pray75 :  I think the idea of common core is really great.  I went to a lot of schools while I was growing up, because my dad was in the military.  Due to those moves, we often went to schools that were learning completely different things from our last schools, and things often went awry.  -However-, that being said... there are certainly many aspects I do not like and can not agree with. I think like many educational movements, it might have a good intent, but in practice it doesn't work out that well.

I can't say that we're really being affected by it yet however.  We have Common Core textbooks, and we have to use the standards when writing our lesson plans but otherwise.... nothing has really changed for our school regarding the way we teach or what we teach. We're also experimenting a lot of new things though, thanks to the new principal and our school getting accepted to be an IB school.

KiyokoNee : What do you hope to teach?  

supernerd117 :  Whenever I am able to help a student move past a barrier... I feel wonderful.  When a student comes and thanks me?  I swear a year of bad events could be erased by the one student that tells me he appreciates me.  

Singelli : Hopefully I will become qualified to teach some form of engineering in the future. I may not have a strong base yet, mainly robotics and map projection, but I aspire to gain greater knowledge of different styles and utilization of programming knowledge, as well as how the hardware and wiring are tied closely to it.

To any teacher, I have a couple of questions.
First off, do you guys get favorite students? If not, what do you think about teachers that have a "favorite student"?

Also, have you ever had a student that was "Unteachable"? No matter what you did, you could not make them understand something, whether it was because he was lazy, rebellious or, I don't want to say it but, dumb?

maguc : While it may not be the preferred situation having "favorite students" I cannot deny that I have them all the time. Most of them are the ones who show the most avid interest in learning what I have to teach them, yet every once in a while I have a favorite student who is the most open about NOT liking what I have to offer. It may seem strange, but for me, it is a motivator to improve my ability to teach and learn from my students.

"Unteachable" is not something I can place on an individual. Sometimes, when a student cannot learn from my teaching style, having someone else step in for additional instruction is the solution. Although, if a student has a mental block preventing them from learning, I find those are the ones who qualify as "unteachable." However, once the mental block is identified, they become teachable again. As it is when my teaching style doesn't match their learning style, I find having someone else instruct them is the better option if I cannot find the blockage myself.?

maguc :   I've always had favorite students and I personally don't see anything wrong with it.  I think it's pretty natural to enjoy certain students more than others.  The problem arises when teachers treat their favorite students differently than everyone else.  Even though I have favorite students, I can almost guarantee you that they don't even know it themselves.  I even have -a- favorite student from all the years I've taught.  I don't know where he went or what he's doing, but I'll be amazed if anyone ever tops him.

As for the... 'unteachable' question....

I HAVE had students that were unteachable.  There is always a student who will be exactly one or more of the things you listed:  too lazy, rebellious, unmotivated, or unwilling to learn.  Does this mean they are unable to learn?  Not at all!  I think that EVERY child is willing to learn, but that it might take the right combination of time, patience, teacher interaction, and self-motivation to get them to that point.  Just because a student is unteachable in my classroom, does not mean they are unteachable in any situation.

What is the field you most want to teach, outside of your current one? I mean, if you had to learn and then teach a different subject, which would you choose?

Why did you decide to become a teacher?

How well do you guys get along with the school staff that aren't teachers? (School nurses, counselors, aides, bus drivers, etc.)

How many years have you been a teacher and how do you guys feel about teacher workshops when you attend to one?

What grade do you teach, and which is your favorite or ideal grade to teach? What appeals to you about your preferred grade?

Light Knight : Is it true that students aren't forced to attend classes in college?

To all teachers: what do you think of your fellow teachers where you work?

Popeye116 : It would really depend on the school and the program. Some larger courses in university are like that, but in community or career colleged, it is usually very enforced.

It also matters if you are government funded, or have certain loans, etc. Some will require you to have a certain attendance to continue funding, and so it's not the college, but whoever is producing the finances who really prevent you from skipping to much.

Popeye116 : Really depends. My school has about 89 teachers. Since this is only my first year here, I only know a few. Of those few, only a small portion are ones I can say I know fairly well (for knowing them for a year). Overall, I really like our staff. They are pretty cool people who work together very well. There are a couple that frustrate me because of their lack of real participation in things like work meetings. They are the ones whose phones go off all the time and just act like everything is a big joke. Again, only a couple of those.

If you could teach any subject besides the one you currently teach, which one would you pick?

Singelli :
play4fun :
Light Knight :
rcarter2 :
kramer4077 :
KiyokoNee :
Elara :

Since you guys are teachers, I would like to know how each of you personally advocate the fight against bullying. Whether it be in class or not, what do you guys do when a bullying occurs and what do you do to try to prevent it?

All teachers

Every once in a while, you get class clowns. They just love making trouble in your classroom just to gain attention.

My questions... ever had one that went too far? Do you guys sometimes join in with their little act for a bit of fun, when be with or against the class clown?

Mistress : Seeing as I teach adults, bullying isn't as big of issue; though it doesn't mean it can't happen. Mostly what I watch for are any 'cliques' forming when one or two students are the target of said group. Adults can be nasty, terribly mean and hurtful, so I do watch out for that.

But we don't have a lot of activism for anti-bullying, as it's really not as big of a focus as it is in other schools.

so many awesome questions to answer. ^.^

mrfe :  If I could just absolutely choose another subject to teach... and I based my choice of a subject I enjoy.... I'd honestly have no idea.  I mean.... I'm great at grammar, but I don't know if I'd enjoy it.  I LOVE reading and writing, but I always hated it in school because I couldn't read or write what I wanted.  I think science people are uber smart.... but I don't know enough science.  And physics is..... AMAZINGLY fun.  It was one of my favorite classes in high school -and- college, but I don't know that I have the kind of creativity to make the most of such a class.   I guess I just enjoy learning too much to pick one based off enjoyment. XD  (You can read the rest of my answer below)

As for why I became a teacher, you can find most of that answer here.  It's much too long to re-iterate. XD 

Popeye116 :  I hate to say it... but I'm actually not fond of MOST modern teachers.  Most teachers are lazy and get sucked into whatever the latest teaching 'craze' is.  They have bluetooths in their ear, pass out worksheets like candy, and give kids grades for doing absolutely nothing.  My school is really not that much different from others, even though it should be.  Then there's the gossip, the complaining, and irresponsibility.

Not all teachers are bad.  I LOVE the teachers who do their jobs.  There are just too many teachers that don't, and it's a little saddening.  I don't really know many teachers outside of my department though. You'd be surprised how possible it is to teach, and not really interact with your co-workers outside of mandatory meetings. It's probably one of the only jobs in the world where you might go a whole day without talking to a co-worker.  (Though it doesn't really happen a lot)

patar4097 :  You can read part of my answer above.  
I actually had to answer this question in an interview for the honors program at my college.  The professor was so impressed with my answer, that it was the sole reason I got into the program, and she even took me to lunch because she was so enthralled by it.  When she asked me what I would do if I couldn't teach math.... I said I would teach history.  It just slipped out of my mouth, even though it's something I had never thought about before.  I think I even surprised myself.

When she asked why, I told her I would teach history because I absolutely loathed it in school.  Because of this, I memorized stuff to get by (who cares if I made A's?), and I never learned a thing. I have to be one of THE dumbest people when it comes to history.  If I could teach history, I'd try to change that.... I wouldn't want other students to hate it or not learn anything in it, like I did.  I actually remember the ONE history teacher that helped me learn the subject.  And I will never, ever forget her and the impact she made on my life.

Mistress :  I have to say that I never really witness any bullying in our school. While I'm sure that bullying has it's grip VERY strongly in most of these inner city schools, the school I attend is the most 'elite' of all of them. Students actually have to apply and test to get into it. Since the admissions are not all that open, most of the kids who come in here are.... well behaved (aside from being lazy and disrespectful to their teachers).  However, I of course don't advocate bullying in any form whatsoever.  As the recipient of bullying more than once, I know how it feels to say "I'm fine", when I'm really not.

I think in the case of bullying, we really need to focus on the victim every bit as much as the assaulter.  

In order to prevent it, I try to maintain an atmosphere of respect for everyone. Even if a student makes a joke that comes off as a personal attack, I'm the first to tell a student that what they said isn't appropriate, even as a joke.  Although students never want to listen to it, I usually have a talk with them about why it's no okay even to joke like that, and I try to flip the scenario around and ask them how they'd feel on the other side of it.

I don't know really how to affectively combat it I guess, since I don't really have to experience it much.  

becerra95 :  I get .... TONS of class clowns. I swear all but 5 of my students this year are class clowns, which makes this year, very, very stressful for me.  MOST of the time, I join in on it just enough to let the kids have a little fun, but not enough to allow the situation to continue.  If I can jump in and make a little joke in return, I get control of the situation (oddly enough) long enough to be the one to cut it off.

When I first started teaching, I would get defensive and I would immediately chide students for their comments. This... NEVER worked. It only ever made situations worse, so I've actually learned that in my school... it's better to ignore the comments, or chip in enough to gain that control and end it.

Most of the time... the clowns aren't disrespectful.... just disruptive. (There are some that manage to be neither, and I love those clowns, because they make class fun)  Those are the ones I won't entertain or tolerate. I firmly tell them to stop, and if they don't, the consequences are applied. If they don't stop, they get put out of my room.

patar4097 : Well, this is actually something I have considered after I taught middle school science Spring Semester this year. Right now, my teaching fields are speech/communication, theatre, and biology. My biology field makes me able to teach general middle school science. I taught 8th grade for a semester, and space science was a part of that. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. It was so much fun, and I learned a lot from it. So if needed to go back to school to take a few more classes to get licensed in another field, it would have to be astronomy. I loved how that required a vast mix of concepts from chemistry and physics to really understand.

Mistress : Actually had to deal with that both semesters I taught this year. The first time, it was something easily caught and it wasn't something super severe (yet). That was a matter of keeping those kids after class and talking with them. It was a matter of them being targeting and mean, but they didn't realize what they were doing really was bullying. When I told them that they were bullying and that I won't tolerate it, they apologized and it never came up again. This semester (high school), it wasn't obvious to me. It was happening pretty discreetly, but it was bad. In that case, it was a group of girls targeting another. Fist thing I did was the same thing I did with the 8th graders. Kept them after class and let them know that the next time I get wind of it happening, I will bypass sending them to the office and go right to contacting their parents. As an extra step, I reassigned seating to make sure no girls in that group were sitting at the same table, and none of them were at the same table as the girl they were bullying. That took care of it. I would ask that girl that was getting bullied on occasion when nobody was around if there were any more incidents. She let me know there were none. 

becerra95 : I do have quite a few of those ones. There are 2 types I deal with. The ones who are just looking for a laugh and are doing it all in fun, and the ones who are purposefully being disruptive, inappropriate, disrespectful, and sometimes malicious. For the first one, I will play along with their antics to keep a fun vibe in the room as long as it doesn't delay or disrupt the lesson. If they do it at the wrong times, I will just ignore the comments or do the teacher's stern look. For the malicious ones, I try to nip it in the bud as soon as possible. I will give them their warnings. If it continues, I keep them after class to let them know that they are being disrespectful (just in case they aren't trying to be). If that doesn't work, they start having to sit out and take a 0 for the day. If that doesn't work, I implement a near 0 tolerance for them. They get their one warning (if it is minor) each day, and automatic referral for the second offense of the day. If it is something particularly inappropriate, defiant, malicious, etc. they get no warning. If we get to that point, I will not let them take my class again (my stagecraft class has no limit to how many times you can take it) in the future. If I have enough just cause, I could have the kid removed from the class even late in the semester. Luckily, I haven't had to do that, but that was because the kid I was about to do that with moved away before it got to that point (but it was literally on the last straw for that to happen).

rcarter2 : After reading your post and mine (thanks to your like) I realized I made quite a few typos. XD  I meant to say that the clowns I absolutely won't tolerate are the ones that are clowns just to be disrespectful.

I have more patience for the students that are just disruptive, but not trying to be disrespectful.

So for the High School Teachers,
Singelli :
rcarter2 :
play4fun :

Could you share your thoughts on the adverse effects of the teach for the test attitudes that many teachers use? For example the past 3 months, my teachers for a majority of subjects, instead of doing the usual of going in-depth for each particular topic (this being a two year course), have all went into a rush to cram in as much as possible before preliminary examinations, which started during the beginning of this week. For the prelims I have already sat, most subjects haven't been to much of a problem, however in subjects with many topics, such as maths and physics, I've found I'm not able to take in all the information.

I want to hear your thoughts on this kind of teaching approach.

PS. ignore the layout. I'm still working on the font.