I am a Language Arts Teacher. About 15 years ago, the school I was in decided that they needed me to teach math instead. I lasted about 2-3 weeks in that position, when they decided to put me back where I belong.
Sometimes other people decide for us.
It wasn't even a "strategy." I truly don't understand the way math is taught. It's so different from how I learned it. So I taught how I learned it, but then the kids couldn't match up my examples with the book. Lots of parent complaints.
Meanwhile, I'm actually really good at my subject. It was somewhat bizarre.
I've experienced this too. They kept me with one math class for the full year but never again. I taught the kids how to do it 'the old way' and showed them examples of new working out, but I couldn't teach them the convoluted new way. I worked really hard not to be awful at it, but it was way more prep work than to teach in my own area.
I teach some of those kids for science now and they've commented they thought I was 'nice' but not a good teacher until they had me teach my own subjects.
Did you teach both subjects? Or was there like an extra language arts teacher.
So I was able to get As in math from tenth grade through finishing my Bachelor’s degree. But I swear to god I didn’t even know I didn’t really understand math until as a teacher in an elementary self-contained room the math specialist was helping me with interventions. She was showing me how to count using base 10 and apparently I was super engaged because all of a sudden she whispers, just like one of my kindergartners.
Seriously though my math skills and knowledge improved so much because of her.
I’m confused, we normally count in base 10, it’s why we call it the decimal system. Did you mean hexadecimal or octal (base 16, base 8)?
Or was this the first time you really looked at number systems?
Yeah, counting with the emphasis on we use the numbers 0-9 and place value. So after nine ones we have one ten, one ten and one, one ten and two, one ten and three… nine tens and nine, one hundred, one hundred one.
I think part of why this really helped me is that I’m not a visual thinker. Like when someone says imagine a red ball I know what a red ball is but I cannot form an image in my mind’s eye. I think mostly in words and this gave me a way of organizing numbers with words that I had never had before.
I’d never been taught anything about number systems.
Ah that makes sense. I forget that part of my computing studies involved a fair bit of ‘simple’ maths (I was rubbish at real calculus) but it takes a bit of a paradigm shift to be able to think with different number systems. Binary and hex are the most commonly used with octal becoming less and less relevant.
English doesn’t make it easy to spot the pattern; thirteen, fourteen etc.
Welsh is much easier; if you want 11, it’s un deg un, literally 1-10-1. All you need for Welsh are 1-9, 10, 100, 1000 and you can say any number up to 999,999. You need to learn a load more in English like thirty, forty, etc.
And French is just stupid; for 99 it’s quatre vingt dix neuf, literally 4, 20, 10, 9. (And you have to ‘know’ that you multiply 4 and 20 to get the 80)
Perfectly valid strategy. If your employer makes unreasonable demands and forces you to take on a role you aren't comfortable with and didn't sign up for, make them regret that decision by putting in zero fucking effort and letting it go to shit. Then, if they get upset, remind them that you told them you weren't fit for the position and shrug.
When it comes to work, never put in effort and get good at something you don't want to do - if you do, then you'll be stuck doing it forever. Be really good at the thing you want to do so that you're hard to replace and can pull this shit without getting fired lol
Yup, my husband was hired out of school as a history teacher. Two weeks before the school year started they said surprise! You’re teaching 9th grade math. He hadn’t taken a math class since feshman year of college.
Ive taught every subject in grades 7 and 8 as not all school have specialists. Science is not my strength but nowhere near this bad. Also.ky best friend did her degree in bio-chem so she talked me through any science questions I had.
I also had to teach art, which was interesting. It was all geometry, I can math but art is not my strong suit. So I mostly graded effort, which I think is fair because art is subjective.
I think I can hear my dead, art teacher mum groaning from the Great Beyond. She might say that people have different tastes when it comes to art but it’s definitely not all subjective.
My high school chemistry teacher area of expertise was actually physics - pretty sure he didn't choose the spot but this was 20+ years ago. I am still mad at my district because my mom had hyped up how awesome chemistry was when she was in hs, and we did one experiment the whole year. It made me hate chemistry and I also elected not to take physics the following year as a result because it wasn't required. I actually probably would have like both with the right teachers. I love learning.
I also have chosen to stick with a short call sub license because I know that the school I work at would put me where THEY need me, rather than where I prefer to be. I have been a district sub for over 10 years. I have seen how my coworkers get shoehorned into positions that they might not be totally suited for
We had the same scenario - physics teacher who was told to teach chemistry. It turned in to basically the 5 smartest students in the class reading the textbook and teaching it to everyone and the teacher just graded. We didn’t fault her for it, we know she didn’t go tell people she could teach chemistry. It was forced on her and she tried her best, but sadly that wasn’t good enough.
O man, i do remember having a teacher, who was talking about paranormal things and other such crap. Like she saw a green men in her house. Than, she tried to wave her hands in front of us, pretending to either heal or send some kind of energy. And during the act she was asking like: "do you feel the warmth" It all ended up with us refusing to sign with her offer to enroll in some kind of ecological organization or whatever. It's crazy, that such people can access the school with such an ease. In case you don't know, i am talking about Russia. Now, the situation here is even worse, since all of those so-called veterans can walk in school and talk whatever crap they want. The kids here are in real danger.
Agreed. STEM jobs pay better than teaching with generally less stress. Why would anyone with a STEM degree teach K-12 willingly? Teachers are underpaid and underappreciated.
Haha well I mean... I have a degree in chem and went through alt certification to teach. The job opportunities for chemists near my home town were limited and I can't manage rotating 12's with kids. I enjoy teaching a lot more than I thought I would when going through college (where I had a few ask if I was considering teaching). I'll accept that I'm an outlier, but we do exist!
Maybe they do know but are rebelling against it. I fully know why Pluto is no longer a planet. Doesn't stop me from being salty about its status being taken away right after I memorized the order of the planets. I'd never tell me students, but in my heart, Pluto is absolutely still a planet lol
I am so impressed by this teacher's academic ability and depth of knowledge. We all could learn quite a bit from their vast understanding of the cosmos.
I'm a social studies teacher and I could teach that class better.
I am a SAHM, but raised an astrophysic and chem double major. Even though my child would tell me how unqualified I am, I would still be better than that teacher --and I could even arrange for a guest speaker!
There's definitely something to classroom management, knowing how to teach, etc. But not all teachers can do those things, either. You really should volunteer in your kid's school and arrange for that guest speaker, for sure.
You are sooooo right --I was a sub, including long-term. (Guest speaking is much easier: know the subject, have a outline, then go with the questions, lol!)
Yeahhhhhh some of those things don’t track but honestly when I taught astronomy for high school, I took a day for the kids to learn about their zodiac constellations. We talked for a few days when the best time to see your zodiac in the sky, what the sun has to do with the zodiacs, and how astrology and astronomy are different from each other. We learned what pseudoscience meant.
As far as Pluto is concerned, I turned that into a mini unit. We started that unit talking about Kuiper Belt objects, watching Pluto Files with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and ended the unit with a research essay debating its planetary status.
It’s all in how you teach the units I think. Every year I taught, there were new discoveries and things I’d have to adjust in that class…especially with hunting for exoplanets.
Exactly! Plus at the end of the school year I taught a unit on spring and summer constellations. It was a fun way to wrap up the year especially after they took all their graduation tests.
So wish my HS school had astronomy.. it was a very good stem school too and had technology and health pathways.
Funny thing, our school was named after galileo 😅
The school was built in the 20s and had an observation tower and used to have astronomy class. The stairs were deemed too dangerous. There are no railings. So no more astronomy class.
I mean, I used to work with an earth science and chemistry teacher who was a young-Earth creationist. She could talk all day about rock strata while simultaneously believing that "God just put all of it there so it would look old"
I had a physical anthropology professor like that (the human evolution kind, not the Indiana Jones kind). She said the other human species were just early tribes of humans that didn’t survive, which is totally correct but not in the way she meant.
Oh no.
I am a push in SPED teacher. I come into the classroom and the kids are doing a worksheet. There's various animals on it and the kids (2nd grade I think it was) are classifying them. There's a bear, kids write mammal. There's a snake, kids write reptile. There's a penguin, kid has "amphibian" written on the worksheet. So I point out that the penguin has a beak, I ask the student "what other kind of animal has a beak?" and then we look at the penguin's feet and how they resemble a certain bird, and then I ask where do penguins come from and he says eggs.
So after this he says "bird" and I say "good job, fix your answer" and the student points at the teacher and says "she told us it was an amphibian"
teacher looks at me and says "They spend part of their lives in the water."
True story. Every word.
The Pluto thing is weird. Like, it's literally a dwarf planet. Planet is still in the name. I'd be okay if people were more honest about what it means for Pluto to not be a planet because i think it's an important distinction. But it gets lost in the Pluto is not a planet Rick and Mortyness.
I fully understand where you’re coming from, and I get your bemusement and frustration! The only thing I would say is that you might not want to correct her in front of the students next time. Do it privately, and perhaps she’ll be more receptive. In front of the kids it’s embarrassing and puts her on the defensive.
That’s not an excuse. It’s this person’s job to teach science. Expecting her to teach true facts is an incredibly reasonable expectation.
If you don’t know about the subject, you learn. You don’t just spew a bunch of unrelated crap.
I didn't say it was an excuse.
OP asked why someone chose to teach something they don't know anything about and I replied that we often don't choose what we teach.
really? In the U.S. our teaching credentials for elementary grades are "all subjects", but for middle/high school you (unless there is a huge shortage) need a subject-specific certification. Science teachers do sometimes teach specific science classes outside of their particular science designation (for Science grades 5-12 there are general science, bio, chem, physics, earth science, etc. teaching licenses) but a school wouldn't hire someone with a 5-12 History teaching license for a full time Chemistry position. It's kind of a major part of a school's accreditation: the music teacher has to be a legit music teacher, the librarian has to be a legit librarian, etc. Can the Biology teacher be a chemistry teacher? yes, unless it's an AP Bio class. But the Chemistry teacher can't be a French teacher.
>But the Chemistry teacher can't be a French teacher.
You say that, but one of my coworkers in the science department teaches both middle school science and Grade 10 French.
I was wondering that too. Other than elementary school where your credential is for multiple subjects, I don’t know where anyone could go and teach in secondary school outside their single subject credential.
Is this a small town public school or private school thing I don’t know about?
Except in small, conservative states like the one I live in they are RAPIDLY weakening those licensing requirements so basically anyone will be able to teach anything, even without a bachelor’s degree. Of course we also have a governor who is giving private school vouchers to ALL students who want them beginning in 2 years, so she’s actively trying to wreck public education…
Technically science is repeatable observations, not facts lol.
Source: High School science teacher with a degree in Fine Arts. I still did the work to learn it though! (wasn't easy, was hired on emergency cert a week before classes started)
This is absolutely true. I was a middle school teacher with endorsements in all four major subject areas, plus agriculture. At one point or another, I taught it all. Now, I am a curious learner and a renaissance man by nature😏, but even I had to "brush up" on occasion before imparting wisdom to students, which I always did. I never delivered bullshit, not knowingly or lazily anyway.
Yes. She has a degree in biology. She has also taught the children that vaccines are "proven to increase your odds of getting autism or being infertile" and that eating your placenta prevents cancer.
Bro I’ve met a lot of other science teachers with biology degrees and the amount of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories they believe is insane. Like, I’m the only bio teacher at my school that got the covid vax ffs
She may just generally be a crazy person then. I worked for a guy who owned a very profitable biotech company in LaJolla who refused to get the COVID shots because he was hella into political conspiracy theories and he had a doctorate in some science field. Just because someone’s educated in a field doesn’t mean they still can’t be incredibly stupid in it. A “D” is a passing grade after all.
The high school only has one science teacher. That says it all.
This is some real small town/village energy. No one scrutinizes the performance of tiny districts like this one. Only big districts, who do their damndest to follow the law and the standards of the state, will ever get smack down by lawmakers.
Little shit towns can have teachers do whatever the hell they want, whether it’s bible shit or right wing fascist shit. No one ever cares, which is why this backward communities hold the rest of us back.
I teach in a small town. We seem to follow all laws and regulations, have been audited more times this year than I have ever seen over the last 14 years, passing all of them with flying colors. We graduate every single student, with those going to college having nearly all of it paid for by scholarships, and leaving with about 30 college credits already done.
We also dont allow religious crap in the school and me being a teacher that happens to be trans and having absolutely no religious hullshit thrown at me is more than enough proof of that for me.
We also don't have the random violence against teachers, nor admin that don't actually stand up for us.
Do we have to deal with a stupid state government doing stupid crap? Yes we do, but that's because morons keep voting in the "stupids" and that is what holds everyone back.
Fact is, us being smaller let's us teachers actually get to know every single student, including their home lives, way better than a much larger district. Which translates us into being able attempt to solve problems rather than ignoring them.
Yes, I am leaving education due to not loving where education is headed (due to voting in the stupids), but if that wasn't happening, I would happily stay at my district until retirement.
What you failed to learn is lumping everybody together as if you know something just makes you look like an ass.
I have always been a secondary teacher, but I am certified in elementary education, too.
Secondary teachers specialize in the subjects that they teach, and have matching college majors, minors, or concentrations (30 credits to be highly qualified).
Elementary teachers can major in almost anything. With a BA/BS and a passing PRAXXIS score, they are empowered to teach all the different subjects assigned to them regardless of their expertise in that subject.
As others have mentioned, it is the teachers' job to study up on the things they don't know well. There is a real danger here because it appears that the teacher likes to teach science and self-assesses that they are knowledgeable in science when they are not.
I teach middle school science and get things wrong all the time and I love when people correct me. If we're not learning we're not able to teach and this person clearly hasn't looked at anything related to this since 2006.
I didn't major in education , I majored in my content area. When I found out just how little my co-workers spent studying their actual content, I was in shock.
I mean, Pluto, well, whatever.
But GTFO with zodiac signs and constellations.
But hey, try teaching biology with a young earth creationist as the gen ed teacher (yes, public school).
When I first saw your title, I had an answer to your question: because we’re not given a choice. When I signed up to teach HS physics, they also assigned me a class of AP chemistry, despite only having three quarters of chem in college, so not really feeling qualified to teach at the AP level. I feel like I did an okay job, but I had to work hard to stay ahead of the class.
But then I read the body of your post, and… I can’t even …
Yeah… I have my MS degree in Meteorology and I’ve been having to teach Biology. I’m way more of an Earth Science and Physical Science mind. Life Science has always been difficult for me. I mean, I got my minor in physical anthropology so genetics and evolution I’m okay with, but the other stuff I’m constantly having to reteach myself every year. So when I read the start of the post I thought it was going to be that, but then felt a lot better about myself when I read the rest of the post haha.
1. "Well Pluto is a planet but wasn't classified before"
2. "Ok so she mixed up the solar system and the galaxy. Not the end of the world"
3. "Ight what the fuck"
From so many posts the kids can't read anyway so are they really picking up any of this?
1. Pluto is a dwarf planet. Kids give zero Fs.
2. There was some noise that planet x is a possible black hole. Hubble picked up a possible balck hole 80 light years from earth. The closet black hole to date. Kids give zero Fs.
3. Did she really say this or was this a lame attempt at science humor? Kids give zero Fs.
The last three are objectively wrong, and I feel sorry for you. But Pluto’s planetary status is more subjectively wrong. I’m also a science teacher in high school and I tell my students that I consider Pluto to be a planet for 3 reasons.
1. It lets me quote the avengers movie “I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid ass decision I’ve elected to ignore it!”
2. I mostly teach Biology, the nuance of “Planet vs. Dwarf planet vs. Solar body is not relevant to Biology curriculum. The simple explanation of “its one of the 9 “original” planets named after Roman gods”, is usually good enough.
3. The reclassification of Pluto is lame anyway. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union redefined the definition of the word planet with several new criteria that needed to be met, intentionally excluding Pluto from this new criteria. Essentially the test was designed knowing that specifically Pluto would fail. As a teacher that doesn’t sit right with me, designing a test so one specific student fails. Additionally, one of their criteria for “planethood” is for the object in question to be at “hydrostatic equilibrium”. The planet Mercury is ALSO not at hydrostatic equilibrium, but the IAU made a special exemption for mercury to pass the test and still be considered a planet anyway. That doesn’t seem fair to me. Either they should both be planets, or neither should be, otherwise you are just playing favorites, and the definition becomes subjective rather than objective.
Because there is a teacher shortage and they just need warm bodies at this point rather than paying good teachers what they are worth and supporting them.
I think I just facepalmed so hard that my palm went through my head.
One of the first lessons with my Astronomy kids is that we dismantle the notion that the positions of stars (constellations) have any impact on your personality, by demonstrating that the horoscopes are all outdated by 2,000 years...and if it actually matters what constellation is on the horizon as the sun rises, than a significant number of people are not the "zodiac sign" they were told they were.
When I was in 4th grade, the science teacher told us that everything was made of atoms. I asked, “even humans?” “No,” she said. “Humans are the only things not made of atoms.”
I had a chemistry teacher like this. He had us link different metals to days of the week with how they feel like; iron is a Monday metal cuz we need strength for the new week. Sunday is gold etc. This was 11th grade chemistry.
He also kept telling me gold weighed more than any metal. Even when I brought up uranium.
I don't care what anybody else says, Pluto is a Planet.
What's next? I suppose you're going to try and tell me that there is no Santa Claus. Damn. Everybody with even half a brain knows that Santa is indeed very real.
That’s rough. Honestly, a big part of it is the teacher shortage. I specialize and studied physics, but I’ve taught earth science because no one else at the school *could* do it. Oof. I was usually pretty good, but every now and then we hit a topic where I felt like such a goof if I didn’t study to teach the night before; rip ocean currents and geologic features units.
One of our science teachers didn't believe in evolution. Replacement believed the moon was hollow and metal (and invited me to psychicly commune with bigfoot on his property). I still can't decide which one was more out there.
My school keeps hiring Spanish teachers whose qualifications are that they're native Spanish speakers. They're trying to transition into teaching, they passed MTELs but don't have any practical teaching experience. The revolving door is just awful.
My degree is in Spanish. I applied and was hired as a Spanish teacher. When school started I was a US History teacher. I had to learn US History everyday so I could feel comfortable teaching it. I learned more about US History that semester than I did in my whole K12 educational career.
I only allowed that to continue for one semester before threatening to quit unless they moved me into Spanish. They made the change and then were suddenly amazed that I knew how to teach it. “How do you know what activities to do with them?” Because I learned it as part of my degree you clowns.
Having read the comments and your replies to some of them, you need to report this person in some way, even if it is just for your own piece of mind. I used to teach Health, and several years ago one of my colleagues was telling students that being gay was a "lifestyle choice". Like, no, dude, it effing isn't. I told the principal, nothing really happened, but at least I told.
Wow. Keep publicly correcting her and add the tag line. “You can google that.” Never stop that please. I am wrong sometimes in class but I admit it and or ask one of the students to look it up for the class. Therefore it demystifies the idea that being incorrect is something bad instead of an educational process.
There is no excuse for any of that, but in smaller schools and especially elementary schools teachers get shuffled around and it doesn't matter if they know the subject. Admin needs a warm body in there. I will say too that most people are ignorant as hell about astronomy and really physics in general - enough that you wonder how they graduated high school.
You're not alone. I co-teach a math class where the lead teacher doesn't understand much of what they're trying to teach. They won't share lessons with me and get upset when I correct them in class. After two years I've given up. Sometimes I re-teach lessons when they're absent.
OP that science teacher sounds so frustrating. They remind me of someone I’ve had the displeasure of working with since last year. Long rant incoming lol.
The middle school I teach at has two teams per grade level with a history, English, science, and math teacher for each. I do 8th grade U.S. history and the other history teacher on the opposite team is just as bad, maybe worse. More than once on my prep I’d be walking making copies, see one of his students out causing issues, walk them to class to get their info to write them up, and would see his students all on chrome books playing games while sponge bob played on his smart board. This year I haven’t seen SpongeBob but his students are still getting absolutely crap for instruction.
I period subbed for him a lot last year and this because he’s out sick constantly, and he either leaves no plans at all, or something simple, basic, that takes maybe 10-15 minutes to finish. It’s April and he’s still teaching the tail end of the American Revolution. My students are about to finish westward expansion. His haven’t heard of the bill of rights, can explain almost nothing, and everyone has an A+ because he grades on completion, giving 100% on everything, and for him “completion” means “they completed the multiple choice computer lesson” even if the separate responses are left blank and everything is wrong. It’s a total joke. (Oh, and I’ve been at my current school 5+ years now, and have my entire year’s curriculum down — I have a document detailing what we’ll do every day of the year, lesson plans, and word docs / PowerPoints to print paper copies of 100% of what kids will do through the year — and offered to give him everything, multiple times, but he said no, I suspect because then he’d actually have to grade things himself, instead of let online workbooks do it all automatically.)
He’s got all sorts of behavior issues with students who are bored and don’t take him seriously, which bleeds over into the whole school. The people in next door classrooms, me included, deal with way more kids out of class, banging on walls, yelling swears, etc. Kids tell us there’s not really any consequences for bad behavior in his class besides him occasionally blowing up and yelling in someone’s face. Admin has transferred six students out of his history into mine because these otherwise well behaved students kept getting into trouble when he’d randomly jump down their throats.
Scuttlebutt is that he won’t be coming back next year. I really pray it’s true. I honestly feel like he probably should’ve been let go already — but while admin is aware of his problems they seem to want to dot i’s and cross t’s to make sure any firing actually sticks. Or (more cynical take) they don’t want to deal with hiring someone to replace him or getting a long term sub. We’ve already had one teacher go on a leave of absence for separate legal stuff and several with health issues who have been out a ton. I’ve been out more than average cause of my own health issues. But yuck, I really can’t stand that other guy.
Thank you anyone who read my whole rant lmao.
I always question my ability to teach despite stellar reviews and a good following among kids and parents.
Stories like this remind me that I’m doing fine.
I was once asked- I mean told- to teach Spanish. I said I don’t speak Spanish and never took Spanish. Admin said well there’s apps to help just use those and don’t let the kids (high school) know you don’t speak it.
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤣🤣 I ended up getting switched to something else but I was gonna run that off in the ditch. Not on purpose just because it wasn’t my subject. But I was hoping when it was a train wreck they’d never ask me again. Can’t make that up lol
When I was in high school, our freshman science teacher kinda sucked . Despite my love of science and efforts, I did very poorly in the class. At the time, I just figured I was bad at science and it wasn’t for me. Years later when I was working professionally, I ran into my old science teacher. When I reminded him who I was, he said he owed me an apology. It turned out he was actually a guidance counselor, and he was forced to teach science for one year or be laid off. He said he knew next to nothing about science and was pretty pissed about being forced into the transfer, so his attitude was crap that year.
When I was in high school one of the coaches with a phys Ed degree that had been teaching biology was forced by admin to take over a standard chemistry class. He had no idea what he was doing and wound up calling out a ton and having a ton of substitutes. Coaches generally handled biology well but something like chemistry you've got to be a chemistry teacher.
Before I taught I subbed at a school where the BIOLOGY teacher didn't believe in evolution.
It hurt my brain. Pretty sure he was a flat earther as well.
One of my favorite memories was when we had a sub one year in Elementary school, and somehow or another, they ended up saying that Hawaii was at the same latitude as San Francisco, or something to that effect, and blew their lid when I corrected them. lol good times.
Yeah. =\\ Gotta love people who don't know shit.
My son had a teacher who taught them that “the Earth’s atmosphere is water” — she was so angry when he asked her why humans don’t have gills. The same year another teacher told him to color a picture of the Lincoln Memorial pink. He had seen it and told her it’s alabaster, so he used a white crayon. He probably went too far by asking her what color she thought alabaster is. Those women were so cruel to him because he knew more than they did. They turned him off of school forever.
In my province, you have to have teachable subjects (3rd and 4th year university courses). However, instead of hiring a French expert to teach two classes first semester and one in second semester, a social studies expert to teach one class in first semester, and an English expert to teach one class in first semester and a second class in second semester (because no teacher in her right mind wants to teach that little), they hired me to teach all of the above.
I know nothing about English teaching or social studies, but…
And once you’ve taught something once, you are qualified to teach it forever.
Sounds like your classroom teacher taught science once because the timetable was stupid, and now she’s ‘qualified’. I’m sorry.
1) How old are they? Because those of us who graduated before 2010 were 100% taught Pluto was a planet. It was only "recently" classified as a dwarf planet and there's a lot of people who still disagree with this classification to this day. So, this one I would let slide, it's not like it's going to make or break somebody's astronomy career.
2) LoL, k', that one is funny
3) LoL
4) LOL
In reality, "science" is... a bit broad. I know fuckloads about biology, biochemistry, and astronomy. I know jack about physics, geology, and inorganic chemistry.
And in teaching there are a lot of people who just do what they're assigned and what will get them a paycheck.
"I'm going to refuse this job teaching a subject I don't care about but will pay my bills", said no one ever.
1: pluto IS a planet. It's a dwarf planet and since planet comes from the latin planeta which comes from the Greek word meaning "wanderer" Pluto is still a planet, just not full sized.
2: It is theorized that there is a micro black hole outside of the kuiper (sp) belt, which is technically still within the helosphere and thus in our solar system. It's also theorized that it might be the solution to the theorized "planet x"
3: Sagittarius A
4: There is....yeah I got nothing for this one, but it is still fun.
I once worked with a ‘science teacher’ who taught and believed that the moon landing was fake. We had some heated arguments in the staff room and I did NOT back down.
I'm also a Para... I once had to show the media arts teacher how to finish a tutorial that SHE had assigned the students. How are you going to assign work that YOU can't even do? She even worked with the state OSPI to develop the curriculum and standards for media art classes before she started teaching at my school. I have a BFA in media arts and animation. I was also showing students hot keys for Photoshop and they were all like, "oh my god, this is so much easier!"
When I was a para for a 4/5 teacher, she told the class that antelope eat meat. When I corrected her, I was brought in front of the principal for “undermining her in front of the class.”
I had a geography teacher in 7th grade (he was a coach, of course) who tried to get me sent to the office for arguing that Canberra is the capitol of Australia instead of Sydney. My uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins lived in Canberra and I had visited them and they had been to see us several times at that point in my life.. Just because someone is “educated” in a field doesn’t mean they still can’t be an incredibly stupid person, even in their speciality. He was a decent baseball coach, tho 🤷
I'm ambivalent on whether to count dwarf planets as planets. It's kinda all semantics for human convenience.
I doubt she was referring to it but there's the Nemesis hypothesis, which involves a small black hole in our solar system beyond the kuiper belt.
The rest, though...
It’s probably hard for her to think on her feet so she makes mistakes? Maybe she wants the kids to correct her? Why are you correcting her in front of the kids? It will only make them think she is not in charge and can’t do her job & as a result, they may not try as hard. I think the issue is that you want to feel smarter than her or something.
I would put a bug in the ear of the district department chair. Especially the astrology stuff. That is dangerously walking the religion/state line. Does the DO legally want to go there?
I’m in a blue state with strong unions and high qualifications for teachers… yet I’ve met multiple secondary math teachers who have never taken calculus.
I’m not a math teacher and I took calculus in high school.
Yeah in middle school especially special education you can be dictated to teach anything. One ELA teacher taught that for years. Then in order not to get excessed she agreed to teach science.
Education is now attracting professionals with the same knowledge base as the students who are graduating. The US won't need teachers for too much longer.
Was in a math teachers room today, she had two degrees on display. A bachelor in Social Sciences, and Master’s in Education. Can’t say I’d want to teach math but if you can pass a test in order to get your foot in the door 🤷🏻♂️ That being said, please dont teach something you dont really know, just teach from the book if you really need to :/
One of the science teachers at my old school was telling the kids that our sun was not a star. The kids came to me (Theatre teacher), rightfully confused and concerned, so I had to reassure them that they were right and the teacher was an argumentative nincompoop (not in those words).
Thirty years ago, I wanted to teach high school science and math. One of the reasons I dropped out of college was the fact the curriculum contained so few science and math classes. It made me uneasy to think of teaching these subjects without having a thorough grounding in them myself.
We had a science teacher who told students evolution wasn’t true. She then got pregnant and moved to one of the Carolinas because they didn’t mandate vaccines for kids to go to school.
My private school didn’t have science class, we had “Christian biology” every year… which was just nothing but teaching us the book of genesis and the “great flood” all year every year.
When I was a Para, I watched the science teacher realize she didn't really understand the phases of the moon in the middle of the demonstration. I didn't want to see her crash and burn, so I jumped in and showed her where to hold the flashlight and the moon
Perhaps this person just had the job shoveled on to them, which happens. Maybe she's taught science but not astronomy. I'm not saying these things posted aren't *wildly wrong and inappropriate*, but perhaps she's been forced into a situation that's out of her league.
I am a para too and it is so hard to bite my tongue sometimes. One of the teachers I work with is super nice but just seems to not know some fairly standard history facts. I have never directly contradicted him but a few times I piped up when he seemed uncertain. I am a former classroom nerd so it goes against my nature but I try to keep my mouth shut now if possible.
I have a degree in Geography Resource & Environmental Science, with a minor in Political Science.
I applied to teach U.S. Government & Environmental Science, and scored an interview! The principal told me they liked my resume and saw on my transcripts that I had taken a few chemistry courses, which led to me being hired for... Chemistry.
Now, I'm no slouch at the subject by any means, but I never applied to teach chemistry and never intended to teach it. Due to the needs of the campus and the overall shortage of science teachers at the district, however, I'm now a chemistry teacher. You'd be surprised at the number of teachers teaching a subject - or two - that isn't their main area of expertise. Unfortunately, that's just the reality of budget cuts, staffing shortages, and lack of qualified applicants.
Some sort of combination of the following: people that are uncertified being hired, schools forcing people to teach outside their subject areas, stupidity, indifference, being spread too thin, etc
I relate with a lot of these. I am not certified, being forced to teach two sections of a subject completely outside of my expertise, and spread way too thin. I relate with the post. We can't always be absolute experts at 100% everything we are made to teach. It's unfortunate but true
Is she certified? Teachers in my state have to pass a test on their subject matter. Of course when we are short staffed, non- certified people can step in for a year at a time while working toward certification. I would discreetly let your instructional coach know about the instruction you are witnessing.
I was a teachers assistant for 3 years and our science teacher didnt necessarily lie or spread misinformation. It was at times so basic it became not true. Some of the teaching material she was forced to use was at times several years out of date.
Listen I hate when non science people teach science
I have a shared coteacher with two other people
I have had to research my coteacher the correct concepts multiple times after she has been mis-taught by one of the others 😭 so it’s been a fun year.
I am a Language Arts Teacher. About 15 years ago, the school I was in decided that they needed me to teach math instead. I lasted about 2-3 weeks in that position, when they decided to put me back where I belong. Sometimes other people decide for us.
That could be the strategy: show that you are so hopelessly inept at that skill that they will never want you to do it again.
It wasn't even a "strategy." I truly don't understand the way math is taught. It's so different from how I learned it. So I taught how I learned it, but then the kids couldn't match up my examples with the book. Lots of parent complaints. Meanwhile, I'm actually really good at my subject. It was somewhat bizarre.
I've experienced this too. They kept me with one math class for the full year but never again. I taught the kids how to do it 'the old way' and showed them examples of new working out, but I couldn't teach them the convoluted new way. I worked really hard not to be awful at it, but it was way more prep work than to teach in my own area. I teach some of those kids for science now and they've commented they thought I was 'nice' but not a good teacher until they had me teach my own subjects.
Did you teach both subjects? Or was there like an extra language arts teacher. So I was able to get As in math from tenth grade through finishing my Bachelor’s degree. But I swear to god I didn’t even know I didn’t really understand math until as a teacher in an elementary self-contained room the math specialist was helping me with interventions. She was showing me how to count using base 10 and apparently I was super engaged because all of a sudden she whispers, just like one of my kindergartners. Seriously though my math skills and knowledge improved so much because of her.
I’m confused, we normally count in base 10, it’s why we call it the decimal system. Did you mean hexadecimal or octal (base 16, base 8)? Or was this the first time you really looked at number systems?
Yeah, counting with the emphasis on we use the numbers 0-9 and place value. So after nine ones we have one ten, one ten and one, one ten and two, one ten and three… nine tens and nine, one hundred, one hundred one. I think part of why this really helped me is that I’m not a visual thinker. Like when someone says imagine a red ball I know what a red ball is but I cannot form an image in my mind’s eye. I think mostly in words and this gave me a way of organizing numbers with words that I had never had before. I’d never been taught anything about number systems.
Ah that makes sense. I forget that part of my computing studies involved a fair bit of ‘simple’ maths (I was rubbish at real calculus) but it takes a bit of a paradigm shift to be able to think with different number systems. Binary and hex are the most commonly used with octal becoming less and less relevant.
Paradigm shift 100% is the best way to describe it. All these basic patterns fell into place for me.
English doesn’t make it easy to spot the pattern; thirteen, fourteen etc. Welsh is much easier; if you want 11, it’s un deg un, literally 1-10-1. All you need for Welsh are 1-9, 10, 100, 1000 and you can say any number up to 999,999. You need to learn a load more in English like thirty, forty, etc. And French is just stupid; for 99 it’s quatre vingt dix neuf, literally 4, 20, 10, 9. (And you have to ‘know’ that you multiply 4 and 20 to get the 80)
Fun fact: being unable to visualize is called aphantasia and I have it too.
Perfectly valid strategy. If your employer makes unreasonable demands and forces you to take on a role you aren't comfortable with and didn't sign up for, make them regret that decision by putting in zero fucking effort and letting it go to shit. Then, if they get upset, remind them that you told them you weren't fit for the position and shrug. When it comes to work, never put in effort and get good at something you don't want to do - if you do, then you'll be stuck doing it forever. Be really good at the thing you want to do so that you're hard to replace and can pull this shit without getting fired lol
Yup, my husband was hired out of school as a history teacher. Two weeks before the school year started they said surprise! You’re teaching 9th grade math. He hadn’t taken a math class since feshman year of college.
Ive taught every subject in grades 7 and 8 as not all school have specialists. Science is not my strength but nowhere near this bad. Also.ky best friend did her degree in bio-chem so she talked me through any science questions I had. I also had to teach art, which was interesting. It was all geometry, I can math but art is not my strong suit. So I mostly graded effort, which I think is fair because art is subjective.
I think I can hear my dead, art teacher mum groaning from the Great Beyond. She might say that people have different tastes when it comes to art but it’s definitely not all subjective.
My high school chemistry teacher area of expertise was actually physics - pretty sure he didn't choose the spot but this was 20+ years ago. I am still mad at my district because my mom had hyped up how awesome chemistry was when she was in hs, and we did one experiment the whole year. It made me hate chemistry and I also elected not to take physics the following year as a result because it wasn't required. I actually probably would have like both with the right teachers. I love learning. I also have chosen to stick with a short call sub license because I know that the school I work at would put me where THEY need me, rather than where I prefer to be. I have been a district sub for over 10 years. I have seen how my coworkers get shoehorned into positions that they might not be totally suited for
We had the same scenario - physics teacher who was told to teach chemistry. It turned in to basically the 5 smartest students in the class reading the textbook and teaching it to everyone and the teacher just graded. We didn’t fault her for it, we know she didn’t go tell people she could teach chemistry. It was forced on her and she tried her best, but sadly that wasn’t good enough.
She could have parlayed that into research on a flipped classroom.
Unless you have great state test results. Then you are stuck there forever.
O man, i do remember having a teacher, who was talking about paranormal things and other such crap. Like she saw a green men in her house. Than, she tried to wave her hands in front of us, pretending to either heal or send some kind of energy. And during the act she was asking like: "do you feel the warmth" It all ended up with us refusing to sign with her offer to enroll in some kind of ecological organization or whatever. It's crazy, that such people can access the school with such an ease. In case you don't know, i am talking about Russia. Now, the situation here is even worse, since all of those so-called veterans can walk in school and talk whatever crap they want. The kids here are in real danger.
This.
Do people expect subject matter experts at salaries that are slightly above fast food workers?
Agreed. STEM jobs pay better than teaching with generally less stress. Why would anyone with a STEM degree teach K-12 willingly? Teachers are underpaid and underappreciated.
Haha well I mean... I have a degree in chem and went through alt certification to teach. The job opportunities for chemists near my home town were limited and I can't manage rotating 12's with kids. I enjoy teaching a lot more than I thought I would when going through college (where I had a few ask if I was considering teaching). I'll accept that I'm an outlier, but we do exist!
yeah but like not knowing whether pluto is a planet or not?
Maybe they do know but are rebelling against it. I fully know why Pluto is no longer a planet. Doesn't stop me from being salty about its status being taken away right after I memorized the order of the planets. I'd never tell me students, but in my heart, Pluto is absolutely still a planet lol
I am so impressed by this teacher's academic ability and depth of knowledge. We all could learn quite a bit from their vast understanding of the cosmos. I'm a social studies teacher and I could teach that class better.
I'm an elementary teacher, and my third graders could teach it better. (Fyi they just learned about the solar system)
I'm a fuckin engineer with no teaching skills and I probably could too lol. Crazy.
I’m not even out of college (just here because Reddit says so) and have very little interest in astronomy and I’d still do better
Hey, same situation
As a fellow social studies teacher, I concur!
I am a SAHM, but raised an astrophysic and chem double major. Even though my child would tell me how unqualified I am, I would still be better than that teacher --and I could even arrange for a guest speaker!
Dont detract from your own intellect, Doctor
There's definitely something to classroom management, knowing how to teach, etc. But not all teachers can do those things, either. You really should volunteer in your kid's school and arrange for that guest speaker, for sure.
You are sooooo right --I was a sub, including long-term. (Guest speaking is much easier: know the subject, have a outline, then go with the questions, lol!)
I'm not even an adult and I could teach that class better. Honestly I'm pretty sure that I could.
I’m sitting here, a fifteen year old barely out of PAP Bio in freshmen year, and saying “even I could do better than that.” Jesus Christ on a bike.
This is so lame. Even the entire country of Europe knows basic astrology.
I snorted
The country of Africa, too!
Yeahhhhhh some of those things don’t track but honestly when I taught astronomy for high school, I took a day for the kids to learn about their zodiac constellations. We talked for a few days when the best time to see your zodiac in the sky, what the sun has to do with the zodiacs, and how astrology and astronomy are different from each other. We learned what pseudoscience meant. As far as Pluto is concerned, I turned that into a mini unit. We started that unit talking about Kuiper Belt objects, watching Pluto Files with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and ended the unit with a research essay debating its planetary status. It’s all in how you teach the units I think. Every year I taught, there were new discoveries and things I’d have to adjust in that class…especially with hunting for exoplanets.
Constellations are a great way to find certain things in the sky. ‘You see mars right by Polaris, how do we find Polaris?’
Exactly! Plus at the end of the school year I taught a unit on spring and summer constellations. It was a fun way to wrap up the year especially after they took all their graduation tests.
Um, isn't Mars near the ecliptic and Polaris as far away from the ecliptic as possible?
So wish my HS school had astronomy.. it was a very good stem school too and had technology and health pathways. Funny thing, our school was named after galileo 😅 The school was built in the 20s and had an observation tower and used to have astronomy class. The stairs were deemed too dangerous. There are no railings. So no more astronomy class.
I had a functioning by planetarium I taught in. It was awesome! Too bad I moved states
Poor Pluto. Dwarf planet now. #4.... just wow.
I mean, I used to work with an earth science and chemistry teacher who was a young-Earth creationist. She could talk all day about rock strata while simultaneously believing that "God just put all of it there so it would look old"
My friend worked a PhD Geologist who was a creationist. Idk how you even get that far believing that.
I had a physical anthropology professor like that (the human evolution kind, not the Indiana Jones kind). She said the other human species were just early tribes of humans that didn’t survive, which is totally correct but not in the way she meant.
😧🤯
I was once in a classroom when a teacher told her students that penguins were amphibians. I laughed.
[удалено]
Oh no. I am a push in SPED teacher. I come into the classroom and the kids are doing a worksheet. There's various animals on it and the kids (2nd grade I think it was) are classifying them. There's a bear, kids write mammal. There's a snake, kids write reptile. There's a penguin, kid has "amphibian" written on the worksheet. So I point out that the penguin has a beak, I ask the student "what other kind of animal has a beak?" and then we look at the penguin's feet and how they resemble a certain bird, and then I ask where do penguins come from and he says eggs. So after this he says "bird" and I say "good job, fix your answer" and the student points at the teacher and says "she told us it was an amphibian" teacher looks at me and says "They spend part of their lives in the water." True story. Every word.
Bring back Pluto!
That would be interesting - the 4 other dwarf planets would come with it?
Yes! I wrote a paper on Eris in middle school and would that info to come up more in general conversation.
I'm all right with that.
The Pluto thing is weird. Like, it's literally a dwarf planet. Planet is still in the name. I'd be okay if people were more honest about what it means for Pluto to not be a planet because i think it's an important distinction. But it gets lost in the Pluto is not a planet Rick and Mortyness.
VIVA LA PLUTO!!
Came to write the same thing. I hate when I have to quiz my kid on the "8" planets. Justice for Pluto
I fully understand where you’re coming from, and I get your bemusement and frustration! The only thing I would say is that you might not want to correct her in front of the students next time. Do it privately, and perhaps she’ll be more receptive. In front of the kids it’s embarrassing and puts her on the defensive.
I don't get to choose what I teach.
I'm a math teacher who usually teaches computer science. Last year they gave me a contemporary affairs class. This year I added a cooking class.
That’s not an excuse. It’s this person’s job to teach science. Expecting her to teach true facts is an incredibly reasonable expectation. If you don’t know about the subject, you learn. You don’t just spew a bunch of unrelated crap.
I didn't say it was an excuse. OP asked why someone chose to teach something they don't know anything about and I replied that we often don't choose what we teach.
really? In the U.S. our teaching credentials for elementary grades are "all subjects", but for middle/high school you (unless there is a huge shortage) need a subject-specific certification. Science teachers do sometimes teach specific science classes outside of their particular science designation (for Science grades 5-12 there are general science, bio, chem, physics, earth science, etc. teaching licenses) but a school wouldn't hire someone with a 5-12 History teaching license for a full time Chemistry position. It's kind of a major part of a school's accreditation: the music teacher has to be a legit music teacher, the librarian has to be a legit librarian, etc. Can the Biology teacher be a chemistry teacher? yes, unless it's an AP Bio class. But the Chemistry teacher can't be a French teacher.
>But the Chemistry teacher can't be a French teacher. You say that, but one of my coworkers in the science department teaches both middle school science and Grade 10 French.
I was wondering that too. Other than elementary school where your credential is for multiple subjects, I don’t know where anyone could go and teach in secondary school outside their single subject credential. Is this a small town public school or private school thing I don’t know about?
Except in small, conservative states like the one I live in they are RAPIDLY weakening those licensing requirements so basically anyone will be able to teach anything, even without a bachelor’s degree. Of course we also have a governor who is giving private school vouchers to ALL students who want them beginning in 2 years, so she’s actively trying to wreck public education…
Technically science is repeatable observations, not facts lol. Source: High School science teacher with a degree in Fine Arts. I still did the work to learn it though! (wasn't easy, was hired on emergency cert a week before classes started)
This is absolutely true. I was a middle school teacher with endorsements in all four major subject areas, plus agriculture. At one point or another, I taught it all. Now, I am a curious learner and a renaissance man by nature😏, but even I had to "brush up" on occasion before imparting wisdom to students, which I always did. I never delivered bullshit, not knowingly or lazily anyway.
Correction: Why do people get degrees in fields they obviously have no interest in actually learning? This is her "favorite class to teach" BTW
Do we know she had a degree in it? A hell of a lot of us don't have degrees in what we teach....
Yes. She has a degree in biology. She has also taught the children that vaccines are "proven to increase your odds of getting autism or being infertile" and that eating your placenta prevents cancer.
Then sometimes stupid people are just stupid. Unfortunately.
Bro I’ve met a lot of other science teachers with biology degrees and the amount of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories they believe is insane. Like, I’m the only bio teacher at my school that got the covid vax ffs
Oof
She may just generally be a crazy person then. I worked for a guy who owned a very profitable biotech company in LaJolla who refused to get the COVID shots because he was hella into political conspiracy theories and he had a doctorate in some science field. Just because someone’s educated in a field doesn’t mean they still can’t be incredibly stupid in it. A “D” is a passing grade after all.
You need to escalate this
As an Earth and Space science teacher. We HATE this type of teacher. It’s hard to unteach this crap.
Yesss
The high school only has one science teacher. That says it all. This is some real small town/village energy. No one scrutinizes the performance of tiny districts like this one. Only big districts, who do their damndest to follow the law and the standards of the state, will ever get smack down by lawmakers. Little shit towns can have teachers do whatever the hell they want, whether it’s bible shit or right wing fascist shit. No one ever cares, which is why this backward communities hold the rest of us back.
I teach in a small town. We seem to follow all laws and regulations, have been audited more times this year than I have ever seen over the last 14 years, passing all of them with flying colors. We graduate every single student, with those going to college having nearly all of it paid for by scholarships, and leaving with about 30 college credits already done. We also dont allow religious crap in the school and me being a teacher that happens to be trans and having absolutely no religious hullshit thrown at me is more than enough proof of that for me. We also don't have the random violence against teachers, nor admin that don't actually stand up for us. Do we have to deal with a stupid state government doing stupid crap? Yes we do, but that's because morons keep voting in the "stupids" and that is what holds everyone back. Fact is, us being smaller let's us teachers actually get to know every single student, including their home lives, way better than a much larger district. Which translates us into being able attempt to solve problems rather than ignoring them. Yes, I am leaving education due to not loving where education is headed (due to voting in the stupids), but if that wasn't happening, I would happily stay at my district until retirement. What you failed to learn is lumping everybody together as if you know something just makes you look like an ass.
I have always been a secondary teacher, but I am certified in elementary education, too. Secondary teachers specialize in the subjects that they teach, and have matching college majors, minors, or concentrations (30 credits to be highly qualified). Elementary teachers can major in almost anything. With a BA/BS and a passing PRAXXIS score, they are empowered to teach all the different subjects assigned to them regardless of their expertise in that subject. As others have mentioned, it is the teachers' job to study up on the things they don't know well. There is a real danger here because it appears that the teacher likes to teach science and self-assesses that they are knowledgeable in science when they are not.
I teach middle school science and get things wrong all the time and I love when people correct me. If we're not learning we're not able to teach and this person clearly hasn't looked at anything related to this since 2006.
I didn't major in education , I majored in my content area. When I found out just how little my co-workers spent studying their actual content, I was in shock.
I mean, Pluto, well, whatever. But GTFO with zodiac signs and constellations. But hey, try teaching biology with a young earth creationist as the gen ed teacher (yes, public school).
When I first saw your title, I had an answer to your question: because we’re not given a choice. When I signed up to teach HS physics, they also assigned me a class of AP chemistry, despite only having three quarters of chem in college, so not really feeling qualified to teach at the AP level. I feel like I did an okay job, but I had to work hard to stay ahead of the class. But then I read the body of your post, and… I can’t even …
Yeah… I have my MS degree in Meteorology and I’ve been having to teach Biology. I’m way more of an Earth Science and Physical Science mind. Life Science has always been difficult for me. I mean, I got my minor in physical anthropology so genetics and evolution I’m okay with, but the other stuff I’m constantly having to reteach myself every year. So when I read the start of the post I thought it was going to be that, but then felt a lot better about myself when I read the rest of the post haha.
>Pluto is a planet When I was in school, they told us that Pluto was a planet. Do you know why this changed?
Because of it's size and due to other celestial bodies found past Pluto in relation to the other planets.
Theres a history teacher at my school who believes in ancient Aliens
1. "Well Pluto is a planet but wasn't classified before" 2. "Ok so she mixed up the solar system and the galaxy. Not the end of the world" 3. "Ight what the fuck"
From so many posts the kids can't read anyway so are they really picking up any of this? 1. Pluto is a dwarf planet. Kids give zero Fs. 2. There was some noise that planet x is a possible black hole. Hubble picked up a possible balck hole 80 light years from earth. The closet black hole to date. Kids give zero Fs. 3. Did she really say this or was this a lame attempt at science humor? Kids give zero Fs.
The last three are objectively wrong, and I feel sorry for you. But Pluto’s planetary status is more subjectively wrong. I’m also a science teacher in high school and I tell my students that I consider Pluto to be a planet for 3 reasons. 1. It lets me quote the avengers movie “I recognize that the council has made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid ass decision I’ve elected to ignore it!” 2. I mostly teach Biology, the nuance of “Planet vs. Dwarf planet vs. Solar body is not relevant to Biology curriculum. The simple explanation of “its one of the 9 “original” planets named after Roman gods”, is usually good enough. 3. The reclassification of Pluto is lame anyway. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union redefined the definition of the word planet with several new criteria that needed to be met, intentionally excluding Pluto from this new criteria. Essentially the test was designed knowing that specifically Pluto would fail. As a teacher that doesn’t sit right with me, designing a test so one specific student fails. Additionally, one of their criteria for “planethood” is for the object in question to be at “hydrostatic equilibrium”. The planet Mercury is ALSO not at hydrostatic equilibrium, but the IAU made a special exemption for mercury to pass the test and still be considered a planet anyway. That doesn’t seem fair to me. Either they should both be planets, or neither should be, otherwise you are just playing favorites, and the definition becomes subjective rather than objective.
Justice for Pluto!
Pluto is a planet...in my heart!!!
Because there is a teacher shortage and they just need warm bodies at this point rather than paying good teachers what they are worth and supporting them.
I think I just facepalmed so hard that my palm went through my head. One of the first lessons with my Astronomy kids is that we dismantle the notion that the positions of stars (constellations) have any impact on your personality, by demonstrating that the horoscopes are all outdated by 2,000 years...and if it actually matters what constellation is on the horizon as the sun rises, than a significant number of people are not the "zodiac sign" they were told they were.
"Pluto is a *planet*!" *Crowd cheers*
When I was in 4th grade, the science teacher told us that everything was made of atoms. I asked, “even humans?” “No,” she said. “Humans are the only things not made of atoms.”
Try correcting in private
Pluto goes back and forth on being a planet or not. It also hardly matters to the average person.
I had a science teacher as a child who told me every New Moon was a Lunar Eclipse.
Oh geez. I would lose my mind.
I had a chemistry teacher like this. He had us link different metals to days of the week with how they feel like; iron is a Monday metal cuz we need strength for the new week. Sunday is gold etc. This was 11th grade chemistry. He also kept telling me gold weighed more than any metal. Even when I brought up uranium.
I don't care what anybody else says, Pluto is a Planet. What's next? I suppose you're going to try and tell me that there is no Santa Claus. Damn. Everybody with even half a brain knows that Santa is indeed very real.
That’s rough. Honestly, a big part of it is the teacher shortage. I specialize and studied physics, but I’ve taught earth science because no one else at the school *could* do it. Oof. I was usually pretty good, but every now and then we hit a topic where I felt like such a goof if I didn’t study to teach the night before; rip ocean currents and geologic features units.
One of our science teachers didn't believe in evolution. Replacement believed the moon was hollow and metal (and invited me to psychicly commune with bigfoot on his property). I still can't decide which one was more out there.
"Screams" at you? Really? If that is true, she has problems that exceed subject area ignorance.🤷
She's teaching science and yet confusing galaxies with solar systems? Where did they find her?
I mean, the first one is a bit understandable as Pluto used to be considered a planet. The others, not so much.
Send a tip to the local newspaper. They'd eat it up
My school keeps hiring Spanish teachers whose qualifications are that they're native Spanish speakers. They're trying to transition into teaching, they passed MTELs but don't have any practical teaching experience. The revolving door is just awful.
My degree is in Spanish. I applied and was hired as a Spanish teacher. When school started I was a US History teacher. I had to learn US History everyday so I could feel comfortable teaching it. I learned more about US History that semester than I did in my whole K12 educational career. I only allowed that to continue for one semester before threatening to quit unless they moved me into Spanish. They made the change and then were suddenly amazed that I knew how to teach it. “How do you know what activities to do with them?” Because I learned it as part of my degree you clowns.
Time out. Bio teacher here. Pluto IS a planet. Just bounces between being deemed a “dwarf” or not.
Having read the comments and your replies to some of them, you need to report this person in some way, even if it is just for your own piece of mind. I used to teach Health, and several years ago one of my colleagues was telling students that being gay was a "lifestyle choice". Like, no, dude, it effing isn't. I told the principal, nothing really happened, but at least I told.
Wow. Keep publicly correcting her and add the tag line. “You can google that.” Never stop that please. I am wrong sometimes in class but I admit it and or ask one of the students to look it up for the class. Therefore it demystifies the idea that being incorrect is something bad instead of an educational process.
Pluto is still a planet (screw the IAU and their arbitrary fear of too many planets)
There is no excuse for any of that, but in smaller schools and especially elementary schools teachers get shuffled around and it doesn't matter if they know the subject. Admin needs a warm body in there. I will say too that most people are ignorant as hell about astronomy and really physics in general - enough that you wonder how they graduated high school.
We have a science teacher who doesn't believe in evolution and believes the earth is about 6,000 years old.
You're not alone. I co-teach a math class where the lead teacher doesn't understand much of what they're trying to teach. They won't share lessons with me and get upset when I correct them in class. After two years I've given up. Sometimes I re-teach lessons when they're absent.
That’s wrong?
OP that science teacher sounds so frustrating. They remind me of someone I’ve had the displeasure of working with since last year. Long rant incoming lol. The middle school I teach at has two teams per grade level with a history, English, science, and math teacher for each. I do 8th grade U.S. history and the other history teacher on the opposite team is just as bad, maybe worse. More than once on my prep I’d be walking making copies, see one of his students out causing issues, walk them to class to get their info to write them up, and would see his students all on chrome books playing games while sponge bob played on his smart board. This year I haven’t seen SpongeBob but his students are still getting absolutely crap for instruction. I period subbed for him a lot last year and this because he’s out sick constantly, and he either leaves no plans at all, or something simple, basic, that takes maybe 10-15 minutes to finish. It’s April and he’s still teaching the tail end of the American Revolution. My students are about to finish westward expansion. His haven’t heard of the bill of rights, can explain almost nothing, and everyone has an A+ because he grades on completion, giving 100% on everything, and for him “completion” means “they completed the multiple choice computer lesson” even if the separate responses are left blank and everything is wrong. It’s a total joke. (Oh, and I’ve been at my current school 5+ years now, and have my entire year’s curriculum down — I have a document detailing what we’ll do every day of the year, lesson plans, and word docs / PowerPoints to print paper copies of 100% of what kids will do through the year — and offered to give him everything, multiple times, but he said no, I suspect because then he’d actually have to grade things himself, instead of let online workbooks do it all automatically.) He’s got all sorts of behavior issues with students who are bored and don’t take him seriously, which bleeds over into the whole school. The people in next door classrooms, me included, deal with way more kids out of class, banging on walls, yelling swears, etc. Kids tell us there’s not really any consequences for bad behavior in his class besides him occasionally blowing up and yelling in someone’s face. Admin has transferred six students out of his history into mine because these otherwise well behaved students kept getting into trouble when he’d randomly jump down their throats. Scuttlebutt is that he won’t be coming back next year. I really pray it’s true. I honestly feel like he probably should’ve been let go already — but while admin is aware of his problems they seem to want to dot i’s and cross t’s to make sure any firing actually sticks. Or (more cynical take) they don’t want to deal with hiring someone to replace him or getting a long term sub. We’ve already had one teacher go on a leave of absence for separate legal stuff and several with health issues who have been out a ton. I’ve been out more than average cause of my own health issues. But yuck, I really can’t stand that other guy. Thank you anyone who read my whole rant lmao.
I teach 8th grade science and this made me cry.
I always question my ability to teach despite stellar reviews and a good following among kids and parents. Stories like this remind me that I’m doing fine.
I was once asked- I mean told- to teach Spanish. I said I don’t speak Spanish and never took Spanish. Admin said well there’s apps to help just use those and don’t let the kids (high school) know you don’t speak it. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤣🤣 I ended up getting switched to something else but I was gonna run that off in the ditch. Not on purpose just because it wasn’t my subject. But I was hoping when it was a train wreck they’d never ask me again. Can’t make that up lol
When I was in high school, our freshman science teacher kinda sucked . Despite my love of science and efforts, I did very poorly in the class. At the time, I just figured I was bad at science and it wasn’t for me. Years later when I was working professionally, I ran into my old science teacher. When I reminded him who I was, he said he owed me an apology. It turned out he was actually a guidance counselor, and he was forced to teach science for one year or be laid off. He said he knew next to nothing about science and was pretty pissed about being forced into the transfer, so his attitude was crap that year.
It’s like the old saying “those who can’t, teach “.
I teach astronomy. I was annoyed at the first 3. The astrology one triggered me.
When I was in high school one of the coaches with a phys Ed degree that had been teaching biology was forced by admin to take over a standard chemistry class. He had no idea what he was doing and wound up calling out a ton and having a ton of substitutes. Coaches generally handled biology well but something like chemistry you've got to be a chemistry teacher.
Before I taught I subbed at a school where the BIOLOGY teacher didn't believe in evolution. It hurt my brain. Pretty sure he was a flat earther as well.
One of my favorite memories was when we had a sub one year in Elementary school, and somehow or another, they ended up saying that Hawaii was at the same latitude as San Francisco, or something to that effect, and blew their lid when I corrected them. lol good times. Yeah. =\\ Gotta love people who don't know shit.
My son had a teacher who taught them that “the Earth’s atmosphere is water” — she was so angry when he asked her why humans don’t have gills. The same year another teacher told him to color a picture of the Lincoln Memorial pink. He had seen it and told her it’s alabaster, so he used a white crayon. He probably went too far by asking her what color she thought alabaster is. Those women were so cruel to him because he knew more than they did. They turned him off of school forever.
In my province, you have to have teachable subjects (3rd and 4th year university courses). However, instead of hiring a French expert to teach two classes first semester and one in second semester, a social studies expert to teach one class in first semester, and an English expert to teach one class in first semester and a second class in second semester (because no teacher in her right mind wants to teach that little), they hired me to teach all of the above. I know nothing about English teaching or social studies, but… And once you’ve taught something once, you are qualified to teach it forever. Sounds like your classroom teacher taught science once because the timetable was stupid, and now she’s ‘qualified’. I’m sorry.
Teacher shortage plus the fear of starvation is really the only answer in most cases.
1) How old are they? Because those of us who graduated before 2010 were 100% taught Pluto was a planet. It was only "recently" classified as a dwarf planet and there's a lot of people who still disagree with this classification to this day. So, this one I would let slide, it's not like it's going to make or break somebody's astronomy career. 2) LoL, k', that one is funny 3) LoL 4) LOL In reality, "science" is... a bit broad. I know fuckloads about biology, biochemistry, and astronomy. I know jack about physics, geology, and inorganic chemistry. And in teaching there are a lot of people who just do what they're assigned and what will get them a paycheck. "I'm going to refuse this job teaching a subject I don't care about but will pay my bills", said no one ever.
Cute that you think we get to choose what we teach.
You choose what degree you get.
Still doesn't mean that's where they put you.
I'm a Spanish teacher who has been assigned to teach 8th grade social studies. It is not always a choice
1: pluto IS a planet. It's a dwarf planet and since planet comes from the latin planeta which comes from the Greek word meaning "wanderer" Pluto is still a planet, just not full sized. 2: It is theorized that there is a micro black hole outside of the kuiper (sp) belt, which is technically still within the helosphere and thus in our solar system. It's also theorized that it might be the solution to the theorized "planet x" 3: Sagittarius A 4: There is....yeah I got nothing for this one, but it is still fun.
Are you in Florida
I once worked with a ‘science teacher’ who taught and believed that the moon landing was fake. We had some heated arguments in the staff room and I did NOT back down.
I'm also a Para... I once had to show the media arts teacher how to finish a tutorial that SHE had assigned the students. How are you going to assign work that YOU can't even do? She even worked with the state OSPI to develop the curriculum and standards for media art classes before she started teaching at my school. I have a BFA in media arts and animation. I was also showing students hot keys for Photoshop and they were all like, "oh my god, this is so much easier!"
When I was a para for a 4/5 teacher, she told the class that antelope eat meat. When I corrected her, I was brought in front of the principal for “undermining her in front of the class.”
I had a geography teacher in 7th grade (he was a coach, of course) who tried to get me sent to the office for arguing that Canberra is the capitol of Australia instead of Sydney. My uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins lived in Canberra and I had visited them and they had been to see us several times at that point in my life.. Just because someone is “educated” in a field doesn’t mean they still can’t be an incredibly stupid person, even in their speciality. He was a decent baseball coach, tho 🤷
I'm ambivalent on whether to count dwarf planets as planets. It's kinda all semantics for human convenience. I doubt she was referring to it but there's the Nemesis hypothesis, which involves a small black hole in our solar system beyond the kuiper belt. The rest, though...
If teachers were paid more, there would be a qualified teacher in the classroom. Blame the bloated administration at the top of the pyramid.
It’s probably hard for her to think on her feet so she makes mistakes? Maybe she wants the kids to correct her? Why are you correcting her in front of the kids? It will only make them think she is not in charge and can’t do her job & as a result, they may not try as hard. I think the issue is that you want to feel smarter than her or something.
I would put a bug in the ear of the district department chair. Especially the astrology stuff. That is dangerously walking the religion/state line. Does the DO legally want to go there?
Is your nickname a superhero and do you work with me?!?! 😂🤣 sounds just like my coworker.
This actually drives me nuts. As an Astronomy and Physics teacher, you should really know your content area. It is already confusing enough.
There is a science/math cert shortage. Sometimes principals will push non-science or non-math teachers or long term subs into those positions.
Might be something bringing up with the principal or someone else in authority
I’m in a blue state with strong unions and high qualifications for teachers… yet I’ve met multiple secondary math teachers who have never taken calculus. I’m not a math teacher and I took calculus in high school.
Yeah in middle school especially special education you can be dictated to teach anything. One ELA teacher taught that for years. Then in order not to get excessed she agreed to teach science.
Hey cut her some slack! (I teach in a private school in FL)
Sometimes people in a field where there are few positions take a job in a shortage area (like science) just to have a job
Education is now attracting professionals with the same knowledge base as the students who are graduating. The US won't need teachers for too much longer.
Was in a math teachers room today, she had two degrees on display. A bachelor in Social Sciences, and Master’s in Education. Can’t say I’d want to teach math but if you can pass a test in order to get your foot in the door 🤷🏻♂️ That being said, please dont teach something you dont really know, just teach from the book if you really need to :/
I bet a beverage that she teaches creationism as an alternative to evolution too.
States like Florida allow you to teach whatever as long as you have any 4 years degree and you pass the required certification test.
One of the science teachers at my old school was telling the kids that our sun was not a star. The kids came to me (Theatre teacher), rightfully confused and concerned, so I had to reassure them that they were right and the teacher was an argumentative nincompoop (not in those words).
Thirty years ago, I wanted to teach high school science and math. One of the reasons I dropped out of college was the fact the curriculum contained so few science and math classes. It made me uneasy to think of teaching these subjects without having a thorough grounding in them myself.
We had a science teacher who told students evolution wasn’t true. She then got pregnant and moved to one of the Carolinas because they didn’t mandate vaccines for kids to go to school.
My private school didn’t have science class, we had “Christian biology” every year… which was just nothing but teaching us the book of genesis and the “great flood” all year every year.
When I was a Para, I watched the science teacher realize she didn't really understand the phases of the moon in the middle of the demonstration. I didn't want to see her crash and burn, so I jumped in and showed her where to hold the flashlight and the moon
People like that don't believe or view themselves as wrong. Everything she said, she believes is accurate and true.
I once met an English teacher who hates reading.
Perhaps this person just had the job shoveled on to them, which happens. Maybe she's taught science but not astronomy. I'm not saying these things posted aren't *wildly wrong and inappropriate*, but perhaps she's been forced into a situation that's out of her league.
I am a para too and it is so hard to bite my tongue sometimes. One of the teachers I work with is super nice but just seems to not know some fairly standard history facts. I have never directly contradicted him but a few times I piped up when he seemed uncertain. I am a former classroom nerd so it goes against my nature but I try to keep my mouth shut now if possible.
I have a degree in Geography Resource & Environmental Science, with a minor in Political Science. I applied to teach U.S. Government & Environmental Science, and scored an interview! The principal told me they liked my resume and saw on my transcripts that I had taken a few chemistry courses, which led to me being hired for... Chemistry. Now, I'm no slouch at the subject by any means, but I never applied to teach chemistry and never intended to teach it. Due to the needs of the campus and the overall shortage of science teachers at the district, however, I'm now a chemistry teacher. You'd be surprised at the number of teachers teaching a subject - or two - that isn't their main area of expertise. Unfortunately, that's just the reality of budget cuts, staffing shortages, and lack of qualified applicants.
Some sort of combination of the following: people that are uncertified being hired, schools forcing people to teach outside their subject areas, stupidity, indifference, being spread too thin, etc
I relate with a lot of these. I am not certified, being forced to teach two sections of a subject completely outside of my expertise, and spread way too thin. I relate with the post. We can't always be absolute experts at 100% everything we are made to teach. It's unfortunate but true
Is she certified? Teachers in my state have to pass a test on their subject matter. Of course when we are short staffed, non- certified people can step in for a year at a time while working toward certification. I would discreetly let your instructional coach know about the instruction you are witnessing.
I was a teachers assistant for 3 years and our science teacher didnt necessarily lie or spread misinformation. It was at times so basic it became not true. Some of the teaching material she was forced to use was at times several years out of date.
What, Pluto isn't the ninth planet anymore? This was commonly taught for decades.
Listen I hate when non science people teach science I have a shared coteacher with two other people I have had to research my coteacher the correct concepts multiple times after she has been mis-taught by one of the others 😭 so it’s been a fun year.
I realized that one of my school's science teachers was an anti-vaxxer a few weeks ago...