I knew I had an offer at 11:30 this morning.
However, I did not accept it until 30 minutes ago. The minute I read that email I shrieked, did a dance, and called my mom crying.
Then the panic set in. Am I ready for this? Can I actually do this?
I immediately emailed the chair of my department. Dr. Wilson started her career teaching at a middle school in East Harlem, and I knew she’d be honest with me. She called me during my prep at the enrichment program.
After congratulating me, the first thing she said is:
This will be the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do. It will be the hardest year of your life.
I knew that, but I needed someone else to say it. The South Bronx is the poorest region in the U.S. I may think I’ve seen struggle, but I haven’t seen anything yet.
It will take a different kind of teaching, and a different kind of commitment for me to make this work.
She also said that if anyone can do this, I can.
I’m going to hang onto that, but I have a lot of work to do. My summer reading list has grown exponentially. Dr. Wilson just emailed a list of over thirty “essential” titles. I love her definition of essential.
Transitions
I’ve left my school for the final time. My year of student teaching/interning is officially over. I’ve said goodbye to my students. I’ve packed up my desk. I’ve graded finals and submitted grades.
I’m done. And that is a weird feeling. But I’m ready to move on. I’m ready for my own classroom. I’m ready for a new school community. I’m ready for a change.
As difficult as this year had been at times, I definitely learned a lot about myself and teaching. I’ve grown a lot and I’ll take my experiences to help shape how I move forward in my budding career. Not to mention what a godsend the #education community has been throughout the process—between the solidarity of my fellow student teachers, the enthusiastic experimentation of first year teachers, and the wisdom of seasoned veterans, I’m glad I found this little corner of the interwebz for support, laughs, and guidance.
August can’t get here soon enough. Now, the only thing standing between me and my first year as a real, paid teacher is finishing my grad school shenanigans. And on that note, I should get back to my thesis…
“Just as we teach our children how to ride a bike, we need to teach them how to navigate social media and make the right moves that will help them. The physical world is similar to the virtual world in many cases. It’s about being aware. We can prevent many debacles if we’re educated.”
—The Truth About Kids And Social Media
What LGBTQ Students Need to Know About Graduation and Prom
lambdalegal.orgCongrats, High School Seniors! It’s that time of year—young people across the country are sporting tuxes and prom dresses as well as caps and gowns. Lambda Legal congratulates all high school grads-to-be on making it this far! For LGBTQ high school students, this should be a season of celebration, not trepidation.
You know, being a teacher these days is a lot more than teaching. And I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I am not a counselor. I am not a social worker either. I’m not a psychologist. I’m not a family therapist. I’m not a financial manger, and I’m not a life coach.
Teachers are taught to teach, but the reality is that they are expected to fulfill all of these other roles, things that they were not prepared to do in their undergraduate (or even graduate) programs.
It takes a lot of education to become a licensed social worker or counselor or psychologist. It also costs a lot of money to get that education.
I guess I shouldn’t talk, because I’m not in that position, and we have a full staff of licensed social workers, school psychologists, guidance counselors, career counselors, transition coaches, and all of that other stuff, but it doesn’t seem fair that in schools that are not as privileged as mine, people seem to blame the teachers for not being able to be all things at once to every student.
“The creation of the major shows that even financially secure institutions like Colorado College are not immune from a growing call by students, parents and policymakers to create a better connection between what happens in the classroom and potential careers. From career services to internships to new programs, even elite institutions are signaling that career preparation is a key component of their mission. But the new program, and the way Colorado College officials are talking about it, is also reflective of a shift in the way liberal arts colleges sell themselves. Amid much hand-wringing about what the future holds for such institutions (including numerous books, columns and conferences), some leaders have begun to formulate a different argument.”
—Colorado College’s education major challenges whether disciplines still define the liberal arts | Inside Higher Ed
“Why did they train Luke up and not Princess Leia who was cooler, and had more to fight for, and was less screwed up? Patriarchy!”
—John Green in his newest Crash Course videoAn honest dilemma.
This week, I had my classes write two things:
- A narrative non-fiction piece describing a significant memory from freshman year.
- A letter addressed to themselves three years from now, on the night of their graduation.
These two things, along with an essay they wrote the first day of school about their expectations for high school, are going in an envelope and hiding out in the back of my filing cabinet until this group of kiddos graduate.
There’s a problem with one kid’s “present memory” narrative though…
House Passes Student Loan Bill, Setting Up Showdown
nytimes.comThe House on Thursday passed legislation to head off a doubling of student loan interest rates on July 1, instead tying rates to prevailing market trends and ending federal subsidies.
The bill, approved largely along party lines, 221-to-198, kicks off what is sure to be the next showdown between House Republicans, Senate Democrats and President Obama, with a hard deadline looming in little more than a month. Republicans said they had come up with a long-term plan that would get the government out of the business of setting interest rates.
“What the House is doing today is a responsible way to deal honestly with the issue of student loans,” Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said. “Can somebody politicize this on the other side of the aisle? Certainly they can.”
» via The New York Times (Subscription may be required for some content)
The Problem with 'Boys Will Be Boys' by Soraya Chemaly
huffingtonpost.comFor months, every morning when my daughter was in preschool, I watched her construct an elaborate castle out of blocks, colorful plastic discs, bits of rope, ribbons and feathers, only to have the same little boy gleefully destroy it within seconds of its completion.
No matter how many times he did it, his parents never swooped in BEFORE the morning’s live 3-D reenactment of “Invasion of AstroMonster.” This is what they’d say repeatedly:
“You know! Boys will be boys!”
“He’s just going through a phase!”
“He’s such a boy! He LOVES destroying things!”
“Oh my god! Girls and boys are SO different!”
“He. Just. Can’t. Help himself!”
I tried to teach my daughter how to stop this from happening. She asked him politely not to do it. We talked about some things she might do. She moved where she built. She stood in his way. She built a stronger foundation to the castle, so that, if he did get to it, she wouldn’t have to rebuild the whole thing. In the meantime, I imagine his parents thinking, “What red-blooded boy wouldn’t knock it down?”
She built a beautiful, glittery castle in a public space.
It was so tempting.
He just couldn’t control himself and, being a boy, had violent inclinations.
She had to keep her building safe.
Her consent didn’t matter. Besides, it’s not like she made a big fuss when he knocked it down. It wasn’t a “legitimate” knocking over if she didn’t throw a tantrum.
His desire — for power, destruction, control, whatever- - was understandable.
Maybe she “shouldn’t have gone to preschool” at all. OR, better if she just kept her building activities to home.
I know it’s a lurid metaphor, but I taught my daughter the preschool block precursor of don’t “get raped” and this child, Boy #1, did not learn the preschool equivalent of “don’t rape.”
Not once did his parents talk to him about invading another person’s space and claiming for his own purposes something that was not his to claim. Respect for her and her work and words was not something he was learning. How much of the boy’s behavior in coming years would be excused in these ways, be calibrated to meet these expectations and enforce the “rules” his parents kept repeating?
There was another boy who, similarly, decided to knock down her castle one day. When he did it his mother took him in hand, explained to him that it was not his to destroy, asked him how he thought my daughter felt after working so hard on her building and walked over with him so he could apologize. That probably wasn’t much fun for him, but he did not do it again.
There was a third child. He was really smart. He asked if he could knock her building down. She, beneficent ruler of all pre-circle-time castle construction, said yes… but only after she was done building it and said it was OK. They worked out a plan together and eventually he started building things with her and they would both knock the thing down with unadulterated joy. You can’t make this stuff up.
Take each of these three boys and consider what he might do when he’s older, say, at college, drunk at a party, mad at an ex-girlfriend who rebuffs him and uses words that she expects will be meaningful and respecte, “No, I don’t want to. Stop. Leave.”
The “overarching attitudinal characteristic” of abusive men is entitlement
from “The Problem with ‘Boys Will Be Boys’” by Sorya Chemaly
Loving Kindness instead of Punishment: It works!
acestoohigh.com“A student blows up at a teacher, drops the F-bomb. The usual approach at Lincoln – and, safe to say, at most high schools in this country – is automatic suspension. Instead, Sporleder sits the kid down and says quietly: “Wow. Are you OK? This doesn’t sound like you. What’s going on?”
He gets even more specific: “You really looked stressed. On a scale of 1-10, where are you with your anger?” The kid was ready. Ready, man! For an anger blast to his face….”How could you do that?” “What’s wrong with you?”…and for the big boot out of school. But he was NOT ready for kindness.
The armor-plated defenses melt like ice under a blowtorch and the words pour out: “My dad’s an alcoholic. He’s promised me things my whole life and never keeps those promises.” The waterfall of words that go deep into his home life, which is no piece of breeze, end with this sentence: “I shouldn’t have blown up at the teacher.”
Thanks to sangha member — roots-deep-mind-high for the submission!
Fun/Creative names for Student Awards?
Tomorrow we have an awards assembly (grades 7-12). With everything that has happened this week I’ve completely forgotten to prepare my award certificates. Normally, I work well under pressure.
I know I will have a Purple Shirt Award (shaped like a shirt) for two students who started Purple Shirt Wednesdays, where the students and staff wear purples shirts every Wednesday. I’m also giving one student a Survivor Award for always hanging in there and not giving up when they don’t get something or when they get frustrated.
I have at least 1 student who I would like to award for her artistic abilities, 1 for his creativeness (he’s a great writer and artist), and 2 for their storytelling abilities. However, I’m drawing blanks on what to call my awards.
Does anyone have any suggestions for creative suggestions for thier names?
