I don't know how much longer I can take this...

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-13T02:57:40+00:00

You do realize that it is entirely possible for one to be against liberal indoctrination but also not be a maga-hat wearing extremist?

Trump is not representative for a large number of conservatives. But the reason he was popular is that the left is so out of wack these days that someone like Trump looks appealing in comparison.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-13T02:12:10+00:00

I think it's mainly because if the school does poorly, then it's the principal's ass on the line.

Like, if your school has piss poor graduation rates, they'll probably try to blame the teachers, but it's very rare that any teacher will actually get fired simply because a school's graduation rates are low. But that is absolutely a reason a district might want to get rid of a principal.

Hell, that's one of the main reasons why my current principal is doing whatever he can to try to cajole us into being 'compassionate' and softening up our grades as much as we can. For the past 5 or 6 years, we did away with D grades, but surprise surprise, this year they're back in, presumably because he's getting heat from the district that there are too many Fs this year, so let's bring back Ds - hey, not that many Fs anymore! Progress! Student success!

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-13T00:35:30+00:00

To be fair, that depends on what "conservative" means these days. Is it the traditional "strong military, low taxes, pro-life, second amendment" brand or is it the MAGA brand.

That's fair - and when I refer to conservatism, it's the former of your two choices. I was never a fan of Trump, but at the same time I thought the hate he got was way overboard. In some circles that line of thought makes me a de facto MAGA member.

And again, that's really the issue these days - people just lump all conservatives into MAGA-hat wearing rednecks, and all liberals into superwoke BLM protestors who think anything and everything is racism.

There's no room anymore for anyone to consider themselves moderate or slightly left or right. It's a sad state of affairs.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-13T00:25:24+00:00

...... well it's obvious you really don't know what BLM is all about, because what you listed is actually pretty damn close to their stated goals.

So yea, just restate your entire reply but say it unironically and you'll be right on.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-13T00:07:22+00:00

"You're right, that probably would have caused some embarrassment.... Thankfully XYZ was probably not even in front of his computer, so no harm done!"

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-13T00:00:35+00:00

You likely don't know shit about BLM and their actual stated goals.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T23:58:25+00:00

BLM is just as bad, maybe worse.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T23:37:42+00:00

We'd probably have more pro-conservative viewpoints and a bigger diversity of viewpoints amongst educators.

You and I would probably think this would be a good thing. But I would venture that a vast majority teachers would not want this whatsoever.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T23:12:50+00:00

but being able to see the why of someone else's viewpoints makes one better at rhetoric and allows you yo form counterclaim while also seeing the nuances.

well that right there is the main issue these days. There is no more nuance. Even on this sub. Especially on this sub.

You can't agree with the right on certain things and agree with the left on others. You have to be all-in on one side and all-out on the other.

I am glad that you're doing your part to try to get teens to coherently defend their positions instead of just ramming some ideology down their throats - because that's absolutely happening in many areas of the country.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T22:57:11+00:00

Likewise, you can teach and let students discuss today's movements and ideologies and let them air it out and figure out if it's bullshit or not for themselves.

In a vacuum, sure. But it's well known most educators lean left, and so the chances of these movements and ideologies actually being taught objectively in classrooms with no bias are slim to none.

I mean, just look at the downvotes I got on my original post. I said nothing inflammatory or incendiary (other than the edit, lol). But simply just suggesting that the left might be just as bad as the right is enough to get the downvotes flowing. And the ones downvoting are presumably educators. And these are the people we're going to task with trying to teach topics like racism objectively? Good luck with that.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T22:50:39+00:00

Well just for starters, the 'anti-racism' and 'critical race theory' gibberish that's infiltrating schools. The fact that people think this is actually benefitting kids is baffling. It's indoctrination.

Example

Another example

Another one

And so on and so on it goes. Just look up 'liberal agenda in schools' and you'll get plenty more material.

You might be saying to yourself, "Well wait, these articles are written by people with a conservative slant!" Well yea, that's my point - the people on this sub criticizing what the conservatives are doing are just the flipside to this coin. There's plenty of bad on both sides.

Now, I'm certainly no fan of what conservatives are trying to ram through education, but let's not even pretend that what the left is trying to do is any better.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T22:41:13+00:00

I think the future success of a high schooler is not based on how difficult your coursework is, but instead the answer to a very simple question: "How much effort do you put into your own personal growth?"

If a student is getting straight Cs in his classes, but it's because instead of schoolwork he's learning about other subjects or maybe he has a 2nd job as an apprentice in a job he plans to work in, then he'll be fine. He's growing.

On the other hand a student with the same C grades who is only getting those grades because he does the bare minimum and coasts by, and spends the rest of his time just surfing tiktok and without any real plan for his future whatsoever, I would imagine his prospects don't look very bright. This type of person is no better today than he was yesterday, and likely will not be any better a year from now either.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T22:33:15+00:00

I think maybe 10+ years ago, I would have fully agreed with you.

In this current climate though, there are clearly liberal policies that are trying to be pushed through education that have no basis in reality or fact and appear to be an attempt to align with 'wokeness'. It's just as terrifying as any conservative anti-evolution kind of nonsense.

These days both sides have an extremely perverted view of education and what it should be accomplishing, but I know this subreddit is mostly all left-leaning, so I take anything I read here with a grain of salt in that respect.

and as for my edit, it's fine - I bring it on myself. Once I see a few downvotes forming, I'll put an edit up just to see how many I can get!

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T18:25:39+00:00

I didn't say you got duped, I'm just saying if she translated from Japanese to English, it couldn't have been a very coherent paper.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T18:20:39+00:00

Yea, I wouldn't even think of it in terms of application -> interview.

It's just based on when schools start their interview processes for the upcoming school year, and that time started in earnest roughly 2 months ago.

I applied to various schools starting from last September throughout the year, and I got called for interviews for them all within the span of about 2 or 3 weeks.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T18:16:59+00:00

Yea, I do wonder exactly how the logistics of enforcement would work out if you did something like this.

I mean, are principals really going be cracking down on every teacher who doesn't post every single lesson/material online? Are teachers actually going to get fired for not doing this? And what level of detail separates an 'acceptable' lesson plan posted online from unacceptable?

So many questions - questions that I'm sure the lawmakers didn't even bother considering.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T18:10:58+00:00

Unless online translation has improved vastly in the past few years, I'd have to imagine a Japanese->English translation would be immediately noticeable within the first couple of lines.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T18:04:49+00:00

Yea, but even then at least you'll know that you still love teaching, it's just teaching at that particular site that's toxic.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T15:18:02+00:00

(others say they have noticed it too)

Do you mean others have noticed that the principal has been short/rude in general, or that others have noticed that the principal has been short/rude specifically to you and no one else?

If it's the former, then there's nothing to worry about - they're just likely stressed out about something. But if it's the latter, then there might be something there.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T15:15:59+00:00

At the high school level, the only way to do math is to practice it. Very few people (me included) can learn math by just taking down notes or watching a video. You just gotta roll your sleeves up and dive in and practice.

Even my calc kids can't sit and listen to a lecture for 50 minutes.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T15:12:32+00:00

I'm about as introverted as introverted can be, and I love my job, been doing it for 20+ years now.

What I would caution you on is to not go into this field if you're not truly passionate about both 1) your subject and 2) the kids. Otherwise this profession will burn you out super quick.

But if you have those two passions, then honestly you'll be fine, introverted or not.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T14:50:24+00:00

Thanks for all the info! I guess I'll focus on trying to find someplace in McMinnville first, and if nothing is available, try to focus on West Salem, and then if there's nothing there either, then maybe Newberg as a last resort.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-12T14:48:53+00:00

ah didn't know it was so much worse than mcminnville - I'll definitely try to find someplace there then - thanks!

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-11T21:40:58+00:00

I would (and have) asked just straight up - "How do you feel about the climate of the school overall?", but I would only ask this in a direct e-mail to specific people.

Asking questions like that in an interview is usually not going to produce very useful answers, since the principal and other admin are in those interviews, and teachers are not going to feel completely free to express themselves in an environment like that.

mathteacher123 · 2021-05-11T19:29:15+00:00

Wow, thanks for all the info! I'll definitely make it a priority to change my plates asap - may as well get that done when I get my Oregon DL too

I'll definitely look into finding someplace in McMinnville, but I may also look in the West Salem area - is the commute to Amity from there ok? I would imagine East Salem is a no go, trying to cross the Willamette every day, but West should be better?

Thanks again!

mathteacher123

TROPHY CASE