Bad Teaching – Six More Signs and What to do About It - Part 2

As a parent, it is your duty to save your child from bad teaching and bad teachers.

If you live in a large city, teachers are invariably protected by both unions and a dysfunctional and lumbering bureaucracy.

Always keep in mind that the unions are there to protect the interest of the teachers – not your child. The unions are interested in salary increases and retirement benefits for the teachers and protecting them from getting fired. They are not interested in assuring a quality education for your child. You, and you only, as the parent must make sure that your child gets a quality education.

If by examining these next six signs of bad teaching, you determine that your child is being shortchanged and having his or her achievement dampened, you need to take action, perhaps even to the point of getting your child out of that particular school. In a future post, I would tell you what to do get your child out of a bad teacher’s classroom if your child is remaining in the school.

Now, here are the six more signs of bad teaching that I referred to in my previous post:
1. The teacher shows little knowledge of the subject matter that she is supposed to be teaching.
2. The teacher lacks basic academic skills – – that is, she sends home notes with spelling and grammatical errors.
3. The teacher makes little effort to maintain discipline.
4. The teacher doesn't focus on academic goals.
5. The teacher shows no interest in communicating with parents.
6. And, the teacher exhibits unsound character or unprofessional behavior.

Refer to these six signs of bad teaching as well as the seven previous bad teaching signs if you if you intuitively believe that your child is a victim of bad teaching. Keep in mind that both the union and the bureaucracy defends bad teachers and only you as the parent must make sure that your child gets a quality education.


Share your experience with bad teaching.

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How to Navigate the Insurance Maze

Having the right type of insurance is a necessity, but one that you may not have given adequate thought to.

As a single parent you intuitively realize that you needs your life covered by life insurance should you experience an untimely death and consequently leave a burden on someone else to raise your children. The main consideration has to be how much life insurance do you need and can you afford it.

Health Insurance
As a working parent, you intuitively realize that you need health insurance to cover both you and your children should a major health incident occur. If your employer provides health insurance which covers you and your children, then it eliminates this concern as long as you are employed. However if you become unemployed, then you have a challenge - COBRA is an option, private health insurance, or even Medicaid if you're in a low income bracket.

Disability Insurance
For working single parents disability insurance has to be a consideration. The premiums are low and it would pay you roughly 60% of your income in benefits, should you become disabled and can't work at your current occupation. However, it is important that your disability insurance provide you benefits should you be unable to work at "any type of occupation".

Property and Casualty Insurance
Property and casualty insurance such as homeowners insurance if you are a homeowner is nearly always mandatory if you have a mortgage. Your mortgage contract require you to have at least a Standard Fire Policy to cover the outstanding balance on your mortgage and will, indeed, allow the mortgage company to place it on your behalf and at your expense, if you don't have a Homeowners' policy. In this instance, your Personal Property will not be covered in a Loss. And, most states have a mandatory requirement that you carry the minimum liability insurance coverage if you drive a car.

There some key considerations that pertains to each type of insurance. With regards to life insurance, in addition to determine how much coverage you need, you need to decide between, term, whole life, or universal life which is a hybrid of term and whole life and provides a flexible premium and can be interest sensitive.

With regards to health insurance you need to decide whether you want a major medical or a hospital indemnity plan and to decide how much of a deductible you will be willing to absorb if you choose a major medical plan. With regards to disability insurance you would need to consider how long a waiting period is acceptable and how long you want to receive benefits.

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3 Essential Things You Need to Know About Depression

Just about everyone gets the blues from time to time - that feeling of sadness or grief that usually results from unpleasant life experiences.

While many people refer to the blues as depression, however, true clinical depression is as different from the blues as pneumonia is from a head cold.

Blues and Depression
The blues is a temporary and usually normal reaction to stressful life situations. Most cases don't involve physical symptoms, loss of self-esteem, or suicidal thoughts, and the negative state usually passes within a few hours or days.

Depression on the other hand, is an intense, pervasive and long-lasting disorder of mood that attacks the body as well as the mind, often resulting in serious problems in work, social, and physical functioning. Unfortunately, some people don't recognize depression for the serious illness it is. They think of it as a personality flaw, a sign of weakness or a character defect.

Three Dynamics of Depression
To go further in depth, depression occurs in at least three different dynamics:

• People in the first category are chronically depressed. Depression is built into them and may be passed from generation to generation.

•  The second dynamic concerns lasting grief that occurs after a severe loss. Its severity is entirely subjective but might occur with the loss of a child, spouse, or loved one, an amputation, mastectomy, a sizable career setback, or loss of functioning brought about by disease or trauma.

•  The third dynamic involves loss accompanied by anger. People who have unresolved issues with a departed loved one often do not know that they are angry. This despair can set in after messy divorces or after a close relative or friend passes away. Since they are not able to deal with these problems by interacting with the object of their anger, they take their antagonism out on themselves instead.

 Loss is the common element in all three dynamics. It could be a loss of time, an object, an idealization of an object, or a person.

Symptoms of Depression
Symptoms of depression often include disturbances with sleep, appetite and body weight, energy, concentration, and sexual functioning. There is frequently excessive guilt, feelings of worthlessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, and, in severe cases, thoughts of or attempts at suicide.

Some depressions are the result of a chemical imbalance and may only be treated by anti­depressant medication, some require psychotherapy, and still others a combination of methods.

Chronic Depression
Those with chronic depression can't be helped except by antidepressants. In these cases, psychotherapy may be of little help and a poor use of time and money. Time helps a person who has suffered a severe loss as well as an involved other person who listens to the aggrieved as he or she gives words to the pain. This does not necessarily have to be a therapist, but if there is not a strong support system, treatment is very necessary. Finally, only a strong guide can help people whose loss is accompanied with anger move toward slow recognition and safe expression of their real feelings. This is usually the only path out of melancholy.

Good News About Depression
The good news is that more than eighty percent of depression sufferers can be treated successfully. If you or someone you care about is depressed, seek help now by contacting a qualified mental health specialist.

What is your views about depression? Do you accept the difference between having the blues and experiencing depression?

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