Students:
Are you a real teacher?
Aren’t you just a sub?
Do you work here?
If you’re a real teacher, then what are you doing here?
Adults:
Are you looking for a job?
Have you tried the city yet?
Are you looking?
If you’re certified, then why aren’t you teaching?
At least the kids have an excuse for nosey questions.
OK! GOT IT! EUREKA!
I’m no longer in sub-urgatory*... I’m actually on.... SUB-BATICAL!
Let me back up. I’m crushing on lots of teacher books, and trying to convince myself not to buy them, even though I know I will in the end. This is, shall we say, a “lean” time financially, and I’m a little stressed about Christmas coming up and bills and etc.
However, I’m really trying to use this time - like I said recently - to learn and think and try to plan out my game for how to be an awesome teacher. SO, if I view this time as something like a sabbatical, then that means it’s totally OK if I buy books to read and research and think and plan - just like I said I would do.
My list - bought and desired
Teaching Adolescent Writers by Kelly Gallagher (just bought it)Should keep me busy and fill in those long periods in the teachers’ lounge ...
Reciprocal Teaching at Work: Powerful Strategies and Lessons for Improving Reading Comprehension, 2nd Edition
by Lori D. Oczkus
Common Core Curriculum Maps in English Language Arts, Grades 9-12 (Common Core Series)
So, there are ups and downs to my current schedule.
On the one hand, I come home and have nothing that needs to be graded, planned, or really even thought about. The job more or less ends at 2:30.
On the other hand, I am not so good with lots of time on my hands. I am a sadistic sicko who needs to work a lot in order to be happy (ok a little hyperbole there - but not all that much of it).
On the one hand, subbing gives me time to think and read and maybe even write about how to be a better teacher (and other stuff too - like cruising my way through the Game of Thrones series).
On the other, my dad always said the more you have to get done, the more you do. I am not necessarily productive despite all my free time.
But, I absolutely knew ahead of time that I would feel like this the second my long-term leave placement ended. So I guess I felt a little more prepared. I am determined to make the most of all the time I have right now. What better time for a few goals?
Goals for SubTimeRead more...
- Can’t think well if I don’t feel well: first goal is to exercise 4 times a week.
- I want to be the best teacher I can possibly be. That requires research and thinking. So, this goal is a little amorphous but it is to think about and read about best teaching practices.
- Write down something interesting or notable (to me) at least 3 times a week. It can even be 1 sentence. I just want to get into the habit of recording.
I’m going to be teaching 9th and 11th graders for 6 weeks. The 9’s I think I have figured out, more or less. I’ve taught 9 a few times, particularly the beginning part of 9th grade, so since we’ll be focusing on literary elements and short stories, I feel like I’m fairly set.
It’s the 11’s I’m stressing about. How much review will they need? What writing skills do I teach? Ok, get them ready for the Regents, but this is the beginning of the year - we’re not doing Regents prep full-force just yet. How about a novel or a play? Which one? (I’m thinking Death of a Salesman?) Ok, but before we get there let’s start with a short story - again, which one? What essential questions are important for this year? What will speak to them about the “American experience”?
(Can you see I’m spinning a little? It doesn’t help that I’m going on Day 4 without power and have sort of been living like a nomad. I think I’d be a little less stressed if not for that. I’m really looking forward to going to work tomorrow, not only to catch up with everyone, but to try to forget about not having power for a little while! I’m also a little worried about getting to work - but I think the roads have been mostly cleared. I hope so anyways.)
Yes that's right -- I'm teachin' summer school!
It's actually not nearly as bad as you might think. My kids get a little chatty sometimes, but they're overall pretty good. They don't want to be stuck taking English forever!
I'm "teaching" 2 classes - I say "teaching" because the first class is an online course, where my role is that of a mentor. The students have an online teacher, but I am there to make sure they stay on task, answer questions they may have, help them with the technology (which is Blackboard), etc. From my end, this is nice - I don't have to plan, the students can take whatever English course they failed, regardless of the school schedule, and it's something new and experimental. On the other hand, I wonder how many of them will be successful. There's a whole lot of YouTube going on when I look around at the computers, despite my parrot-like commands for them to focus on their work and stay on track. That, and some other tech-related issues having to do with what we have in our computer lab, and the organization of the students' courses. I'm still out on whether I think this is a good option for struggling students.
My other class is a "live" class: 9th grade English. I really enjoy this one. I spend 2 hours with the kids each day, Monday to Thursday, and I'm really surprised at how quickly the time moves. It makes me wonder how we get through everything in 40-minute spurts during the year! It moves quickly for me, but I know it's a long time for some of the students --- some of them get really restless during the 2nd half. Overall, though, I think it affords the time to allow them to practice writing, and allows me time to check in with everyone at least once during class. We also have our own laptop cart, and I've set the kids up on Google docs. It's nice to have the time to experiment.
Anyway, that's all for now. More to come...!
I'm not really sure how people teach (or work, in general) full time, and still have the time and energy to blog. I really like this space, but I wish I could carve out more time to write about the things I've been learning, thinking about, experiencing. So once again, as always, I'm mindful of my absence but hopeful that I can one day write regularly.
With that said, I feel like I sort of stumbled upon the end of the school year. Looking back, it feels like I blinked and found myself proctoring Regents exams and trying to piece together final grades. I graduated from my master's program about a month ago, and just received word that my certification should be passed any day now. It's been almost 2 years since I began my grad work. Where did that time go? Doesn't matter; I know I'm doing what I should be doing, and I love it.
It's hard to pin down what I like most about my job, but one of the top 3 items is getting to meet and talk with new people every day. I'm wrapping up a leave replacement right now, and will be teaching summer school (at the same school) next month. So even though the school year is ending, I am still meeting new people in the building each day, or getting to know people a little better and work with them a little more than I would on a regular school day (as opposed to exam week). Not to mention working with 80-100 kids every day. I love that I get to laugh at least once (and usually much more than that) every single day!
What's on my summer to-do list? Right now I'm mostly throwing myself into planning for summer school. Next on the agenda is to spend more time here, developing ideas for using technology in teaching. I also want to create a site geared for my (future) students: my vision is for it be a sort of portal for ELA and study skills (but with a really sweet UI too!). We'll see what happens ... unfortunately, my little projects don't always come to fruition. :) Most importantly, I will be spending some time on the beach with my stack of summer reading!
I'm not sure what next September will bring, but there will be something. I have to believe that. This year was amazing in so many different ways, and I only hope that next year will be as rewarding. I will keep chipping away. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Radio silence. I'm swamped.
The short of it is that I've been doing a long term leave replacement, ELA Special Ed. I'm not sure why, but with all of the other placements I've covered over this past year, none have so fully wiped me out each and every day. I also feel like I can be doing so, so much better with these classes, but I'm not sure what's in my way. Maybe it's just the very different nature of these classes that I'm not used to. It is excellent experience, I just hope I am doing my students justice and giving them what they need.
On another note, I'm graduating in two weeks! I'm sort of happy, sort of not-caring. I'm trying to convince myself that this truly is an accomplishment. For some reason it doesn't really seem like one. Maybe because I feel so worn out right now. I feel like I've lost sight of what I originally set out to do (lofty things - change the world, integrate technology into every-day teaching, make kids' lives better, yada yada). But then maybe I'm already beginning to do those things? (OK I KNOW this is corny, feel free to skip on the feel-fest.) Today I received an "extra credit" paragraph from one of my most challenging students. It was titled "My ELA Teachers." Apparently, for some reason, he decided to begin returning to class when I began teaching. I really don't know if that's a compliment or not, and I don't think I will change anything for him (especially because he likes to sing while I'm trying to read aloud), but maybe he'll get something via osmosis and that will be more than he was getting while chilling in the caf during our class period.
Anyways. I'm tired. I hope no one believes that teaching is something people learn how to do overnight. It's easy to just "do" teaching. It's hard to do it well.
So last week I subbed for a one of my mentor teachers. This was a treat because I knew the kids and they knew me, which meant that the extent of trying to get away with this and that was at least somewhat diminished. They had finished reading The Catcher in the Rye a few weeks ago, and were beginning to outline and draft critical lens essays.
Most of the students worked diligently on their essays. The ones who would usually goof off, did. One was particularly and genuinely frustrated, and as the bell rang after 3 days of having his head down and his earbuds in, he delivered this to my desk:
I'm going to be picking up a leave replacement next month some time, and the teacher had an appointment yesterday, so she requested me as her sub. Most of her classes are inclusion, so she teaches with another teacher, who was also there yesterday. It was a perfect situation for me to introduce myself to the classes and try to get to know them a little.
As I was introducing myself, I heard one student whisper something to the other teacher. She responded excitedly, "yes I know, I was just thinking that!" What were they talking about?
Next, she explains, they've been reading Tuesdays with Morrie (one that I need to read still). In one part of the book, apparently they do trust falls, where you fall backwards and trust that the other person or people will catch you. Ok, cue my heart beating a litttttle faster. I am immediately having flashbacks to a 7th grade field trip in which I was blindly led through a forest, and my partner let me trip over rocks and walk into trees. I tell them about this, they laugh with me. But with 22 kids in front of me cheering me on, waiting to see how I'll react, there's only one choice.
I go to the back of the room and about 8 kids line up in 2 lines. Then the teacher pulls a desk over in front of the line. I have to get up on the desk?? "Ok, Ok, you'll definitely catch me, RIGHT??!" I ask them, about 5 times. "Yes, we definitely will."
I step up, they give me a countdown. I fall, they catch.
As I return to the front of the room, and the students to their desks, the kids are smiling. One of them says as he is sitting down, "You're one of us now."
I can't imagine a better introduction to a class.
I won't say I'm the worst blogger ever - just maybe one of the least consistent ones. I have a great excuse though - and that is that student teaching and taking classes truly absorbs all of your time, energy, and thoughts. I was able to make a little bit of time for reflection, but not a whole lot of it for putting those thoughts into blog posts.
But that's ok. I am a person committed to quality over quantity!
Anyways, I think I was very lucky to be blessed with a phenonmenal student teaching experience. I landed in an incredibly rich and nourishing nest of supportive teachers who gave me the confidence to believe that yes, I can actually do this. I think that alone was critical and I am so fortunate to have them as role models and mentors.
One of the things I spent a lot of time thinking about this past semester is students and technology. I actually ended up doing my capstone research project on this topic. While it is fairly limited in scope, it gave me the opportunity to think about students and technology and learning, and how or where they intersect. One of th things I uncovered, at least for myself, is that students have technology skills, but they don't necessarily know how to apply social tech skills to academics. Now, of course, Prensky and others might argue that students today have an innate ability to use technology. I would argue, however, that although students have social technological fluency, they lack academic technology fluency: meaning, they just don't know exactly how to use tech for learning. I don't think we can expect them to innately know how, either.
No, I don't think these thoughts are completely unique: I'm sure many others have realized and written about this idea. But, I think that there is an assumption that students know how to use computers and just choose to constatnly check facebook or twitter and not do their work. Instead, I think if teachers engage students on these types of social technology platforms, and model for students how these things can be used for real learning (that part is key), maybe students will shift from using technology as a distraction towards truly engaging in learning on platforms they are comfortable and knowledgeable in.
Just some thoughts for today. I hope to continue writing about this, and thinking about easy ways to integrate technology into effective learning.
Until next time, whenever that may be. :)
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