A Letter to the Non-Believer

Dear You,

            You have done this before. You have questioned your abilities, you have lacked self-confidence, and you have refused to acknowledge your accomplishments.

Guess what? You were wrong then, and you are wrong now.

YOU CAN. And, YOU WILL.

At times, you will feel this profession is not for you. At times, you will feel so stressed out that you cannot concentrate. At times, you will feel completely defeated.

It’s okay. You will learn.

You will learn how to time manage, you will learn how to take a deep breath, you will learn how to teach others to love learning.

Here are some tips to help:

·      Do a little over a long period of time—I know syllabus day is the worst day of every semester, and that will not change. Sorry to disappoint. You will continue to have tons of projects and assignments that will seem impossible to complete, but do not procrastinate. Choose to do a little, even when you do not want to, and it will make a big difference.

·      Ask questions—As an education major you know teachers love when students ask questions. Well, be that student! Especially when you work with seasoned teachers because they are the best people to use as a resource. Create a list of questions that you can ask every teacher you work with. I did not do this, but I wish I would have. They have so much information. Soak it up!

·      Compile supplies—Not necessarily school supplies. Collect lesson plans, strategies to correct behavior, really anything that you observe as a successful approach in the classroom environment. I did not start doing this until my student teaching, and I would have way more to work with if I would have started earlier.

·      Be self sufficient—You will have awesome classmates, incredibly supportive University Supervisors, and many phenomenal Mentor Teachers. Be sure to show gratitude to those people and always communicate your appreciation for them, but rely on yourself. In the end, it is up to you to graduate, find a job, and love the work you will do for a lifetime. With that being said, stop doubting yourself. As important as it is to appreciate others, it is important to appreciate yourself too. Celebrate your successes and accept your failures as an opportunity to grow. Because, spoiler alert, you are a good teacher, but you have the abilities and opportunities to be a great teacher.

There might be things you want to change (i.e.—almost all university English classes with uncompassionate professors). But, the College of Education will be your haven. Use it! Your program is your home. Live there and live well.

In a year or so, you will start hearing buzzwords like “KPTP” and “Licensure. “

DO NOT PANIC. From my experience, I found that the College of Education communicates expectations well, and all faculty and staff will be willing to help you. I mean, they are all teachers; they will not let you fail.

And you will not fail.

You will not fail because you are more capable than you know. Many are rooting for you. It’s time for you to become your own biggest fan!

Best,

Future You

You've Got a Job...Now What?

Considering I have recently been offered my first teaching job…YEAH, I HAVE A JOB! Woo-hoo! *happy dance*

Anyway, now that I do have my first job, I have been thinking about all the different things I need to prepare. First and foremost, I have been focusing on my classroom management plan. I feel this should be the first order of business because all the planning in the world will be of no use to me if I do not have control of my classroom.

My student-teaching experience has equipped me with multiple resources. I have listed some of my favorites below:

·      Three Strike System—If a student continually talks to his/her peers or shows disrespectful/defiant behavior, he/she will be warned once with no consequence. On the second warning, he/she will be asked to move seats. The last and final warning will warrant a more serious consequence, such as a one-on-one conference in the hallway, a phone call home, time with me after school, etc.

·      Class Dojo Points (Individual Incentive)—Students are given their own points through the technology application Class Dojo. This application allows students to gain or lose individual points based on behavior and academic performance. With these points, you can build a classroom economy and students can buy prizes with their points. For example, my mentor teacher uses Class Dojo and he allows students to buy coupons with their points. Some of the students’ favorite coupons include “eat in class pass” and “positive call home”—So fun!

·      Class Points (Whole Class Incentive)—My mentor teacher created this one! When the entire class does a great job collectively, I will give them a class point. For every class point that the class receives, they get closer to a predetermined goal. Once they have met that goal, they are allowed a 15 minute class party with food and games on a specific day.

These are just a few that I have observed and found effective, and I know there are more resources to be discovered, so I decided to do some more research.

Author, Ben Johnson, wrote a great article on Edutopia called “The Art of Managing Middle School Students.” Some of his suggestions are listed below:

·      First of all, he compared them to squirrels. Is he right, or is he right? “Zoom, freeze for two seconds, flick tail, and repeat” (Johnson 1). I’m already thinking of three students who fit this description.

·      I digress; he goes on to explain that the key to managing middle school students is to engage their attention for more than a few seconds at a time. He suggests two tools: distraction and relationship. Building personal relationships with your students will help them see you as more of a person, rather than just a teacher, and getting to know your student helps you push them toward success on a deeper level (Johnson 3,4).

·      If all else fails, use the distraction technique. Middle school students are often easily distracted, so he recommends using distractions to help them refocus. For example, if students are working in groups and a lot of side conversation is taking place, consider giving an on-task group a positive incentive. This will distract off-task groups and motivate them to refocus and earn the positive incentive as well (Johnson 5,6).

·      His last proposal consists of routine and surprise. This can be related to the Class Dojo economy that I mentioned earlier. Students need to know that they have a routine way of spending the individual points that they have earned, such as a classroom “ prize auction” once a month. But, sometimes the teacher needs to surprise the students by raising the stakes. For example, after the “prize auction” concludes, consider presenting a mystery bag prize and promise that it is better than any other prize offered previously this year. Then, explain that it will be available for auction in two weeks and it will be sold to the highest bidder. Students will be working to earn Dojo points left and right (Johnson 7).

I know trial and error will be my best friend when I am exploring to find a classroom management plan that works for me, but it doesn’t hurt to have a place to start.

So, cheers to new jobs and new ideas!

Resources

Johnson, Ben. "The Art of Managing Middle School Students." Edutopia. N.p., 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Note To Self: Chronic Absenteeism

As I am finishing my final semester in pursuit of my Bachelor’s in Education, my Mentor Teacher (MT) is finishing his final semester in pursuit of his Master’s in Education. This unique situation has allowed us to learn and work alongside each other on a different level.

I am bringing new, fresh ideas to him and he is providing me with the insight of a seasoned teacher, but also a returning students. For his final semester project, he is analyzing the idea of chronic absenteeism in our school building.

This was particularly interesting to me because I feel like it is something that could easily pass between the first-year teacher cracks. This semester I have been so focused on planning and learning how to correct behavior that I often forget to even record attendance until the end of the day.

But, school starts with attendance. If a student does not come to school, the learning process can’t even begin and things like planning and correcting behavior no longer apply.

My MT has shared his thoughts and resolutions for chronic absenteeism with our middle school team and I found myself very interested in it’s repercussions. So, I decided to take the initiative to further research it on my own.

Chronic absenteeism is defined as “missing 10 percent or more of a school year—approximately 18 days a year, or just two days every month” and it seems to be a national problem considering “5 to 7.5 million students are chronically absent” (O’Brien 3).

At the secondary level, especially at the middle school level, chronic absenteeism is a sign that a student will most likely drop out of school all together. But, regardless, missing school at any level has consequences for our students. Such consequences include, lower academic skills (i.e.—reading, writing), lower test scores, lower chances of attending college, and lower chances of breaking the cycle of poverty (WYPR Glenn 2).

Basically, it keeps our students at a lower level of achievement in all aspects of life. As an educator, when the idea of chronic absenteeism was brought to my attention, I automatically thought of 2-3 students that are not in my class near enough. And, unfortunately, I think most educators have the same problem.

Identifying our chronically absent students is usually simple, but the more important question is how do we prevent absences and help these students?

My MT has presented valuable suggestions to address this problem. Many of them are most effective at a school wide level, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt for us educators to begin implementing them in our classrooms.

To start, it is important to collect data on the students that miss school regularly. This could be as simple as tallying each day that a student is absent.

Once data is collected, analyze why you think this student might be missing school. Consider their socioeconomic status, culture, and personal/family traits. Do not be afraid to take a student-by-student approach and work on solving issues that keep certain students from attending school. For example, these issues may be housing instability, poor transportation, childcare challenges, bullying, etc. (O’Brien 8).  

At my school, students often miss school simply because they are not held accountable for attending and they do not wake up. So, a few teachers in my building started buying the students reliable alarm clocks, or even doing ‘wake up’ calls to make sure the students are awake and preparing for the school day.

In my opinion, the most important thing educators can do is to create and foster an environment where students feel welcomed, safe and appreciated. In an effort to do this, educators can communicate with students. In my future classroom, I would like to develop positive reward or incentive programs to encourage attendance. The rewards could range from candy and snacks to positive calls home and special class privileges.

Also, my mother was a truancy coordinator in the district that I work for now. Her program focused on providing students with adult role models or mentors for each student to meet with on a weekly basis. This idea, paired with positive rewards such as going out to lunch with their mentors proved very successful.

There are many things ways to tackle chronic absenteeism. So, future and current teachers, between your planning and teaching make time to focus on one strategy to help your students stay in school and stay motivated.

Resources

Glenn, Gwendolyn. "Empty Desks: The Effects of Chronic Absenteeism." Audio blog post. News.wypr.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

O'Brien, Anne. "Addressing Chronic Absenteeism." Edutopia.org. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

Worse Things Have Happened

Worse things have happened.
You've tripped and fallen on your face.
And you've argued with those you love.
Someone has ignored your application,
Throwing away hours of your hard work.
You've lost more socks than you can count.
And your heart has been broken.
Wonderful people have died.
And they've cancelled your favorite TV show.
Worse things have happened.
And you survived.
There once was a women who began a tough journey.
She sweated through all her favorite shirts.
And made the mistake of wearing heels to make a good impression.
She brought leftover meatloaf for lunch,
Unaware that there was no microwave,
Or teacher's lounge...at all...
She escorted a sick kid all the way to a nonexistent nurse,
Still wearing the heels.
The students stare,
Refusing to answer questions.
She monitors the classroom,
Watching students do everything except their work.
She hears curse words in Spanish,
As pencils fly across the room.
She can sense the beginnings of a student brawl.
And then, she feels a tug on her sleeve.
"Miss, can you recommend any good books for me?
I think you're doing great!"
She looks around the room.
Mischievous middle schoolers on her left,
And on her right.
Some are working, some are not
Then, she takes a moment to talk about books.
She is the teacher now.
She knows it won't be easy.
But, worse things have happened.

Creative Genre Two: Future Letter

Dear, Ms. Loyd.

   I hope this letter finds you well. After your first year of teaching I am optimistic that I have found you with all your hair in tact and your wits about you. I am here to remind you of the intentions and values you held so dearly before embarking on your teaching journey. Enclosed are the Ten Commandments of Teaching that you, yourself, created shortly before you began your student teaching.

   Please review them, and initial in the blank following each commandment to indicate that you have upheld these commandments throughout the most stressful year of your career.

   If you have found that you have not upheld some or all of these commandments (which I pray is not the case), use this letter as a reflective opportunity to regain your purpose and continue pursuing the goals and dreams you first envisioned yourself achieving.

Thou shall be one who makes everybody feel like somebody—that is you have made an intentional effort to make every student feel seen and heard.   

                                                                                                                                                           

________

Thou shall not only teach about literary heroes like Atticus Finch and Arnold Spirit Jr., thou shall bring those characters to life!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ________


Thou shall extend and challenge the lenses in which students view the world and themselves.

                                                                                                                                     

________


Thou shall not give up on any student, no matter how difficult he/she may prove to be.                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                        

________

Thou shall not be negative when it comes to anything regarding teaching. This includes, but is not limited to: government legislation regarding education, challenging colleagues, demanding superiors, or frustrating students.

                                                                                                                                      

________

Thou shall try thy best to be a good example of an upright citizen every day for all, especially students, to witness and hopefully emulate.

                                                                                                                                      

________

Thou shall not post anything school related on social media—This is not a past problem, so with any luck, it is not a future problem!

                                                                                                                                     

________


Thou shall maintain confidence in thy ability to manage behavior and misbehavior within the classroom.

                                                                                                                                     

________


Thou shall NOT cry anywhere near school, and NEVER in front of a student, parent, administrator, etc.

                                                                                                                                     

________


Thou shall refuse to give up!

                                                                                                                                     

________

           

    It is my greatest expectation that you have not lost your passion for teaching and helping others. Take heart, push through, you were made to show the world it’s potential.

“Today you will lead the school. Tomorrow your students will lead the world.” –Go forth and make sure they are prepared!

Best wishes,

Past Ms. Loyd (the nervous, but eager, soon-to-be student teacher)