American teachers have some funny ideas!

[laserblazer]

To the TEACHERS .

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life . One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education .

He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie . Be honest . What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make?
(She paused for a second, knowing he was referring to her meagre income, then began . . . )

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could .

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honour winner .

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an iPod, Game Cube or movie rental .

You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder .

I make them question .

I make them apologize and mean it .

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions .

I teach them to write and then I make them write . Keyboarding isn't everything .

I make them read, read, read .

I make them show all their work in math . They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator .

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity .

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe .

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life . (Bonnie paused one last time and then continued . )

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant . You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE . What do you make Mr . CEO?

His jaw dropped, he went silent .

THIS IS WORTH SENDING TO EVERY TEACHER, EVERY CEO, EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW .

Even all your personal teachers like mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, coaches and your spiritual leaders/teachers .

A truly profound answer!!!

Teaching is . . . the profession that makes all other professions possible!

[Domino]

Teachers make...Behind the Red door the busiest forum on edugeek.net ;-)

[dalsoth]

Teachers make a pretty damn good wage. Lets not kid ourselves. Many many people in this country could only dream about how much a qualified teacher earns. It's probably only the CEO in this tale that would be able to say he earns more lol. Love the backlash on anyone who dares to say teachers are on a good thing. Unions are waiting to stamp down any such remark in seconds :P

Not to say they do not work hard and deserve a good wage. They do. Just find it funny that a teacher is the target in this tale which appears to be about someone mocking their salary. If they were talking to a school technician i could understand it....

[laserblazer]

I did say American teachers. Can you see any teachers in your school coming up with something like that? Ours would tell him to stick his head up his ...

[j17sparky]

Maybe she could make some of those American teachers come over here, we sure could do with some.

[maniac]

Believe me, a teachers salary does not allow you a luxurious life, but it does allow you to live comfortably.

[synaesthesia]

I see a few people that will always try and put other professions down, certainly see it with teaching. It annoys me, because those people are basically trying to say that we should all work towards a higher wage - not bettering ourselves, bettering other people, making that difference. I know people that worked for years trying to be something because some moron careers advisor thought it would look good. Architect. Lawyer. Surgeon. But got to an age where they wanted something more down to earth - not because of financial reasons, not because they were not able to. But because they wanted to. They became binmen, because they loved working with the outdoors, they loved seeing different people. They even made a difference helping out with charity work and established themselves as some of the best in the country at something others would see "too menial to matter".

It's a breath of fresh air meeting teachers who are doing their job because they enjoy working with kids and making a difference, rather than someone just doing it because "it pays the bills".

[laserblazer]

It's a breath of fresh air meeting teachers who are doing their job because they enjoy working with kids

And it's almost heartbreaking to see some of them, especially the younger ones, bogged down in mindless paperwork, assessments and all the other cr@p that gets in the way of their teaching.

[GrumbleDook]

Taylor Mali - what teachers make.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU&sns=em

[laserblazer]

Taylor Mali - what teachers make.
YouTube - Taylor Mali on what teachers make

That's plagiarism. He's copied my post virtually word for word.

[Fatmas]

In our place they seem to earn enough to go abroad seemingly every half term/Summer/Christmas/Easter holiday!

[GrumbleDook]

As far as I am concerned, pretty much any job in education is really a vocation. You do it because you love it and you like making a difference too. This is so important in teaching ... and I think Taylor gets it spot on. i know some teachers get a tad jaded over the years (not that *we* ever do ... honest) and it can sometimes take a bit of work to get them excited again, but if they have that spark they never fully loose it.

To some extent it is the same with an engineer or technician ... no matter how high up the chain you get there is always something that draws you back to wanting a bit of hands-on time building a servers, fault-finding on a network, tweaking a car engine ... it is all about that spark and nurturing it in yourself and others.

[witch]

if they have that spark they never fully lose it.

I wish that was true - IME many teachers lose their 'spark' around about the age of 45-50 (if they have worked from graduation) and it is the children who suffer. The teachers won't leave because of their pensions and so the children get jaded, bored teachers who waste their time and put them off school.
I think teachers should look to move into other things, such as some sort of support, whilst keeping their pensions. I dont know what the answer is, just that if I have to watch another boring lesson and bored class I will go mad

[browolf]

a 'CEO' is nowhere near equivalent to a teacher. More equivalent to a headmaster and they do make a lot of money in big schools.

[LosOjos]

a 'CEO' is nowhere near equivalent to a teacher. More equivalent to a headmaster and they do make a lot of money in big schools.