Teaching... — Page 7

I've always thought that the first year of teaching was very much like the first pancake from a batch - it's the nasty, ugly trial run that you learn from (then throw out) so all the following years/pancakes are better. My first year was a disaster - personally and professionally. Finding the right "fit" in a school is tough and you never know what you've gotten yourself into until the year is underway. Your committment to your students (not the admin) keep you from bailing out on a bad situation, which is easier done in other professions.

My own private school is a dream. On any given day someone and/or something makes you grind your teeth, but I would say that we have 90% of nmartin's list of school "blessings" - great kids, parents, support and a fun, enthusiastic atmosphere. The girls love to come to school in the morning and it shows. I've taught elsewhere so I know how unique my situation is and I don't take it for granted. Great schools DO exist - public and private. They deserve to have great teachers working there....like Kel.

Hey Kel, I recommend looking to some of IPS's alternate schools like Key Learning Communities. It's completely based on Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. I don't know if they have any job openings coming up, but I've visited and it is an amazing learning environment. I know IPS closing a lot of schools, and I haven't visited recently. I hope it isn't one of the casualties.

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my hat is off to all of you, as you begin the 2nd half of the school year :)

hey, i heard renowned teacher RAFE ESQUITH speak last nite ... really gave me a shot in the arm. he teaches shakespeare to 5th graders! i had a GREAT day today at school :)

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oh, my dear miss p ... you should see me when i'm MAD at them ... ha!

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they get away though!

miss p, NO ONE ELSE knows WHAT we're talking about, but i don't care cause i'm enjoying a good laugh

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I had a fabulous social studies lesson today. I got it from the internet to adapt, so I'm not claiming it as my own, but it really hit home with my kids. I teach a class of 2nd graders, all African American. Today before SS, I gave them all a sticker. Then I went to sit in our library with five cushions set out in front of me. As the students came over, those with pink stickers (though I did not tell them why) got to sit on the cushions while the other 20 students were not allowed to sit there. I let the "pink" students go get water and come back, and when the other students asked why I said "that's the way it is." Then I did a read-aloud about MLK, Jr. I only asked the students on the cushions how they liked the story, etc. I let them talk out of turn but refused to call on the students in the back, etc. I was torn between feeling horrible for treating them unfairly (it was truly heartrending at times) to being slightly amused at how big a deal it was (and the looks of sheer anger on some of my kids' faces).

The point of the lesson, as you can imagine, was for the students to feel what prejudice felt like (to some degree). By the end of the lesson, when a student in the back tried to say something, someone else would say "she's not gonna call on you, she only cares about them." When the book was over, I asked why they think we might have done this. My students really got the connection--very exciting for second grade! The message really hit home. It also allowed the students who did experience privilege to say what they experienced--they liked being treated well, and while they still thought it was unfair, they didn't speak up because they didn't want to risk not getting to do the same things. An excellent lesson, and with the right modifications, would certainly work at any age.

Oh, and I let all the students go get drinks after--for the record.

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Jess, I did a lesson like that yesterday. I made the boys stand in the back of the room and share a small table to do their work on while the girls got to sit at their regular seats and put their feet up in the empty chairs. I told them that we were about to start reading a new chapter book and that I had gone to B&N to get new copies for the girls, but that the boys would have to use some old tattered copies that I'd found in an old storage closet. Some pages were missing and they would have to share, but it would be the same book as the girls had, etc... This went on for about 15-20 minutes. The guys were so frustrated and mad at me, but one or two were starting to figure it out because our journal topic that morning had been about equal rights. I finally let the guys sit back down and read the "I have a dream" speech to them. We then had to discuss why the word negro was used so much and why it isn't used today and then a little girl raised her hand and when I called on her she shouted out the "n-word". She said, "N-word, they used to call them Ns, too." The rest of the class was horrified, but it was a good teachable moment about words that aren't used because of their negative connotations and how words can be hurtful to people, etc... After the speech I explained about segregation and the "seperate, but equal" policies and how they weren't equal at all. The kids were in shock that these things really went on and that it wasn't all that long ago that they had happened.

That was the highlight of the day, the rest of the day was pretty frustrating. I have a student who I discovered hasn't done most of his vocab work since the first day of school. We check it every day as a class so I don't grade the individual daily papers because they use them to study for the test on Fridays. I noticed that he hadn't done any of Monday's or yesterday's work as I was walking around so I decided to look through his book and almost hit the floor. He now sits right next to my desk and I am wanting to scream at him, but I'll just have to basically hover over him for the next few weeks until he gets it that he HAS to do the work or I will never get off of his back about it.

Speaking of which I need to go get ready for work. See you guys.

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We actually have no diversity at all in my school. It is a very small school so I really had to stress the importance of what Dr. King did and how things have changed. I mean I had one kid write in his journal that equal rights helped make things better for "colored people". I was floored, but I was happy at how outraged most of the kids were about the way African Americans were treated.

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Updated On: 2/21/09 at 08:10 PM

Son, thanks for the heads up. I am going to look into the KLC. Right now I'm trying to juggle getting my kids back into the swing of things, prepping for the science fair, getting things ready for the upcoming job hunt and getting things ready for the baby (who might be here earlier than expected...the doc is thinking we might have miscalculated the due date. ) So I will eventually let you know if I decide to apply there. If you are ever back in the area let me know.

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