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> Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. > Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and

> Teaching is not nearly as hard as you lay it out to be. > Our kids are in private school now because our public school is a dumpster fire of bad teachers and admins. The private school teachers don’t get paid a lot but they are valued and highly motivated to actually reach kids. The difference is astounding. This is exactly what I'm talking about. You have N=1 child, and you extrapolate everything from that one child, especially how to teach all children. Your fifth grader is in fifth grader for a single year, and so your experience on fifth graders is limited to that. The teacher teaches 20-30+ new fifth graders every year, for decades, and has a wide range of experience. I'm sure your fifth grader is very smart and talented. To be learning Latin in 5th grade, they must be. And so what has happened to their old classroom at public school? That classroom is now absent one of the brightest, most engaged members of that community. I'm not saying you were wrong to change schools, that was a good move for you. But for the teacher, you made their job actually harder. And think about what happens when all the top students sort themselves into the top private schools. Where does that leave the public classroom? This is why your experience was night and day. Take all the top students and put them in a room together, and the learning happens almost automatically. It's like magic. Take all the bottom performers and put them in a room together, and it's like pulling teeth. It's torture. So yeah, in some sense you're right. Teaching people who want to learn isn't all that hard. It's actually a lot of fun! But that's not all there is to teaching, and so I would implore you to maybe adjust your perspective to account for this.

Scubabear68 3y ago
My kids aren’t top students at all. They both have learning disabilities. My son is highly sports oriented, my daughter is very musical. They both have trouble with traditional subjects. They both got “B”s in public school, despite their standardized tests showing them in the 15-20th percentile. They both struggled with their knowledge deficit transitioning into the private school. They are doing very well now. Not straight A’s, but they are learning what they need to learn and flourishing as people. I have seen this repeated for many other families. A lot of public schools are simply awful.
- ModernMech 3y ago
  "B" students are in fact top students. That you think they aren't is one of the things I've been pushing back on in my career. I have several learning disabilities including dyslexia and ADHD and was also a top student, so those aren't exactly determinative. Many of my top students are neurodivergent. I get a dozen letters every semester from my top students regarding their learning disabilities. Excelling in sports and music is also indicative of highly talented students with vast aptitude. Your kids are actually probably far above average, but you can't see that, because your N=2.
  - Scubabear68 3y ago
    I’m sorry, are you indicating you know my kids better than I do? The kids got “B”s because everyone who showed up got Bs. It was social promotion. This became painfully obvious when the first marking period scores in many classes was F and D in the private school. And was backed up by equally bad standardized testing scores.
    - ModernMech 3y ago
      No, I don't presume to know your children. But I am more qualified than you to compare them to other children, because that's part of my job (unless it's your job too, I dunno). Based on what you've told me, and that's all I have to go off of, your kids are above average. It's kind of wild to me that you're on here arguing with me that they're not. Kids who get A's, B's (even some C's); and do sports or music are well on their way to successful futures. The kids getting Fs and Ds who aren't involved in any music or sports are the ones who won't be getting spots at top colleges. That's not to say they can't have successful futures nonetheless. Maybe so we're all on the same page, you can articulate what the profile of a "top student" looks like to you.
      - starcraft2wol 3y ago
        > But I am more qualified than you to compare them to other children Do you have any evidence that your qualification gives you better comparisons?

Scubabear68 3y ago

My kids aren’t top students at all. They both have learning disabilities. My son is highly sports oriented, my daughter is very musical. They both have trouble with traditional subjects. They both got “B”s in public school, despite their standardized tests showing them in the 15-20th percentile. They both struggled with their knowledge deficit transitioning into the private school. They are doing very well now. Not straight A’s, but they are learning what they need to learn and flourishing as people. I have seen this repeated for many other families. A lot of public schools are simply awful.

ModernMech 3y ago
"B" students are in fact top students. That you think they aren't is one of the things I've been pushing back on in my career. I have several learning disabilities including dyslexia and ADHD and was also a top student, so those aren't exactly determinative. Many of my top students are neurodivergent. I get a dozen letters every semester from my top students regarding their learning disabilities. Excelling in sports and music is also indicative of highly talented students with vast aptitude. Your kids are actually probably far above average, but you can't see that, because your N=2.
- Scubabear68 3y ago
  I’m sorry, are you indicating you know my kids better than I do? The kids got “B”s because everyone who showed up got Bs. It was social promotion. This became painfully obvious when the first marking period scores in many classes was F and D in the private school. And was backed up by equally bad standardized testing scores.
  - ModernMech 3y ago
    No, I don't presume to know your children. But I am more qualified than you to compare them to other children, because that's part of my job (unless it's your job too, I dunno). Based on what you've told me, and that's all I have to go off of, your kids are above average. It's kind of wild to me that you're on here arguing with me that they're not. Kids who get A's, B's (even some C's); and do sports or music are well on their way to successful futures. The kids getting Fs and Ds who aren't involved in any music or sports are the ones who won't be getting spots at top colleges. That's not to say they can't have successful futures nonetheless. Maybe so we're all on the same page, you can articulate what the profile of a "top student" looks like to you.
    - starcraft2wol 3y ago
      > But I am more qualified than you to compare them to other children Do you have any evidence that your qualification gives you better comparisons?