Special Thx
Reflections
Thought after thought, the day…the week…the craziness of life, all are jumbled to form this chaotic rush of confusion. The first weeks of school are always an adjustment. This year I do not feel like I’ve gotten off to a great start. Time in our rooms was very limited. Despite spending several days in my room before we were required to return I still do not feel like I was able to settle in. Hours and hours of meetings and discussions for staff development and I feel
like it has been one of my worst starts. I like my students just fine. They are immature ninth graders, for the most part, developing into decent human beings. (If you have ever worked with 8th or 9th grade this makes perfect sense. If you haven’t it may sound harsh. To those, try it sometime you’ll see what I mean.) There isn’t a class that I just dread. There aren’t students that I check throughout the day to see if they are present, hoping that they skipped or have ISS. Yes, that’s horrible…but you should have met them. Even the students escorted from my room Friday I didn’t mind having day to day. Something is just not right about this year though. I feel like I’m going through the motions just barely hanging on. Lesson plans are not an issue. I’ve taught the course long enough that I can recycle plans and adapt them to this group of students. Maybe it is because I’m trying to distance myself in order to stay sane. The amount of “stuff” having to be addressed is overwhelming. Here are the items on our plates…
Reading a book by Ruby Payne for “staff development”
Preparing a presentation of a chapter
Meeting once a week for group discussion of the book.
Teaching 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens during our 20 minute freshman time each day
Parent contacts
Documentation of parent contact
Documentation of student progress and failure
Meeting on each student that is struggling
Designing interventions, documenting how effective they are (or are not)
Regular staff meetings
Write ups/thought quotes of our various studies- Differentiated Instruction/Measured Progress/Poverty/7 Habits
Freshman parent night
Open House
Observation duty
and don’t forget teaching, planning, testing, grading
Throw in responsibilities of home and life gets interesting. All you can do is what you can do. If you let the frustrations of the day consume you, you will burn out. I really do like teaching. I just do not like all the other junk that goes along with it.
As I sit here thinking about all the prof. dev. we are doing lately I have to question how effective it is. A bad teacher is going to be a bad teacher until they decide to work on being a good teacher. If you force workshops on them it will likely not encourage them to seek personal improvement, the whole time factor being a big issue. A good teacher is already a good teacher and will seek ways to improve if you allow them to. Here’s another thought…What one teacher needs, another may not. Why not do a better job evaluating what the needs are, group accordingly, and provide opportunities that are most beneficial to that group? Lot of work, but maybe better results. Afterall, that’s what they are wanting us to do with our students…differentiate instruction.
I like my job. I like my students. The power of positive thinking…
It comes down to this…funny how just the right song comes on sometimes…
The Only Thing I Need I Already Have: 4Him
Eyes closed in a veil of tears when I hear the sound
Once more you’ve come to me – You’ve calmed me down
You still the raging sea inside of me
My Lord has come for me
Why-why is it so hard for me to see
Why is it so hard to just believe
Show me what it means to be free
The only thing I need I already have
The fullness of Your mercy in my hand
The only One who loves me as I am
The only thing I need I already have
My heart – a companion to my wounded soul
Again You comfort me-You take control
You quell the fear that owns too much of me
As it was meant to be
So why-when each and every word becomes a war
When there’s nothing I can see worth fighting for
You come into my heart and set me free
You’re all I need-already have it
4 Responses to Reflections
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Flair
Great post. I really, REALLY like that song. Did you know that Jon Anderson of YES, the legendary progressive rock group from the 70′s sang on that song? Very Cool.
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I can’t believe how much we like the same music. 4Him is such a awesome group!
Hope things get better. Sounds like you have a very busy schedule. I think teachers are under paid and under appreciated. I got so upset listening to some girls next to my office yesterday taking about one of the teachers her child has. A teacher can only do so much the children also need guidance from their parents. I just wanted to give my two cents b/c my SIL is also a teacher. BUT I kept my mouth shut. Hope you are having a good day
I don’t know how you public school teachers do it… all the forced staff development and the pressure of high testing scores, etc., etc. I would definitely go insane, and I’m in danger of that as it is.
“I feel like I’m going through the motions just barely hanging on. Lesson plans are not an issue. I’ve taught the course long enough that I can recycle plans and adapt them to this group of students.” Have you been reading my mind? ‘Cause I said the exact same thing to a parent/coworker last night. Don’t know what’s wrong with me this year…
Djembe: Had no idea! I’m still devastated that the guys are on their final tour. Mark will do well on his own I think.
Dawn: Those not associated with teaching have no idea what all is involved or what extent the teachers go to.
Tense: Every situation has its issues. The over the top staff dev started this year. I’ve been really fortunate until now. I’m just in a funk this year. Should have taken a different road, but I’m still determined to make it a good year.