Thursday, February 10, 2011

Totally non-S&B related post

Meet Natalie Munroe, a High School Teacher who blogs.  Apparently she blogged (without naming names) what she would like to put as comments regarding some of her students on their grade cards-

  • “Frightfully dim”
  • “Rat-like”
  • “Am concerned your kid is going to open fire on the school”
  • “I hate your kid”
  • “Seems smarter than she actually is.”

Those comments vs the “canned comments” that school district mandates.

To me, these comments are exactly what parents NEED to hear about their children.  Instead, Mommy and Daddy do not want to hear that their precious little snowflake would ever do anything wrong.

Personally, if there is nothing in her contract that indicates that she is not allowed to blog her opinion (and again, she didn’t state names…just comments she would like to have said), then this is a non-issue.  It’s not hate speech (a term I HATE), nor is it racial or vulgar.  It’s her opinion.

Notice in the video (found in the article HERE), a student states ““I thought she was smarter than that”…indicating that she is stupid.  Meanwhile, a parent states she should be fired.  These are also negative and detrimental to Ms. Munroe, but there is no way anything will happen to them….because they are the individuals opinions.

I think the school needs step back, query the teacher as to why she thought this and action how they push kids through the system.  Kids need to realize that there can be negative opinion…and if the truth hurts….live with it or change it, don’t kill the messenger.

Bucks Co. Teacher Suspended Over Blog About Students

The Central Bucks School District has suspended a high school English teacher after parents complained to administrators about her blog in which she railed on her students for more than a year.

Phrases on the blog include; “Frightfully dim,” “Rat-like,” “Am concerned your kid is going to open fire on the school,” “I hate your kid,” and “Seems smarter than she actually is.”

Those are the words of teacher Natalie Munroe, according to the Central Bucks School District.

School district spokeswoman Carol Counihan says Munroe admitted to writing the blog.

“I think she should be fired. Hopefully that is what will happen,” said parent Wendy Yazujian.

Munroe reportedly wrote the rant, and others like it, a year or more ago.

Sources say a parent, who saw the blog and recently posted her words on their Facebook page, called school officials to complain. The district says Munroe, who started teaching at the high school in 2006, has been suspended pending an investigation.

“I thought she was smarter than that, to put that on the internet for everyone to see that and let her kids read that,” said student Shannon Carroll.

“It’s hard to know that you sat in her class for an hour and a half a day and for her to feel that way it is like, it is an awful feeling,” student Alli Woloshyn said.

In a post from January of last year, Munroe talks about some of the comments she would like to write about her students on their report cards in place of what she calls the “canned comments” which are provided by the school district.

The comments include “lazy,” “sneaky” and “rude.”

“For a teacher to be like that is just beyond me. Why would you be with children if you are feeling that negative about everything they do? Basically she was bashing all the kids,” said Kelly Woloshyn a parent.

When approached for comment, Munroe directed Eyewitness News to speak to her attorney. Munroe’s lawyer did not immediately return phone calls.

The blog has since been shut down.

1 comment:

  1. Agree she shouldn't be fired as a matter of policy. I doubt her blogging broke any rules, and if she did they are unconstitutional ones.

    But free speech does not gaurantee speech without social consequences. All the students, parents, other teachers, principals, and the school board are allowed to hate or lose respect for her.

    The problem is, once that happens (particularly the students and their parents), learning in her class will drop and she will be an ineffective teacher. And this is assuming the enormous backlash from the community doesn't crush her spirit and will to teach, as well.

    Assuming that we believe (teaching/govt) jobs should be performance-based, where does that leave her when grades/tests/attendance starts dropping? It leaves her fired because of non-identifiable protected speech on a public blog.

    Good lesson for the high school kids, who I guarantee are 10x more mobile/internet connected than she is: Actions have consequences.

    ReplyDelete

 
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