So recently I was told that I am treading a very fine line with what I write here and that I risk distancing other teachers by sounding disgruntled. I don't want readers to believe that I am that type of person and that I hate what I do. I love teaching; if I didn't I would take my English degree and go elsewhere. To combat the idea that I am just a teacher who loves to complain I would like to intermix some positive stories into my blog as well. To start I will talk about why I do what I do everyday.
Most teachers enter the education field because they have brilliant notions of imparting wisdom to children and of making a difference in the lives of those they teach. I myself and no different, in fact up until approximately my junior year of high school my career goal was to become a veterinarian at a zoo (something my mother still wishes I had done). It was during this time that a song came out called "Youth of the Nation" by a group called P.O.D. For readers who are unfamiliar with this song it was written after school shootings continued to become a common theme in the news. It tells the tale of a student killed in a school shooting, a girl who turns to sex to deal with her pain, and a boy who commits suicide. It was while listening to this song on the radio that a felt a tug at my heart that I needed to try and make a difference and in my mind this was the best way to do this. For me I figured teaching would one day eventually lead to a career as a guidance counselor (and hopefully it still will if I can ever make enough money to pay for graduate school in this area).
Why did I tell this story? Because about a week ago I had one of those "this is why I do my job" moments. Most of the time these moments are few and far between but every once in awhile they come slamming into you and you feel that you are making a difference if only a small one. Right before the end of the marking period my students took a test on the novel we had just finished reading. To help boost their grades a little I gave them a small gimme extra credit. All they had to answer was "What have you liked about Language Arts so far this year? Use complete sentences." Many of my students told me they had liked the book they just finished (not surprising as "The Outsiders" will always be a classic for teens). Others said they liked certain activities we had done or the day we went outside. While all of these things helped me to know they had been paying attention in class so far this year it was one student's extra credit that really made me smile. This student is one who many see as a behavior problem but who I truly like because underneath the boisterous personality is a genuinely sweet kid. On his test he wrote (in many misspellings) that his favorite thing about Language Arts was the teacher because "she showed us she cared. Yup, she did. She really wanted to see us succeed" (all spelling has been corrected). It is the things like this that mean the world to me and I hope other teachers get to have these moments too!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
It's Been Awhile
I apologize for the gap in postings but we just recently ended our 3rd marking period and in order to get my grades in on time I had to read and grade 50 journals. Since the topic of grades is fresh in my mind and to respond to a comment left on my page I want to talk about parental responsibility tonight.
Over the past week or so I have been taking the time to try and connect with parents whose children earned an E in my class this 3rd marking period of the school year. For those who don't know, in Maryland our school years are broken into 4 marking periods; each equaling 9 weeks worth of school hours. One parent in particular was incensed that she didn't know about her child's grade sooner. She was of the opinion that I should be calling her often to tell her how her child is doing. As an 8th grade teacher on the down swing of the year I believe that my students need to learn a level of responsibility toward managing their education. I told her that she was sent an interim report half-way through the marking period that reflected the student's grade and that a separate grade sheet was sent home a few weeks after that. This did not appease her either. So I also indicated that numerous times the school has promoted our new ParentConnect system that allows parents to access their student's grades on the internet. She still wants a phone call!
At what point is it no longer the teacher's responsibility but the parent's and student's responsibility to be aware of what is going on? As a parent I will make it my business to know not only when interim reports and report cards come out but also to sporadically find out how my daughter is doing in her classes. If a parent is not going to take charge of their child's education they should not expect others to do it for them. We say we want our children to be independent learners but we allow parents to bully teachers into bending over backward for them. In what sense does this create independence? Instead we create a generation of children who believe that whatever goes wrong is never their fault but rather everyone else is to blame and mommy and daddy will make it all better. It is no wonder our nation has trouble competing globally when we are raising children who do not know how to manage their own lives.
Over the past week or so I have been taking the time to try and connect with parents whose children earned an E in my class this 3rd marking period of the school year. For those who don't know, in Maryland our school years are broken into 4 marking periods; each equaling 9 weeks worth of school hours. One parent in particular was incensed that she didn't know about her child's grade sooner. She was of the opinion that I should be calling her often to tell her how her child is doing. As an 8th grade teacher on the down swing of the year I believe that my students need to learn a level of responsibility toward managing their education. I told her that she was sent an interim report half-way through the marking period that reflected the student's grade and that a separate grade sheet was sent home a few weeks after that. This did not appease her either. So I also indicated that numerous times the school has promoted our new ParentConnect system that allows parents to access their student's grades on the internet. She still wants a phone call!
At what point is it no longer the teacher's responsibility but the parent's and student's responsibility to be aware of what is going on? As a parent I will make it my business to know not only when interim reports and report cards come out but also to sporadically find out how my daughter is doing in her classes. If a parent is not going to take charge of their child's education they should not expect others to do it for them. We say we want our children to be independent learners but we allow parents to bully teachers into bending over backward for them. In what sense does this create independence? Instead we create a generation of children who believe that whatever goes wrong is never their fault but rather everyone else is to blame and mommy and daddy will make it all better. It is no wonder our nation has trouble competing globally when we are raising children who do not know how to manage their own lives.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Just Another Manic Monday
Good evening readers and thanks for joining me again! If you are one who has kept up with a newbie blogger like myself and find what I have to say to be interesting please share this page with your friends. I have big goals for this blog, and that is to get the life of a teacher out for the world to see. The more people who read this the more who will hopefully understand.
Aside from my PSA and advertisement for my blog tonight I want to talk about the movie "Waiting for Superman." While I have not watched the movie myself (because I am sure it will anger me) I have heard much about it and read different things concerning the premise for the movie. It seems to me that our society is quick to point the finger at the educational system for producing poor test scores and for running a system that doesn't work. One of the first things that people point out is the dropout rate. If one were to take the time to look at this they would see that the dropout rate has actually been steadily decreasing since at least 1960. Along with this student scores on the NAEP or the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading test have been steadily increasing since 1998. These upward trends seem to be a positive thing in my book.
With scores like these it makes me wonder who really is to blame for educational problems in the United States. If we look at countries around us, those with the best educational systems are those who value education and teachers the most. In a country that looks down on teachers and degrades the educational system, students will definitely feel the effects. No wonder students do poorly if all they hear is how incompetent their teachers are. In connection with this is the breakdown of the family unit. In many cases today students grow-up in homes where education takes a back seat to making money and doing family chores. I can work until I want to pass out but if there is no parental or familial support at home all of my efforts will be in vain.
References:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0779196.html
http://nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2007/w0002.asp
Aside from my PSA and advertisement for my blog tonight I want to talk about the movie "Waiting for Superman." While I have not watched the movie myself (because I am sure it will anger me) I have heard much about it and read different things concerning the premise for the movie. It seems to me that our society is quick to point the finger at the educational system for producing poor test scores and for running a system that doesn't work. One of the first things that people point out is the dropout rate. If one were to take the time to look at this they would see that the dropout rate has actually been steadily decreasing since at least 1960. Along with this student scores on the NAEP or the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading test have been steadily increasing since 1998. These upward trends seem to be a positive thing in my book.
With scores like these it makes me wonder who really is to blame for educational problems in the United States. If we look at countries around us, those with the best educational systems are those who value education and teachers the most. In a country that looks down on teachers and degrades the educational system, students will definitely feel the effects. No wonder students do poorly if all they hear is how incompetent their teachers are. In connection with this is the breakdown of the family unit. In many cases today students grow-up in homes where education takes a back seat to making money and doing family chores. I can work until I want to pass out but if there is no parental or familial support at home all of my efforts will be in vain.
References:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0779196.html
http://nationsreportcard.gov/writing_2007/w0002.asp
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Happy Halfweek
Good evening readers! Today is a wonderful Wednesday as the week is now more than half over. Today I spent my day working through the novel "The Outsiders" however, I did spend my morning juggling 2 novels so that my students could have a choice in what they read. I did everything but get on my hands and knees to plead with my students to continue working through their novel so that they can get a good grade on their assignments as the end of the marking period is looming closer and closer. For some students if they fail this marking period they will fail Language Arts, and possibly the year. Some days I honestly believe that I care more about their education and their success than they do. The end of my day consisted of wrangling a classroom in which half of the students have disabilities of some sort and many of them have attention disorders. While having attention problems may seem to be something that is over diagnosed it can be a real problem for a student who tries to focus. For example, today I had to try and help students focus on reading silently while one was banging on his desk and another continuously would read, get up and walk around the room, read, get up, etc. Oh, did I mention I also have students in the room who are on the Autism spectrum? Those with attention disorders make it extra difficult for these students to accomplish their tasks.
Aside from the actual teaching portion of my day I had conference with a student about their troubles at home and the impact that their personal concerns are having on their learning. I also discovered that I have a student with a parent who's cancer is spreading. No matter what these students have going on it is my job to put that aside and make sure they comprehend their reading and understand the lesson. My heart goes out to these students but with so many other students with so many other needs there sometimes seems so little that I can do.
I once read in a book (for the graduate classes I take in my spare time) that people do not expect doctors to see and treat 30 patients in the same room at the same time and neither do they expect lawyers to juggle 30 cases at once, but everyday we ask teachers to diagnosis the needs of 30-150 or more students, determine a method of treatment, and then carry out that treatment all while maintaining a level of control, engagement, and rigor. Where in the old statement "those who can, do and those who can't, teach" does the ability to do all of those things fit?
Aside from the actual teaching portion of my day I had conference with a student about their troubles at home and the impact that their personal concerns are having on their learning. I also discovered that I have a student with a parent who's cancer is spreading. No matter what these students have going on it is my job to put that aside and make sure they comprehend their reading and understand the lesson. My heart goes out to these students but with so many other students with so many other needs there sometimes seems so little that I can do.
I once read in a book (for the graduate classes I take in my spare time) that people do not expect doctors to see and treat 30 patients in the same room at the same time and neither do they expect lawyers to juggle 30 cases at once, but everyday we ask teachers to diagnosis the needs of 30-150 or more students, determine a method of treatment, and then carry out that treatment all while maintaining a level of control, engagement, and rigor. Where in the old statement "those who can, do and those who can't, teach" does the ability to do all of those things fit?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Rich, Greedy, and Lazy
Recently it has been popular to criminalize teachers and who they are not only as professionals but as people also. I have started this blog to fight against this and to use this as a place to vent over the frustration that I feel about being looked down upon for trying to help the future of America. I will try to give people an honest glimpse into the life of a teacher so that everyone will know what it is really like to be a teacher day in and day out. I only wish I had started this before all of our standardized tests had finished.
First I want to start by looking at the word rich. I am very far from rich, in fact my husband and I are struggling to be able to purchase our first home. We have looked and looked and honestly can't afford anything over around $190,000. In the area of the country we live in an inhabitable house at this price is simply unheard of. With our 2 year old daughter growing bigger everyday our need for a larger space is increasing but we are not sure this will happen anytime soon. Rich I am not, unless you count love then I am richer than most.
Greedy is the next word. Am I greedy? I don't think so, I'll loan whatever I have in my pocket (if I have anything!) to someone who needs it. Do I want to be compensated for the time I work yes but so does every other working American in the country. Who wants to put their heart and soul on the line daily without getting paid for it? Do I want my pension to be secure, yes. Do I still pay into a 403b to supplement, you better believe it. I am under no illusions that we are in rough economic times but we cannot continue to take out of the pockets of teachers to line the pockets of others.
Lazy is the last word I will address in my first blog tonight. We are called lazy because we have summers off and still want better pay. While I know there are many stressful jobs in the world I challenge every nay sayer in the world to come and do what I do for just one week. Shadow a local teacher and try their job for one week and then come back and tell me what you think. It is unfair for you to judge us without knowing what we do day in and day out. To further my point with this I will try to provide daily examples in my life as a teacher and the lives of other teachers I know to illustrate what really go through. For example everyday I hear of students facing major things in their personal lives. I struggle with being able to teach them and be sensitive to their other needs, knowing they can't focus with such major issues looming in their faces. If you think you could than maybe you should be the teacher and not me.
I leave you tonight with a challenge to find a teacher and really ask them what their daily life is like!
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