Attempting to Break the Stereotype

You've heard the jokes and been privy to the stereotypes. If you want an "easy" job, become a teacher so you get to have a million vacations and summers off.

I do not fit into the stereotype. Rather I'm counting down to the beginning of the school year.

Granted, with the first day of school comes a limited freedom for me and exceptional more work. I enjoy my summers with my two children. I use much of my summer to educate myself attending various webinars and reading a plethora of articles.  I take pleasure in being able to sleep later than the sunrise and indulge in a television show here or there.

However, my teacher-heart lives for the 180 days I get to interact with teachers and students in the hallways and classrooms. The end-of-summer advertised school supply specials make me feel invigorated. Something about starting with a clean slate for both the teacher and student exhilarates me.

In the ten years I've been an educator, I have encountered a number in the profession who view the summer vacation as a time to recharge, reflect, and renew just like me. The 2 months off are a great time to improve in the craft of teaching. Unfortunately, I have met plenty of other types of teachers who live from one vacation/break to the next simply enduring the teaching days in between. In my opinion, this attitude will impact the classrooms involved in spreading a general negativity.

Is there anything I can do as an educational leader to help encourage the drive and desire to grow and change and then enjoy the days of teaching? What steps can be taken to make school fun for both teachers and students? How can we change the stereotype the world has about the education profession? What can we do to ensure that the students become life-long learners?

If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students!

For the past four summers, I have read the same book. It is my go-to book for self-evaluation and reassessment as a school administrator. If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students! by Neila A. Connors, Ph.D. allows me to accomplish both of these tasks. The premise of the book is that administrators need to be active in their encouragement and nurturing of teachers or the entire school and student body will suffer.

By way of a "book review" I will say that Connors is a creative writer, always connecting her concepts back to a restaurant environment. The advice is very practical yet poignant. There are times I feel that Connors tries too hard to force the restaurant theme by creating acronyms for everything. The fact that there is a glossary for the acronyms is evidence that there may be too many. However, since I've read the book now four times, I obviously value the messages therein.

During this summer's reading, I came to several realizations. 

1. I am only responsible for myself. I cannot change the overall vision or mission of the school where I work. I cannot change every aspect of how things are done. However, I can change my outlook, attitude, and the way I personally do my job.

2. I need to hold true to what I personally value as I interact with the teachers in our school rather than allowing my frustrations and busyness to interfere.

While reevaluating my role and job, I set eight goals for the 2012-2013 school year. Many of these are frequent goals for several years, but I need to put forth more energy into accomplishing them and remaining consistent.

1. Spend more time in the classrooms and hallways... less time in my office.

2. Find creative ways to encourage the teachers and staff for a job well done.

3. Plan at least two fun faculty outings during the school year.

4. Take time to care for myself - physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally.

5. Find 2-3 manageable meaningful tasks to complete each day.

6. Communicate more often and more clearly with faculty and staff.

7. Create (and abide by) a personal organization plan.

8. Schedule on the first day of every month a time to reflect on my goals and accomplishments from the previous month. Then adjust! 

Fellow administrators - I highly encourage you to read this book. What are some of your goals for the upcoming school year?

Test Scores

Well, the scores are in. All five of my AP English Literature students passed the exam with a 3 or higher. I am very proud of them and quite relieved.

I admit I've had butterflies in my stomach leading up to the release of scores. Which got me thinking...

I am blessed that my job does not depend upon my students' scores. But what if, like so many educators in schools around this nation, it did?

I attempted to prepare my students for the exam as much as humanly possible. I admit it was difficult at times due to several factors: scheduling, the constant fight against senioritis, and an overall relaxed academic environment. I pushed, and they pushed back. When test day came, I knew what scores each student was most capable of receiving, but I couldn't enter the exam room with them. They were on their own.

When there are so many factors, why is it that the value of teachers is solely judged by test scores? I long for a change in the system that puts the needs of students first and judges the teacher by various criterion...which includes test scores but also encompasses so much more. Any human being would want to be judged on more than just one aspect of a job, position, interaction, etc. Teachers deserve an opportunity to prove themselves in various ways.

The Transition...

I have now been in education for 10 years. I feel like I live the movie Groundhog Day over and over each June for all 10 of those years. The transition is horrible.

Let me explain....

For 10 months, the educator works 40-60 hours per week lesson planning, grading, teaching, serving in lunch duty and recess, and so much more. This does not even begin to capture the emotional hours educators put in from Sept-June. You know what I mean... the issues that wake you up at 3am and continue with no clear-cut solutions. 

Now it is mid-June and life as you know it has come to a screeching halt. All of a sudden, you are on summer vacation. There is a to-do list a mile long. After all, the house hasn't been cleaned sufficiently in 10 months, moldy food is in the fridge, a ton of household projects have been waiting for summer to arrive, and the kids are home and bored so put on my entertainer hat. In addition, at the end of each unit I teach, I add it to my summer to-do list to refine it. Throughout administration meetings, I keep a list of "future admin projects" and plan on fleshing out details while on summer break.

However, instead of accomplishing anything, I find myself sitting on the couch doing a bunch of nothing.

If I was content on the couch that would be one thing. However, I feel guilty for not doing something! After all, I've been doing "something" constantly for 10 months. So for the first 1-2 weeks of summer break for the past 10 years, I feel like I'm in a period of melancholy as I adjust. It has taken me 10 years to put into words how I feel each June. I doubt I'm alone. If you are in my boat, take heart is knowing there are other educators who feel the same. There is hope too. The melancholy days end and the to-do list begins to be accomplished. I never get everything checked off the list, but I make a huge dent... eventually, once July hits. 


"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~Anatole France

Paperless!

I know I'm not the swiftest with technology, but I'm a willing learner. I am just beginning to find out all that Google Docs can do and have proposed to my fellow administrators that we begin to go the route of "paperless". The constant copying, recopying for the students who lose forms, and shuffling of said papers wastes plenty of time and money. We will begin to utilize Google Docs for certain communication and forms. Right now I am thinking of converting coverage request forms for teachers, end of the year checklist for teachers, and perhaps some lateness or disciplinary forms over to Google Docs (specifically forms). Is your school going paperless? If so, what ways have you found this concept to work? What problems have you run into? I'd love to hear feedback of those who are further down the road.

Collaborating in the AP English Literature classroom

I've always had a dream of connecting my English classrooms with other classrooms around the country or world. When I began teaching in 2002, the thought of pen pals on the other side of the world was always on my mind, but I never had the time to pursue this project.

Now, 10 years later, I am in the classroom again teaching AP English Literature. My dream of connecting and collaborating with another similarly leveled class somewhere outside Philadelphia remains. With the internet, skype, twitter, facebook, etc., I imagine the resources are plentiful to make this dream a reality.

Despite knowing that the dream is within reach, I return to square one for some reflective grounding.

1. Why would I consider doing this project?
               I firmly believe our students are "connecting" more with others via social media. Our world is not nearly as small as it was when I was in high school in 1997. However, are our students able to effectively present an opinion or depth of thought while connecting and collaborating? So often, our superficial communication contains messaging lingo and abbreviations that do not prove that we are intelligent human beings in the least.

2. What would I desire to connect/collaborate about?
               One element I find lacking in the AP English Literature students is their depth of reading. Sometimes they only read what is required in their school classes. If they read for fun, they read YA (not that there is anything wrong with that!) I would love to have a virtual bookshelf where my students (7 are scheduled for my class this coming year) could post intelligently about a book they read - perhaps examining theme or a symbol specifically.  They could then recommend (or not) the book to other AP English students. I would love my students to be able to access other recommendations from students from other schools around the country and globe. Realizing that we are all enjoying literature and are able to examine it in depth is important to spur them on towards more learning and reading.

3. How would I do it?
              This is the element I still need to figure out. I know goodreads.com exists and is a wonderful place to keep your own reading lists and review a book once you have completed it. I will have to further examine if this would be a good resource or if there is something better out there.

BUT I NEED YOUR HELP!!! If you have taught at the upper high school honors/AP track level, would you see benefits in a program like this? Do you know of a resource  that could assist me in making my dream a reality? Would you like to join me? Feel free to e-mail me (momof2hawks@gmail.com) with any suggestions or questions.

Happy reading - and collaborating!!!

Well, it must be summer again since I have a few moments to post. This school year has been filled with experiences to teach me more about myself and education in general.

1. Success is reached when we focus on the students. The times of failure I've seen this year, either with teachers or administration, is when we take our eyes off the needs of the student and focused on the "needs" of others. The challenge I walk away with is to keep my focus clear for 2012-2013.

2. I was once again reminded to not be afraid to love the student body. There is always a balance, but these students need love. Often it doesn't exist at home so we, as educators, must fill the gap. The difficulty comes in walking the tightrope between loving them and still keeping proper boundaries. I find this most difficult in a Christian school environment.

3. The amount of resources online is endless. I need to be ever-vigilant to be a life-long learner. Technology is not the authority on education, but there are certainly wonderful tools that can assist the teacher in the classroom and the administrator in his/her daily duties.

4. Everyone has an idea worth hearing. Regardless of the person's role in the school, he/she might have a wonderful idea that could change the way things are done. They need to be valued enough to be heard.

5. I still have a lot to learn. The second I think I know it all, I am humbled by my ignorance. It is vital to keep my humility far in front of my pride.