Archive for the ‘Professional Conduct’ Category

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Biology Teachers Should Never Resort to Rabbit Torture in Class

November 16, 2014

 

rabitt

I’m sorry, but if my science teacher did this I wouldn’t have respected a thing he said or did after that:

 

An Idaho biology teacher is facing possible disciplinary action after killing and skinning a rabbit in class to show students where their food comes from.

Nampa School District spokeswoman Allison Westfall says the teacher killed the rabbit in front of 16 students by snapping its neck on Nov. 6 at Columbia High School.

The rabbit was then skinned and cut up in front of the 10th graders.

Westfall says the demonstration isn’t part of the biology curriculum.

She says students who didn’t want to view the lesson were allowed to leave ahead of time.

The teacher’s name hasn’t been released.

 

Click on the link to read Stop Letting Teachers Walk Free From Their “Inappropriate Conduct”

Click on the link to read The School Camp Two Teachers Will Never Forget

Click on the link to read We Are Too Soft on Teachers Who Have Sex With Their Students

Click on the link to read Why Teaching and Politics Should not Mix

Click on the link to read Abusing the Privillege of Teaching Children

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Stop Letting Teachers Walk Free From Their “Inappropriate Conduct”

October 13, 2014

diane brimble

I’m sick of reading about teachers who are free from jail time for either having sex with their students or trying to. The message sent by not imprisoning a teacher who tries to have sex with her 10 year-old student is appalling. It says that if you want to engage in that sort of conduct the penalty will be minimal.

 

A primary school teacher who wanted to have sex with her 10-year-old student, and had his name tattooed on her chest, has walked free from court.

County Court judge Mark Taft said he was at a complete loss to understand why mother of eight Diane Brimble, 47, had engaged in “such utterly inappropriate conduct which must dismay every parent”.

“You breached the trust reposed in you by [the boy’s] parents who properly expected that a classroom teacher would care for their son in a professional manner,” Judge Taft said on Thursday when sentencing Brimble on a two-year community correction order and 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Click on the link to read The School Camp Two Teachers Will Never Forget

Click on the link to read We Are Too Soft on Teachers Who Have Sex With Their Students

Click on the link to read Why Teaching and Politics Should not Mix

Click on the link to read Abusing the Privillege of Teaching Children

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Has Cocaine Delivered to School

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The School Camp Two Teachers Will Never Forget

September 22, 2014

drunk

These type of episodes neither come about by bad luck or poor judgement, they are a clear sign that those involved have decided they no longer want to be teachers:

 

A school trip was abandoned when two teachers drank 16 pints and six bottles of wine between them.

The teachers passed out during the visit to Germany.

The two male teachers downed eight pints of beer three bottles of wine and several glasses of brandy….EACH.           

The following morning one couldn’t wake up and the other wandered around in a daze, unable to speak and with a large cut to his head, the result of falling over during his boozy session.

The teacher from a secondary school in Bramsche near Hanover had taken their students to Hamburg last week.

The director of a youth hostel where they were staying contacted the police when he was “unable to get any sense” out of the teachers.

“Usually it is students who get sent home because of drinking but this time it was the teachers,” said a police spokesman.

The children were loaded on board a minibus the day after the start of their planned week-long break and sent home. The two teachers have been suspended pending an enquiry.

 

Click on the link to read We Are Too Soft on Teachers Who Have Sex With Their Students

Click on the link to read Why Teaching and Politics Should not Mix

Click on the link to read Abusing the Privillege of Teaching Children

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Has Cocaine Delivered to School

Click on the link to read Dealing Softly with Bad Teachers Sends the Wrong Message to Students

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We Are Too Soft on Teachers Who Have Sex With Their Students

September 18, 2014

 

awful

Every day there are new reports of teachers caught engaging in sexual affairs with their students. And these are only the ones the have been caught!

I want a message sent loud and clear to the teaching fraternity that this kind of behaviour is extremely serious and wont be tolerated. I want mandatory minimum sentences for teachers that are found to be engaging in sexual relationships with their students. Even if they are consensual and even if they are no longer considered a minor. It is abhorrent and should be dealt with accordingly.

But it was love!

It was consensual!

It was just an innocent fling!

No excuses! Teachers have a responsibility to act with dignity and common sense.

 

Click on the link to read Why Teaching and Politics Should not Mix

Click on the link to read Abusing the Privillege of Teaching Children

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Has Cocaine Delivered to School

Click on the link to read Dealing Softly with Bad Teachers Sends the Wrong Message to Students

Click on the link to read Up to 1 in 10 US Students Have an Inappropriate Relationship With Their Teacher

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Why Teaching and Politics Should not Mix

September 13, 2014

bushIt is extraordinarily important for teachers to resist imposing their political views on their students. At the essence of our democracy is the right for people to decide what path is right for themselves without a certain dogma inadvertently force fed into them.

This is what happens when teachers do not allow students to think for themselves:

A Washington, D.C., middle school assignment asking students to compare former president George W. Bush with Adolf Hitler has upset some parents and community members.

The assignment at McKinley Middle School asked sixth graders to compare the two figures in a Venn diagram, according to USA Today. Instructions say students “have read about two men of power who abused their power in various ways,” and asks them to refer to the articles “Fighting Hitler -– A Holocaust Story,” and “Bush: Iraq War Justified Despite No WMD.”

Some parents said the assignment was disrespectful to the former president, according to a local NBC affiliate. A former speechwriter for Bush said the teacher who gave the assignment should be fired.

“A person who can’t tell the difference between George W. Bush and Adolf Hitler shouldn’t be teaching children,” Marc Thiessen told Fox News. “This isn’t even political bias, this is utter incompetence.”

A statement from D.C. Public Schools said the teacher “admits to extremely poor judgment and short sightedness and will apologize to students. The school will also send a letter home to families explaining the incident and offering to address any additional questions should they arise.”

Click on the link to read Abusing the Privillege of Teaching Children

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Has Cocaine Delivered to School

Click on the link to read Dealing Softly with Bad Teachers Sends the Wrong Message to Students

Click on the link to read Up to 1 in 10 US Students Have an Inappropriate Relationship With Their Teacher

Click on the link to read Teacher Claims he Didn’t Think Sex Abuse Was a Crime

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Posted in Professional Conduct | 2 Comments »

Abusing the Privillege of Teaching Children

September 7, 2014

survivalI continue to me amazed at some of the awful teaching methods exposed in the media.

It is absolutely vital that we teachers understand that we are teachers, not parents, not moral guardians of the world and definitely not survivalists:

A sadistic Brooklyn day-care teacher locked terrified toddlers alone in a tiny, dark storage closet — and laughingly claimed it was a lesson in “how to survive,” according to the facility’s owner.

In shocking security-video footage at Pinocchio Children’s Palace in East Flatbush, teacher Shandra Fallen, 25, and her assistant, Amellia Samuda, 34, are captured ushering 2-year-olds into the classroom closet.

Day-care owner Tatiana Ilyaich said she discovered the solitary confinement in June, when she heard crying coming from Fallen’s classroom across the hall from her office.

She found the teachers in the room and most of their young charges taking naps on their cots — and sobs coming from the supply closet.

She opened the door and saw a scared young boy inside.

The teachers “started laughing,” Ilyaich recalled.

“It’s kind of a game we’re playing with the kids,” Fallen said, according to Ilyaich.

The owner said she immediately scoured security-camera footage for signs of similar incidents. Images taken on May 14 chilled her.

In the footage — viewed by The Post — Fallen can be seen putting one small child into the closet, which is packed with supply-stuffed shelving, and leaving him there alone for three minutes before releasing him.

 

Click on the link to read Teacher Allegedly Has Cocaine Delivered to School

Click on the link to read Dealing Softly with Bad Teachers Sends the Wrong Message to Students

Click on the link to read Up to 1 in 10 US Students Have an Inappropriate Relationship With Their Teacher

Click on the link to read Teacher Claims he Didn’t Think Sex Abuse Was a Crime

Click on the link to read The Classroom Incident that Isn’t Seen as Child Abuse but Actually Is

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Teacher Allegedly Has Cocaine Delivered to School

August 31, 2014

coke

 

I must admit that I once had running shoes I purchased online sent to my school for convenience, but I certainly never sent what this teacher is alleged to have sent:

 

A Kentucky middle school teacher has been indicted on a felony charge of prohibited acts related to a controlled substance after being accused of having her drug dealer bring cocaine to her on school property. This is why you don’t mix business and pleasure. Or schoolkids and hard drugs, whichever.

Earlier this month, Arin Staples resigned from her position at Holmes Middle School in Covington, Kentucky, after being questioned by the Drug Enforcement Agency. She could face up to five years in prison according to Kenton County Commonwealth attorney, Rob Sanders. Via USAToday:

“There are multiple instances of her obtaining cocaine … (and) receiving it from a drug dealer on school property, among other places,” Sanders said.

Apparently a security assistant at the same school was arrested and charged with drug trafficking just over a week ago, and in an e-mail to the school staff, Holmes superintendent Alvin Garrison stated the DEA talked to two other employees of the school. They have either resigned or been suspended. That’s a lot of commotion for one middle school, don’t you think?

Sanders declined to comment about the “larger drug-trafficking organization” the DEA is investigating.

“I can say it is not related to the school, (but) I can’t comment on the specifics because it is part of an ongoing federal investigation,” he said.

While Sanders did say that there are no accusations or evidence to suggest that students are involved with this, the proximity of all this illicit drug activity to a middle school is definitely worrisome.

 

Click on the link to read Dealing Softly with Bad Teachers Sends the Wrong Message to Students

Click on the link to read Up to 1 in 10 US Students Have an Inappropriate Relationship With Their Teacher

Click on the link to read Teacher Claims he Didn’t Think Sex Abuse Was a Crime

Click on the link to read The Classroom Incident that Isn’t Seen as Child Abuse but Actually Is

Click on the link to read A Cautionary Tale for Frustrated Teachers

Click on the link to read Teacher Sought Dating Advice from Her Fourth Graders

Click on the link to read Teacher Suspended for 10 Days for Grabbing a 6-Year-Old By the Neck (Video)

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Dealing Softly with Bad Teachers Sends the Wrong Message to Students

August 28, 2014

newark

Our impressionable students need to understand the importance of taking responsibility for one’s actions. When they see us do something terrible, yet get nothing more than a reprimand, it sends the message that one can always say “sorry” and it will go away.

But sorry doesn’t always cut it. It certainly shouldn’t have been enough to let this reluctant teacher keep her job:

 

On her Twitter feed, a Newark Memorial High School teacher described in explicit terms her desires for her students. She wanted to pour coffee on them. She wanted to stab them. Some of them, she said, “make my trigger finger itchy.”

Alerted by one of her colleagues to the tweets — which are laced with profanity and racist remarks — the district disciplined teacher Krista Hodges with a written reprimand, and she continues to teach. Hodges has apologized, saying she meant none of it seriously. But some in the school community are stunned by the turn of events, given the alarming sentiments the teacher expressed.

mrs hodges

 

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Up to 1 in 10 US Students Have an Inappropriate Relationship With Their Teacher

August 16, 2014

andrea connersSurely there aren’t as many student/teacher relationships as suggested in this article. If it is anywhere near as bad as that, it is a terrible indictment on our profession:

 

Critics suggest that as many as one in 10 U.S. public school students — or about 4.5 million children — are involved in some kind of inappropriate teacher-student relationship.

But it’s not easy to identify — accusations involve everything from physical contact to inappropriate comments or looks — and can have a crippling effect not only on those involved but on the student body and their parents and educators.

“It’s devastating to the rest of our students,” said Dan Unger, president of the Northwest Local School District Board of Education. Two of the three teachers from his district have already been convicted and this year imprisoned. The third case is pending.

“When (the other students) think about the accomplishments of the class of 2014, they’ll think about that. This is what they will remember,” Unger said.

It’s become easier in a digital world where smart phones can dominate conversation, for teachers and students to communicate. That’s good when it’s used to discuss school work. But sometimes it can turn criminal.

“The biggest reason this occurs now is social media,” Abbott said.

A text, Facebook post, Instagram or Snapchat message can give teachers and students greater access to each other than ever before. All three of the Northwest Local School educators relied heavily on Snapchat, Facebook and text messages to communicate with the victimized students.

“It seems to be when the conversation goes private like that, the teacher says and does outrageous and outlandish things they’d never say in person,” Abbott said.

Those private contacts allow predatory educators to exploit students, enhancing the control teachers have over their students. Students want to be liked by or get attention from the educator.

 

 

Click on the link to read Facebook Exposes Yet Another Bad Teacher

Click on the link to read Why I Won’t Be Celebrating Facebook’s 10th Anniversary

Click on the link to read If You Ever Wondered How Some Kids Become Bullies …

Click on the link to read The Researchers into Cyberbullying Should Review Their Findings

Click on the link to read The Use of Facebook in Cyberbullying Activity

Click on the link to read A Positive Approach to Tackling Cyberbullying

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Posted in Professional Conduct, Social Media | 2 Comments »

The Worst First Impression a Teacher Could Ever Make

August 7, 2014

lorie hill

Some people are just not cut out for the job:

 

IF you think Cameron Diaz’s performance in the 2011 movie Bad Teacher was good, then you must read about Lorie Hill’s first day — or rather morning — at her new school.

Hill, a newly-appointed teacher at Wagoner High School in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, was found in a classroom drunk.

When two of her new colleagues saw her, 49-year-old Hill promptly took off her pants.

“They didn’t know who she was,” Wagoner Police Department Chief Bob Haley told Fox23.

Haley said officers found vodka in Hill’s car parked outside and she admitted she had been drinking.

She was arrested and charged with public intoxication. No charge of driving under the influence could be made due to a lack of evidence proving that she had consumed the alcohol before driving into work, Haley added.

It was the first day back for teachers after a holiday. It was a pupil-free day.

Pupils return to school today. although it is doubtful Hill will.

Wagoner School District declined to comment.

 

 

Click on the link to read Teacher Claims he Didn’t Think Sex Abuse Was a Crime

Click on the link to read The Classroom Incident that Isn’t Seen as Child Abuse but Actually Is

Click on the link to read A Cautionary Tale for Frustrated Teachers

Click on the link to read Teacher Sought Dating Advice from Her Fourth Graders

Click on the link to read Teacher Suspended for 10 Days for Grabbing a 6-Year-Old By the Neck (Video)

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