Saluting The Teachers Who Give A Damn!


A teacher once told me it wasn't his job to teach, it was my job to learn.

While he was right about the second part, the first part made me shake my
head and wonder why that man was allowed in a classroom. Sadly, not only
was he allowed in a classroom... he'd been a teacher for over 20 years.

He sat quietly each day listening to the radio and reading his newspaper and
he'd have us rotate each day between reading our text books and watching
videos from the AV department.

Then once a week we would take a test. A test he did not write, and he did
not grade. I learned later that because he did not grade the tests, nor did he
even look at them I did not have to read my book or even worry about the tests.

On the tests he had other students grade we agreed to give each other A's and B's
(so as not to draw too much attention). On the tests he pretended to grade I learned
that he simply gave us a grade that was calculated by looking at our previous grades
and using a curve based upon how much he liked us. If you were clean cut, an athlete,
and dressed the right way... that helped your grade a LOT.

He would call us to his desk and grade the "important" tests in front of us. I was never
so proud (for being sneaky) and so disappointed (in our educational system) than the
day I received an A on a test in world geography which included my listing of the following
countries in Europe... Greenland, Redland, Blueland, Orangeland, and Yellowland.

It was my most bold test of his incompetence and complete lack of caring for his
students and his greatest display of both.

I wish the man in this video (Taylor Mali) would have met my teacher... and kicked his ass.

The problem with our education system today is teachers like the one I had.
The solution is teachers like Taylor Mali.

- Thank you to all the teachers who give a damn.

- Thank you to all the teachers who care about their students.

- Thank you to all the teachers who realize the system is broken
  but you have a classroom that isn't.

- Thank you to all the teachers who realize their profession maybe
  the most important profession in the world... and they treat it that way.

I had a handful of those teachers growing up... and I thank God I did.

> Link to this page:
http://tinyurl.com/Thank-Teachers