Inspiring Leaders

Michael Pritchard spoke from the heart, with humor and sincerity, working up a sweat without hardly taking a break for an hour and a half! He addressed the need for compassion, respect, leadership and to search for the missing "soul" in our country and education. I was fortunate to have lunch with him, following his keynote at the conference last weekend. It was tempting to feel intimidated by someone who seems so highly recognized and well connected (the list of celebrities he calls friends goes on forever!), but we had a great conversation. The main point he made with me was to write. He said we (presuming the older generation) know so little about the youth in today's millennium - I need to write about my experiences. Hence, I am returning to making entries in this blog (after a 5 month absence).

"The best leaders get you to believe in yourself."

We had Michael Geisen - the 2008 National Teacher of the Year - speak at the last monthly seminar. Here he is, with a perfect expression to be posing with the most idiotic leader our country ever had:I got the impression he won the award due to his passion for creativity, simplicity and making education relevant to real life problems. He spent a good deal of time comparing left and right brain mentalities - how students are strictly tested on specific retention of facts (left brain), which in turn has practically forced any creativity or use of imagination out of our schools today. He didn't mention Bush's brilliant act: "No Child Left Untested", but everything he spoke about pretty much went against it. His final quote was from Einstein: "Imagination is more important than knowledge". This really forced me to reconsider the importance of preparing students for the onslaught of tests this Spring. So, for the past few weeks, I have spent more time doing fun activities and teaching what the kids prefer to study - rather than cramming irrelevant data into their overwhelmed left-brain, starving right-brain heads.

In the previous seminar, I was ecstatic about getting to hear Erin Gruwell, the author of Freedom Writers (made into a movie in 2007). She was treated like a celebrity (understandably) for essentially surviving in the lion's den - turning a class of confrontational and under privileged students who most had given up hope on - into a group of inspired, successful and aspiring leaders. It seemed very personal to me since I felt like I lived through the same thing - "trial by fire" in my first year of teaching. It was an emotional presentation, which helped me understand the best reasons for being a teacher and made me want to stick with the profession more than ever. Afterwards, I got Erin to autograph her Teacher's Guide for me and felt a real connection.

As a new teacher in California, I am required to participate in a program called BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment). Many people complain about having to be in it, but I can't imagine why. I think it's the most supportive and worthwhile collaboration I have which I credit heavily for my survival thus far. I had an excellent mentor last year (Mr. Langley) and again this year (Mr. Airola). Aside from their confidential coaching, BTSA sponsors us to attend a variety of workshops and conferences (aforementioned) that could easily cost hundreds of dollars. Again, some people moan about having to give up their evenings or weekends, but I continue to experience top-notch presenters and leave full of inspiration and teaching strategies, eager to test them in my class the following day.

Here's to fostering creative minds to be future leaders and continuing the inspiration!

A Positive Move

Good news:
I received a call from the principal of a school where I applied last year, asking if I was still interested in teaching Earth Science at their school. I went in for an informal interview last May and was really impressed with the structure and management of their school. It's still further from the bay area (which we already miss), but the pay is higher and housing is cheaper. Even though it's not our ideal location, Kathy agreed that it was a practical and responsible move, so I was delighted to turn in my resignation at the school in Concord and accept this new one.

My new school, Freedom High School, is in Oakley, CA. The year started earlier than almost every other school - on July 28th - which cut my summer short, but they make up for it with a nice 2-week break in October. They have a unique A/B-Day Schedule in which every class is 1.5 hours and we only have half of our classes each day. It makes lesson planning easier, but I also have 180 students! When it comes to grading, if I only spend 1 minute per student, it would take over 3 hours!!!

My classroom is oddly shaped - similar to a triangle but with 5 sides - more like a baseball home plate. It has 18 lab tables that seat 2 students each. I've already tried 3 different arrangements of desks and chairs, but the shape of the room makes it quite difficult to have it so that everyone can face the front and it's not impossible to get around. It has plenty of storage, a nice, big skylight right in the middle of the room, and 3 giant dry erase boards that slide to reveal a big-screen TV. I'm quite pleased with my new home. :-)

The first few days, all the freshmen go through "Boot Camp" which is a cool way for them to get to know each other through ice-breaker games, get oriented with the campus, learn the rules and strategies to help them be successful. This gave me two whole days without students so I could get further organized and prepared. I'm still struggling to learn everyone's name - I'd say I know at least 90% by now, but every time I rearrange their seats, I seem to forget about half of them.

We just finished the first quarter, and I'm already thoroughly enjoying our October vacation. Our family has a fairly packed itinerary for the next two weeks. I just hope to have some time to finish grading from last quarter and be more prepared for when we return.

I'd like to hear if anyone gets this far in reading my blog. Please leave me comments, and let me know if you are interested in seeing any pictures. I'll try to do another update in a few weeks.

One Week Left!

(I forgot to post this last Spring...)

We're definitely "smelling the barn"! With only 5 days of teaching and 3 days of finals remaining until the end of this school year, students and teachers are equally excited. I also sense that most of us have taken our foot off the gas with the end of the road in sight so that we can gradually drift to a comfortable stop. Teachers are frequently found in huddles in hallways, engaged in idle conversation when we would normally be rushing to make copies or get to class. On Friday, I saw one who dressed professionally with a tie every day actually in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals!

With that smell in the air, this feels like a good time to reflect on the past year.

Overall, I think "trial by fire" is the most appropriate description of my first teaching experience. Everyone seems to acknowledge what a difficult situation it must be to start at a school part way into the year. It took several months just to understand how the school operates and what leverage I have with the students. I made rules from day one, but for a long time, I wasn't clear on the order of warnings or consequences to follow them. Until I got that part worked out, it seemed to depend on my mood any given day - how much misbehavior I was willing to tolerate and whether I was likely to write a referral. That was probably the biggest challenge for me, but I also believe it had to be learned and developed through experience.

It was definitely a roller coaster, and I can't say I ever gained full control of student behavior, but we did have some significant breakthroughs. I took time for some serious discussions about respect, responsibility, how to succeed and how their character in this class relates to life outside of school - including their future performance. I made a verbal declaration on my stand for everyone to succeed and listened to their ideas on what we can do to help each other.

It made a clearly visible impact for several days, but I then realized I need to work on consistency. It feels like making a New Year's resolution to go to the gym, as many people do, yet so many of us lose our motivation and fall back into the previously casual routine. I would say it takes daily reminders along with a taste of what success feels like to stay on track.

Here are a couple areas I found useful and effective which I hope to continue next year:

• Communication. Contacting parents for support with struggling and chronically disruptive students. Some parents expressed no hope while others were fairly shocked by what they heard. I continued to call the same parents when their children continued to misbehave, and that consistency made more of a difference. Finally, I decided to make at least one positive phone call each time I ran through my list, which (selfishly) helped boost my own morale. I never heard students respond to those calls, but I hope it made them feel better about the class.

• Group Accountability. Arranging desks into groups rather than rows. This was risky since I knew how much students like to socialize, but I emphasized the power of group accountability and how I expect for them to help each other succeed. We practiced working in groups: dividing up assignments, teaching each other, and helping others complete their work. In addition, they would be rewarded or disciplined based on their performance as a group. This was done with a team spirit - demonstrating how we are accountable to others in our lives, and we only win if everyone is successful.
  

District Downers

May 17,2008
As much as I've wanted to get back to writing in this blog, it always takes a while with the demands of teaching on my time. I find myself working easily over 12 hours a day, sometimes staying at school until 8:00 or 9:00 at night. Yet, it seems my work is never done. I categorize what I have to do into groups:
A) What absolutely MUST get done (for survival)
B) What I "should" be doing (to be more effective)
C) What I would like to do (to be highly successful)
Most days, it seems I barely get through group A, and I rarely get to C. At some point, I just have to draw the line so that I can see my family and have some sort of work-life balance.

Following my last entry about the cuts in funding, I received the lay-off notice via certified mail and followed the instructions to request a "hearing". I didn't know what that was all about, but it seemed like the thing to do. The big event occurred a couple weeks ago and resembled a formal court trial, complete with a judge and lawyers. Except it was held in a community center, and it was really hard to hear what anyone was saying.

The lawyer defending our teachers' union had a huge, long list of names for every teacher in our district, sorted by seniority - based on when we were hired. My name wasn't even on the list! Turns out, since I was hired part way into the year, I was categorized as "temporary" this entire time which means I basically have no job security. Anyone with more seniority could come in and apply for my position. This was disconcerting, but then they told us we should be ok as long as we have taught 75% of the school year. I knew I would be close, so I called personnel for our district. Turns out I was ONE DAY SHORT! Basically, that means this whole year of struggles and persistence will not apply towards my tenure at this school, nor an increase in pay next year. Needless to say, that did not make me happy.

Our teachers' union has been in "negotiations" with the district this entire year, fighting for better pay and benefits. They tried many strategies to get the district to pay more attention and give the respect due to their teachers. However, those who attend the board meetings say the district administrators are so detached, they could care less about the livelihood or survival of the teachers and our families! That is apparent in any interaction I have had with their office, so I will be relieved to find a more supportive district. Others in my department and the office at our school are well aware of my disappointments and that I've been applying elsewhere for next year.

As if it wasn't bad enough...

California is currently rated the 2nd lowest state in the country for the academic performance of our students. Yet, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed to cut $5.5 BILLION from education in order to close the $8 billion state deficit. That's nearly 70% - and certainly not an area that should be undercut in it's current condition.

My district alone - with 6 public high schools - will sacrifice $14 million from next year's budget, which the administrators determined will require cutting almost 100 positions. They said EVERY new teacher will get a preliminary pink slip, but many of us will be rehired. I have been reassured that Science teachers are especially in demand, so my position should be safe.

It has been 3 months since last blog entry, and things have certainly not become any easier. With an hour commute each way and working well over 12 hours a day, it's hard to resist thinking of other ways to make a living. I just have to keep reminding myself that the first year of teaching is always the hardest and that it can only get better... if we could only elect leaders that care about the education of our country!

1st Group Activity

December 7, 2007
The highlight of this week was doing our first group projects in the Earth Science classes. We are studying minerals, and I let each group chose an object we use everyday in order to research the minerals used to make that item and create a poster they would present to the class. For the most part, they seemed excited to do something hands-on and showed dedication to fulfilling the tasks. It also gave us our first opportunity to use a computer lab (which wasn't without it's challenges).

I was very specific with the amount of time they would be given for each step (research/assembly/presentation/final product) and how they would be graded accordingly. However, I underestimated how much time they would need for creating the posters, so the whole project ended up taking an entire week. I was really proud with the outcomes of some of the more dedicated groups and posted the best ones for display in the classroom. They all responded with enthusiasm when I asked if they liked the project and whether they understand minerals a little better. Getting the kids involved in activities always seems to be an effective and memorable learning experience. It just seems to take a considerable amount of time, and we only have 14 weeks left until the state tests!

I'll see about posting pictures of the posters sometime soon. Stay tuned!