tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post6418995409192819960..comments2024-03-26T23:23:06.905-07:00Comments on Blogger in Middle-earth: A Slice of The CakeBlogger In Middle-earthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-16310556470061533272008-12-16T20:02:00.000-08:002008-12-16T20:02:00.000-08:00Kia ora VirginiaI concur with what you say about s...Kia ora Virginia<BR/><BR/>I concur with what you say about society in general pitching in. I do wonder about just what society could do to help with this though. We seem to have moved away from community spirit. I believe the so-called nuclear family has a lot to do with this.<BR/><BR/>Back a few generations, 'the family' involved everyone - grandparents etc, often living in the same household. The community families of yesteryear were replaced by the nuclear families (a 20th century innovation - if that's the right word).<BR/><BR/>Now the grandparents are living apart from the 'family' in so many cultures. There is less of the relationship between the grandparents and the grandchildren.<BR/><BR/>There are still some cultures on the globe where the grandparents (and aunts/uncles) took a role in the parenting of children including grandchildren.<BR/><BR/>Though I was the product of a nuclear family, my grandmother had the authority of a parent and often cared for me as a parent would. It was simply accepted. This broader responsibility of 'family adults' over the care of children seems to be diluted today.<BR/><BR/>Catchya laterBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-78146571382315013592008-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:002008-12-15T08:00:00.000-08:00What is sad is that 1)there are many parents out t...What is sad is that 1)there are many parents out there that expect teachers to be parents to their kids, 2) there are students out there that only need a little bit of support to put them on the right path, 3) there are parents that have never had someone to show them how to be nurturing and a "teacher" to their children, and/or 4) there are parents that just don't care about their children and expect them to raise themselves.<BR/><BR/>As we have no prerequisites for becoming parents or even taking a new born home from the hospital, we are going to have these problems. On the other hand, I have a student this semester that with the help of an adult mentor, got out of a gang, and is now on his way to a much better life with a college degree.<BR/><BR/>Teachers get burned out with the weight of responsibility of being both teacher (to their students and their own children) and parents (to both their own children and those they see floundering in class). Shouldn't society as a whole start pitching in?V Yonkershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-16311466498984833322008-12-14T19:50:00.000-08:002008-12-14T19:50:00.000-08:00Kia ora VirginiaI am a parent. I can sit with my k...Kia ora Virginia<BR/><BR/>I am a parent. I can sit with my kids for half an hour at the computer, take them to a movie, watch TV at the weekends, help them with a bit of homework during the week, take them shopping, go on holiday with them.<BR/><BR/>While all of that takes time, it's time that I have on my hands. Even a conservative estimate of half an hour per day per child gives me 2.5 hours per week that's 150 minutes, which works out at over 12 times the amount of time that I have to do teaching and surrogate parenting for one of my students at TCS. You can see the ridiculousness of any expectation of a teacher to do parenting of students (but it happens nevertheless).<BR/><BR/>Your point about after-class is exactly what I attempted when I was a classroom teacher - I say attempted, I was still tending about 30 students all at once! It is difficult to be a parent to 30 kids all at once.<BR/><BR/>I may be wrong, and I might even be a bit arrogant, but when I say I can trust my (own) kids to be on their own on the computer, I mean it. I could not say the same for many of my students. There is a lesson to be learnt there somehow, and I don't think my kids need the lesson.<BR/><BR/>If every parent did only half of what my wife and I do in parenting, teaching would be a far more rewarding job academically. I concede that teachers often get rewards from what they do doubling as social workers in the school.<BR/><BR/>Catchya laterBlogger In Middle-earthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08722634477041121797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2107060758629396184.post-12147692894944538892008-12-14T18:14:00.000-08:002008-12-14T18:14:00.000-08:00It seems that we can't expect that a teacher can t...It seems that we can't expect that a teacher can take on the role of both teacher and parent.<BR/><BR/>So to provide those from homes where parents can't or won't support learning outside of school, we need to provide programs that will motivate and support students outside of class (mentoring programs, after school programs that include homework help, meal programs).<BR/><BR/>I am always a bit uncomfortable with the focus on "equal" over "fair". Students that work well in groups learning from other students receive "fair" treatment by working on group projects, although they may not get "equal time" as those that need more teacher student support and/or interaction.V Yonkershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11910904367068063554noreply@blogger.com