Thursday, June 2, 2011

Watson: "Bflo teachers are not entertaining enough"


Rod "Race card" Watson's column was too much today. Today was supposed to be the day the Buffalo school kids had 100% perfect attendance. However, the statistics showed attendance rates were the same as in a typical school week.

Watson went looking for school skippers to find out why they choose not to go to class. With a straight face, he wrote that one of the reasons Buffalo Public School students skip class is because the teachers are not "entertaining" enough. I swear I am not making this up. Cue the harp music...

The senior skipper — who didn’t want his name used, for obvious reasons — said kids know that all the meaningful work has been done and they’re just playing out the string. Making the final few days count for more might keep more kids in their seats, he said.

So could making class more interesting all year long.

“The teachers talk to us like we’re dead,” said an East High School sophomore, who was taking 100 Percent Day off in a park. “She just teaches the subject but doesn’t make sure we get it.”

“You can tell the ones who care and the ones who don’t” by whether they ask follow-up questions to probe whether students really understand, she added.

Teachers in Buffalo are no different than teachers in the suburban or private schools. Some are interesting. Others can be boring. We all had boring teachers growing up. How do the kids in Orchard Park or Kenmore West get through the school day with such boring teachers? Watson's statement is downright ludicrous. Should teachers learn how to juggle and perform magic tricks before entering the class room?

The teachers may or may not be boring. However, to use this as an excuse to skip class is laughable. It is the students skipping class whose attention spans are minimal, because they've never been taught an ounce of discipline at home. To tell the teachers they need to become more interesting is one of the most ridiculous and insulting statements I've ever heard Watson make (and he's made some doozies). Remember a few weeks ago, when he said inner city students need to be taught in noisy environments because they are used to hearing ghetto blasters and multiple relatives coming in and out of the house? Is this man on crack when he writes this nonsense?

I have to get ready to sub tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be entertaining enough, so the kids can learn. I'll go sing in the shower and practice some stand up comedy...

Education formula lacks right answer

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