I know, I know: "Confessions" is a shameless attempt to grab your attention. But let's be honest, it would be nice if I weren't the only person reading this blog.
Anyway, over burgers at our favorite joint, I recently interviewed a good friend of mine who is teaching junior high in his hometown. He offers great insights about his rookie year in the classroom.
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You finished your first year teaching in the public schools last spring. What made you switch careers and go into education?
I was really interested in teaching right out of college, and I was a substitute teacher in my hometown. I was taking Spanish lessons and was interested in teaching ESL, but for some reason I never got my certification. So I took this weird, winding path into journalism for several years, and I loved that. But I reached the point where I was ready to put it all on the line and make the switch to teaching. And I loved it.
So you did alternative certification?
Yes, Texas Teaching Fellows. It's a highly respected certification program that offers student teaching over the summer. In most programs you just do the classes over the summer but don't get to teach. I learned a lot, and was in the classroom after the first or second day.
How did the first year of teaching measure up to your expectations? Was it harder? Easier?
Sometimes just conducting class can be impossible.
Classroom management?
Right, classroom management. That is a constant battle, especially for a first-year teacher. I couldn't put a high enough percentage of my time into it, and it sucks up all of my time. It made it hard to do almost anything else.
Anyway, over burgers at our favorite joint, I recently interviewed a good friend of mine who is teaching junior high in his hometown. He offers great insights about his rookie year in the classroom.
--------------------------------------
You finished your first year teaching in the public schools last spring. What made you switch careers and go into education?
I was really interested in teaching right out of college, and I was a substitute teacher in my hometown. I was taking Spanish lessons and was interested in teaching ESL, but for some reason I never got my certification. So I took this weird, winding path into journalism for several years, and I loved that. But I reached the point where I was ready to put it all on the line and make the switch to teaching. And I loved it.
So you did alternative certification?
Yes, Texas Teaching Fellows. It's a highly respected certification program that offers student teaching over the summer. In most programs you just do the classes over the summer but don't get to teach. I learned a lot, and was in the classroom after the first or second day.
How did the first year of teaching measure up to your expectations? Was it harder? Easier?
Sometimes just conducting class can be impossible.
Classroom management?
Right, classroom management. That is a constant battle, especially for a first-year teacher. I couldn't put a high enough percentage of my time into it, and it sucks up all of my time. It made it hard to do almost anything else.
The curriculum was easy if you just went "out of the box," which is what I was supposed to be doing. They want you to stick to the curriculum, but that makes it extremely boring for you and the kids. I went off the curriculum some, but it would have been hard for me to do it more often because of classroom management.
And the middle school level is often thought of as one of the hardest to teach. Kids are at a tough age, emotionally and physically.
Yeah, and you add to that the fact that most of our entire school population is economically disadvantaged. For some of these kids, the last thing they are thinking about is what's going on in class. That's downtime for them. They don't have to think about surviving, which may be a little dramatic, but it's true. In class, they're not worried about their day-to-day living and how tough that is.
And the middle school level is often thought of as one of the hardest to teach. Kids are at a tough age, emotionally and physically.
Yeah, and you add to that the fact that most of our entire school population is economically disadvantaged. For some of these kids, the last thing they are thinking about is what's going on in class. That's downtime for them. They don't have to think about surviving, which may be a little dramatic, but it's true. In class, they're not worried about their day-to-day living and how tough that is.
It's really sad to watch some of the kids you like who are smart get into trouble outside of school or in another class. They get plucked out of the classroom and put in jail or an alternative classroom. It's a whole different world these days. These students are dealing with so many more serious issues than we ever did.
And that happened to you last year? Kids going to jail.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
When you talk about classroom management, are you talking about behavioral issues? Keeping them focused? What's the biggest challenge?
Keeping them from talking, keeping them focused. But I have to take responsibility for some of that. As a teacher, you have to be engaging; you have to be interesting. But when these kids are done paying attention, they are done. If they're on to the next thing, it's hard to get them back.
Do you think back to when you were in junior high and what you were like as a student?
I wasn't a model student. I was a cut-up. Now I wonder, "How bad of a cut-up was I? Was the teacher really angry? Or was I really not that disruptive?" You start thinking about that. You ask yourself, "How much of this is payback? How much of this is bad karma?"
So how do you handle kids who are acting up?
I started off so organized. So methodical [laughs]. I thought I was going to have such a structured disciplinary process. I mean, how could there ever be any deviation [laughs]? You learn very quickly about the unintended consequences. I had a clipboard, and if they got in trouble, they had to go up and write their name on it. And if they got in trouble again, they would have to go up and put a check by their name. And I thought the shame of it would be enough [both laugh]. I mean, how could they ever disrupt class again after the shame of the dreaded clipboard? And of course, this turns out to be the biggest parade in the whole world.
They're onstage?
Exactly. Here's your Walk of Fame to the clipboard and back. So I found myself already backing off of something like, [speaks in mock authoritarian voice] "Now here's the deal. This is the way it's going to be." And of course, the second week, no more clipboard. Then there's two warnings and then a detention. That's forever. If every kid in the class gets a warning? [throw his hands up]. Seriously, you don't think about that stuff. Two strikes and you're out? Well, it works in baseball.
I taught middle school for one year after college, and we had a speaker at the start of the year who said, "If a kid doesn't do something every day that makes you laugh, you're in the wrong profession." I tried to think about that when I had to discipline students.
That's a really great point to make. You know, you start to feel like the bad guy. You have to lead the class, and you feel negative sometimes. You start to wonder, "Am I just yelling at the kids all the time." There's a lot of self-doubt involved. This next year I definitely want to try to redirect things instead of just putting a stop to it.
During your first year, did you feel like you could see academic progress in your students? It must really vary between the kids, I'm sure.
Yes, it does vary. Some kids who couldn't do much at the beginning of the year were answering questions and were really engaged. There was one student who still didn't pass the TAKS, but I saw him try and I felt really bad about it. So I put him on the yearbook staff for this year, which was about the only thing I could do as far as institutionalized praise or promotion.
Tell me a little bit about your time during the day. Do you ever have time to yourself? In a traditional office, you can sneak away to Starbucks for fifteen minutes or go out to lunch.
Most schools, I believe, have one planning period during the day. The reading program that I teach is out of a workbook that the kids cannot take home. So most of that was easy grade. My off periods were spent catching up. I had to get in-school suspension work ready for the kids. That takes up a lot of time when kids go to ISS, either from my class or another. That's a bit of a black hole. And I spent time arranging group photos for the yearbook.
You sound really energetic about your experience. How would you describe the morale of the faculty in general?
We have a really positive school, and a big part of that is the administration, specifically the principal. He's hands-off, and he doesn't micromanage. He lets us do our thing, and he takes care of problems. We had 83 staff meetings all year, and they each lasted about five minutes. Long staff meetings will kill morale faster than anything.
You are teaching in your hometown. How do you think the schools have changed since you were a student?
My junior high was much more middle class; the school that I'm teaching at now is almost entirely economically disadvantaged, and it's only three miles away. It's split pretty evenly between blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, and we don't even have an Anglo subpopulation for the TAKS.
You've mentioned the TAKS test a couple of times. How important is it in the public schools?
There's lip service given to the fact that we don't teach to the test and that's not all we care about, but at the end of the day that's really the gold standard. That's how you're measured. Those are the cold, hard numbers, and they're standardized across the state. That's what everyone looks at, and that's how we get our funding.
Last question, how's the cafeteria food?
You know, I don't eat in the cafeteria. In fact, I didn't eat at all last year. I was too stressed. I just had to get stuff done and prepare for the next class. You always feel like you need to catch up. You're facing those kids every day, and if you're not on your game, you get eaten alive. If there's downtime in your classroom, it's over.
When you talk about classroom management, are you talking about behavioral issues? Keeping them focused? What's the biggest challenge?
Keeping them from talking, keeping them focused. But I have to take responsibility for some of that. As a teacher, you have to be engaging; you have to be interesting. But when these kids are done paying attention, they are done. If they're on to the next thing, it's hard to get them back.
Do you think back to when you were in junior high and what you were like as a student?
I wasn't a model student. I was a cut-up. Now I wonder, "How bad of a cut-up was I? Was the teacher really angry? Or was I really not that disruptive?" You start thinking about that. You ask yourself, "How much of this is payback? How much of this is bad karma?"
So how do you handle kids who are acting up?
I started off so organized. So methodical [laughs]. I thought I was going to have such a structured disciplinary process. I mean, how could there ever be any deviation [laughs]? You learn very quickly about the unintended consequences. I had a clipboard, and if they got in trouble, they had to go up and write their name on it. And if they got in trouble again, they would have to go up and put a check by their name. And I thought the shame of it would be enough [both laugh]. I mean, how could they ever disrupt class again after the shame of the dreaded clipboard? And of course, this turns out to be the biggest parade in the whole world.
They're onstage?
Exactly. Here's your Walk of Fame to the clipboard and back. So I found myself already backing off of something like, [speaks in mock authoritarian voice] "Now here's the deal. This is the way it's going to be." And of course, the second week, no more clipboard. Then there's two warnings and then a detention. That's forever. If every kid in the class gets a warning? [throw his hands up]. Seriously, you don't think about that stuff. Two strikes and you're out? Well, it works in baseball.
I taught middle school for one year after college, and we had a speaker at the start of the year who said, "If a kid doesn't do something every day that makes you laugh, you're in the wrong profession." I tried to think about that when I had to discipline students.
That's a really great point to make. You know, you start to feel like the bad guy. You have to lead the class, and you feel negative sometimes. You start to wonder, "Am I just yelling at the kids all the time." There's a lot of self-doubt involved. This next year I definitely want to try to redirect things instead of just putting a stop to it.
During your first year, did you feel like you could see academic progress in your students? It must really vary between the kids, I'm sure.
Yes, it does vary. Some kids who couldn't do much at the beginning of the year were answering questions and were really engaged. There was one student who still didn't pass the TAKS, but I saw him try and I felt really bad about it. So I put him on the yearbook staff for this year, which was about the only thing I could do as far as institutionalized praise or promotion.
Tell me a little bit about your time during the day. Do you ever have time to yourself? In a traditional office, you can sneak away to Starbucks for fifteen minutes or go out to lunch.
Most schools, I believe, have one planning period during the day. The reading program that I teach is out of a workbook that the kids cannot take home. So most of that was easy grade. My off periods were spent catching up. I had to get in-school suspension work ready for the kids. That takes up a lot of time when kids go to ISS, either from my class or another. That's a bit of a black hole. And I spent time arranging group photos for the yearbook.
You sound really energetic about your experience. How would you describe the morale of the faculty in general?
We have a really positive school, and a big part of that is the administration, specifically the principal. He's hands-off, and he doesn't micromanage. He lets us do our thing, and he takes care of problems. We had 83 staff meetings all year, and they each lasted about five minutes. Long staff meetings will kill morale faster than anything.
You are teaching in your hometown. How do you think the schools have changed since you were a student?
My junior high was much more middle class; the school that I'm teaching at now is almost entirely economically disadvantaged, and it's only three miles away. It's split pretty evenly between blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, and we don't even have an Anglo subpopulation for the TAKS.
You've mentioned the TAKS test a couple of times. How important is it in the public schools?
There's lip service given to the fact that we don't teach to the test and that's not all we care about, but at the end of the day that's really the gold standard. That's how you're measured. Those are the cold, hard numbers, and they're standardized across the state. That's what everyone looks at, and that's how we get our funding.
Last question, how's the cafeteria food?
You know, I don't eat in the cafeteria. In fact, I didn't eat at all last year. I was too stressed. I just had to get stuff done and prepare for the next class. You always feel like you need to catch up. You're facing those kids every day, and if you're not on your game, you get eaten alive. If there's downtime in your classroom, it's over.
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