Madeline Lueninghoener
English 9/Mr. Davis
Los Alamos High School
We all know the importance of learning. Even without formal education, humans are always looking for new information. In fact, schools were being built back in 2000 B.C. (““Who Invented School?”: A History of Classroom Education”) Throughout history, people have tried to better our education system, with varying degrees of success. (More recently, the New Mexico Government’s decision to increase the number of hours in the school year. (Bossarte) . One of the biggest factors in a good education? Your teacher. This seems obvious, but it seems overlooked by the public. A good or bad teacher can be the difference between a successful student and one who falls behind, or is labeled as lazy.
Some people may say that teachers, while important, are less important than this article suggests. However, approximately 160,000 teens have skipped school because of bullying (“11 Facts About Bullying”). Students desperately need safe spaces in school, which they may not be getting at home. Having teachers they feel safe enough to go to when they are struggling can make the difference.
Additionally, oftentimes it is easy to label students with learning disabilities as ‘lazy’ or ‘unmotivated’ In 2010, more than half of people surveyed said they believed learning disabilities were the result of laziness (Morin and Horowitz), when what is needed to help them flourish can be as simple as a few small accommodations, especially at the elementary level. Having the right teacher who understands what is needed is crucial to early development for students who may be struggling to focus, read, or understand what the teacher is saying.
How do we help pair up students and teachers who work well together? That’s up to school administrators. Sometimes, teachers can recommend that students are placed with a particular teacher the next year, but, oftentimes, this is not the case. For students who do not have this option, the school administration should be more willing to switch students who are not a good fit for a teacher. The reverse should also be true. If a teacher is struggling with a student, they should be able to request that the student be moved, because if a teacher cannot work with one student, it disrupts the whole class. There should be an honest conversation between administrators, the teacher, and the parents or student, about whether or not to move the student, and how to go about doing so.
Teachers are crucial to the education system. Without teachers, children could not learn, and then where would we be? Teachers can provide much needed safe spaces for kids, and a sense of stability and routine in children and teen’s lives. However, sometimes they lack understanding of every situation (everyone is human, afterall), and this can lead to problems. These can be solved in many ways, the important thing is that they are resolved in a way that is acceptable to everyone involved.
Annotated Bibliography
Bossarte, Sebastian. “K-12 Plus Program (K12+) – New Mexico Public Education Department.” New Mexico Public Education Department, 22 January 2024, https://webnew.ped.state.nm.us/bureaus/cs-and-elt/k12-plus-program/. Accessed 17 May 2024.
I used this source because it gave good information on what the bill that passed earlier this year was, and it really highlighted the point of people trying to improve the education system by doing things that are not necessarily the most helpful. “11 Facts About Bullying.” DoSomething.org, https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-bullying Accessed 17 May 2024.
I used this source because it gave good information about statistics regarding bullying and how big of a problem it is. I think it provided a very good insight into just how important it is for students to have places they can be safe from bullying.
Morin, Amanda, and Sheldon H. Horowitz. “Learning disabilities: What they are and aren’t.” Understood.org, https://www.understood.org/en/articles/learning-disabilities-what-they-are-and-arent. Accessed 17 May 2024.
I chose this article because it gave a very striking piece of information, that half of people surveyed in 2010 thought that learning disabilities were simply a result of laziness. I wanted that statistic so that people would see how prevalent that belief is.
““Who Invented School?”: A History of Classroom Education.” Horizon Educational,
https://www.horizoneducational.com/who-invented-school-a-history-of-classroom-education/t1504?currency=usd. Accessed 17 May 2024.
I chose this source because it really underscored the point that school has been around for an incredibly long time, and is really an instrumental part of our society.