As a teacher who rides to school, I dislike bike-to-school day
05-17-18, 05:22 PM
#26
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I can't get my head around the idea of kids riding on the roads. Either side.
05-18-18, 12:43 PM
#27
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05-18-18, 01:22 PM
#28
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We are not talking about a preschooler with training wheels. These "kids" are 12-14 years old.
As far as telling the district that they are doing it wrong, You need to remember that the district police are "the experts." I have brought this up in the past and it has been made clear that the district understands that I mean well; but that my "suggestions" are just not the best for the children.
I do have the state DOT cycling poster in my classroom that reinforces what I do; sometimes the students even ask about that poster because it is different than what they are taught. I sometimes treat that as a teachable moment. However, I am not going to change the district curriculum, I accept that and I am not going to risk my job by making myself into a "problem." People say the squeaky wheel gets the grease; but it also gets replaced at the first opportunity.
As far as telling the district that they are doing it wrong, You need to remember that the district police are "the experts." I have brought this up in the past and it has been made clear that the district understands that I mean well; but that my "suggestions" are just not the best for the children.
I do have the state DOT cycling poster in my classroom that reinforces what I do; sometimes the students even ask about that poster because it is different than what they are taught. I sometimes treat that as a teachable moment. However, I am not going to change the district curriculum, I accept that and I am not going to risk my job by making myself into a "problem." People say the squeaky wheel gets the grease; but it also gets replaced at the first opportunity.
05-18-18, 03:16 PM
#29
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I biked to school from the mid 60's to the mid 70's, and I don't remember bike safety being discussed at school. I think we just did it, because riding to school wan't much different from riding anywhere else that didn't involve a ride from a parent or riding the school bus. And then we got to be old enough to drive and everyone quit riding to school.
05-18-18, 06:11 PM
#30
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Other than kvetching here, since you won’t kvetch where it matters, what is your point?
-mr. bill
05-18-18, 07:09 PM
#31
☢
As many of you know, I am a middle school teacher. As such, when bike to school day comes around, I get volunteered to be a “guide.”
There are two reasons that I dislike bike to school day. Firstly, I dislike the idea that biking to school should be an event that requires guides, support vehicles, and police *******. It reinforces the idea that cycling is little but an impractical, dangerous, stunt. Biking to school should just be something that students do; no fanfare, just do.
The second reason, and is nothing but personal preference; a preference for doing things right, is that I dislike how the students are trained to ride. The students are told to ride, facing traffic, on the sidewalks, and in the gutter if no sidewalk is available. This is stated, and reinforced by the school police, who conduct the bicycle safety training.
In all, I am no big fan of “bike to school day.”
There are two reasons that I dislike bike to school day. Firstly, I dislike the idea that biking to school should be an event that requires guides, support vehicles, and police *******. It reinforces the idea that cycling is little but an impractical, dangerous, stunt. Biking to school should just be something that students do; no fanfare, just do.
The second reason, and is nothing but personal preference; a preference for doing things right, is that I dislike how the students are trained to ride. The students are told to ride, facing traffic, on the sidewalks, and in the gutter if no sidewalk is available. This is stated, and reinforced by the school police, who conduct the bicycle safety training.
In all, I am no big fan of “bike to school day.”
05-18-18, 08:19 PM
#32
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As many of you know, I am a middle school teacher. As such, when bike to school day comes around, I get volunteered to be a “guide.”
There are two reasons that I dislike bike to school day. Firstly, I dislike the idea that biking to school should be an event that requires guides, support vehicles, and police *******. It reinforces the idea that cycling is little but an impractical, dangerous, stunt. Biking to school should just be something that students do; no fanfare, just do.
The second reason, and is nothing but personal preference; a preference for doing things right, is that I dislike how the students are trained to ride. The students are told to ride, facing traffic, on the sidewalks, and in the gutter if no sidewalk is available. This is stated, and reinforced by the school police, who conduct the bicycle safety training.
In all, I am no big fan of “bike to school day.”
There are two reasons that I dislike bike to school day. Firstly, I dislike the idea that biking to school should be an event that requires guides, support vehicles, and police *******. It reinforces the idea that cycling is little but an impractical, dangerous, stunt. Biking to school should just be something that students do; no fanfare, just do.
The second reason, and is nothing but personal preference; a preference for doing things right, is that I dislike how the students are trained to ride. The students are told to ride, facing traffic, on the sidewalks, and in the gutter if no sidewalk is available. This is stated, and reinforced by the school police, who conduct the bicycle safety training.
In all, I am no big fan of “bike to school day.”
05-19-18, 12:39 PM
#33
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The main problem, as I see it is that the mandatory bicycle safety class is in the fifth grade, then it is not revisited. Advise that may make sense for a little kid, creaking along with a teacher walking along side (like I saw today when we went by the elementary school group, yes, with a police escort) is not appropriate for middle and high school students. Yet, the police, in today's case, the city police, are reminding the students to ride the way the safety officer taught them.
05-19-18, 12:44 PM
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Ain't no "probably" about it. Hang around a school at pickup and drop off times, and it becomes pretty clear that the reduced speed zone doesn't protect the kids nearly as much as the parents who pull out of the lot without yielding, stop in a traffic lane to drop off their kids, etc.
05-22-18, 03:09 PM
#36
☢
05-22-18, 04:47 PM
#38
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Again, the statewide bicycle curriculum doesn’t suck. His school sucks.
But why risk causing waves?
Posting here is cathartic, maybe.
-mr. bill
05-23-18, 03:12 AM
#39
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And didn't ear helmets or pads!!! I know, I know ... how did the race survive?
used to be, you got a bike and you rode it. First bike without training wheels was age 5 or 6, and kids rode bikes until high school, when they could drive.
naturally people rode on the roads ... what, are you going to ride in the woods?
Riding to school, riding to friends' houses, riding to the stores or malls ... riding wherever one went ... was the Norm, because why have a bike one couldn't ride?
Making Evel Kneivel jumps, riding trail and paths in the woods, flying dismounts, and the occasional skinned knee were also normal.
And somehow ... enough children survived to overpopulate the planet.
05-23-18, 07:57 PM
#40
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For walking on a street with no shoulder or sidewalk it is normal to go against traffic. The idea you see the cars and can step aside. At least this is how it is done in Germany. Not sure about the US, though.
For biking, always with direction of traffic since unlike pedestrians you can't just step aside into the grass. A bicycle is part of the lane.
Whoever blames the OP for not speaking up even more probably hasn't worked in a hierarchical institution. You are supposed to think freely and suggest improvement, but only if you already agree with the way the institution thinks. Someone mentioned the squeaky wheel gets the grease, or gets replaced. I think the OP already went above and beyond and probably already is known as the weirdo bicycle trouble maker.
For biking, always with direction of traffic since unlike pedestrians you can't just step aside into the grass. A bicycle is part of the lane.
Whoever blames the OP for not speaking up even more probably hasn't worked in a hierarchical institution. You are supposed to think freely and suggest improvement, but only if you already agree with the way the institution thinks. Someone mentioned the squeaky wheel gets the grease, or gets replaced. I think the OP already went above and beyond and probably already is known as the weirdo bicycle trouble maker.
05-24-18, 12:45 AM
#41
☢
For walking on a street with no shoulder or sidewalk it is normal to go against traffic. The idea you see the cars and can step aside. At least this is how it is done in Germany. Not sure about the US, though.
For biking, always with direction of traffic since unlike pedestrians you can't just step aside into the grass. A bicycle is part of the lane.
Whoever blames the OP for not speaking up even more probably hasn't worked in a hierarchical institution. You are supposed to think freely and suggest improvement, but only if you already agree with the way the institution thinks.
For biking, always with direction of traffic since unlike pedestrians you can't just step aside into the grass. A bicycle is part of the lane.
Whoever blames the OP for not speaking up even more probably hasn't worked in a hierarchical institution. You are supposed to think freely and suggest improvement, but only if you already agree with the way the institution thinks.
I'd always encourage the patrons that complained to me to go directly to the higher-up directly. When it came second-hand from me, they'd just nod and walk away.
Someone mentioned the squeaky wheel gets the grease, or gets replaced. I think the OP already went above and beyond and probably already is known as the weirdo bicycle trouble maker.
08-17-18, 04:57 PM
#42
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I have dealt with it from my end. I live quite a ways from where I teach. In the town I teach in the fly-in teachers are the norm.
When I came back this year I just didn't bring a bicycle. I got a lot of enjoyable riding in over the summer. I do miss not having a bicycle; but in the long run I think it will be easier for me.
I am still on bike forums, I still enjoy riding and tinkering on bikes. However, it became the issue of mixing work with hobby.
When I came back this year I just didn't bring a bicycle. I got a lot of enjoyable riding in over the summer. I do miss not having a bicycle; but in the long run I think it will be easier for me.
I am still on bike forums, I still enjoy riding and tinkering on bikes. However, it became the issue of mixing work with hobby.
08-24-18, 10:55 PM
#43
What happened?
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Yes, well .... for all of time until the '80s or '90s or whenever parents started freaking out if their kids sneezed ... kids actually lived life.
And didn't ear helmets or pads!!! I know, I know ... how did the race survive?
used to be, you got a bike and you rode it. First bike without training wheels was age 5 or 6, and kids rode bikes until high school, when they could drive.
naturally people rode on the roads ... what, are you going to ride in the woods?
Riding to school, riding to friends' houses, riding to the stores or malls ... riding wherever one went ... was the Norm, because why have a bike one couldn't ride?
Making Evel Kneivel jumps, riding trail and paths in the woods, flying dismounts, and the occasional skinned knee were also normal.
And somehow ... enough children survived to overpopulate the planet.
And didn't ear helmets or pads!!! I know, I know ... how did the race survive?
used to be, you got a bike and you rode it. First bike without training wheels was age 5 or 6, and kids rode bikes until high school, when they could drive.
naturally people rode on the roads ... what, are you going to ride in the woods?
Riding to school, riding to friends' houses, riding to the stores or malls ... riding wherever one went ... was the Norm, because why have a bike one couldn't ride?
Making Evel Kneivel jumps, riding trail and paths in the woods, flying dismounts, and the occasional skinned knee were also normal.
And somehow ... enough children survived to overpopulate the planet.
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