Relevant Teaching

As an English teacher, connecting topics to the real world is imperative in keeping students engaged in classical and contemporary literature. While it is challenging to relate to teenagers, the world of literature is a great way to bridge that gap within the classroom. When I am selecting appropriate reading material, I always gauge whether there is something that I can pull from it that my students will be able to relate to. The first thing that I do as an educator is identifying the theme of whatever piece we are working on at that time. I in turn take that theme, and present it in a manner that is easily relatable to my students. 

During the first week of class, we read “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. As a pre-reading activity, students are asked to write a journal about a family heirloom. Students discuss values that are associated with the heirloom and receive extra credit for bringing in the heirloom to show the class. This activity has proven to be a great way to build a great classroom climate with students. It gives us a chance to get to know one another, while covering important content.

 Another example is when we explored the theme of Tragic Love in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; students were tasked with researching a current event in which teenagers were faced with a Tragic Love situation. Students researched tragic love incidents from around the world. In addition, the students were required to draw comparisons and contrasts between their current event couple and the Shakespeare lovers. 

Another example of how I relate content to the real world is by requiring my students to complete monthly current event journals. Depending on their article's source (city, state, country, or world) students are able to receive additional points and credit. The analysis of the article allows the students to show their mastery of a number of Common Core State Standards including analyzing source material in informational texts. Most importantly, the current event journals give students a chance to voice their opinions about issues in the world while supporting their claims with evidence from the text. 

I find that students are most engaged when content relates to their everyday lives. We have discussed a wide rage of socially relevant issues, while mastering standards and objectives. I believe that students will be more likely to perform well on tests, when they have mastered objectives through material that is familiar and relevant.

Teacher Retention

TEACHER RETENTION

FEED THE TEACHERS, AND THEY WON'T EAT THE KIDS

The state of Mississippi has to make much progress in the field of education in order to retain quality teachers. Currently, the state seems to be doing very little to encourage and retain teachers to stay in Mississippi. I do not feel that the state's overall image is the problem with attracting and retaining teachers. However, I do feel that because we are last in the nation in education, people choose other states over us. When young, career minded people set out to start their lives, they are not likely to move somewhere that has low performing schools.

My experience as a teacher in a high needs school has forced me to view teacher retention as an idea that administrators talk about and then put little action into actually making it work. I believe that administrators at the building level, should do more to attract and retain their teachers. So often, the frustration that administrators possess is passed on to teachers through strict, and most times unrealistic, expectations. A building atmosphere that is stressful is what forces good teachers out of the classroom. I do feel that it is up to the school leaders to put plans into place that helps teachers be more successful. In my current district, they have $50,000 (sitting in a mystery pot) set aside for teacher retention efforts. SET ASIDE! The money is tied into the Teacher Retention Incentive Program (TRIP) which mandates that teachers must meet a certain point scale. The indicators include attendance (a teacher cannot use more than 2 days), student achievement on state exams, and school growth. For each indicator, the teacher receives a certain number of points over 3 years. You must work in the district for 3 years, and the growth must be evident in your 4th year to be eligible for the incentive. The pot of money will be divided among teachers that attain the required point amount. Some merit pay programs work. However, in districts where teacher retention is low (and there is an immediate teacher shortage) this type of program does not attract, nor retain teaches.

If teachers are going to stay in the profession, they should be made to feel that the powers that be want them there. If school leaders start feeding their teachers with praise and comprehensive, attainable incentives, then students will start to benefit from having highly qualified teachers for longer periods of time.    



Reflection

As I ended my first year of teaching I was flustered and exhausted. The year was ending on a bitter sweet note. I had suffered a great loss during the year, and was embarking on a fresh start heading into summer. I wanted nothing more than to leave my school and all of the negative things that happened that year, behind me. I needed to be healthy and well. I had given up on the possibility that time in the district would ever get better, though. This attitude ultimately caused me to suffer another loss at the end of the summer. I was devastated, resentful, and bitter.

 Fast forward through summer and there I was, sitting in a district mandated in-service called "Capturing Kids Hearts." The facilitator shared many strategies that could be used to motivate and encourage students. But more than anything, I remember her saying this, "You can only change you." Not only was this statement (as well as the ensuing conversations surrounding the comment) monumental in my shift of attitude, but it opened up the best I had to offer. 

With my new attitude in tact, I started my second year fired up and ready to be a better teacher than I had been last year. I sat down and I thought about my challenges from my previous year. I did not consider the actions of my students, parents, nor my administration. I only considered my actions. I spent a great deal of the week prior to the start of school, considering things that I could do better. By doing this, I was able (before the first day of school), to accept the fact that I could not change anything about my situation except my own willingness to maintain a positive attitude no matter what I faced. 

I showed up, day 1, with a great attitude. I stopped complaining. I started meeting (and in most cases) exceeding deadlines. I allow my students to make mistakes, without the expectation that they will be perfect. I dropped my negative attitude towards administration, and "bought in" to their visions and plans for the school and district. All of these changes created a work environment that allows me to focus on the success of my students. I have been so positive that I was added to the Leadership Team. I also received Teacher of the Month. These distinctions would not have happened last year because I was so negative and dissenting. I now know that my previous attitude only affected MY professional, as well as my physical, health. 

I feel that my professional growth is going to better prepare me for future positions. 

Things I wish I had known before I started teaching

Some of the things that I will talk about here might seem frivolous, but they are the things that I wish I knew before starting work in August.


Simply put, I wish I knew how to correctly complete all of the personnel paperwork that I was bombarded with during New Teacher Orientation. To a certain extinct, some of the paperwork was confusing and I felt as if I were signing my life away. I was quite embarrassed when I confused the cafeteria plan as an actually plan that I could buy for lunch. All of the insurance information was lengthy and confusing. I wish someone had told me how much time it was going to take to decide on a vision plan or a dental plan.
I wish that someone had told me that just because I matriculated through the MS public school system, that schools were different. I wish someone had told me that 14 year old children do not consider themselves children at all. Some of them, in fact, are parents or taking care of younger siblings. I wish someone had told me that the ramifications of segregation has a strong hold on the community in which I teach. I wish I could have been  better prepared for the fact that the children I serve are so deeply entrenched in poverty; but are sadly unaware of the dire situations in which they live.  
I wish someone would have told me how to play the game of politics with my administration. I never realized how much of myself I would have to bury in order to please the people for whom I work. I did not realize that so much energy goes into pleasing and impressing adults. If I could focus all of that energy on my students, I would be a great teacher.
I wish that someone had told me that some parents will not come to the school to check on the children. Nothing has hurt my feelings more than when I call a parent for support and the parent says that they have given up on the child. I wish someone had told me that this is common and that I should get used to it.
I wish someone had told me how to better accommodate my IEP students. I often struggle with not being able to give them the service they deserve. It is unfair to those students that the school system is not equipped to give these students the education they deserve. The bureaucracy of the system makes accommodating them nearly impossible.
I wish someone would have told me that I would be so physically drained from this job. As the year goes on, the days seem to get longer. Meetings and after school sessions cause me to be at school well beyond the end of the day. Sometimes, I am the first person here and nearly the last to leave. I wish someone would have told me that overextending myself would not matter at all. I cannot see the difference that the extra time is making, but I continue to do it with hope that students will improve.
I wish someone had told me that I would care so much for people who care so little. That I would fight for students that have no one else fighting for them. I wish someone had told me that children lash out because they need someone to be a champion for them. I wish someone had told me that I could not save all of them, because I had convinced myself that I could. 

I wish could be professionally developed on...

At my current school, we have a Professional Learning Community meeting every Tuesday and Thursday. The topics of these PLCs have ranged from "Text Complexity" to "How to Deliver an effective Closure." I have been professionally developed on the topics of school improvement plans, differentiating instruction, blah, blah, blah. Many of the sessions are meetings in which my principal or other administrators tell the teachers everything they are doing wrong in an area. I never feel professionally developed at all.

I feel that my weakest area is assessing student progress. I am not consistent with testing them every week or two weeks. I have a hard time with making accommodations and remediating students. I am yet to receive professional development in the areas that I struggle most.

I think that I would better serve my students if I knew how to assess them properly. I also feel that I would be able to enhance my instruction if I had data to drive that instruction. Our district gives 9 weeks exams. I know that the students have struggled because I am failing them in using the data throughout the 9 weeks in order to better prepare them.

I wish I could be professionally developed on how to better serve my advanced and IEP students. They gave me the IEP which tells what the student's level is, but no real instruction on how to teach the child. I find it difficult to differentiate and keep up with all the paperwork and planning that goes into teaching the special needs children.

Management: The struggle continues...

     Classroom management has proven to be essential to my teaching career. In August, I was determined to come in strong and stern. My rules, consepquences, and rewards were all posted. I went over them extensively. I even quizzed my students on the information on the first Friday of the year. My efforts proved to be in vain. The students seemed to rebel immediately. I had no idea what to do as I watched myself slowly loose control of the class. The danced, the walked around freely, they talked out, they threw things. Noone showed for detention, EVER. I knew I was inover my head. I knew I had to do somethingt drastic. Jake Roth spoke once about classroom management being like "trench warfare." He described a battlefield in which as the teacher I was holding the front line of defense. However, the students are constatly pushing me back with their misbehaviors. Just as in trench warfare, there comes a time when I must "redraw" the boundary. There comes a time when I must use all of my "heavy artillary" to reassert control. That time is now.
     After being absent for an extended period of time, my goal is to go back in with a positive mindset. No longer will my focus be on consequences for breaking the rules, but on rewards for following the rules. In redirecting behavior, I will still be stern, but I will mve swiftly past the negative, and focus on the positive. I no longer want to be at war with my students. I want us to exist in the classroom in a fashion that allows us to grow and learn from one another. I know that this is not going to be easy (they have been without strucuture for a whole month). I am ready for the challenge. I have planned ahead and am prepared to keep them busy from bell to bell in an effort to curb some of the overactive behaviors. I look forward to this semester.

The Best/Worst of GVille

My best student is a 14 year old girl. She is a joy to teach. She comes to class, prepared and ready to learn everyday. She tries very hard to excel. The young lady is a member of the choir and speaks often of going to college on a choir scholarship. More importantly, she asks questions. She comes often after school for a quick review of the expectations for homework or a general question. The thing I enjoy most about her is that she "acts" like a 14 year old. She laughs and talks with classmates, but whenever she is redirected, she always says Yes Ma'am. She often encourages her classmates to do better and be better. I find joy in knowing that this young lady is on her way to a better life. For a child to talk about college, everyday, is a beacon of light.

My most challenging student is a young man. He is 14 years old. He reads on a 2nd grade reading level. He has already decided that he only wants to be a mechanic when he grows up, and so school is a waste of time. He has done 1 assignment, literally, since the first day of school. He is a continuous disruption in class. He constantly talks about others and uses vulgar language. A good day is if I can get him to just be quiet. I have reached out to the parents, no response. I have referred him to the counselor and the social worker. Apparently, he has always been in self-contained SPED classes, but his parent opted out for high school. This is going to be detrimental to this young man's future. I do not believe that a regular classroom teacher can fully service this child. I try my best everyday to help him. Sometimes, I sit near his desk and read to him, or ask him basic comprehension questions. I have tried everything with this child. I feel unsupported in my efforts. I know that there is hope for this young man, I just don't know how to reach him. I don't think the powers that be have the answers either.