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should we Pay our teachers more?


Heavens Guardian

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I doubt it. They get paid to teach, and most good teachers already get paid more than others. That is part of the reason why tenure exists. Besides, in small town communities, teachers usually have higher incomes than most other people. I know they have bills to pay as well, but so does everyone. Yes, teachers probably deserve more than they get, but so does everyone else.
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I think everyone wants to be paid more for doing a better job, but what defines a better teacher? To most it means their students do better on test....and we all know that not everyone is a test person, or WANTS to learn for that matter. So what's to say that a good teacher just gets stuck with a class of unmotivated 'hard' teens who refuse to do work? Is it the teachers fault? I think not. There seems to be no way to accurately determine if a teacher is better than another, so as FTW stated tenure is the best way to go.

This is all my opinion.
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I honestly think teacher should be one of the highest paying and strictly monitered jobs in the country. If you think about it, most people don't learn how to do their jobs just by trial and error, they usually learned all the basic things from school. I know this isn't going to happen anytime soon, just like my idea that sports athletes should not get several million dollars for throwing a ball, but it's still what I think.
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Lets review what teachers actually do.
-Come up with a class schedule to fit everything in the government tells them they have to teach, which can be hard with noisy students
-Deal with students on an almost daily basis, that's the good and the bad. Some have to deal with several classes a day
-Correct ALL of the students homework quickly, especially when it comes to tests. And when they have more than one class, it must take a LONG time
-They also work nearly year round, unlike athletes who only have to play games half a year at most
-They have to talk most of the day as well, I think i would get tired of that after awhile
-To actually get to be a teacher, they have to go through many years of college, to make sure they can handle it, unlike athletes who can just have a little skill and get paid hundreds of thousands.

Teaching is probably one of the most underrated jobs there is. It's also one of the most underpaid imo.
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[quote name='Little Red Lady!' timestamp='1295632832' post='4948917']
Should we Pay our teachers more For being good?
[/quote]
I think the biggest question would be how do we define what exactly is a "good" teacher and what exactly is a "bad" teacher.

I mean, the easiest way of figuring it out would be to look at the students pass/fail rate, but if teachers have an incentive to get more kids to pass, then they'd just make passing easier to do which would just lower standards overall. Not to mention there are a lot of different factors that go into whether a student passes or fails, not just whether their teacher is "good" or not. Socioeconomic issues, pressure from friends, interest (or lack of interest) in school work, stress, etc etc.

In short, I think a better course of action would be to come up with a better system to find "good" teachers and weed out "bad" teachers, and yes I assume then they can have higher pay.
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From personal experience, though some teachers are very good, they may have a student that has a...disability of sorts, of which they never knew existed or considered. The teacher, and most students, will usually just pass it off as another unmotivated, lazy individual. And thus, attempt to motivate the student. Though someone may have good intentions, they may only be making things worse. Mentioned it before, but I have a hard time concentrating on anything before me in my classes. It is not that I do not want to do the work. It's I [i]can't[/i] even bring myself to do the work. It lies before me, and I will try, but my mind just...kinda shuts down. Get's embarrassing trying to explain that in a room filled with people who just believe you are unmotivated. It just gets aggravating when you try to explain it, and your school/family ignores you. Don't want to seem like I'm "whining" about it. But there are a lot of problems that any one person could be going through. Their opinions will most likely become biased on what they think of others. Happens to many people, as a majority of people in the world are biased. I try not to be when I can. I'm diagnosed with depression, possibly to come is a diagnosis of ADHD, ODD(Unlikely), or maybe even a minor form of Bi-Polar Disorder(Mood changes quickly, personality disorders, this Disorder is not guaranteed to be like "Insane, I kill you." as most assume). Normally, I do feel worthless or just don't want to do anything at all. Go into random ditches of depression where I just don't talk or do anything for months. Not everyone understands how to actually deal with people that are similar to how I am.

Anyway...learning and teaching styles tend to differ. Some ways a teacher decides to teach are not how their students are used to learning, or is a way they learn best from. In schools where you move from one teacher, to a completely new teacher the falling year, or every few months...the way of being taught, changes. What people pass off as someone acting out, could just be a case of ODD(Oppositional Defiant Disorder) or un-medicated ADHD. Others without "motivation" could be going through a very rough time of course, and if insulted more and more, less motivation occurs. They may be thinking lowly of themselves, fueling depression or anxiety issues. A lot of things are just seen as normal when they should be handled with much more care. As most students have probably witnessed, someone may have "acted-out" by making a scene. Instead of asking the teacher for help, not wanting to seem stupid or ignorant for lacking either the understanding or knowledge they need, a student could just do...nothing. When asked, they give a smartass remark or shrug. What's seen as "acting-out" really isn't. Maybe not all the time, but majority of the time, it really in fact is not.

Can't honestly describe what a good teacher is. Closest description would be...a teacher who can connect with their students in a professional way, creating a safe and friendly environment. Had a teacher who taught health that did that. Not one person purposely missed her class, ever. If you were having a bad day, her class made your day if you had it. She taught a lot of students many life lessons. Using her own past experiences as examples, and actually reaching out to her students to make sure they were alright. A teacher who cares for their students and doesn't pass judgment by sight, actually gets to know their students, REALLY understand them and what made them, them. That's what a good teacher to me is.

Should they get paid more? From a financial point of view, no. Those teachers want to be there as is. The extra money could be used for resources the school needed, if any.
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[quote name='Soul Saint' timestamp='1296283123' post='4970652']
From personal experience, though some teachers are very good, they may have a student that has a...disability of sorts, of which they never knew existed or considered. The teacher, and most students, will usually just pass it off as another unmotivated, lazy individual. And thus, attempt to motivate the student. Though someone may have good intentions, they may only be making things worse. Mentioned it before, but I have a hard time concentrating on anything before me in my classes. It is not that I do not want to do the work. It's I [i]can't[/i] even bring myself to do the work. It lies before me, and I will try, but my mind just...kinda shuts down. Get's embarrassing trying to explain that in a room filled with people who just believe you are unmotivated. It just gets aggravating when you try to explain it, and your school/family ignores you. Don't want to seem like I'm "whining" about it. But there are a lot of problems that any one person could be going through. Their opinions will most likely become biased on what they think of others. Happens to many people, as a majority of people in the world are biased. I try not to be when I can. I'm diagnosed with depression, possibly to come is a diagnosis of ADHD, ODD(Unlikely), or maybe even a minor form of Bi-Polar Disorder(Mood changes quickly, personality disorders, this Disorder is not guaranteed to be like "Insane, I kill you." as most assume). Normally, I do feel worthless or just don't want to do anything at all. Go into random ditches of depression where I just don't talk or do anything for months. Not everyone understands how to actually deal with people that are similar to how I am.

Anyway...learning and teaching styles tend to differ. Some ways a teacher decides to teach are not how their students are used to learning, or is a way they learn best from. In schools where you move from one teacher, to a completely new teacher the falling year, or every few months...the way of being taught, changes. What people pass off as someone acting out, could just be a case of ODD(Oppositional Defiant Disorder) or un-medicated ADHD. Others without "motivation" could be going through a very rough time of course, and if insulted more and more, less motivation occurs. They may be thinking lowly of themselves, fueling depression or anxiety issues. A lot of things are just seen as normal when they should be handled with much more care. As most students have probably witnessed, someone may have "acted-out" by making a scene. Instead of asking the teacher for help, not wanting to seem stupid or ignorant for lacking either the understanding or knowledge they need, a student could just do...nothing. When asked, they give a smartass remark or shrug. What's seen as "acting-out" really isn't. Maybe not all the time, but majority of the time, it really in fact is not.

Can't honestly describe what a good teacher is. Closest description would be...a teacher who can connect with their students in a professional way, creating a safe and friendly environment. Had a teacher who taught health that did that. Not one person purposely missed her class, ever. If you were having a bad day, her class made your day if you had it. She taught a lot of students many life lessons. Using her own past experiences as examples, and actually reaching out to her students to make sure they were alright. A teacher who cares for their students and doesn't pass judgment by sight, actually gets to know their students, REALLY understand them and what made them, them. That's what a good teacher to me is.

Should they get paid more? From a financial point of view, no. Those teachers want to be there as is. The extra money could be used for resources the school needed, if any.
[/quote]
Where's the tl:dr? I'm lazy.
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I do believe so. From what I understand, a teacher is paid very little for most of their social life just... gone. A few of mine detailed it too...

Wake up at 4am, get ready for work.
6am, grade whatever assignments couldn't grade from the night before.
7am, get to work on time and pray there isn't traffic.
8am-3pm, you're at work dealing with a bunch of kids. Who no matter how much you enjoy their company are always a pain. Some questions annoy you, some don't. And you're doing this all week.
Get home at around 4pm, grade and check what assignments need to be done for the next day.
5pm, do what little personal stuff you get to do.
7pm, make sure everything is prepared and try and watch your shows while doing even more grading.
Go to bed at midnight and get sleep on the weekend.

... Yeah and thats not even counting days with meetings.
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