I’m not sure about you but for too many years, my kids have been miserable in English. I am an advocate for having English I’m school and it always bothered me that the teachers seemed to not be able to deal with a class of boys and keep them interested the way that the Rabbeim do.
Often I’m told that it’s just hard to get good English teachers.
I’m also told that in many schools it is way worse than in my own boys schools.
I try to tell my kids that even if the teacher is boring or “not fair” or yells at them all day instead of teaching, they better behave and have Derech Eretz.
I always wondered what the solution could be and I think I may have figured out a good solution.
Last year, one of my kids had an awesome year in English. What can I say? The teacher was geshmak! No other word to describe it. He barely had to discipline because he was lively, fun, lived the boys, and just on the ball in a way that the boys felt like they didn’t want to miss class. He was fair, tuned into what kids like and need. Understood that kids are tired sometimes, and barely gave homework. (Yes read that again). Believe it or not, the boys learned (and retained!) tons!
You can imagine the let down this year when my son started off with a teacher that started off monotone, and has been spending all day yelling and trying to discipline and From the stories coming home, not really playing a fair game and not showing the boys he cares. Not tuning into what makes them tick and very much with an attitude of I don’t care what’s bothering you just follow orders.
He has been coming home miserable instead of the last year after school upbeat mood.
And it hit me. The kids are tired. It’s a long day. The type of teachers needed when kids are tired are guys that know that kids need Geshmak and fun to stay focused and attentive.
Instead of hiring whomever they can hopefully find in the market, the schools should put out ads looking for guys that were counselors and head staff in camps. They know what boys like and know what they need and usually they make the kids feel loved and cared about.
And even if they aren’t masters in the English department, as long as they can follow textbooks and give it over clearly in a fun geshmak and interactive way, the kids will learn more than they’re learning now while trying make it through the end of a boring day with discipline issues every minute.
So if you’re a camp staff guy… can you please consider applying next year to teach English in the schools? Please?!?
And to the schools I say, please read this letter not as a joke but take it seriously.
Look for teachers that know how to be fun and connect with the boys and understand them and play fairly. It will ease so many issues that you have daily.
And our boys will come home happy instead of grumpy and finished off.
It will make your job, and the parents job, so much more bearable when all is said and done.
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As a born and bred Lkwdr who’s almost 40 I resonate with the frustration and sad that nothing has changed and likely never will. I vividly remember those over hyper afternoons with not too qualified teachers. They had no chance.
Most teachers in town (especially the men) are doing this for the side gig, the decent pay for a 2 hr work day (some schools in town offer north of 25k for ANYONE willing to man a classroom for 2 hours) 99 percent of these teachers are not career teachers and rather temporary “babysitters” it’s the sad reality but I don’t see a solution.
As a former English teacher, I totally disagree with you about the 99 percent. First of all, it’s actually the teachers who do it as a side gig who are the best, because they are usually very capable people who are working their way up to something else, and they do this for a few years, and they take it seriously. Granted that not all of the teachers are completely qualified, but the situation much better than it used to be, and it keeps getting better. Of course the teachers are fighting an uphill battle, because they get the kids handed off to them after they put in a full day of Limudei Kodesh, and everyone knows that English is not the main emphasis of the Yeshivos. And it’s definitely true that it’s unfair to blame the kids for not sitting decorously through a boring class taught by an unqualified teacher. But to say that it’s the same as it was 40 years ago is absolutely incorrect. Also, some Chadorim are much better than others in this respect, so you need to do your homework before selecting a Cheder for your son.
That sounds like a great idea! Unfortunately the camp counselors and staff members are in yeshiva, mesivta or bais medrash and will not be able to take off seder to come teach the boys English.
this letter prob should be directed to your school, not a public forum
Great idea!
Nobody has thought of this before.
We will immediately implement this across all schools in lakewood and fire the boring teachers.
I agree with you 💯 percent!! My son had the same experience!
Why don’t you help out with the hiring? English teachers actually get paid very nicely. For some reason it’s not considered a good job so there aren’t enough applicants. A kollel yungerman would be able to live all year if he taught for those 2 hours and it would bearly cut into seder. However it’s not becoming the trend. Stop complaining and help out. We need more men to step up and be our bus drivers and English teachers. Start recruiting. If we would have those positions filled we would be a lot better off.
Boys have no respect for their teachers ..even as young as second grade! They think learning English is goyish and that there is no reason why they should learn English. They get get away with being chutzpahdik and misbehaving… There is no respect for English teachers in Lakewood. This attitude has to change…then maybe some of the better teachers would want to teach boys in stead of girls…
Totally agree!
I am a sub in a boys school and I teach third grade very often. B”H i don’t usually have too much of a problem controlling the class (of approx 25-28 boys) and I’m a woman! I also have no problem calling the Menahel in if need be. I tell the boys very clearly that if I need to involve the Menahel, it reflects on their lack of derech Eretz and mentschlechkeit. It does NOT reflect on my teaching skills.
It looks like the letter writer could have benefited from a proper secular education as well.
Do you really think a problem that is going on for decades is going to be solved with a letter to Lakewood Scoop? Of course not! So why is this being addresses in a public forum? I can’t imagine why discussing this publicly is a good idea. If you think you have solutions, discuss it with administrators or principals who can actually implement your idea.
we live among English speakers and in order to function properly in that society and also internally it is important to master the language and other related subjects. now, the only way to get there is to study, and that is not fun, it is work.
any boy who can determinedly apply himself to Torah without any other studies will certainly excel in his learning much more than someone who spent time in pursuit of the secular arts.
moreover, even if a boy does not study anything and does not learn at all, he can still be a huge success in life, that is a Bracha from Hashem.
but, the joy of knowledge, the sweetness of study, that only comes from hard work and initially boring sessions, preferably in a Torah only environment if the boy has that capacity and the correct disposition, but if not holding by Torah only for life and he is taking other subjects then what is needed is firm discipline, if you are attending any class, taking out of your own time, the teacher’s attention, and being part of a student body, please be respectful and maintain classroom decorum.
those same head counselors are tichtig enough to find much better paying and satisfying jobs.
I do believe that the schools hashkafah about “goyish” subjects makes a diff. As a product of “the system” I can tell you that many schools hand over the hashkafah that English is bitul Torah, it’s because of the apikoris government that we need this, it’s an unfortunate waste of time etc. so obviously the kids show zero respect towards anyone who does value knowledge
I’ve taught English for over 25 years. Baruch Hashem my years were filled with mostly grateful parents. Unfortunately this is my first year missing due to a severe illness. It is true that a big part of the difficulty has to do with the fact that English isn’t Torahdik. I’ve had one of the best boys tell me his parents don’t care if he fails or even gets kicked out. This will continue this way unless there’s a huge change with all schools getting together and convincing parents that schools can only change if they do.
I taught English boys ( I’m a woman ) I also have boys in the school system. I think the only way each child can have a proper and fun English education comes from the parent’s. If your children see the attitude you have towards it, they will mirror that in the classroom. Stop the bashing, stop telling your kids you feel and understand the suffering they are going through, stop telling them you don’t care if they fail, stop telling them they don’t need to pass any tests, stop telling them you will pick them up after Hebrew, stop enabling your children to run your life!
You taught English boys? Or, rather, you taught English to boys. Parents…not parent’s. If our teachers don’t know how to write properly…
go away
It’s very sad. BH I grew up in a school where English was considered just as important as Hebrew & BH it’s still run that way.
(Just as an example, after spending months SERIOUSLY learning biology & anatomy the final project (in 5th grade) is to dissect a shark! What 10 yr old boy doesn’t want to cut open & examine a shark using the knowledge he learned in the previous months?)
A friend of mine was the Principal in a NY Yeshivish HS connected to a major Yeshiva. He explained it all comes down to the parents. If the parents don’t care the R’Y doesn’t care & the students don’t care. It’s sad. He tried to have a robust English program but when he doesn’t get support from the R’Y & parents there’s nothing he could do. He said the deprecation of English subjects in much of the Heimish community is a busha & a travesty. How can we expect the outside world to respect the Torah world when native English speaking adults speak English at an uneducated, ignorant level?
Hopefully it’ll change but not until the PARENTS step up & demand it.
Rav Wolbe believed that the Rabbeim should teach secular studies in the schools of his talmidim in Eretz Yisroel as that conveys to the students that such studies have value.
in all my years, i had one awesome teacher that we all loved , and it was actually mesifta, we had Reb Shaima Kushner, he taught us math he taught us how to fix bikes, he even taught us how to buy and sell stocks, he really spoke our language! , at times, he was tough as nail, yet so friendly and understanding of what we were going though the same time. If only there would be more teachers like him bochrim would actually enjoy English time
I teach English in a biiig school in Lakewood. I am proud to say that the class average is over 85 on tests taken and it has been this way for the last number of years. The situation is improving in most Lakewood schools. The very Yeshivishe schools are very behind in this respect as the attitude towards English in those schools is very negative.
What school do you teach in?
yes i actually had rabbi kushner as well in high school , he was awesome indeed, he would bring the entire class pizza every time he made a siyum in class for us. When you got under his collar and went to far with him , he would scream with fire and sometimes even throw in some street lingo, there wasn’t a peep for the rest of the month. He gained our respect as a cool teacher, that didn’t stick to the old school rules. I actually learned a lot in his class, best teacher i ever had
I’m all for a good English education as it’s good for my business.
I’ve developed a unique lesson program that teaches children to UNlearn the English language.
Do you have a Chasidish boy that for whatever reason picked up too many English words & it’s embarrassing? Are you in Shidduchim & people won’t agree because your kids are “Goyish” & can speak English?
Have you moved to a very Yeshivish community & are embarrassed by your son speaking proper English?
Is your son the one translating English signs for his friends?
Does your son seem to enjoy chanting “Israeli government shame on you” or “A Jew is not a Zionist, a Zionist is not a Jew” more than he should?
I can help! I have a success rate of lowering a child’s English abilities by 80-90%!!!
I used this system on my own son with great results. He now barely knows a few English words but B”H following the Mesorah of his Bubbys & Zaidys in Europe by living a life totally immersed in Yiddishkeit, he’s (1st language level) fluent in both Yiddish & Hungarian.