actions. In Kansas, Governor Brownback wants to post teacher evaluations on public websites. However, Kansas lawmakers disagree with the governor. While I may not agree with everything lawmakers do, Brownback may be onto something after the incident with the substitute teacher and the Mustang high school student.
This is one of the reasons students aren't learning as much as they should be in classes. Even President Obama wants teachers to be held responsible for what the kids are learning in the outline he prepared for his last State of the Union Speech. He stated, "Attract, prepare, support, and reward great teachers to help students learn." The substitute teachers actions doesn't help those who teach full-time. Nor does it help improving the image of teaching staff across the country when those who do the minimal work get away with sleeping on the job.
The substitute proved exactly what Governor Brownback and President Obama are getting to with their proposed legislative acts. The substitute must have slept through the president's SOTU address as well. Why shouldn't teachers be held to standards and accountable for their actions?
Even with the incident being investigated by the Mustang School District, the actions as of this time aren't good enough. The reason being the student is missing classes while the substitute goes on being in classrooms with kids while the regular teacher is out.
Published by Karen Barnes
Karen is an online marketer, freelance writer, online game player, crafter, mother, wife, and home cook. She has worked in fast food, grocery stores, and a home and farm store. She studied business in hig... View profile
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6 Comments
Post a CommentYahoo! Contributor Network is just as irresponsible for printing this "opinion" from Karen Barnes let alone paying her for using it! I am disappointed in the Yahoo media network. They are very much on the level of the "The National Enquirer". I think they want website "hits" any way they can get them by labeling articles with controversial headlines!! Honestly...if it wasn't for hardworking teachers Yahoo employees wouldn't know how to read! ; (
1. Are you sure the teacher was sleeping? Maybe the photo was snapped as the teacher blinked, therefore it would look as if they were sleeping. Not having been there or seeing the photo I wouldn't know.
2. You are suppose to get permission before you take someone's picture and put it on public display.
3. You have no idea if the sub will be employed in the district again or not.
4. You have no idea why the student was suspended. Privacy is an issue here so the district could not release details to you for why they were suspended.
5. As for posting teacher evaluations online, you are again dealing with privacy issues. http://www.priv.gc.ca/fs-fi/02_05_d_17_e.cfm
Karen doesn't state what the requirements are to be a substitute in this school district! Due to budget constraints it often requires no more than a pulse, which the sleeper obviously had! The media needs to stop bashing all teachers for the actions of a few or as in this case support staff over which they have no control! Articles such as this that are half truths and misinformation should not be printed, they do nothing for the betterment of society or any of it's problems and only make those of us who chose teaching as a career remorseful. Frankly I am sick to death of defending my profession, time to put Karen and other journalist??? on the defense.
The article by Ms. Barnes shows how little she knows about education and teaching. As a retired credentialed teacher of 30 years and a person who subs a few days a month I found the article filled with little fact and many misconceptions. The first, misconception is that a sub is a credentialed teacher. This is not true. A person can be a sub with a 90 college units and passing the state testing, so many subs are not fully able to teach or organize a classroom of students. They are there as a warm body to keep students from tearing down the school and to stay in class. Of course, there are subs like me who have the experience and qualifications to get students working/on task and keeping an orderly classroom. When a person is called as a sub they are on a list and it is usually a central list within the county or city school system. They have been fingerprinted, turned in copies of a degree or college units and if they have a credential given a copy to the central office. Another misconception in the article is that a sub is evaluated. This is not true and there is really no reason to evalutate a sub unless they are hired as a long term sub. Again, a sub is NOT a regular teacher and is there to insure an adult is in the room. Whether, the sub was asleep or not is another issue and after an incident of this sort the school district/department of education for the area would simply drop the sub off the list for subbing. They would no longer be called by the schools. The student was also wrong in this case because he/she knew the rules about cell phones and it is possible they may have tampered with the photo before posting it online to get the sub into trouble. Students will do many things within a classroom and as a form of revenge. Since all of the facts are not known it can not be determined if this was the case or not. The past history of the student is also not known. One of the problems with many articles on education is the lack of understanding of what a teacher does and how a school is run. The final result is an article that casts a doubt on the entire profession of teaching/education. I would suggest that Ms. Barnes tries a few days of subbing to see what it is really all about and write an article about the experience. The view from the front of a classroom is different than the view of the student. Most people think they know what is teaching is about until they stand in front of 30 students every day and have to make sure they learn, pass testing, pay attention to the lessons given, show respect, stay motivated day after day, come prepared to class, and are ready to learn. A teacher has to deal with everything a student brings to class with them from home and the world they live in. Good or bad, sick or healthy, happy, sad, or angry the teacher must work with that student the best he/she can to make sure they learn. I challenge Ms. Barnes to experience this for herself.
What Karen fails to realize is that anyone with a few college credits can substitute teach (after getting background check). Substitute teachers are not necessary certified teachers. This is NOT a reflection of what happens in classrooms across the country. So sick of misinformed journalists spreading lies and misconceptions about the teaching profession. Do your research like any good student should...
Nice article Kim, we need more people bringing the injustices of our public school system to light.