I had the opportunity to substitute in a local High School here in Baldwin County. This was my first opportunity to spend an extended period of time with a fraction of America's student population. When the day started I had such high expectations. Those were quickly dashed. I felt like I was thrust into a new world with no safety harness and no real control over my environment. I learned really fast where I stood and where the students stood. I learned what real power and as a sub I had nil. What was really eye opening was that teachers had no real power over students. I watched teachers drag students into the classrooms and I saw students asked to be excused several times in a single class period. To make things worst I had students 18 and 19 in my freshmen classes. You would think that would make no difference, but the other students thought they were cool because they could legally buying cigarettes and dip. The students held those older students to a higher level in the social circles, which to me seemed backwards. What have schools become, I thought, day cares for young adults. I sat in the classroom at my University and asked my teachers is this real what we are learning are we really using these tools to teach students and their response was "yes". But once I was in a real classroom I saw their instruction to have no real place in the real classroom. Students seemed to only come to school because they had too, not because they want too. I understand this, but there used to be a give and take relationship. Teachers respected students to a degree and students respected teachers to about the same degree. When I asked a student about respect he told me that if teachers respected him then he would respect the teacher. I asked what he thought respect was and he could not give a clear response. He either did not know or did not want to be honest in front of his peers. I do understand that I only saw the worst because I was just a sub and not the teacher. But I also saw other teachers and how they had problems with their students. I still believe school can be a great environment for learning, but just like everything else in life there are always a few bad apples. In life we ignore them or toss them out. But maybe instead of ignoring them or throwing those apples away we should take the time to make something amazing out of them.
