Since winter break, I've been experiencing the most disabling and profound writer's block of my 10+ year career as a writer.
This illness happens to coincide both with senioritis and cover letter season (for education-field-hopefuls). My professors have been telling me that my papers feel "rushed"--I wonder if writing them in the wee hours of the morning they're due has something to do with that vibe--and I have been taking days upon days to write cover letters (read: construct from pieces of old cover letters) for interested schools.
Thus, I have taken a completely different angle on my writing. In order to attempt to keep myself focused and to make progress of any kind, I just sit down and write. I write small, simple, boring sentences. I cover all my bases and write in circles.
Then: I edit.
This is the especially new part of my method. I used to figure that if I wrote carefully the first time around, I didn't need to go back and look at my work or readjust my argument. Now I realize that not only is it the backbone of good writing, but it comes in handy with resumes too. Not only does this catch typos (being a grammar snob myself, i can't imagine what application committees think when they see misspellings in an essay), but editing is somewhat like the extra rinse in the washing machine--it makes sure everything is as clean as possible.
I'm not sure if there is a cure for senioritis or writer's block, but the extra spin cycle is helping me through.
Writer's Block
And The Winner Is...
Like so many others around the globe, I am tuning in to another installment of the Academy Awards tonight. And, like so many others, I have no idea why I put myself through this year after year. Maybe it’s to see who wears the goofiest, gaudiest dress. Maybe it’s the hope that Brad will stand up and announce that he’s still in love with Jen. Maybe, secretly, I watch hoping to see someone throw a temper tantrum when the Oscar goes to “the other guy.”
Even though each scenario would be very entertaining, the truth is that I’m not just in it for twisted amusement. (To be clear though, I am not giving up hope for any of them.)
The truth is that I’m on the edge of my seat tonight hoping to see what happens so rarely. Yet, it’s the singular moment that makes all these years of watching boring acceptance speeches by sweaty, rambling sound mixers, worthwhile. It’s that moment when a speech seems so genuine and heart-felt that you really feel that there – there is passion and dedication, embodied in flesh, standing before you. Like Cuba Gooding Junior’s speech on his first Oscar win, when with arms flailing and enthusiasm abounding he shouted, “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” at the top of his lungs again and again until he was nearly exhausted.
When I see something like that, I know someone is really living their dream.
As a teacher, that’s what we hope to groom our students to become: embodiments of their dreams. Whether they become actors, doctors, lawyers, teachers, parents, ministers, civil servants or anything in between, we want to see them happy and successful on their own terms.
It’s very common to think that sole hope of the math teacher is to see her students use calculus on a daily basis; the English teacher, that his students will read Lord Jim again – just for fun; the chemistry teacher that her students will set something on fire at home, experimenting. That’s not completely true, though. While they hope for it, just like I’m still holding out for Brad’s confession, it’s not the only thing that they hope to impart.
For the teacher’s that really care, which if we are being honest, is most of us, we hope that our students grow up to be their best by enjoying their lives to the fullest, living what they hoped for themselves, each and every day. Even if that means no more calculus, no more Lord Jim, no more experiments gone awry.
And, so, at the end of it all, the winner is… the student, whose teacher gave him or her, the opportunity and tools to find his dreams, and the freedom to realize those dreams even if they aren’t the same as the teachers. After all, I’d be pretty upset if my math teacher considered me a total failure in life because I have to use my calculator and try not to even think about anything beyond long division.
Or, maybe the winner is… the teacher who gets to watch dreams come true again and again for hundreds of students knowing that she had a part in someone’s – anyone’s – personal success.
Hope for Tomorrow
To most of us, the news headline is too familiar and one that we wish that we would never have to read again.
Another campus has been riddled with bullets. Another community is broken and grieving.
To many of us, it is also a terrifying reality of the times that we face and the environment that we will place ourselves in every day as teachers or professors.
Schools are working to test out and implicate new precautionary measures. Some have beefed-up security on campus. Others have installed metal detectors.
It will help. It will stop some. It won’t stop all.
What will? Anything? Nothing?
While I certainly don’t pretend to have all of the answers, I think that schools are missing a major piece of the puzzle. Indiana, like my home state of Michigan, doesn’t require high school students to take any sort of mental health class (i.e., psychology) to graduate. Neither does Virginia. Colorado doesn’t have state-wide high school graduation requirements yet, but in their newly-proposed state-wide program, mental health learning is left out.
Sure, all of these states require “health” classes be taught. Usually, they are taught the semester opposite physical education. I don’t know about you, but my high school health class curriculum was mostly concentrated on teaching students how not to contract an STD and how to avoid an eating disorder. That’s not to say that we avoided mental health altogether. In my class we covered mental health issues for three days by watching “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” while the teacher polished her fingernails. Seriously.
The Northern Indiana University shooter’s girlfriend told CNN today that her boyfriend gave her two packages (one contained an empty gun holster and ammunition) along with a phone call to say goodbye prior to the shooting.
The Virginia Tech shooter had a history of mental illness and was taking antidepressants at the time of his rampage.
The Columbine High School shooters were both known for their frequent misbehavior.
We had signs.
It is true that we will never be completely safe from those that want to cause us harm. While there are warning signs and behaviors to watch for in those with mental instability, we must admit that it is also true that many of these signs are common among all adolescents. Still, It can’t hurt to equip the student body with knowledge. Students should all know the signs of mental illness so that they can see it in others and themselves. Psychology teachers can provide much needed help to students by teaching them how to handle stress, anger and more. This alone can be a tool to help curb these violent eruptions. If psychology teachers have to see all students it becomes one more set of educated eyes on troubled souls. It is one more security measure. One more bit of hope.
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Talk Back
~ Are you afraid to go to work in a school, college or university?
~ Find out if your state requires mental health classes, like psychology, in order to graduate by searching for "[Your State Here] high school graduation requirements". Please reply to let me know what your state requires in this category.
Stranger Things
Just when I thought that it couldn't get any worse than school cancellations for giant grasshoppers or sub-zero temperatures, this came across my path. Check it out to see the most bizarre reason for campus closure that I have seen yet.
Can you beat it with a better story?
Funny, every top ten list i've found for interview tips starts the same way: "Number 1: Prepare."
I used to think that preparation was something like cheating--you are who you are and that's exactly who you should present yourself to be. Recently I've realized that while an interview is about a school or program getting to know you, they only have half an hour or half a day to do it. You've got to figure out how to present all of yourself (or at least your best parts) in that short span of time. That takes preparation.
Other popular interview tips include:
- Use a firm handshake and make eye contact
- Ask questions (asking questions--have some prepared--shows interest in the position)
- Write a thank you note
Interview questions are an important part of preparation--they're incredibly tedious to sit and outline, but stating a well though-out, articulate answer can be the difference between an offer and a denial... To get your mind going:
- What made you want to become a teacher?
- How do you handle discipline in the classroom?
- What is your education philosophy?
- What are your strengths/weaknesses?
- How would you handle making a difficult phone call to a parent?
Go:
What would you say?
The Mind Gap
Non-white students have always had a harder time finding good education--and because of that, they also struggle to get into academically rigorous colleges and to find higher-paying jobs.
While the U.S. seems to be trying to close this frightening gap through school voucher programs, charter schools and even programs like Teach for America, the other side of the card boasts programs like the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) courses—which are generally offered in better high schools to a disproportionate number of white students. Some universities accept AP courses as credits or placement tests for math, English, science and language classes. Students who have the opportunity to take AP tests are better prepared for the college experience, having studied the subject matter during their high school years—let alone getting credit for college courses and starting out ahead of their peers, perhaps having time to tack on another major or certificate to propel them to even greater heights.
The New York Times published an article this morning concerning just this issue: find it here
Comforting is the fact that even few white students pass the AP exams; troubling is the fact that such a dramatic discrepancy exists in the overall percentage of students who pass the exams and the percentage of African American students who pass the exams (“over 15 percent” versus “3.3 percent”).
There are many possible explanations; black students happen to attend schools that do not have the resources to conduct AP courses, they choose not to take AP courses, or they choose not to take the AP exam after completing the coursework. The result is the same: black students are not as prepared for success in college and beyond, needlessly limiting their opportunities in life.
All of the possible reasons listed above are solvable—indeed, their only requirement is dedicated teachers. If teachers set high standards of achievement for their students, students will rise to the challenge. A friend of mine who worked in the D.C. public school system for two years told me that even though one of her students was living in a car with her mom, she was required to do her homework. If students are excused because they come from a low-income neighborhood or because they have a learning disability or their preparation trails that of other students, they will never catch up to or exceed national standards. My friend devoted hours both before and after school to tutoring students in order to help them achieve the standards she set. It takes hard work, especially in the lowest-achieving system in the U.S., but she saw a marked improvement in her students’ work because she expected it.
Closing the mind gap between the races in the U.S. doesn’t necessitate more programs or more money—just teachers who really want to teach.
Baby, It's Cold Outside!
It's frigid outside today.
Here in Michigan, people are always watching the weather. In the winter we pay especially close attention to the two temperatures in the forecast. No, not the high and low. The other two: the temperature and the temperature with the wind-chill factored in. For those of you who are reading this and reaching for the sunscreen, I'll fill you in. During the winter months, when so much of the north and eastern U.S.'s landscape more closely resembles an expedition to Antarctica than amber waves of grain, we take wind-chill seriously. The arctic winds blow down across Canada and sweep over us like a chilly breath coming from the lungs of Old Man Winter himself. Wind-chill is literally the temperature that your skin thinks it is because of the wind.
Today's temperature is -1 degree Fahrenheit at 8 AM. Don't feel bad for us, though. We make it all the way up to 14 degrees by noon. Of course, that is all sans the wind. The wind-chill makes it feel like it is actually -10 to -20.
That's cold enough to close schools. You can't have children waiting at bus stops when it is this cold. Recess, well, that's not even an option for much of the winter. The real bummer for faculty is that they usually have to report when a school is closed due to the cold.
Schools here often close because of weather-related issues: excessive snow, any ice or like today, bitter cold. Then, occasionally, a school will close because that nasty wind has knocked-out power or caused a pipe to freeze and burst.
In this climate, we are used to school closings. All through my high-school years, my peers were all too well aware of how many snow days our district was allotted before we had to start making up days at the end of the year. This is what one becomes accustomed to when living in the winter wonderland.
I had a friend that lived in Texas. He said that school was closed once because the building was swarmed and covered in giant winged grasshoppers.
I guess that I should count my blessings and grab one more hat.
Instant Messages
You are a high school teacher. On average, twenty-four students fill each of your six classes of the day. You teach "The Structure of the U.S. Government" to sleepy tenth-graders in the mornings and "The History of Western Europe" to antsy seniors in the afternoons. That's roughly one hundred forty-four students that are in your charge. Those 144 students have, at the very least, 288 parents. And that's just the first half of the year.
So, how do you stay on top of it all? How do you promptly notify parents that their son has missed your class three days in a row? Or that their daughter has achieved the highest grade possible on all four of your pop quizzes?
Many districts are handing teachers the answer. For teachers lucky enough to work for a school that utilizes interactive, online grading books, a huge burden has been lifted.
It all starts with attendance. Instead of old-fashioned methods, like attendance cards, a teacher records absentees into her desktop. The files are instantly shared with the attendance office. In addition, an e-mail is automatically sent to the parents of absent children.
Parents can also keep up with a child's progress by logging in with their password to see grades as well as missing assignments. In some systems, a teacher can even link scans of a student's work, complete with a teacher's comments or corrections, into the grade book for parent's review.
I have even seen systems that allow parents to see a teacher's office hours and request an appointment online.
These same computer programs single-handedly allow teachers to input grades and notify a parent that their child has failed a test by employing automatically generated e-mails. More importantly, the system safeguards teachers from showing preferential treatment or overlooking a troubled student. It also gives teachers the ability to share the responsibility for a child's education with parents by involving them early in a child's struggle with material, instead of after irreversible damage has been done to a GPA.
Check to see if the district that you would like to work for employs this powerful tool. Find your way to the school's website, which is typically the portal through which parents gain access to their child's grades. A link will be provided (often at the bottom of the page) to the online grade book. One of the most popular and widely-used systems is "Edline." Another is "DynaPortal." To get your district to consider using one of these systems, try researching them by looking for "website hosting and portal solution for K12 schools" online.
Lesson Plans for Octogenarians
Last week was a disaster. My first class as lead teacher started with a game meant to help students understand the class demographic concerning religion. Students complained about moving around, some just sat down, and some stood in the same place no matter what question was asked. The class ended with a heated political debate between two students. My discussion questions were met with blank stares; my lecture was interrupted by students correcting my presentation. The 90 minutes couldn’t end too soon.
I’d like to blame the bombed class on the fact that five of the 20 students are over 60 (the rest are college students). The course I constructed with two other 4th year religion majors was tapped to be a test class for inter-generational learning. As part of Duke’s House Course program, we organized a syllabus and determined requirements for projects and papers; somewhere in this process, someone thought—hey, let’s add some over-60’s and stir. In theory, the idea is brilliant—it adds another level of diversity to a discussion-based religion course—but in practice, the senior citizens are intimidating to the undergraduates (us teachers included); they aren’t afraid to share and vehemently defend their views—a teacher’s dream—if only they didn’t tell the undergraduates that time would cure our idealism.
I happened to be meet with a former Teach for America Corps member a few days after the disastrous class. She reminded me that students are students—they need a teacher not only to help them understand material, but to organize and facilitate discussion. She told me about a simple tool she used to equalize the discussion in her high school English class. Each student received two playing cards, symbolizing their two opportunities to speak during class. At first, the students snickered at the system that seemed insulting elementary, but it kept the discussion from becoming one-sided and made sure that the quiet student had an opportunity to share.
This week I made a number of changes. I realized that my class was not the type of group to engage in a meaningful and extended discussion—they just didn’t have enough background on the field of comparative religion to take a thought and run with it. I meticulously prepared an extensive lecture (one senior citizen still used her two cards to correct nuances in my presentation) punctuated with fact-questions and a few discussion points. The lecture and related discussion easily filled the hour and a half. I explained the purpose of the playing cards at the beginning of class; most students stuck to the system—some of the over-60 crowd bartered for cards from their neighbors by the end of class but the group did not devolve into a verbal fire fight—I think it was a successful class.
I learned the value of talking with other teachers. It’s important not only to read about new teaching methods and use activities you remember fondly from your school years, but also to incorporate ideas colleagues have found helpful. Another important lesson: a student is a student is a student. Whether 65 or six, students are people, people that need a facilitator make sure everyone gets to contribute to the learning experience.
My next challenge: how to squelch the black market on playing cards before Monday.
Freezing Time
I have done it again. I have misplaced something very important. It happens more than I care to admit. Just last week, I found my lost wallet after a three-hour search.
It was in the freezer.
How did I find it in the freezer? For me, it was the only logical place left to look. Earlier that day, I went to the store to pick up some grape-flavored Edy's Fruit Bars. I was standing in line at the registers when my phone rang. Mid-conversation the cashier was ready for money. I paid and stuffed the receipt into the crammed change compartment of my wallet. I wanted to put the wallet into my purse right then! But, I still needed to get out my car keys. With a purse under my arm, phone on my ear and wallet in my right hand, I took the grocery bag with my left.
I threw the wallet into the plastic bag so that I could hunt for my keys. When I got home, I stashed the popsicles, grocery bag and all, into the freezer. There remained my cash, getting cold.
Time management has always been somewhat of an issue for me. See, I didn't misplace my wallet because I'm lazy or that dysfunctional. I lose things because I’m in a hurry; because I’m trying to do too much.
My terrible habit began when I was very young. I remember signing up for extra-curricular activities that were slotted for the same days and times. I would race from a meeting to a practice. Too many times to count I would show up somewhere like church still wearing my softball cleats, or have to leave a friend's sleepover party early the next morning to make it to band rehearsal in time.
This left me wondering. How can we expect kids to be involved in everything and not loose something? We can’t. For some, they loose their childhood, their freedom. For others, they loose their education.
In a recent literature appreciation class, the professor was so excited about what he was teaching that he tried to cram too much into the semester. Reading two novels a week became unachievable for my fellow classmates. One day before class we began chatting about the workload. It turns out that no one was appreciating any of the literature we'd been assigned. To prepare for the required paper and quiz due each week, the entire class of English majors began turning to “Cliff's Notes.”
Fortunately for us, the professor was intelligent enough to alter the class when we approached him about the burdensome schedule. The result was overwhelming. Instead of getting to learn merely "what happened" in thirty books, we learned to love and embrace fifteen, letting the latter impact our lives so much that we felt compelled to teach others about them. For the first time in the semester we were appreciating instead of getting by.
The moral of the story? Maybe it’s time that school districts look to their curriculum and weed out the unnecessary. While they are at it, perhaps an over-haul of policy, specifically how much a student is allowed to participate in, is in order. Then after eliminating everything that bogs a student down, they will have time to stop...and smell the roses. It might just get them their lives back too.
