You Can't Win For Losing

We're always told to try to "make learning real", to "engage" the students, to get away from lecturing and "show" them something.  This teacher did, the student was barely inconvenienced, and now the teacher is considered the king of bad judgement:

What started off as a history lesson at Schrade Middle School in Rowlett ended up with a 7th grader having rope marks around his neck.

A history teacher was trying to teach lasso techniques used during cattle drives. He asked for student volunteers, and had them run... then tried to rope them.

"[The teacher] was visiting with the students, telling the students about how Cowboys would corral maverick steers back into the herd," explained Garland Independent School District spokesman Chris Moore.

The 13-year-old volunteer ended up with bruises.

Bruises? They look like scratches to me.

When I was in 11th grade US History class our teacher brought in a pillory.  I volunteered to be locked in it.  The pillory was bolted to plywood, and I stood on the plywood--what if I'd fallen over and cracked my skull?  Would the teacher have been showing bad judgement by putting me in the pillory, or would it merely have been a bad accident?

This kind of behavior on the part of the parents, and the response from the school system, should be enough to dispirit any teacher.  You know what?  Just sit down, shut up, and take notes.  No one gets hurt doing that.