IllinoisLoop.org has a long page of Scary Postings from online education bulletin boards. A small sampling from the prose of those who hold the intellects of America's youth in their hands:

"Hello, I am starting tutoring this Wednesday in Maryland. I will be tutoring 6th or 7th graders in math, things like fractions and decimals. I wanted to open my first tutoring session with something creative and fun that has to do with math. Considering that math is my worst subject, and I don't favor it at all, Im short on ideas. Could anyone please send me some suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it!" (from an ed school student)

"When teaching the basic units to primary students what is a method that is suggested to use?"

"I'm working on my final portfolio for graduation. When I get burned out on the writing piece, I've been doing the divider pages for different sections. One of the things I've been working on when the writing gets to be overwhelming. [sic] So far, the Understanding Children page is decorated with pictures of Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) making all sorts of faces; the Arts and Humanities page has Calvin and Hobbes dancing on one side to a record player and Calvin coloring in another corner; I have several cartoons for the Math section, but I have to decide which one(s) to use. ... Here's the request. Does anyone have pictures or cartoons that you might send to me?"

"I teach grade 11 and 12 level algebra and trig to adults at a small college. ... I started putting rules and formulas to song. For example on the first day or so of class I usually serenade those who tell me that they are afraid of math with a rendition of:
Hey You don't be afraid / Math can't hurt you / It's really not that bad. / The minute you let it into your heart / Then you can start to learn it better / Learning Math can be fun / Math is fun, hey you.... (to the tune of Hey Jude, in case you didn't guess)"

"hi!! i have just recently finished my degree in teaching and was wondering if any one has any tips on effective classroom management skills and discipline? hope to hear from you soon!"

And, finally, this from a certified New York high school social studies teacher: "Only if our society realize that there are so many factors contributing to a student's test score, then teachers will be willing to take the blam game. Who is to blam when students don't do homeworks? who is to blam when pareants don't care to come to the teacher pareant conference?"

Can it be that the teacher is to blam? Painfully, there are many more Scary Postings from scary teachers on this site. There are also scary postings from students:

Yo ya all, i need to no what a frequency chart is. I looked it up in 3 dictionarys, and they didnt have it. I sorta foregot it. Its the only chart that i foregot in 6th grade. darn. Well, ßee ya

Does anyone have anything on the civil war if you do please such a address Thank you

IM DOING A REPORT ON JAIME ESCALANTE NEED INFORMATION ON HIM B4 MONDAY HIS LIFESTYLE WHEN WAS HE BORN AND WHERE AND WAT DID HE ACCOMPLISHED SEND ME INFORMATION ...

I get email like this last one all the time. Link via Joanne Jacobs.