Feeling weary from an active year of teaching, Caron wonders where MiddleWeb
readers get their end of the year enthusiasm. Her sincere question prompted
a flow of honest responses.
Truth is school is out and I am worn out. As I read about all you folks
have planned for summer- PD, participating in discussions on books - I must
admit feeling inept. Especially when I infer the implied enthusiasm many
of you have. I am bushed and the thought of having to focus on anything
for the next two and a half months is overwhelming. I don't get up in the
night, I pass out....
I am going to a two week institute in July and have mixed emotions. It will
be nice to be away for a while, but I hope I am up to the work and material.
Does anyone else feel remotely the same or is this just my eternal seventh
grader inside raising Cain?
Weary and wondering.
- Caron
------------------------------------------------
Joanne stressed the importance of not comparing yourself to other teachers.
I totally hear what you are saying. At least you made it to the end
of the year.
This listserv is such an amazing group of educators. It is very tempting
for someone like me to give up altogether, knowing I will never have the
energy level, perhaps even the dedication level, of so many of this group.
In some ways, it is very disheartening.... and, yes, leaves a feeling of
ineptitude.
What I keep telling myself, though, is that I need to take what I can handle
from the listserv and admire all the rest, but not "grade" myself
on the same scale. We do what we can do, and we have to trust that our caring
and own dedication is enough.
From what you've contributed to the listserv, you seem very dedicated, indeed.
Just enjoy your summer and get the rejuvenation you need to start fresh
in the fall!!!
- Joanne
------------------------------------------------
Ginny shared the difficulties she experienced over the past year and
her plans for the summer.
You are not alone.
This has been a tough year, toughest ever. Weird parents, newbie principal,
an unusually cruel group of 8th graders, etc. I plan to put my feet up at
our cabin for three weeks and go visit my daughter and her family in Italy
for 5 weeks. The great grant I was to participate in will go on without
me. I need the R&R this summer.
Some years you need to take care of yourself.
The great news is I have an interview for one of the few library/media jobs
left in out district. Not sure I want it, or even if it is would be a good
fit, but it feels great to be asked to interview.
Take time for yourself to recharge your batteries. My husband says he knows
why I teach middle school...I am a middle schooler myself at heart. That
is not necessarily a bad thing.
Ciao,
Ginny
------------------------------------------------
Donna shared insights gleaned from twenty-seven years of teaching.
Hello. I think this is responding to Caron's question.
I have taught for 27 years and find that there are some groups of students
that just wear you out, and there are others that are a breeze! I remember
one group of students, as first graders, who were such a "unique"
group that I felt flustered and frustrated for a good part of the year,
until I figured out what worked for us as a group (I told the principal,
"No tours in my class this year!" because this group could not
stay in their seats, and stay focused for very long, so I really didn't
want an audience.) I just did the best I could. This past year I had the
"pleasure" of teaching that same group as 6th graders! I had really
grown to love them, but they were still quite a handful. Some years are
just easier. I hope that you won't be too tough on yourself this year, and
just try to find some things that worked, and keep searching for other ideas
that will work. Watch other teachers and get ideas from them, if that will
work for you, too.
- Donna
------------------------------------------------
Laura pointed out the advantages of connecting with other educators via
teacher listservs.
Totally understand. I wasn't sure I'd make it to the end of the year.
This group helps energize me. It gives me an opportunity to connect with
other professionals. We all know there are teachers and then there are professional
teachers. I can't do everything (especially when I'm on 3 lists) but I gain
so much and mental stretching from being a part of this community.
What has surprised me over the years is how what I gain from the lists becomes
a part of my teaching. I'm constantly telling others I learned this from
a listserv I'm on. I do have to file many ideas into the "I'm going
to try that someday" or "read that someday" file. I'm moving
to 8th grade this year and they tell me it's easier so maybe I'll get to
more of the things in my file. :)
- Laura
------------------------------------------------
Mary Ellen agreed with Laura.
I have been having a similar conversation....'my listserv says...'.
I find that teaching can be a lonely profession. This might be due to the
fact that I have spent the majority of my 30+ years working in smaller schools
(1 class per grade and I teach 7 and 8 language arts). Our school has level
meetings and I meet with myself. I tried to work with the 6th grade teacher
but her focus for most of the year is more 4-6 grade than thinking in terms
of junior high needs. This listserv is valuable to me in that I feel like
minds at work. I often get feelings of affirmation from you and that makes
the day less alone. Thanks for being there.
- Mary Ellen
------------------------------------------------
John affirmed Ginny's summer plans and made an observation.
Ginny:
You do it. I totally agree and want to make you my role model!
I can't help but wonder how many schools are filled with "dissonance"
and how much of that comes from a failure of leadership -- the absence of
a sense among all the staff that they are co-owners of the business and
not just hourly employees. As I visit middle schools in my writing work,
I'm no longer surprised when I find the school has no coherent school wide
strategy around discipline and character education (in the best sense) -
and no school wide strategy to create parent partnerships. Instead, what
you often find are a dozen little strategies, many not very well thought
out, dragging students, teachers, parents - everyone - here, there and yon.
- John
------------------------------------------------
Joanne added to John's comments.
My limited, one-school experience, illustrated to me the independence
of the teachers from the administration. Admin was something that had to
be "put up with" and the teachers did their own thing. This worked
at my school because almost all the teachers were strong, experienced teachers
who preferred autonomy or forging their own partnerships with like-minded
teachers. The principal seemed to prefer this autonomy, too. He expected
each teacher to make his/her own way, to find out what needed to be found
out, etc. His was a distinct hire-the-best, then leave-them-alone approach.
While this can work in some schools and with some teachers, and it did at
Pleasanton Middle School for the most part, it doesn't seem to me to be
a method that will work for most schools. PMS didn't have to deal with the
most serious problems facing districts who don't attract top-notch applicants
and whose students receive little at-home support. Certainly there were
"problem students", but they were a very small minority.
My point is, even in the Blue-Ribbon nominated schools, cohesiveness can
be lacking. Teaching can be such a lonely profession; I heard teachers at
PMS and teachers here in Middleweb listserv state how alone they feel as
a teacher. That is such a tragedy, since how the teacher feels will definitely
have an impact on his/her students and on the teacher's future career.
Teaming, whether it is within one's subject area, or across the curriculum,
has to become the norm if we have any hope of changing this type of isolating
culture and keeping and nurturing new teachers. Teaming needs to be taught
and preached in every teacher education class, so the next generation demands
and incorporates it as the norm, and not the exception.
Ok, off my soapbox now,
- Joanne
------------------------------------------------
Caron voiced some of her reservations.
To some extent, I agree with the importance of teaming; however, I have
my reservations. The situation I am in may be specific to our school. Since
we are college prep, Math and English gets a strong focus. Especially Math
and writing in English. Other areas of the curriculum seem to feel "less
than" and threatened by what we do and when we get together they are
constantly badgering the Math Dept. This has been a particular issue this
year since we operated with no Math Dept. Head....
I work with our other grade level teachers willingly and enthusiastically.
But I always feel they would like to bury me and the math text and homework
back behind the field house.
- Caron
------------------------------------------------
Joanne responded to Caron.
I hear what you are saying, Caron, yet that isn't the "fault"
of teaming, rather of individuals and perhaps a lack of leadership or guidance
within the group or perhaps even more of an administrative failing.
I tend to live with a Utopian view of how things ought to be...... and when
things don't work that way I am appalled and saddened. No doubt the realities
of teaming would cause me to back off my "the way it's spozed to be"
opinions.
- Joanne
------------------------------------------------
Bill added his thoughts concerning the importance of establishing a school-wide
cohesiveness.
I think you're definitely on to something. And honestly, as much as
I love Pine Cobble, I do think we are suffering from some of this dissonance
p; and many of you know I greatly respect and admire my Upper School
Head, and that I believe my colleagues are heavily invested in the school.
I can only imagine what it would be like if there were a dearth of leadership,
or if the Pine Cobble faculty were "just punch the time clock"
kind of people.
I think achieving a coherent school-wide strategy around discipline and
character education is an extremely elusive goal because there are so many
widely varying opinions around these issues. Those who are focused on strict
interpretation of the rules and those who interpret rules situationally
will always clash. I know some of my colleagues think I have too-low standards,
and I think some of them are too focused on where kids fall short and not
enough on their strengths. And you know what? We are probably all correct
in our thinking. And, moreover, we all sincerely want the best for our students.
Meeting in the middle will take a great deal of effort and compromise, often
on deeply held values. That will take a great deal of time, a very great
deal.
Of course, that doesn't mean just give up. Indeed, my Upper School Head
is attending a conference this summer on "building community,"
and we are also looking to make our advisory program more comprehensive
- getting more one-on-one time, for one thing, to really work on goal-setting
and metacognition with each kid - to complement the already-strong group
program we have in place.
- Bill
------------------------------------------------
Bee shared some thoughts on teaming.
I, too, teach in a small Catholic school with only 1 class per grade.
Each class lasts for about 45 minutes and meets each day. I have a 7th homeroom
and teach Religion, Science, and English. I am very fortunate to have 2
wonderful teachers as 6th and 8th homeroom teachers. We coordinate and cooperate
as a unit - particularly with the 8th grade teacher. So I have the feeling
that I am part of a team. We bounce ideas and try to coordinate curriculum
so students can see ideas pass between class and we see carryover. I have
been at this school for 13 years. Needless to say, I love the kids and,
yes, even their parents. Our scores have been very high on our standardized
tests, and our new principal was very impressed.
The English I teach is separate from the Reading program at our school and
a different teacher teaches the Lit part. I have been teaching grammar (6,7,
and 8) very heavily in the past and have felt that I have really neglected
the writing part. My goal this year is to blend the two. Because we send
our 8th graders to a variety of high schools - possibly as many as 8 different
schools - from private to public I feel I have to prepare them for almost
anything. Yes, I even teach diagramming as some of the private high schools
still diagram. I have a few simple ideas, but would love to get some help
from all of you - the experts. How do you cover everything from sentences
to all of the parts of speech and still have the students do all of the
writing? Do any of you do this separate from the reading class? What exactly
is writers' workshop? I'm looking to improve the program without adding
immense amounts of paperwork to my load. Science also keeps me VERY busy!
HELP!!!!
Thanks for any suggestions,
- Bee
------------------------------------------------
Melba offered Bee some suggestions.
Bee, I used to teach English before we integrated reading with it. It
consisted of teaching grammar and writing. I had 5 classes with 25-30 students
in each class for 45 minutes each day. This was way before standards based
education came to the middle school, before middle school reform. If I only
knew then...
I taught the parts of speech as a sponge activity. We diagramed sentences,
which I found ineffective; then we color-coded the parts of speech, which
I realized that the kiddos were learning the colors and not the content;
finally we labeled each word. That did the trick! sub. verb object
Sam raced home.
Of course, our sentences became more complex as the year progressed, but
you get the idea. I concentrated on the writing. I used the old writing
process with brainstorming, prewriting, rewriting, editing, and final copy.
Later, my school district adopted the Jane Shaffer model. We are finally
getting out of that model. I also taught my students to be editors. Once
they wrote their first drafts, they were required to have 2 peer editors
signatures-each editor proofed for a specific purpose (punctuation, spelling,
sentence structure, paragraph structure etc.). Each student was an official
expert in one of more areas, identified by me. After that, the second draft
was written and those went home for parent editing. I sent letters home
early informing the parents that this was a way for them to see what their
children were learning and to take part in their education. I never had
any complaints from the parents about this.
By the time I got the final drafts, they were quite easy and fast to grade.
I only had one parent write for her son, but after talking to her on the
phone, she agreed to work with me. Once the students and their parents learned
the routine, I was able to assign a paragraph a week and an essay every
3-4 weeks. I was teaching 6th grade. My point is: peer editing will save
you many hours of work that you can turn over to the students. They will
learn from it. I also did some sentence lifting to show them some exemplars,
and demonstrate editing strategies.
- Melba
------------------------------------------------
Bill described some of the end of the year stresses he has encountered.
Like many of you, I find myself pretty much drained by the end of the
year, a combination of accumulated sleep deficit from the normal routine,
additional sleep deficit from end-of-year grading and extra performances
and ceremonies, and emotional exhaustion from watching some of these kids
leave my life. There are days I couldn't make it home safely without a caffeine
kick, and when it's all over I just want to sleep for several days in a
row. At the same time, I do get some additional energy to get through it
by recognizing and honoring the connections I've made (making sure kids
know how much they have meant to me), plus adrenaline from the busy performing
arts aspect of my life at this time of year, plus knowing that I'll be rested
and psyched to go again in September.
I can't even imagine where those of you on the list whose teaching schedules
are busier than mine and whose families are bigger than mine even begin
to find time to publish, present at conferences, etc.! I am in awe of you!
- Bill
------------------------------------------------
Marsha described her upcoming summer responsibilities.
I know that I'm hanging on by the smallest part of my fingernails, at
this point....four more days!!!!!!! I have the chance to host a weeklong
staff development class on Digital Video Editing which should help our teachers
figure out how to integrate this resource into their classrooms. But right
now I'd rather be done with everything. And I agree with much of what has
already been written that this listserve is my peer group since I don't
always have that where I work.
I am going to spend a large part of the summer regrouping and recharging
myself. I'm planning a week long solitary hike in the Red Rock area of southern
Utah...all alone, hiking, camping and meeting whomever my path crosses.
I have to have this kind of time so that I can re-center myself and make
sure I know who I am apart from my job and my vocation. I will also have
the chance to go back to my old college stomping grounds, the Boston area,
to hang with friends and stay up late.
I draw energy from reading everyone's entries, hearing their stories, listening
to the brainstorming, being inspired by successes and overwhelmed by how
much there is still to know and understand. But I need time to take a breather,
too. Balance. That's what it always comes down to, at least for me.
- Marsha
------------------------------------------------
McGraw spoke of the loneliness that she has often experienced in teaching.
As a strong interpersonal extrovert I find aloneness one of the hardest
parts of teaching. For the past two years, however, I have been part of
a cohort which worked together toward our MEds. Ahha! that is what is meant
by collegiality- a true community of learners. Teachers of varied levels
and subjects learning, working and growing together. It was an amazing experience.
I now know what I have been seeking all these years. Alas, we graduated
a few weeks ago. All twenty of us will probably not stay connected but many
of us will. I also have a network now that I did not have before. I will
miss the intellectual stimulation. Teaching is so often an exercise in "bailing
while we're paddling". As for me - seven different class sections three
different subjects, 140+ students- Little time for building the professional
connections which nurture teachers. I am grateful for the support of the
Listserv. Thanks to all of you who share so openly.
- McGraw
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION
BY JOINING THE MIDDLEWEB
LISTSERV.
MEMBERS CAN POST A MESSAGE TO:
middleweblist@sreb.org
BACK
to the MiddleWeb Listserv Conversations Index