Letter to Myself...2012 Style

Dear 2012 Sarah,

I hear you have recently made the decision to become a teacher. You plan to go back to school to get a second degree, and I have to say…that is awesome! I am sure you are nervous; you don’t know if this will stick. You haven’t written a paper in years, and you know you’re behind. I am here to tell you not to worry—you will be successful!

I won’t lie to you…this program will be difficult at times. You think you can keep working full time at the law office—you can’t. You will have to quit your job after two months of being back in school. Just so you know, Brian will be completely supportive of this decision, and you should probably buy him Oreos at least once a month as a thank you.

I wanted to fill you in on a few things I have learned these last three years to help you be as successful as possible. Many things I did were very effective, and some were not. Hopefully you can learn from my experiences, and be a rock star in the education program.

I learned after about the first year back in school that to keep up with all of the reading, papers, projects and presentations, I needed to create a better time-management system. I started using Google Calendar to keep track of due dates, and to schedule specific times to study. DON’T WAIT to start this. This system is a life saver—you will never forget to do an assignment again. Also, very important—keep up with all of the reading. And do not JUST read, but also take some notes, write down some questions…you should be totally informed of the content before entering the classroom each day. There is nothing worse than participating in a class discussion without having anything to contribute. Trust me.

Another thing to remember is that you shouldn’t stress the small stuff OR the big stuff. You will be required to do a bunch of FERs in Core 1 and Core 2. These seem impossible to accomplish, and because of the way they are introduced by certain instructors, it will seem like they are assigned only to cause you to fail. Believe me—if you try your best, you will get an A on every single one. There is no need to feel insecure and anxious. Just break them up into chunks and tackle each chunk a little bit at a time.

I had a great experience in both pre-student teaching and student teaching, but I did have to learn some lessons the hard way. In fact, the very thing that made me successful in student teaching ended up being my biggest fault as well. I took student teaching VERY seriously. I always planned ahead, I treated the students as MY students, and I took it to heart if they were not succeeding; this mindset was very beneficial at first, but it did eventually get the best of me. The last month or so of student teaching, I have had an insane amount of anxiety, trouble sleeping, and have become unpleasant to be around in the evenings (according to my family). This is my advice to you, 2012 Sarah, take student teaching seriously, but leave it at school. Your family and your health is important.

Sarah, you are very lucky to be in this education program. The people are AWESOME, both professors and students. Don’t ever take the people or the program for granted. The program is set up to give you plenty of classroom experience before student teaching, so you will be prepared when it is time. Also, most of the content that is taught will be very beneficial—put what you learn at WSU into practice as much as possible in your placement classroom.

One thing that I do not feel the program prepared be for was teaching writing. We talked a lot about writing-to-learn and creative writing, but not as much about analytical and informational writing. I would suggest that you do some additional research independently on these subjects before trying to teach them. I taught an analysis essay unit for my KPTP. I went into it with many different ideas about teaching writing, but I did not do as well as I would have liked because I hadn’t completely settled on a specific strategy. There is a lot of research out there to support several different, conflicting theories about teaching writing, and it is hard to know who to believe. For example, Randy Bomer’s book Building Adolescent Literacy in Today’s English Classrooms less-than-subtly hints that teaching formulaic writing is a mistake, and actually hurts students’ ability to write. However, I have also run across many articles that seem to support more formulaic writing as part of the learning process. The article “The Writing Revolution” from The Atlantic, takes a look at a private school instructor at Windward School in New York. Judith Hochman, who has become a bit of a legend in the private school community, first teaches students how to “turn ideas into simple sentences, and how to construct complex sentences from simple ones by supplying the answer to three prompts—but, because, and so. They are instructed on how to use appositive clauses to vary the way their sentences begin. Later on, they are taught how to recognize sentence fragments, how to pull the main idea from a paragraph, and how to form a main idea on their own. It is, at least initially, a rigid, unswerving formula.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/10/the-writing-revolution/309090/) 

 The article persuaded me to change my mind for the hundredth time about writing instruction. I guess what I am saying to YOU, Sarah, is that you should start your research now instead of waiting until your final pre-service year. And please, choose something else for your KPTP unit…writing instruction is too controversial for such an important assessment.

2012 Sarah, I hope these insights into the education program will help you succeed during the next three years. And by the way, you are not as behind as you think you are.

 Yourself,

            Sarah McQuery

Senioritis, Burnout, and My Promises to Myself

Senioritis has arrived. Teaching high school seniors while I am a senior in college has given me a unique perspective on what my students are going through as they complete their senior year. That being said, the senioritis manifests itself a bit differently in me than it does in my students. For example, I have finished all my work on time; however, I can definitely relate to the stress, excitement, and overall feeling of being burned-out. I share my students’ anxieties about losing the safety-net of being a student as we move to the next stage in our lives. For them, this means college and/or work; for me, it’s my first teaching job. Then there is the issue of actually completing senior year—fighting with the stress of deadlines, worrying about what my final GPA will be, and trying to find time for family and friends in between the KPTP and lesson planning. During the last few weeks, I have often felt like hiding under the covers until life fast-forwards a bit.

 

As I contemplated this idea of ‘senioritis’ I began to wonder—what’s to keep me from becoming burned-out as a teacher, too? If I feel stressed and exhausted as a student-teacher, does that mean I will feel like this as a full-time teacher as well? Is this what I have to look forward to…for my whole career? Panic beginning to set in…

I decided that instead of freaking out, I should remain calm and find a solution. I found an article at http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/teacher-stress-burnout-preventing.shtml called “Avoiding Teacher Burnout: Five Strategies.” This concise article provides tips for avoiding burnout: 1) leave work at school; 2) share the work load; 3) take a mental health day; 4) arrive at school early; 5) avoid the Sunday blues.

I could summarize the article for you, discussing the points as hypotheticals, but instead, I have decided to write a contract of promises that I will adhere to next school year:

 

1) I promise to leave work at school, even if that means staying at school until 7pm each night. I will designate times during the school day for planning and grading. Whatever is not finished when I leave the building will have to wait until the next day. Home will be my sacred place—a place for peace, relaxation and spending time with family.

2) I promise to ask for help when I need it. I will not let ego prevent me from asking administrators or fellow teachers for assistance or advice. I will use all of the resources available to me.

 

3) I promise to arrive at school at least 45 minutes early every day. This will be my quiet time to double-check my lesson plans for each class, and to mentally prepare myself for the day.

 

4) I promise to plan ahead to avoid the ‘Sunday Blues.’ I will plan each unit in depth well in advance, and have a tentative plan for every lesson in the unit. Every Friday, I will finalize lessons and prepare resources for Monday, so I can keep my weekends stress-free.

5) I promise to focus on the joys of teaching—watching my students grow, collaborating with other life-long learners, and teaching content that I am passionate about—instead of dwelling on the difficult parts.

6) I promise to take it easy on myself when I make a mistake—no teacher is perfect, and I should especially not expect to be perfect my first year.

Healthy Teacher=Happy Teacher

Being a college student can be stressful—trying to fit studying in between classes so you can get to your evening job, staying up until 4am writing a paper, eating ramen noodles and hot pockets every day because you have no time or money for real food. Being a student can really take a toll. Then comes your senior year—the routine is down, the study schedule is perfect, you’ve upgraded from ramen to hot dogs and turkey sandwiches. You have finally figured out how to balance school and life—unless you’re an education major, and you’re student teaching…

Last semester I had my routine down, but student teaching is a completely different ball game. I was unprepared for this change. Teaching all day, staying after school to grade papers and prepare for the next day, finally getting to my homework at 6pm, eating fast food…not ideal. Of course one benefit is that by the time I get to bed I am so exhausted that I sleep better than I have ever slept in my whole life. That said, I feel completely opposite of “balanced.” By Friday each week I am struggling to keep my eyes open. I feel like I am behind all the time, even though as I write this blog entry it is actually nine days before it is due. The point is, I am probably not actually behind, just stressed. Very, very stressed.

Long story short, I need help. How can I succeed at student teaching and stay healthy and happy? After searching for advice online, I found some helpful information at http://teachersupport.info/facts-sheets/work-life-balance-what-it-and-how-do-i-achieve-it. The article is called “Work-Life Balance- What is it and how do I achieve it?” After reading the tips in the article, I realized where my downfalls might lie. The following four tips from the article are the ones I believe will make the biggest difference in my student teaching life, and maybe in yours, too!

1) “Make boundaries—something produced in three hours will be different from something produced in one hour, but is it any better?”

It happens to me all the time. I get “stuck” on a lesson plan or assignment, and instead of taking a break I push through, driving myself insane, staring at the computer screen. Maybe if I set a boundary each day regarding how much time I will allow myself to spend on planning and homework, I could come back at a later time with a fresh perspective, avoiding that MAD SCIENTIST look I get on my face on the fifth hour of lesson planning.

2) “Keep fit. Exercise regularly and make sure you’re eating healthily.”

What? Add something else to my schedule? Are you crazy?! I am sure it is true, though, and I am completely guilty. In past years as a college student I have always exercised on a regular basis. During pre-student teaching, though, I started cutting back. This semester I have been to the gym only once! This is definitely an area I could work on.

3) “Rest and relax. Keep at least one day of the weekend free.”

Until this semester, my rule was ‘no homework on the weekends, and no homework after 6pm.’ I was very successful at keeping up with this rule. This rule doesn’t work for student teaching. I am teaching all day, so homework must be done in the evenings and on the weekends. Maybe this new rule—keep one day of the weekend free—would be a good substitute.

 4) “Take proper breaks…do your best to break for lunch at least, and get out of the classroom.”

I WANT to work constantly while I am at school, but this is a very good point. If I stay in the classroom, there is a pile of student work to be graded, my laptop calling to me to work on lesson plans, and students bringing in make-up work and wanting to talk about their weekends. I don’t want to miss out on the student interaction, but maybe if I just took a quick walk outside during lunch for 10 minutes that would give me the proper time to refresh.

To be the best teacher I can be I need to be the healthiest, happiest human being I can be. Living with constant stress is not okay. I have told myself that what I am sacrificing—not working out, not taking time to relax, working through lunch—is for my students. Not so. What my students need is a healthy, happy teacher who takes care of herself, who can be a role model and an inspiration for students so they might do the same. Now I just need to make some changes so that I can be that person for them, and for myself.

Late Work and Other Obstacles

It is the final semester of my English Education degree! May 16^th I will graduate and have the qualifications to be an actual, real life Language Arts teacher! The past two and a half years have flown by! But before I get too excited, I have to finish this semester: student teaching. Yikes.

I began my student teaching on January 5^th – the first day of the semester at my placement school. I am teaching three classes of College Prep English, and assisting with two other classes. I designed the current College Prep unit alongside my cooperating teacher, and have been teaching or co-teaching almost every day. So far, it has been an absolute blast. My CT and I built a great relationship last semester, so now I feel completely at home, productive, and happy.

The unit that we are currently conducting is a “book group” unit, where each group is reading a different book. I have organized their work load into weekly work, including one graphic organizer per week and reading notes in their notebooks, long-term assignments chosen from a menu of options, and one collaborative project which will serve as the final assessment for the unit. Fridays are group discussion days, with every other day building up to the discussion. So far, the unit has the potential to be very successful.

But of course, it isn’t perfect. My CT and I hit our first snag last Friday—the first group discussion day. Our plan seemed great: students will come to class with completed notes including questions, thoughts, personal connections, and observations regarding their books; students will have finalized their first graphic organizer with all sorts of insightful ideas to share with their groups; students will engage in discussion for the entire 50 minutes, which will seem like way too little time because of all the class time and home time they have spent preparing for this exact discussion. Oh my…I sure learned my lesson. Turns out, giving students 50 minutes to discuss literature from their own notes on a Friday is not realistic. As I walked around to listen to, and participate in, group discussions, I noticed that students were often talking about something unrelated to their book, or they were not talking at all. This was the first problem. Second problem: many of the graphic organizers were not finished. Students were hustling to complete their work to turn in at the end of class instead of participating in discussion. A few groups even spent discussion time copying the work of those students who were finished. Not a good start to the unit.

My CT and I had a long discussion on Friday. We came up with a game plan to address the problems. For example, we are planning to provide a “focus piece” to each group on Fridays to help guide their discussion, such as an article or poem that connects to the novels. We have also informed the students that they will be given a participation grade, and that points from this grade will be taken off any time they have their cell phones out or are not prepared for discussion.

 The final item that is still baffling my CT and I is late work. Many students simply did not complete their graphic organizers, and are turning them in as they finish them. Just today I was handed four late graphic organizers. We decided on a policy of 10% removed per day late, but is this really the best policy? Will this discourage students from completing their work if they are late? Isn’t it most important that students are doing the work and learning, no matter when the work occurs? This question has been bugging me for days.

 To get some insight about the late work issue, I read an article called “4 Tips to Address Late, Missing Homework.” The article can be found at http://www.teachhub.com/teacher-missing-homework-tips. According to the author, Stephanie Wrobleski, there is no “one size fits all” solution to this question, but Ms. Wrobleski does offer some helpful hints regarding how to handle late work.

One of Wrobleski’s suggestions is to “gather reinforcements” for the students who are consistently late. This could mean guidance counselors and other school staff, but it could also mean parents. Wrobleski reminds us that we cannot assume that parents know that their children are behind. I think this is especially true for the grade level I am teaching—seniors in high school. I wonder, though, what I should do if a parent doesn’t seem to care…or if the student is 18 and on their own. I have several students that have been living on their own since the beginning of this school year. In some of these cases, parents are out of the picture.

Another suggestion from the article is to “establish a plan” with the students on an individual basis. Put together a schedule of when they will turn in their assignments, and create individualized rewards and consequences. This seems great in theory, however, I have one student who has only come to class a handful of times this semester. I have planned make-up times with her about 5 times now, and she has never followed through. When is it time to pull the plug? How many chances are they given?

Wrobleski’s final suggestion is simply to “be realistic,” which is probably the most helpful suggestion of all. She reminds us that not every student will pass, even if we do our absolute best as teachers. I don’t like to think about this, because I believe that every student has the ability to succeed in my classroom, but she has a point. I think that, with this in mind, my late policy might still be my best option—10% per day. This way, students have the ability to make up work, but if they wait too long to do the work, it is out of my control. Now, I just have to stick with my plan and stay on top of my grading, and everything should work out for the best! (Here’s hoping…)

 Although we had a few obstacles last Friday, I think it was a good learning experience. It really forced me to re-examine my plans and adapt my lessons to help my students get the most out of the unit. I am feeling extremely optimistic about this unit, and this semester! I am ready to work!