We are overwhelmed. Our curriculum is constantly changing. Illinois is broke and can't pay us our pensions. We are constantly adding and not subtracting. Can you believe he replied to all with that email? Our students are really challenging this year. That parent was really difficult to handle. How did he get that position? My colleagues are judgmental. Society doesn't respect what I really do. Well, I guess that perk was taken away. I didn't get that job I put in for. He has no idea what he is doing. What are we going to do with all this data? I've seen this initiative before. We didn't get a raise. My boss plays favorites. I cannot believe she said that. That kid is going nowhere.
We are working really hard. Our curriculum is what is best for kids. I can't worry about my pension now it has nothing to do with my job today. We can tell the story of our success. We evolve for the best. I love my students this year. I enjoy collaborating with others. Most of our parents give us their full support. Our school leader makes great decisions in tough situations. My colleagues are amazing professionals and I don't know where I would be without them. I have the best job in the world. That is something we can do together. This is really going to help my lesson today. That kid is hilarious. I take most of the summer off. Our school does amazing things. My students make teaching worthwhile. Our staff is really dedicated. I cannot wait to get started.
There have been times in my short career that I have been both of these people. Relative to the cloud over education today, I think it is easy to get caught up in the negativity that surrounds our profession. But it's still a personal choice how to approach our life's work.
Whenever I feel the urge to buy into the pessimism, I go back to the reasons why I became an educator. Each one of us has strengths in our jobs- the kind of qualities that our colleagues admire and our students are drawn to. In the myriad of different hats we wear, some hats just fit better and play to our strengths.
In my current position, I wear plenty of hats that just don't fit right. I am learning a new job and experiencing the growing pains of a new challenge. In those moments, I try to find my strengths- perhaps the very things that drew me to education in the first place.
One of the programs we have at our high school is a study program after school for freshmen who are failing two or more classes. The freshmen work one on one with student and adult tutors in the hopes of "graduating out" of the hour-long, daily study program. Some students see it as a punishment, but we see it as a support. It's easy to use this time after the school day to make phone calls, write evaluations, and clean up my emails. But after a day of doing a lot of that already, I enjoy spending time working one on one with our most fragile freshmen. I'm confident that I can forge relationships with those kids, and use those relationships to eventually push them personally and academically.
We have to go back to our strengths.
All of us have them, and all of us went into this line of work with attributes that feed the "positives" of our profession. As educators, we can wrap our strengths around us and still be successful in challenging our weaknesses. As a thought for those reading and those in #savmp, here are three questions to think about:
1. What are your strengths as an educator?
2. How can you add to them?
3. Will you let your strengths forge the positives in your daily work?
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Sunday, October 5, 2014
The Path We Have Chosen
"So how's the new job treating ya?"
Inevitably and understandably, some people have been asking me that question in the last few months. I am fortunate to be working at West Leyden, a school that his given me everything an educator could ask for. I've taught some awesome kids and worked alongside some amazing colleagues and mentors. I've been gifted all the professional development I can handle and recently, the job of Assistant Principal too. Truthfully, I hope I can give half as much to my job as my job has given me.
"But really, are you getting the hang of it?"
I've tried to embrace the vulnerability that comes with honesty in life, because honestly, I am not very good at what I do yet. I've arrived at school for the past 97 days not really leading anything, but trying to learn from decades of leadership experience around me. I am new. I am inexperienced. And for the most part, I don't know what I am doing. I walk away from conversations second guessing what I said. I've put so many filters through my emails and letters that I've departed from who I want to be as a school leader. I hear the cynics and skeptics. I try really hard to make it through the day, and then get up the next day and do it again.
Hopefully my transparency can connect me to others who have felt the same way at some point in time, not just with their careers but with their lives. I remember bringing my son home from the hospital for the first time with a restless feeling. So what do we do with him now? How can I stop him from crying, and where did we put that pack of diapers again? Luckily for me, I had the help of my wife and together we are erasing the early self-doubts of parenthood one day at a time. I think.
Like becoming a new parent, learning a new job can be really tough, especially as a first year teacher, coach, or administrator. Having worked here for a few years, I'm lucky to have existing relationships with colleagues around me. There is nothing that we cannot do together. Our secretaries, maintenance staff, teachers, and administrators can attest to that- as I've experienced formal and informal mentoring in these first three months. I am grateful for those moments and can only hope that I will add something to their skill set too. We have to build each other up.
"Do you miss teaching?"
Of course. The best part of our jobs is the daily interaction with our kids, just ask anyone who works at a school in the summer. I miss the kids but still try to manufacture interactions with students whenever I can. I'm convinced that teaching five classes for 35 years is the toughest job in education, but I also believe that being a teacher is the most rewarding job in the world. Our kids fill our souls in ways that we cannot quantify -and that, of course, is something I miss.
"Well, you will get the hang of it eventually..."
I know. I just hope I can look back at the totality of these days and find humor in it all. Until then, I appreciate the patience and collegiality of all my peers as I make the journey.
Inevitably and understandably, some people have been asking me that question in the last few months. I am fortunate to be working at West Leyden, a school that his given me everything an educator could ask for. I've taught some awesome kids and worked alongside some amazing colleagues and mentors. I've been gifted all the professional development I can handle and recently, the job of Assistant Principal too. Truthfully, I hope I can give half as much to my job as my job has given me.
"But really, are you getting the hang of it?"
I've tried to embrace the vulnerability that comes with honesty in life, because honestly, I am not very good at what I do yet. I've arrived at school for the past 97 days not really leading anything, but trying to learn from decades of leadership experience around me. I am new. I am inexperienced. And for the most part, I don't know what I am doing. I walk away from conversations second guessing what I said. I've put so many filters through my emails and letters that I've departed from who I want to be as a school leader. I hear the cynics and skeptics. I try really hard to make it through the day, and then get up the next day and do it again.
Hopefully my transparency can connect me to others who have felt the same way at some point in time, not just with their careers but with their lives. I remember bringing my son home from the hospital for the first time with a restless feeling. So what do we do with him now? How can I stop him from crying, and where did we put that pack of diapers again? Luckily for me, I had the help of my wife and together we are erasing the early self-doubts of parenthood one day at a time. I think.
Like becoming a new parent, learning a new job can be really tough, especially as a first year teacher, coach, or administrator. Having worked here for a few years, I'm lucky to have existing relationships with colleagues around me. There is nothing that we cannot do together. Our secretaries, maintenance staff, teachers, and administrators can attest to that- as I've experienced formal and informal mentoring in these first three months. I am grateful for those moments and can only hope that I will add something to their skill set too. We have to build each other up.
"Do you miss teaching?"
Of course. The best part of our jobs is the daily interaction with our kids, just ask anyone who works at a school in the summer. I miss the kids but still try to manufacture interactions with students whenever I can. I'm convinced that teaching five classes for 35 years is the toughest job in education, but I also believe that being a teacher is the most rewarding job in the world. Our kids fill our souls in ways that we cannot quantify -and that, of course, is something I miss.
"Well, you will get the hang of it eventually..."
I know. I just hope I can look back at the totality of these days and find humor in it all. Until then, I appreciate the patience and collegiality of all my peers as I make the journey.
"This is the path we have chosen. We are responsible for modeling what we expect from others, especially when we don't get it right. Let us not be fools when the criticism comes, but take time to reflect and make the necessary changes in order to grow."
-Jimmy Casas.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Innovation and Inspiration
One of my colleagues and twitter mentors, George Couros (@gcouros) once asked a group of our teachers, "Could you really spend an entire day as a student in your classroom?" I think questions like this really help us reflect on the intentions of our practice as educators. As a teacher, there were days when I was bored with my own lessons by the end of the day. I cannot imagine how my students felt. What are we doing to combat student boredom in our classes- and better yet, how are we fostering an innovative mindset with our teachers?
I am fortunate to spend time evaluating teachers at our school. It helps connect me to kids and affords me the opportunity to watch amazing teachers inspire our students. All our team members collectively look for the highlights of the Danielson model including student engagement, a strong culture for learning, and creative classroom discussion. While these areas provide great insight into the strengths of the classroom teacher, they don't necessarily include an important element of all 21st century classrooms: innovation.
Can we make room on our evaluation models for innovation?
Innovation doesn't necessarily mean engagement. And great teachers could certainly make a case that engagement doesn't always require innovation.
Yet, innovative teachers are the driving force behind new curriculum changes. These teachers are the risk takers who present their ideas at conferences and lead others in their departments. Moreover, discovery and creation inspires kids- and an inspired student can accomplish anything.
The process of becoming an innovative educator exposes students to underlying skills beyond the context of curriculum or content. Ultimately, innovating involves failure- an important life and career lesson for many of us. Innovation also involves patience. There will be frustrating moments in the journey.
I give credit to all those that try.
A lesson that is well intentioned, managed and assessed plays well with any evaluation model. But a lesson that takes a chance on something innovative and inspiring speaks to the greater intent of the designer, and it's in that intention that we find the true purpose of our instruction...
Inspiration.
"Could you spend an entire day as a student in your classroom?"
I am fortunate to spend time evaluating teachers at our school. It helps connect me to kids and affords me the opportunity to watch amazing teachers inspire our students. All our team members collectively look for the highlights of the Danielson model including student engagement, a strong culture for learning, and creative classroom discussion. While these areas provide great insight into the strengths of the classroom teacher, they don't necessarily include an important element of all 21st century classrooms: innovation.
Can we make room on our evaluation models for innovation?
Innovation doesn't necessarily mean engagement. And great teachers could certainly make a case that engagement doesn't always require innovation.
Yet, innovative teachers are the driving force behind new curriculum changes. These teachers are the risk takers who present their ideas at conferences and lead others in their departments. Moreover, discovery and creation inspires kids- and an inspired student can accomplish anything.
The process of becoming an innovative educator exposes students to underlying skills beyond the context of curriculum or content. Ultimately, innovating involves failure- an important life and career lesson for many of us. Innovation also involves patience. There will be frustrating moments in the journey.
I give credit to all those that try.
A lesson that is well intentioned, managed and assessed plays well with any evaluation model. But a lesson that takes a chance on something innovative and inspiring speaks to the greater intent of the designer, and it's in that intention that we find the true purpose of our instruction...
Inspiration.
"Could you spend an entire day as a student in your classroom?"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)