It's Not Just Deaf Ed

Anyone who knows me has probably heard me complain about elementary teachers. So first, a disclaimer -- I have known some really outstanding elementary teachers who do a great job. But I taught students in junior high who told me that their elementary teacher told them straight up that they hated math. This is not the way to improve math education.

We see the same thing in my deaf school with science. (Math and science aren't the same thing, but it's the same issue.) The elementary teachers say they hate science, they don't like teaching science, they don't understand it, etc.

Today, my mom told me about a university professor who teaches an earth science course for elementary ed majors. He says he's not impressed with them by and large. The majority say they hate science, and even go so far to say they won't teach science, and therefore they hate his class because he makes them actually use their brain cells and learn the stuff.

Guess what -- elementary teachers are not exactly in short supply. Sure, if you get a job at certain schools, they might have science specialists, so you'll only teach language arts and math (the math part is another issue, of course, since in my experience, most people who hate science aren't big math fans). But most likely, you won't have the luxury of picking and choosing.

If you don't want to teach science (or math), don't be an elementary teacher. If you're passionate about teaching reading and writing, be a secondary English teacher. Or maybe you can get a gig as a reading resource teacher. But spare the kids -- they don't need a teacher who shortchanges their math and science education from the get-go.