My Question of the Day: I’ve heard the following saying: “Students don’t fail unless teachers fail to teach.” Without deciding whether you agree or disagree with that statement, do you believe that teachers should receive pay raises based on the number of their students who are able to pass the standardized tests?

My 2 Cents: Absolutely not! Every effort should be made to supply all the resources teachers need to help their students succeed, but teacher’s pay shouldn’t be based on whether students can pass a standardized test. A system like this would be fraught with problems. Some teachers would only teach to the test. Other teachers would feel forced to help their students cheat on the test. Still other teachers, teachers who are truly gifted educators, may choose to leave the professional all together if they know they’re not educating students but training them to take a test. Worst of all, administrators would make the test the only focus, and this would put tremendous pressure on teachers and students alike.

Teachers must be held accountable, but I don’t agree that performance-based pay in their situation is fair. There are too many factors at play when it comes to teaching.

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My Question of the Day: Thinking back to when you were in school, what was your least-favorite subject, and how did your dislike for that subject affect your educational/career choices once you became an adult?

My Question of the Day With A Twist: Thinking back to when you were in school, what was your most-favorite subject, and how did your love for that subject affect your educational/career choices once you became an adult?

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My Question of the Day: Thinking back to when you were in school, what was your least-favorite subject, and how did your dislike for that subject affect your educational/career choices once you became an adult?

Also see My Question of the Day for 04 May 2010 With A Twist.

My 2 Cents: My least-favorite subject in school was Science. I never seemed to have any teacher that could make that subject interesting enough for me to truly engage. As a result, I’ll never be a Crime Scene Investigator. Sigh.

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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:

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DymeStar18 My least favorite subject was probably Social Studies (Elementary), and History (HS)

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My Question of the Day: Your second-grader gets suspended from school for saying something totally vulgar and inappropriate to his/her classmates within earshot of a teacher. You are livid about the suspension and about your child’s vulgar and inappropriate language. When you get your child home, and after you’ve calmed down a bit, you ask your child what on earth possessed him/her to say such a thing. He/she looks at your with a bit of confusion and says, “I heard you saying that to so-and-so on the phone. I didn’t know it was bad.” What do you do?

(this question was inspired by @JoshDamage; thanks)

My 2 Cents: I can’t hold my second-grader responsible for something he/she didn’t know was wrong, but I would sit down with him/her and explain why he/she was wrong and tell him/her what the consequences will be if he/she ever does it again.

Children are sponges. We forget that, or we think/say, “He/she doesn’t know what I’m talking about.” Children don’t have to know what you’re talking about to parrot your words. Even if they don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s still a good idea to refrain from saying anything around them that you don’t want them to repeat.

Better yet, we should probably refrain from saying anything, period, that we can’t say around our children. It couldn’t hurt.

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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:

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Inkognegro my second grader knows EXACTLY what to say and what not to say. Hed get popped in the mouth for trying to play me.

LadyInfamous I don’t have any kids, but if I did and that happened to me I would say, “baby don’t talk like that at school, only around me.” is that bad? idk lol I would want my kids to express themselves I don’t want any stressed out children living with me lol

JoshDamage I give the child a pass and watch what I say around the child in the future. But I make sure they knew words like that ARE BAD.

jodercorrer It depends on what was said. I might explain that context is important. What is said at home, may not be what we say in public. If it was REALLY bad I would say I made a mistake & that he just copied me & I learned something & we would both do better.

Starfiire58 u apologize to ur child & explain to the school it was ur fault and beg 4 them to give ur child another chance.

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My Question of the Day: If students are failing, it’s because teachers aren’t teaching. Agree or Disagree?

My 2 Cents: As a former teacher, I’ll have to agree with the commenter who said that if a few students aren’t doing well, then it’s probably not the teacher’s fault. If most of the students aren’t doing well, it’s more than likely the teachers inability and/or unwillingness to actually educate.

Contrary to popular belief, everyone can’t teach. Standing in front of students and lecturing, and/or handing out homework assignments does not a teacher make.

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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:

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chela816 Teachers, students, AND parents all have an important role to play. Deficiency in any of the three can impede learning.

BLKMGK No simple answer for this question. Sometimes its the teacher’s fault; most of the time its the parents’ fault.

JoshDamage they may be teaching but not effectively.

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