Amongst all the hysteria and the freedom of speech proponents leaping to Natalie Munroe’s defense, I wrote a post claiming that she was no hero and that her actions showed a terrible lack of judgement.
For those that don’t remember, Ms. Munroe is the teacher that called her students “frightfully dim, lazy whiners” on her blog.
Now it turns out that (surprise, surprise) she may not have been a very good teacher to begin with:
A high school teacher who branded her students ‘frightfully dim’ and ‘lazy whiners’ on a scathing blog has finally been fired for her ‘unsatisfactory performance’.
Natalie Munroe’s blog garnered nationwide attention when it was discovered by her students in February 2011, and she was suspended.
The English teacher was allowed to return to Central Bucks High School East in Philadelphia, but her classes were monitored by other staff.
Now the school board has dismissed Munroe, who taught 11th grade, by a 7-0 vote based on a year of class observations.
‘Ms. Munroe was, at best, a satisfactory teacher and was experiencing performance difficulties well before her blog became an issue,’ the board’s president, Paul Faulkner, said, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Tags: 'dunderheads', 'frightfully dim' and 'lazy whiners', 'rat-like', Central Bucks High School East, Education, Munroe filed lawsuit in U.S. District Court, Natalie Munroe fired, Natalie Munroe's blog, Natalie Munroe's freedom of speech, News, Paul Faulkner, professional conduct, school board has dismiss Munroe
Topical Teaching 
June 28, 2012 at 6:13 am |
A chain is only as good as it’s weakest link. Clearly Ms Munroe was having difficulties as a teacher. This would have been evident long before she, misguidedly, wrote as she did in her blog. The questions that spring to mind are, was she offerred assistance by her principal at the point of need? Did she seek assistance? If so, did she receive assistance?
I meet students that fit her description of hers in every high school I work in. It goes with the territory. I have seen students return from lunch spaced out on drugs or intoxicated and my heart goes out to them. As a teacher I can only do my best for them and show them a better way. As professionals it is our job to show our students an example and to lead them in a productive path. We also have to love them in a very tough way. They are our responsibility, not our enemies. Sometimes it’s a very sad job. I began my career teaching mostly happy, well adjusted primary school children from happy functional homes. Times have changed. At this end of my career I see a lot of unhappy, twisted, and negative young adults from broken homes and dysfunctional families. I am still their teacher; not their critic.