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[WriterDave]

<r><COLOR color="black"><s></s>Hi everyone,<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>My name is Dave and I’m a freelance writer. Please find a link to a sample article pasted at the bottom of this message.<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>I’m writing an article for Earlychildhood NEWS, a monthly magazine for parents and teachers of young children (infants to age 8). The article is about male teachers in the early childhood classroom.<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>I’m looking for comments, stories, and opinions from mothers whose children have male teachers. Do you appreciate the difference a male teacher is making in the life of your child? Do you dislike the fact that a man is teaching your child? Perhaps the most interesting question for the article is this: what was your initial reaction when you found out your child was going to be taught by a man?<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>I am especially interested in hearing from single moms who are relieved their child has a positive male role model. Of course, if you have had an experience where your child was not treated well by a male teacher, I would like to hear about it.<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>If you would like to participate, I will need your full name – your city and occupation would be helpful as well. If you feel more comfortable, you can simply PM me with your answer!<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>Thanks very much for your help. Educators are pretty much all in agreement that we need more men in early childhood education. If you have a success story to tell, you can help our schools become stronger.<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>Thank you,<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s>Dave<e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s> <e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR><br/>
<COLOR color="black"><s></s><URL url="http://www.divorce360.com/articles/482/helping-children-cope.aspx</LINK_TEXT></URL><e></e></FONT><e>[/COLOR]</e></COLOR></r>

 

[jenilouise]

I homeschool so I can't be of much help but almost all of my favorite teachers were male.

 

[Shari Nielsen]

I personally don't have a male teacher for either of my girls - in fact there are NO male elementary teachers in their school - except for their gym teacher.

However, my husband is a chemistry teacher and has a great relationship w/ the students. Many request to have him! I think at the high school level its not a big deal whether the teachers are male or female, but I'm sure it makes a huge difference at the elementary level.

Also, one of my really good friends is a 28 year old male 2nd grade teacher. He has such a good way w/ the kids that many of the parents who "have pull in the system" (PTA president, vice-principle of the school, etc.) have managed to get their kid into his room. Because he is such a strong role model the administration has made his room the inclusion room and paired him up w/ the special ed teacher and loaded his room w/ the identified and unidentified, but difficult kids.

He asked my husband and me to visit his classroom and put on a "science show" on the day before xmas break. It was a great opportunity to see him in action and watch him play many roles. There were some instances where he had to play the "tough guy" role and others where he was goofy and fun-loving, while others when he was more caring & loving. It was nice to see him really know each of his students and what they needed at each point. There is no question in my mind that having a male teacher is a great experience for kids, as long as the guy is a good teacher and loves kids.

 

[musicmom]

I guess I'm not really going to apply since this person hasn't been back or posted again.

 

[EHB]

One of my daughters has a male elementary school teacher and she has had one of the best learning experiences in her life. In high school all of my older daughters had male teachers and they all connected with them and felt that they had positive experiences. My sons have also never pointed out a significant difference between the male and the female teachers at their schools. In fact, one of my sons' male teachers left the school last year, and most of the students were quite disappointed about it.

 

[FionnaK]

I can only speak for my own experiences since I too homeschool. I had both male and female teachers and I can't think of any major differences. Or the differences, good and bad, seemed to have nothing to do with whether or not they were male or female.

However, I do have this nagging fear in my mind about male teachers for the very early grades. I know this is wrong of me to be prejudice, but I am going to lay it out anyway. That is, I am afraid of males who teach very young children because I worry they will do something inappropriate to them. It is kind of the same reason why a lot of people don't tend to go for male babysitters. I know there are tons and tons of great male teachers who would never think to harm anyone. And I know there are female teachers who have done harm too. I know my worries are probably unfair. And to add to the fear I already had I found out that very recently a school in a very suburban area up the street from me just had a major problem with a male first grade teacher who has been charged with sexual assault on 8 (yes 8) of his male first grade students. This makes me angry to no end. I don't even know why there is so little care and attention paid to such young children by other people in the school that a teacher would have that kind of alone time with the young students to get away with it. It really sickens me and unfortunately it only adds to my fears of male teachers.

 

[aliinnc]

I second musicmom.

Evil forum spammers...

Maybe there is now a tenth circle of hell for them where they have to constantly answer forum questions on manure, maggots, and mayhem. Hehe.