Did you hear about Alabama teacher using president's assissination..

veloelle

to teach math?

https://www.examiner.com/x-7311-Cultural-Trends-Examiner~y2010m5d19-Alabama-teacher-investigated-after-using-shooting-the-President-analogy-in-teaching-math

My favorite part (insert eye roll and complete disgust) is that they had a parent interviewed as part of the news blurb I saw, and she says "well, I don't see what the big deal is, there are much worse things going on in the school system." Really. Then I'm super glad my kid won't be going to that district if teaching math via presidential assassination is the least of your worries!

Should he loose his job?

 

DandelionMom

Yes he should lose his job!  WTF was he thinking?! 

You don't teach kids how to shoot people in math, it is especially bad that he was talking about the president. 

shopgirl78

I didn't see in the article where they name Obama specifically but it would totally be a valid teaching angle if it were the book depository and JFK.

If he did name Obama specifically, yes, he should be fired.  

Am I surprised?  No, AL is a die hard red state, he is not a very popular president there... 

belle204

I agree with Dand. Doesn't matter who he used as an example, you don't teach kids something like that. There are plenty of better examples. That said, it's in Alabama and nothing here surprises me anymore. Yes, he should be fired.

DaiLyght

No, I don't think he should be fired for this one incident. Disciplined, yes, very much so, but not fired. And I also think he should have a talk with his class that he said it to about why it was wrong, etc.

My favorite part of the article was this in the news story: "this incident continues the cultural trend toward escalating insignificant incidents into big news."

I couldn't agree more.

EliseB0323

Should he be fired?

It depends. If he's otherwise a really good teacher and did this one really stupid thing, no.

If he routinely does crap like this, yes.

I'd put him on probation or something first.

And I think it's a valid teaching method IF they are using a historical reference like JFK.

summerbrideDC

I don't know if I think he should be fired, but I'm glad they interrogated him and that he's on their radar.  This is the sort of thing that ends up in the "this was a red flag!  they should have done something earlier!" column when a freak like this ends up trying to assassinate the president.  

belle204

How is it "insignificant news" that a teacher is using something like an assassination to teach angles? It is disturbing, in poor taste and in no way the type of role modeling, leadership or education kids need. What happens when little Johnny takes that knowledge and walks into school or wherever one day and fires away? Maybe he shouldn't lose his job but I would seriously question his judgement abilities.

veloelle

belle204:

How is it "insignificant news" that a teacher is using something like an assassination to teach angles? It is disturbing, in poor taste and in no way the type of role modeling, leadership or education kids need. What happens when little Johnny takes that knowledge and walks into school or wherever one day and fires away? Maybe he shouldn't lose his job but I would seriously question his judgement abilities.

Well said. I get talking about it in a historical sense a la JFK, but not to TEACH it. Regardless of what president he was using (and by all accounts, the parent I quoted seemed to be in present day) I think it was in poor taste and he at the minimum should be suspended w/out pay. He's on paid leave as of now. The bi-partisanship in this country seems crazy high right now. I'm not for explaining how to assassinate any president, whether you like him or not.

Like when the news outlets explained, in detail, exactly what the Times Square bomber did wrong. Including talking about the mix he *should have* used to get the car to explode. Poor judgement, and it wasn't just one channel.

DaiLyght

belle204:

How is it "insignificant news" that a teacher is using something like an assassination to teach angles? It is disturbing, in poor taste and in no way the type of role modeling, leadership or education kids need. What happens when little Johnny takes that knowledge and walks into school or wherever one day and fires away? Maybe he shouldn't lose his job but I would seriously question his judgement abilities.

I just meant in the sense that I grow increasingly distasteful of the media sensationalism that is the growing trend now. Not necessarily this news story specifically, but with the internet and the other widespread sources we have now, combined with the news channels constantly trying to one-up each other, it just seems that so often stories get blown out of proportion.

ETA: I also find it quite humourus that a news story would say something liek this and then go on to report a story. It was just a strange thing to slip in there.

summerbrideDC

I agree w/ Belle; this type of stuff is "insignificant" until this whackjob tries to scale the fence of the White House or tries to take a shot at the president.  

Then it's all, "well, he was my teacher and he talked about shooting the president in math class!" and investigations into the school for not notifying authorities, and accusations of what could have been done to stop him, blah blah blah. 

it's hard to know which whackjobs are a real threat unfortunately, until it's too late.   

shopgirl78

I wouldn't have any problems with my high school child given a question such as...In reference to JFK, was the assassin likely at the north, south, east, etc window? or 1st, 2nd, etc floor?  I don't see it as teaching "how to commit a assassination" but learning about angles related to bullet trajectory.  I don't think it insignificant unless the media is blowing it out of proportion, implying that he referenced Obama but rather a historical event