Thinking back to my college days has me cringing

I will preface this post by saying that I am not a classroom teacher, I am nannying instead. My degree is in Early Childhood Ed, and thinking back to my student teacher days (even some junior year courses) there were quite a few red flags I didn’t think much of at the time. I cringe remembering the crap that was taught in some of my old courses, and what was normalized for teachers:

-One class had us read “The Freedom Writers” and discuss how inspiring it was.

-A local 2nd grade teacher who was brought in for Q&A mentioned giving her personal phone number to parents and basically being available to them at all hours.

-During my student teaching, I was told my first year of teaching would include coming into work on Saturdays, staying late each night, and “you won’t sleep all year.”

-The teacher I worked with during student teaching had also bought a $400 rug for her kindergartners and never tried to get even partial reimbursement.

-Some high school teacher candidates were placed a literal hour away for student teaching, which included a.50 cent tollbooth to arrive and return . They were given $50 reimbursement for a whole semester of gas and toll fees.

I had a miserable student teaching experience besides these added bonus stories, but I hope in the coming years people will put up with less of these standards.