How would you like to take some genuinely positive steps this New Year towards improving local education, without spending a dime? There are things that you, as parents, counselors, administrators, and teachers too, can do that will have an immediate impact.

As many of you know, I’m a high school teacher, mathematics to be specific. I’ve been reflecting the past couple weeks on situations that detract from my effectiveness yet are beyond my control to change.

One of the day-to-day battles that teachers face is dealing with children who think that they are adults. Where do children get this idea? Some of them believe they can challenge and argue with teachers and administrators over even simple procedural instructions. High school students may be growing, but they are still children! How much educational time is wasted telling students to "go to class", "sit down", and "be quiet?" Parents, it’s YOUR responsibility to insure that your children come to school, knowing that they are to follow the instructions of adults. It seems to me that many minor disciplinary infractions become major when the student shows "attitude" or continues to argue.

Other teachers, does this happen to you? "Mr. Miller, can we have a "free" day today?" or "Mr. Miller, it’s Friday, do we have to do anything today?" Or even "If we’re not doing anything important today, can I go to the library?" My students should surely know me well enough by now that I don’t have "free days!" This seems especially prominent just before holidays or at the end of the school year. I try (patiently?) to explain that student "free" days are those days when school is not in session!

I have taught in schools that allow new teen mothers to bring their baby into school, to "show-off" to their friends. I find this not only disruptive, but disgusting. Don’t we have a responsibility to discourage teen pregnancy? Isn’t allowing this practice a tacit approval? Maybe we should turn them away at the door and then invite these young mothers back after a year or two of changing diapers, daycare, and working at minimum wage jobs, trying to support a family?

I know school counselors have limited choices as far as placing students, but what happens in an algebra class when several students have yet to master addition, subtraction, multiplication and division? It doesn’t take a great imagination. What about geometry students who have yet to master simple equations? It gets really scary when you realize that high failure rates are no longer the responsibility of the students themselves, nor their previous teachers, but the blame falls fully on their current teacher.

I think of these observations as calls to action on the part of the responsible people, yet I do have some friends who will nicely tell me I’m whining again. We can all find ways to do our jobs better, it’s just really tough trying to do someone else’s job too… ‘Till next time. tomiswho@mindspring.com