Johnson: English teacher's blog starts a conversation

An English teacher in a Pennsylvania whose personal blog included demeaning descriptions and depictions of her students has, perhaps unwittingly, become the national face of the frustrated, burned-out public school teacher.

According to news reports from last week, Central Bucks East High School teacher Natalie Munroe has been suspended in connection with a blog in which, among other things, she demeaned special-needs students with a cartoon including the caption, "I don't care if you lick windows, take the special bus or occasionally pee on yourself, you hang in there Sunshine, you're ... special."

Her criticism, which included calling her students "rude, disengaged lazy whiners," struck a nerve among parents and educators.

While Munroe has repeatedly said it wasn't her intent to spark a national discussion on student behavior and other pressing problems in public education, that may, in fact, be just what she has done.

As debate continues over the context of Munroe's denunciations, some of her remarks in a CNN interview regarding the lack of student-teacher interaction in learning are fueling further commentary. Munroe complained that more pressure is put on teachers today and that "it feels like you have to put on a dog and pony show for every lesson. ... God forbid you just sit there and have a discussion."

I know many high school teachers who can relate to Munroe's frustration in trying to get students engaged with learning, especially in English. However, I find it surprising that Munroe has not, at least in the interviews I've observed, discussed some possible changes she could make in her teaching style. Because she's a young teacher, it would seem she could relate to her students more easily than to her older colleagues.

At 30, she's part of the older tier of the millennial generation, which includes everyone born from 1981-2000. Since Munroe is not that far removed from her students in terms of age, she should look for ways to think outside the box to get better classroom participation.

Some education

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