When I was in high school teachers and administrators needed no excuse when they decided to ban a website, book, clothes or other personal item. I remember this constant evolution of rules to be very annoying. The administrators had supreme power and the kids had no voice whatsoever. It doesn't surprise me that a big stink has been made about this site. I think a public forum for kids to express their concerns about schools and teachers is a dangerous thing in the eyes of a school administrator.

I had a ton of bad teachers throughout my years of public education. I had plenty to had taught for 30 years and were tired. Some just out of college and didn't know if teaching was for them yet. There were some that just had no clue what they were doing. I don't think the crime here is their inability to teach. The crime is their inability to recognize the fact that they may be able to learn from their students!

The best teachers I have ever worked with, be it in an academic or musical environment, have been the ones that were as interested in learning from me as I was them. If I were a teacher I would be more than interested in what my students thought about my performance. I think being a teacher, especially one in the public school without a huge budget, it is vital to suck in all the information you can get your hands on.

Too often were my peers and I silenced in high school. Never was I asked what I thought about the school or what I thought they could do better. Never was I given then opportunity to voice my opinion. I wish more students had the courage to stand up and fight back against the constant oppression. Sadly I think this is rare.

Teaching is recognizing the fact that you will never know everything but never letting this get in your way. Drowning out the voices of our students is not the way to go.

First of all, I am not (thank god) a teacher. I don't work for the schools. I've been working on the internet since before it was commercial and am not big on regulating it or free speech, so please don't pigeon-hole me.

That said, how would the students feel if there was a public blog where all of the teachers in the school said both good and, without a doubt, some pretty extremely nasty things about them where all other students/teachers/parents could read? Stuff that is sometimes really hurtful and can scar for years. You know, things like:

"Man. This guy is dumb as toast - he couldn't even get his head around a fast fourier transform! Why do I have to teach math to some idiot that thinks he's going to become a hip-hop star? Let him find out in a few years what a pipe dream that was while is best shot at a job goes to some well-educated Indian overseas"


Or, "That girl's really a bitch - if she asks you if she can join your class tell her its full!" or

"No one should ever have to teach that student - it is so painful getting the simplest things across to them".

Might make some people give up or worse, don't you think?

I hope you won't seriously claim that it would be ok/fair/acceptable. Why should it be for the teachers? Try putting yourself in other people's shoes. I understand there may be a need to get some information across, but either you are venting (and that's best done with a few friends) or you want to exact a change (and thats better done behind closed doors with a petition or similar to an authority figure).

I've heard, aside from the crappy pay, it unbelievably sucks to be a teacher these days. It's not hard to believe.

Good points, Marc, while many kids are surprisingly polite, the overall incivility and base crudeness of high school society does need a bit of monitoring. These kids are not yet adults, they are still learning, and I do think that saying nothing to kids at that age is the same as condoning it. If kids are not given feedback as to good and bad, acceptable and unacceptable, how will they know? I don't subscibe to the "people are inherently good" theory, I think politeness and respect are learned behaviors and must be taught.

As for this, "Nobody really likes to be criticized yet we all know that criticism can make a person better at their job or in their life. " True, but what a few 15 year olds think about their teacher posted to the Internet is not the best way do it.

I was an instructor, so it is not the same as being a school teacher, but we did have critiques of our classes, both by supervisors, and by students. Now I might receive criticism like, "Needs to speak more slowly in a lecture" or "Should write key words on whyteboard", or even, " Needs to explain the process more thoroughly", now that I can appreciate. Comments like," Is too hard on students" gives too much homework, etc. are usually not given much more than a cursory examination to see what, if any merit there is to the claim. Point is, it was done in house, and criticism were brought to the attentionm of me and my suoervisors, so something would be done if there was a problem. What does an Internet site, probably populated by anonymous commenters really serve, other than to dish out abuse with no chance to answer it?

Secondly, the school computers are for schoolwork, which is what the kids are in school to do during school hours. If the school wants to lock out non-research reltaed sites, they can and should. Let the kids use their own time to do their surfing and commenting. This probably sounds hard-ass, but school is a time for learning, not BS'ing around.

Marc's opening comnment about happily not being a teacher speaks volumes about the problem; schoolteachers are charged with tremendous responsibility but given very little support by the parents of those they teach, and sometimes not even by their own schoolboards or principals. I feel strongly abotu this, because after 20 years of one challenging, thankless and low-paying job, I might hae to go into teaching just to keep my stress level normal ;). Everyone is willing to offer criticism about teaching and teachers, but very few get involved in school boards and school problems, including student discipline, not when it's their own little angel child.

Teachers should be held to a high standard, and they need feedback in their early stages, to correct deficiencies, and more importantly, to let them know if they are actually good at teaching. If you are a teacher, you are before an audience several hours a day, 5 days a week. Young teachers need to know their strengths and weaknesses to become successful and effective, like anyone else.
Students should have a way to critique teachers constructively, and the school administrators need to do the same, but they and the parents have to be involved with what goes on in the classroom for it to work.