Connotations of Teaching

Dear Bloggers,

As any teacher knows there are a lot of feelings associated with the word “teacher”. If you have ever been in a gathering where you are introduced to corporate types, you may catch the tone shift when you are introduced as only a teacher. Or in the summer, when being a teacher brings the phrase “must be nice” because the attitude that you don’t have to wake up for work the next day sums up the entirety of our year. I don’t know if the eye roll was as prevalent when I first entered this career over a decade ago - before we were painted as public enemy number one by politicians and the media. But that’s not what this post is about. It’s about the simple nuances within the daily lives of teachers.

The word “child” holds a different feeling when I am talking about the children in my class versus a “child” in the food store. I don’t think of them in the same way. You’ll often hear a teacher speak of their students as “my kids” because that’s just what they are. They are ours. Each child that passes through our classrooms holds a very special place in our hearts for all of eternity. They are ours. We feel a sense of responsibility that no other profession could understand over the lives or human beings that we encounter on a daily basis.

One of the most important words to me in the English language is “sister”. Wrapped up in that word is a whole other level of love and family and best friend that only someone with a sister can truly understand. It is much the same as the word “student”. And even more meaningful “my student”. I always tell my kids that once I am their teacher, I will always be there teacher. And every so often there is a kid that really gets that. They may reach out after graduation to say hi, shoot me an email, or share an educational victory.

When you are my student I celebrate your accomplishments alongside of you, and I hurt when I see that your are hurting. “My student” is up there with one of the most meaningful phrases in the English language, because as a teacher I feel a crushing responsibility to help you realize that you are young and that you have so much ahead of you. The possibilities are endless if you begin to realize your potential. I know that our time together as teacher and student is limited, and I am in a race against time to help you achieve and hopefully help you to find your niche, or plant a seed that will grow and blossom as you yourself grow and blossom.

Now, although there are perfectly acceptable synonyms to student, such as scholar. (My new "fearless leader" is insisting we call our kids this.) They don't like this and neither do I. It doesn’t have the same connotation of love, respect, and responsibility. Scholar is cold. It feels like a statistic, or a point on a graph. It feels sarcastic and doesn’t do justice to how we work tirelessly together to help you improve. It feels that the “scholar” is taking part in an independent study and does not have a teacher to guide them or care for them.

By calling you a “scholar” it removes that bond we share. It implies that you no longer need your teachers. It doesn’t raise the bar, the expectations I set for my students raise the bar. I could decide to call the school a ship, but that doesn’t make us sailors - It’s just a word.

There are many simple words - meaningful words that shouldn’t be stricken from our vocabulary… like please, and thank you, and you WILL use such words in my classroom. Even if this is the only place you do.


Sincerely,


The Frustrated Teacher

Is this a life?

Dear Bloggers,

It’s after 8 p.m. and my alarm went off over an hour ago to stop working… Yes I set an alarm for when I need to stop working - or at least begin to wrap things up for the evening. Over the summer I began reading a book which that has been sitting on my nightstand, haunting me unfinished since I realize that my goal of finishing all my classes novels was growing less realistic if I didn’t strictly read school related materials. So, in an effort not to be such a work-aholic I decided I was going to make some time for adult literature again. However, I'm so overly stressed right now that I decided to use this time to vent as the “frustrated teacher”.

I’ve been realizing that my quality of life has been slowly deteriorating over the past few years. At first I made an excuse that it was from changing districts. Then my next year it was from changing placements, and last year it was due to a change in curriculum and administration. Well, this year we have yet another new curriculum to follow. (This will be my third in this district in four years). This year I have been making notations on my calendar how many hours I have been spending in the building and additional hours that I spent working at home. My intentions were to figure out my hourly wage. (I’m really not sure why I want to depress myself and do that math).  Now of course this couldn’t include the countless hours I spent this past summer. Tonight I'm frustrated because it’s only Wednesday and I’ve already worked more than a 40 hour work week.


Let me take you through what has been a typical week thus far:

Sunday - I meet with my co-teacher, alternating houses where we will plan for the upcoming week and make ourselves checklists. We begin about 2 and have been going until 8 or 9 pm. Last week we met on a Saturday for over 14 hours until we began falling asleep at her dining room table. (This was a horrible choice because I still spent all day Sunday working somehow). And did I mention, I spend the whole morning preparing food for the upcoming week or I end up eating soup straight out of the can for dinner and school lunch?

Our parking situation is horrible, so I must arrive by 7:05 if I want a spot in the lot, and remotely near my room. This is essential since I lug a bag with three large teacher’s editions; and a second with a chromebook, papers to grade, any other materials I may need, my coffee (which I inevitably spill on myself), breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner. Mondays we have meetings until 4. I run back up to my classroom to tie up loose ends and check my email. I’ve been leaving the building about 5:30/6 and go home to let the dog out and if I have time, throw some food in my face. I leave almost immediately to go tutor and don’t get home until close to 8. If I didn’t get a chance to eat - I’ll stop for a pint of white rice (quickest thing I know to get) and eat it in the car on the way home. Then I may do another hour of work or so if it’s my week to grade the weekend reading assignments or simply crash.

Tuesday is my late day. I stay until everything is completed, and I don’t leave until 6 or 6:30. I go home, eat, and get to work. This is when I make my screencasts for flipping lessons, or videos for independent practice. Usually there is a question or two from a parent or child needing homework help. So I’m multi-tasking. I try to be off the computer and heading towards bed by 8pm.

Wednesday repeat, but I try to leave the building by 5:50. This is ideal traffic time. This is the day that I grade. So depending how much I have it could take an hour, it could take three.

Thursday I try to start outlining what I will need to accomplish for the next week and get a jump on any graphic organizers or vocabulary so I’m ready for the weekend planning sessions. I also list the skills we will be addressing for the upcoming week. I try to leave by 4:15 and mainly work from home. (It’s still a 9 hour day) but by 7 I like to be in bed to catch up on the DVR and make sure there’s space for the amazing Thursday night line-up.

Now Friday comes! We often try not to work through lunch and generally don’t allow kids to hang out in our classrooms. Sometimes we’ll order out. I stay after school and plan with one of my co-teachers. We usually stay until 6 or 6:30 to complete our weekly agendas, lesson plans, and divide the tasks of mini-lessons, graphic organizers to be completed, and any other assignment that may need to be created or found. I come home exhausted and veg on the couch watching my Thursday night line-up. Often I will fall asleep before 8 or 9, but if I don’t I’ll get back to work and attempt to tackle some of my to-do list.

Saturday I wake super early - since I usually fall asleep before 11. I try to get my weekend cleaning completed before noon so I have a few hours to lounge. I put the DVR on and get to town. I try not to work on Saturday, but often do. Saturdays are quite during the evening here and usually a good time to record screencasts without the stomping feet of my upstairs neighbors. But sometimes, I’ll go back to bed and watch all of the TV I didn’t get to or stopped paying attention to while cleaning.


And then Sunday, it starts all over.

I really can’t keep this pace up. Every year, I say this will be the last. I convince myself that next year will be better. There’s always an excuse why my workload is nearly unbearable, but it never changes.


Sincerely,


Another Frustrated Teacher

Coteaching

Dear Bloggers,

Years ago, I was asked to make a list of my roles and responsibilities in my in-class support classes. An administrator was unable to "see" my role in a classroom during an observation. So I jotted down what I did, and then presented the list to my colleagues, who each added an idea or two of their own. That year, I supported seven different courses for six different teachers. So, clearly the list was extensive since no two classes nor teaching personalities were the same. This actually served to hurt me since the administration told me it looked as though I took the list from a "how to co-teach" textbook. Looking back on that, it was a backhanded compliment.

In a traditional notes and lecture classroom I supplied students with guided notes. Slower students received cloze notes, disorganized students with Cornell note taking sheets with various levels of support, while visually impaired students or kids who really struggled had a hard copy of the PowerPoint in front of them to copy. I circulated keeping kids on track, supplying highlighters, and adding to notes. I whispered questions, rephrased and restated questions, and asked questions for understanding. That year, I wasn't a very active participant during class, but behind the scenes, I modified tests; made study guides, created interactive games, utilized Quizlets for key vocabulary, and tirelessly updated parents. At future observation of this, the same administrator loved this. This was true support at it's best, but is it co-teaching? There was no common planning time. I did not prepare lessons, as many classes were out of my subject area certification and expertise. No, this was NOT TRUE co-teaching.

In a project based environment, there's a great deal of prep work that goes into the success of the support model. I need a clear objective and product. I need to make checklists and benchmark checks, sometimes calendars, and examples. If there's research involved I may create a LiveBinder to help organize and limit resources so students don't get overwhelmed. I am a strong believer in presenting students with a rubric and setting expectations before hand. I often look for apps and web extensions to further assist students.

When a teacher changes lessons unexpectedly I need to be ready. Unfortunately this seemed to happen all too often in one of my former classes. No matter how much prep work or planning I did, it's ultimately someone else's classroom, so flexibility and thinking on my toes are imperative for the in-class support position. Trust me, there are times I just feel like crossing my arms and pouting, and sitting in the back of the room because all my hard work was for naught. But that is not why I'm there, I'm there for my students. Sometimes my heart breaks knowing that if I'm caught off guard by the next lesson, what must my classified students feel like?

In many classes I constantly felt like I was trying to claw my way to the status of a “real teacher” in the eyes of the students. There was little buy in when I presented a strategy. The classified students knew these were ultimately meant to help them, and they resisted- not wanting to be “different”. The general education students pushed back because they knew they weren’t classified. There was clearly a division of roles, and I was “the other teacher” or the “helper teacher”.

I was once described by an older colleague in one of my early years of teaching as having the “work ethic of a baby boomer”. This complement has always stayed with me being a child of two extremely hard-working baby boomers. But, although the way I may have been working back then was hard… it wasn’t smart. I was trying to anticipate any situation and preemptively plan for any possible lesson. There was a thick line in the sand between “my students” and “their students”. I knew it, and the kids knew it. This was not co-teaching.

Fast forward to the present. Now, I feel as if I’ve paid my dues, the stars have aligned and I’m in the utopia of my teaching career. No, life isn’t perfect, I still work hard and insanely long hours. But I have found my true co-teaching counterparts. Not just in some of my classes, but my entire day is actually right out of the co-teaching handbook once and for all.

I actually have common planning time earmarked within the school day for common planning time. Although, this time is usually spent on reflection and student achievement or performance. I am blessed to be pared up with amazing educators that share my philosophy of teaching, my passion and dedication, as well as my “baby boomer” work ethic. There are hours carved out during the week for lesson planning (outside of our school day). We share the responsibilities of assessments, modifications, grading, feedback, and instruction. At any given point all of our classes may be grouped heterogeneously or homogeneously. I may be leading a larger class discussion, or working with small groups. I’m finally working smarter! With shared responsibilities the impact is truly obvious and the students are reaping the benefits. There’s more one on one time and more small group instruction. Both parents and students alike consider BOTH of us their teachers.


Sincerely,


Another Frustrated Teacher