Today I had to participate (very peripherally, unfortunately) in making eleven 5-7 year olds sit with their heads down for an hour and a half. Their crime? They were given an hour and a half to sit at their desks and independently finish several assignments. They didn’t finish them. So, during recess, library, and gym they had to sit with their heads down. Because I said the whole thing was ridiculous and abusive, the librarian volunteered to take them for the whole time.
This is the same K-3 teacher that, last week, had all of the kids stand up in front of the class and say what five things they would ask a Native American, if they met one. Even the Native Americans had to do this, and while I realize that she got the idea from thanksgiving that was not the context she presented it to the class in, although I did present it that way to the parent that I talked to. Healthy family denial just popping out, I guess. When I pointed out to her later, in the break room, that there were several Native Americans in her class and they might as well just ask them she told me that Native Alaskans are different from Native Americans. Even more mind boggling she continued to say that her own mother is Native American and she herself is Black and therefore it’s impossible for her to be racist.
If I could ask her five questions I would ask her: did you ever take a class in early childhood development when you were going to that fancy school for your teaching degree? How about learning theory? Did they teach you what an appropriate time out for a five year old with borderline Aspergers is? Did they tell you what it’s called when you continue to use a punishment that has no effect on the behavior you are trying to change? What the fuck are you thinking?
I’ve heard the ‘I can’t be racist because….’ argument a few times, the counter is “so you’re saying that the white supremacists are right? There is something that only people of European decent can do? You surprise me”
The cool people grow up on the spot, and the idiots freak out big time.
Its so much fun! 😈
You go girl! Too bad you didn’t really ask her those things! ..Well, I’m off to deer season in Wisconsin tomorrow!Hopefully the economy has held up enough to benefit me from this once more. I will touch base back w/ your current bizarre reality from my reality of excitable deer hunters,some which come for the drinking and dancing festivities, on their own admission. The funniest group come together to the middle of nowhere Wisconsin, and none of the three even bring guns!
Ha! I’m half Native too. Central American native. Yes, it’s different from North American natives.. but not by much. It’s the same continent. And I will openly admit to being racist. Everyone’s a little bit racist, they just refuse to admit it.
I’m wondering why you’re still at that school.
I guess I always thought that schools had a better way to monitor teachers, but this and my own daughters experience in school have forced us to create a teacher review board with parents and the school. I was shocked that nothing existed already.
It’s mechanical, D.
wow- navigating the “dark world” of public education.
She may not be racist, but, her prejudice is beyond offensive, it is repressive and abusive.
She’s clueless, without clue, lacking in clues. Dismally dense, thick-headed and downright mean. She needs to be called on her “racist” theories. Some people just never get it.
When I was a little boy in 4th grade, my math teacher was a sadistic prick. For punishment he’d make us wet our hands and hold both ends of electrical lines while he hand-cranked a generator that sent low-voltage shocks into our bodies. When I told my dad about it, he went to the school, told me to wait outside his classroom door, and proceeded to be the living shit out of the teacher. He never bothered any kids again with his punishment contraption.
that was “beat the living shit out of the teacher”, of course. 😳
that teacher’s prejudice is revolting! how ARE you still at that school? there’s no way i’d be able to take it. grr.
That’s not prejudice. That’s stupidity and laziness. Ten bucks says she found the lesson somewhere and isn’t adept enough to tailor it to suit the population of her classroom appropriately. I can’t imagine making kids sit for that long for not completing work in the assigned time: I hope they finished their work–isn’t that the goal? Oh, no–learning something should probably be the goal. It sounds like busy-work, anyway. It seems to me that was just an excuse for the “adult(s)” to get out of actually working for the remainder of the day. Not exactly education at its finest.
Yeah, Tamara, it is laziness. That was what she said the week before when I asked her about a project she’d had them do perpetuating crazy stereotypes about witches – it was in a lesson book, so it couldn’t be wrong.
That lesson wasn’t appropriate for any classroom population – just because there’s no Native Americans in a class doesn’t mean it’s okay to fetishize them.
As far as hoping kids finishing the work – I’m positive you wouldn’t hand a 5 year old with Aspergers and ADHD a packet of work, ignore her for an hour and a half, and expect anything to happen. Then the poor librarian had to play bad cop walking around and making them all keep their heads down for an hour and a half.
You’re right–about the fetishization. My brain wanted to put it in historical context to Thanksgiving with a larger context in mind (‘You’re a Pilgrim just arrived from the Old World…yaddayadda’)–but if you weren’t clear that’s what they were supposed to be doing, then the kids certainly were not. Either way, it’s a better lesson if you try to include the perspective of Natives at Plymouth, rather than, as you so aptly put it, fetishize (and perpetuate the “otherness.”) Again, I would voice doubt as to whether that lesson was followed correctly. Interesting that you bring up the witch lesson, too–because I’ve seen many-a witch/stereotype lesson, revolving around the Salem Witch Trials (which are, by and large, woman-positive lessons–the older, unmarried women and–a man–were the first accused), and I wonder how your teacher could screw that up.
Wow! I wish I could say, “Oh, I just can’t believe the school and the teacher are that awful!” 😯 Only, I can’t say that. I know it’s that bad. And that is (in part) why I home school. 🙁
I love your blog. I love it so much, in fact, that I passed you my Wonder Woman Award I just got from one of my homeschool friends. You can rad about it here http://sometimesitsabitch.blogspot.com/2007/11/wonder.html.