Well, it has been a week plus a day since I started in my new classroom. Talk about hitting the ground running! Since I am teaching at a school that has both residential and day school students, we have spent the week getting to know each other and adjusting to the changes that naturally must occur whenever there is a personnel change. At the same time, I have been navigating the ins and outs of a new school system. However, I am loving every minute of it. I am surrounded by supportive people who maintain a positive outlook each day. I feel I have returned back to my roots and am excited to see what the future holds. Right now, I have been focusing on getting to know my students and setting up my classroom. (Plus spending some time stressing about having to teach math and science again.) After Labor Day, all the fun and games will be set aside and the real business of learning will begin. While the beginning of a new year is always exciting and full of promise, I can honestly say that this is the most excited I’ve been about a new school year in a long time. Let the adventure begin!
Tag: teaching
Going Forth
I think this is one of the most discombobulated times of my life. Everything is changing. Some of the changes are self-induced; some of them are circumstantial. Regardless, half the time I’m having difficulty keeping track of whether I am coming or going! Part of that might be related to the fact that I am currently based out of two separate houses while I am preparing to make my big move.
Since my last post, we had the memorial service for Dad and the installation service for his son as our new pastor. That was the most emotionally-draining weekend ever. While I believe that everything went just as Dad would’ve wanted it, it is still hard to wrap my head around the reality that he is gone. Although it is impossible, I keep thinking that at any moment he will show up and this will all have been some horrible dream.
Yet, as further proof that life goes on, I flew up to Chicago last week for a final interview and left with the job. I am going back to my roots – teaching a self-contained middle school class for students with severe emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD). Students with EBD are my passion. I feel that I am best suited to teach these kids and am so excited about this position. I truly feel that I have been given my dream job. In fact, when I first graduated from college this is the exact type of position for which I was looking.
As excited as I am about this new opportunity and returning to the city, I also feel a deepening sadness about the people I am leaving behind. The fact that my son is staying here until he goes off to boot camp is overwhelming. I feel guilty about leaving my best friend and family right when I feel they need me the most. My boyfriend has to stay here for now because his children are much younger than mine, and he can’t leave them (nor would I want him to). Plus, I have many cherished friends I am leaving behind in exchange for a city where I will only know a handful of people (at first). Yet, every time I start to feel a little panicked, I remind myself that this was my decision. I want to be back in the city. I want to be closer to my daughter, and my son will soon be gone anyway. Many people have had successful long-distance relationships, and I will always be here for my best friend and adopted family – no matter the miles between us. This is my path, and down it I must travel. I still have goals I need to accomplish, and I know I am heading to a place where I can best do that. It is time for me to do in my life exactly what I always tell my students, “Go forth and conquer.”
Graduation
Last night was graduation for the high school where I teach. It was a very emotional evening for me. Not only was my own son graduating, but also a group of seniors who have been very special to me. I’ve written a lot about my baby boy, and I will continue to write a lot more about him in the posts to come (much to his chagrin). So, this post is dedicated to the other seniors that graduated last night. As a high school teacher, graduation is always a special time. It is the culmination of all the hard work we, as teachers, have invested in our students. However, last night was more than that for me. This year, I taught an English IV Honors class for the first time ever. I enjoy teaching freshmen, and that has always been my niche. Four years ago, I volunteered to teach an English I Honors class for our school’s Art Academy. I loved every minute of it so much that, when they needed a teacher for the same students for their sophomore year, I willingly volunteered. During that year, I kept telling them that they were going to have to move on to a different teacher come junior year. They disagreed. Several of their parents even wrote to the principal and guidance counselor requesting that I stay with them their junior year. So I did. By the end of that year, I knew that I wasn’t going to give them up. Therefore, for a handful of those students, I was their only English teacher for all their years of high school. For the remaining students, almost all of them had been with me once before, and many of them at least twice. As if that wasn’t enough, many of the students in this senior class had ran either cross country or track with me throughout their high school careers. Talk about a flood of emotions! Watching my students and athletes walk across that stage filled my heart with pride. I have poured my heart into those students and am so proud of the young adults they have become. I have been blessed to have them in my life and am so excited to see what new adventures are in store for them. Congratulations, Class of 2013 and God Bless!
Those Who Can, Teach
Today I read a Washington Post article titled, “What if Finland’s Great Teachers Taught in U.S. schools?” For those of you unfamiliar with Finland’s educational system, it is consistently ranked one of the best in the world. It wasn’t always that way. In fact, Finland’s surge to the top of international educational rankings has caused many nations (America included) to take notice. Everyone wants to know what is Finland’s secret to success. Well, I will tell you that it is not their standardized testing systems for students. Quality education comes from having quality teachers, and that is where Finland has focused its efforts. However, they have not focused their efforts by tying teacher evaluations to students’ standardized test scores, like our current political forces are attempting to do here. Instead, Finland has focused its attention on how teachers get into the classroom, versus what they do once they are in one. To become a teacher in Finland is a rigorous process. Instead of hundreds of varieties of teacher preparation programs, there is only one. This is true for many countries where there are students who outperform American students on international testing. There is no fast-track to becoming a teacher in these countries. For example, all teachers in Finland complete the same coursework and earn master’s degrees from research universities. The competition for entering into one of these programs is on par with a student attempting to get into law school or study medicine. Therefore, the teachers in Finland ultimately earn the same degree of respect as lawyers and doctors. While Finland has shunned standardization in schools, it embraces standardization when preparing its teachers. Thus assured that only the the best and brightest are entering the profession, these same teachers are then given the freedom to practice their craft once they have secured a teaching position. In contrast, here in the United States, the common belief is that anyone can be a teacher. Even more damaging to the profession is the underlying thought that teachers are individuals who were not able to be successful in their first career choice. We’ve all heard the saying, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.” What an awful statement to make about men and women who have chosen to spend their lives educating the youth of this country. However, perhaps if there was more quality control on the front-end, people would have more confidence in the teaching profession. If getting accepted into an education program was as difficult as being accepted into law school or a med program, maybe there would be more credibility and respect for the teaching profession as a whole. Then, maybe we would be trusted to know what’s best for our students instead of having outside sources-who have absolutely no teaching experience whatsoever- tell us what we should be doing for them. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/15/what-if-finlands-great-teachers-taught-in-u-s-schools-not-what-you-think/
Whose Child?
There is a popular cartoon that has made it’s way around social media for awhile now. In it, there are two halves with almost the exact same picture. There are two parents, a child, and a teacher. It is evident that this is a parent teacher conference. The captions are, “Then,” and, “Now.” In the picture for Then, the parents are demanding the student explain why he has such bad grades. In the Now picture, the parents are demanding the teacher explain why their child has bad grades. As a teacher and parent, I have seen both situations occur in my class. I will be the first to say that my kids have had some phenomenal teachers….and some not-so-phenomenal teachers. I will also say that, just as in any profession, there will always be the handful of teachers who you wish would choose a different career path. However, the good teachers far outweigh the bad ones. For every one negative or unproductive teacher I have come across, whether as a parent or a co-worker, there are a multitude of great ones. Those are the teachers who get to work an hour early and stay an hour late, plus lug even more work home with them. These teachers spend their non-working hours finding ways to perfect their craft by attending classes, workshops, conferences, and the like. They spend their summers designing the units they will teach the upcoming year. Their smartphones and tablets are filled with educational apps as they try to find new and exciting ways to reach their students. These teachers dedicate their lives to helping their students achieve their full potential. Yet, for all the amazing things educators do for your kids, the reality is that they are your kids. Your children, and their education, is your responsibility – just like my children’s education was mine. When I have parents upset with me that their child failed a course when the reason for the F was that he had more missing assignments than completed ones, I just want to ask them, “Where have you been all semester? Where were you when we had our Open House? Where were you when interims and report cards were sent out? What about parent teacher conference night? Where were you every week, as your child’s grades were uploaded to the district posting site, and you received an email telling you what your child’s grade was at that very moment?” I don’t ask these questions, but I should. Then, when the parent tried to make excuses for their lack of involvement in their child’s education, I would inform them that their excuses don’t hold any weight with me. I was a single parent for the majority of my children’s K-12 educational career. I have worked two jobs for over a decade to make ends meet. I even completed grad school during this same time. Yet, at any second of any day, I could tell you exactly what my children’s grades were in every single class they were taking. Why? Because more than anything else, being their parent was my first priority. As such, being involved in their education was always a given. End of story. No excuses. As this school year comes to a close, may we all share that same belief.
Passionate for Public Education
This school year marks a full decade that I have been teaching. I love being a teacher. I love being in my classroom. I love the opportunity I have to be a positive influence in my students’ lives. It’s the whole reason I became a teacher. Ironic, then, that teaching was not my first choice as a profession. In my Intro to Education class, our professor had us write a short essay on why we wanted to be teachers. We then had to share them with the class. Time after time, each student stood before the class explaining that he or she had “always wanted to be a teacher.” I was close to the end, and imagine everyone’s surprise when the first line of my essay was, “I never wanted to be a teacher.” It’s true. As a child, I dreamed of being a corporate lawyer. I wanted to travel all around the globe and make a lot of money. However, as a teenager, I endured some pretty turbulent times. Going through the negative circumstances that I did caused me to re-think my career path. I decided to pursue a degree in social work, then become lawyer working in the juvenile courts. When I received my AA degree, I had completed all the prerequisites for the social work program. However, I had graduated in December, and the social work program only accepted new students in the summer or fall terms. That left me with an entire semester off from school. During this same time, I continued to substitute teach at local schools. I had been subbing for at least a year or more for extra income and to build my resume. The semester break I had from school left me with quite a bit of time to sub. I did most of my subbing at one middle school, so I became very familiar to the students. They would ask me why I wasn’t a “real” teacher and comment that I would make a good one. I began evaluating my time in the classroom and realized I really enjoyed it. I loved the relationships I built with the students, even though I was “just a sub.” By the end of that school year, I had decided to enter the education program instead of social work. I spent that summer completing four of the five prerequisites needed to be accepted into the College of Education. I had to get special permission to complete the fifth class the first semester of my acceptance. I did all that, and the rest – as they say- is history. I have never regretted that decision. I love being a public school teacher. I firmly believe that education is the great equalizer, and every student deserves a high quality education. Various sources have stated that public education is the foundation of our democracy, and I believe them. That is why I will continue to be an advocate for quality public education- accessible by all. But, more on that another day because I just realized how late it is. Facing 120 freshman students on a Monday morning with inadequate sleep is not fun. Til next time, my friends. Be sure to thank a teacher for your ability to read and comprehend this entry.
Words from the Long Run 