If I Could Send A Letter Back in Time to Myself (without messing up the space-time continuum)

Dear Me…um….You, er….Self,

Let me tell you right now, as one sitting, typing this, on her last day of student teaching, before you start on your journey through the education department, it will be worth it. You will face new challenges in and out of the classroom every day of this adventure. You will scream; you will cry; you may even throw things when no one is looking, but when it all comes to an end it will be worth it. Therefore, I write you/me this letter with both advice to prepare you for your tasks and assurance that you will experience some amazing things. I’ll begin with advice. Trust me, the more advice you heed over the next four years, the better off you will be.

From the bottom of our/my heart, I offer this first crucial crumb: do not procrastinate!! You are prone to this; you know you are. If I could change any one thing about the last four years, I would fix this nearly fatal flaw in myself. This habit of yours will try to kill you during student teaching. It is hard enough being constantly on point with 5 classes of freshmen, but it is excruciatingly harder when you have not slept because you were making lesson plans or struggling through the KPTP.

Aaahhh….KPTP. By now I am sure some Core 2 student has told you about FERs 1, 2, & 3. They will try your patience and your skill, but they do actually prepare you for the epic battle to come, the Deathstar of your educational quest: the dreaded, diabolical KPTP. Yes it is as hard as everyone says, mainly because it is tedious and overwhelming to approach and stick with. You will despise it. You will dream fitfully about it. Then, if you take this crumb of wisdom, you will do it in small chunks following the very balanced timeline so graciously offered by your professor. Practice this technique on you FERs, so your time management skills are as deadly as a well-constructed lightsaber.

One other observation, work on your people skills in the professional setting of your placement. Reflect on your actions and responses to both students and other faculty at your placement. When you wonder whether you acted in the best possible manner, DO ask your supervisor for their insight. This may be the hardest skill that cannot be taught and must be experienced….trust me on this.

Next piece of advice. Make friends with your classmates, especially as you enter Core 3. These people will be with you through the hardest of the hard times. They are a ready-made support group; they understand (better than anyone else in your life will) the trials, tribulations, frustrations and elations you will face. Forge lines of communication early, and do not be shy in offering your friendship and support to these eventual “family members.”

I could give you advice all day long, but these are the most important morsels to get you started. The growing you will experience as you forge your own path and make your own mistakes may be the most necessary part of your quest. I must leave you some room to do your own growing, as I did. Speaking of experiences, I can, however, temper this daunting picture I’ve painted with some rays of hope. Revisiting this family I have encouraged you to make, they will be at the center—the very heart—of the most memorable, sanity-saving parts of your final year. I cannot express how joyful and lucky I feel to have these people in my life. We literally have laughed and cried (or raged) together. They are directly responsible for part of the teacher/person I have become. This will be awesome, epic, and fulfilling even in the darkest parts of your adventure.

Other things you can look forward to: the first faculty member (not your CT) who learns your name, joining KATE and going to a KATE conference (do this!!!), students getting mad at you but improving, students not getting mad at you and improving, students smiling at you in the hallway, students actually waving at you in the hallway, a student pronouncing you last name correctly, your CT telling you how much you have grown, the feeling of trust when the class is finally all yours for the teaching, and last but not least…..the feeling of clicking submit on the last assignment of your undergraduate career. I imagine that last one feels pretty amazing, but I can’t be sure yet because I have one more thing to say to you:

I have done this….you can do this! You are going to be an excellent teacher, I know it. I wish I had a Tardis to do some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey magic so I could spy on your/our progress, but—in the words of George Michael—I just gotta have faith. Don’t let us down. Rock the Casbah. Own your awesomeness. Love your friends. And have fun.

Deuces…I’m out!

Sincerely,

Ms. Iseminger  (yeah, it is pretty cool to have the whole “Ms.” thing before your name).

Cheating in Your Classroom: Life Hacks for Teachers with Lives

If you expect this blog entry to detail the deviousness of our less honest students, prepare for shattered expectations. I sincerely apologize if I just dashed your hopes, but wait, don’t turn away petulantly in favor of someone else’s blog. Stay. Read. I will make it worth your while; I’ll tell you a tale of an epiphany (and the quest for information which ensued).

                It was a warm Tuesday and I was perspiring a bit as I prepared for my observation. I checked the Powerpoint again, then asked my CT if he would steer the ship (do the computer stuff) while I led the crew. I pointed out the part where he would have to go backwards in the slides—through several slides, each with various animations—to return to our QuickWrite questions. He acquiesced, nodded quietly, and then blew my mind. Two oh-so-simple key strokes and he made my Powerpoint exponentially more efficient.

             “What did he do?” you ask with baited breath. I’ll tell you. He copied and pasted the first question slide in front of the instruction slide so no backward slide seeking was necessary. So logical! How did I not see that!? First came my answer: I have not been doing this every day for years. Then came the epiphany: that was such a life hack! It was no different than finding out you can make brownies and omelets with a waffle iron—well, maybe a bit different, but equally astounding. I decided, then and there, that I must collect more of these tidbits of logic, efficiency, and wisdom and share them with you, dear reader. And so I did.

                First, I must explain that, as I gathered the advice about to be presented, I noticed that it fell into two categories: tips/tricks about supplies & technology and advice for how to make the best of your classroom/school environment. I choose to share the latter first. Many of these pearls I gleaned from my CT, others from teachers nearby, but all were worthy of sharing so I present you with a list:

·         Secretaries and Custodial Staff actually run the school; make them your BFFs (do not bother them needlessly).

·         If you need copies, the copier will not be working. Have a back-up plan in place.

·         Similarly, have a file (digital, mental, or physical) with ideas for supplementing the 30 minute lesson plan that actually only took 10 minutes. This is classic advice for a reason.

·         Always write something on the paper you just graded besides some numbers and checkmarks—feedback leads to motivation.

·         Laugh. At. Self.  Kids respond to your humiliation…usually in a good way.

      I can personally vouch for the usefulness of the digital/mental file. We were unable to progress with Romeo & Juliet due to lack of voice on my CT’s part, but we went to the stack of various worksheets from our autobiography project and—poof, Bob’s your Uncle—we had a new lesson in no time.

      I am sure we can all think of situations in which these insightful gems could help us shine in the classroom, but I really cannot wait to share some of the more physical tips and tricks I unearthed. Without further ado:

·         When computer is acting up, reboot first; call Tech Person second. The Tech Person falls into the Secretary category. You want this person as your ally, not trying to hide from you every time your computer glitches. And 9 times out of 10, a reboot takes care of the problem (shut the front door! This works for printers too! I just tried it this morning).

·         Teach how to format a paper (actual specifics of using a document program like Word) before going to the computer lab. Lab time is a precious commodity and can be saved by addressing formatting expectations in a simple Powerpoint or handout during class time.

·         Make friends with local businesses and even larger corporate stores. Pair this with advance planning and you can source all sorts of swell things to decorate your room with or re-purpose to organize. (I have 4’ tall R2D2 pop cooler that would be awesome in a classroom; it was free from a friendly Pepsi vendor at my old grocery store).

And last, but not least:

·         Forget expensive individual whiteboards, try instead a package of disposable white plastic plates. They may not last as long, but they will certainly be something you can afford (thanks to my CT for this one!).

      I am sure each of our CTs, mentor teachers, and colleagues hold a treasure of such teacher hacks. They have found them, heard them, devised them, and adopted them so that they can focus on making class time count. And so they can spend more time looking up how to make omelets with waffle irons and use hanging shoe racks to store cleaning supplies.

      In the spirit of my epiphany, I also looked up “teacher life hacks” on Bing. I found this Buzzfeed article that had some fabulous ideas as well (for both secondary and elementary educators). http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/insanely-smart-school-teacher-hacks#.qd6zvrZx1  I recommend it highly. But I also recommend that tomorrow or the day after you ask a teacher near you to share their hacks and offer some of your own. Maybe if we all hack our teaching lives, we can free up enough extra time to hang out together and enjoy our non-teaching lives as well.

Cheers,

Ms. Iseminger

P.S. I am so doing the hanging shoe rack-cleaning supply thing….that’s just brilliant and I have a lot of cleaning supplies…..hey, that would work for organizing party supplies for treat day at school and could totally hang inside the closet door in the classroom. Brilliant!!

When you miss your yoga class due to grading and get attacked by the stress monster....

It is mid-semester, and, though we are all living and learning in our classrooms, we are also making sacrifices in our personal lives. Our home and social lives are suffering under the stress of classes, lesson planning, licensure requirements, and many other factors which bog every student teacher down. Yes, we know this is the way it goes. The long hill leading to graduation must—by tradition, by its very nature—be an arduous trek (uphill, both ways, through knee-high snow and scorching heat). It is written in stone somewhere, I’m sure, that we must suffer to graduate. Unfortunately, some of the first sacrifices we make involve leisure activities. Suck it up, you might think. It’s for the greater good, you might think. But there are consequences in losing the activities that bring us joy and relaxation. I know that my leisure activities are how I cope with, and rid myself of, stress. Yes. I said the big S-word…..STRESS!

Judging by the conversations in our college classes and in the halls of our various placement schools, we are all suffering the effects of stress. Immune systems are weak; nerves are frayed; tempers are shorter than usual. It comes with the territory, yes, but it is our duty to leave it at the door of our classrooms. Easier. Said. Than. Done.

This week opened my eyes to that reality. Teaching my first extended unit to five classes a day (compounded by grading and my own school work) has taken its toll on my mental health. I try to leave it at the door, and, usually, my students help me to forget my overwhelming pile of obligations…..until they become challenging and start testing my patience. I am a big enough person to admit my mistakes and this week I snapped back at a student in a petty, non-productive manner. It was one small moment. It did not impact the class period. It was a minor transgression brought on my over-wrought nerves and simple human nature, but it affected me greatly. The moment I realized how rude I had been, I felt horrible. I fretted about it all night and into the next day. Was I really that easy to provoke? Why did I not act more like my CT and the other professionals I strive to learn from daily? After a night and day of internal chastisement, I decided to consult the wealth of knowledge about all things education related…..the internet.

I realize the interwebs is not always the paragon of pedagogical theory, but sometimes you need advice you can read without a manual or a thesaurus. I got lucky and found an amazing article on my first search. I found the article, “10 Ways to Reduce a Teachers' Classroom Stress,” (http://www.worksheetlibrary.com/teachingtips/teacherstress.html) on a nifty little website called Worksheet Library. The article specifically targets reducing stress in the classroom, not just for the teacher, but for the student as well. Every suggestion offered looked inviting, easy to implement, and sensible. From adding laughter to the classroom to using hand signals to cut down on distractions, this article covered many factors that can lead to stress. Not every suggestion might me practical in every classroom, but every suggestion serves as a reminder to face the challenge of stress management in creative, practical ways. More than anything, reading this article made me sigh with relief that I am not the only one who apparently needs advice on this. It also helped re-focus my attention on how my actions affect my students.

I know there must be infinitely more websites out there with advice on this subject and others related to it, but for now I’m keeping it simple. Simple is good. Simple is effective. And that is why, my colleagues, I am resorting to the very simple technique of asking for your response. Do you have a stress story to share? What tips or tricks are tried and true for you? Have your CTs offered any of their particular wisdom on this subject? Please post if you have a contribution as I would love to hear from you on this subject. Together we can all get up this hill and conquer, or at least subdue, our stress monsters.

As my yoga instructor says,

Namaste and Peace Be with You,

Ms. Iseminger

Dropping the A(dministrator)-Bomb for the First Time. Oh the shame!

Dear readers,

Gotta get this off my chest, here goes.

     Harry Wong, that guru of pedagogy and efficient teaching, insists that classroom management can make or break a new teacher. He also preaches that the first days of school are the most crucial for establishing routine, rapport and discipline in the classroom. I agree with his advice, and I see proof of it in my CT’s success in his classroom. However, as a student teacher and pre-student teacher, I missed the boat on those first crucial few days. Even going into this semester straight out of the gate, I cannot pretend that the first few days of this semester are the equivalent of the first few days of the school year. First, I was only with one class last semester, and I didn’t start with them until the second week of school. Second, and most troubling, I was not involved at all with my CT’s other classes until a few weeks ago. According to Wong, I have missed out on the all-important beginning which sets the tone for students. The question that follows: What do I do now?

     Before diving into that query, an examination of the situation which provoked this train of thought is necessary. The class I have now observed for a little over a semester is proof that rapport and respect can be earned even after the first week. It seemed to come easily with that class, a mutual respect and attachment forming within the first few weeks of last September. I thought, naively, that it would be the same with the other classes when this semester began. Perhaps I was thinking in collegiate terms: every semester begins a whole new set of classes, a fresh start. With that mindset, I was sure that the extra week I devoted to meeting these new classes at the end of last semester would establish me, in their minds, as a part of their classroom—and addition to whom the regular class routines applied. I helped administer and grade finals. I made genuine effort to start learning their names and getting to know them. I forgot about the part where the new semester is not a new beginning, but a continuation of the previous one.

     The first week of this fresh start I co-taught all of the English classes with my CT. I took attendance every day and learned names and faces. I introduced myself through our goal setting activity, opening up to them about my personality and my goals in order to mirror what they were expected to do. I felt pretty good; good enough that I was not worried when my CT (who has such unbelievable faith in me) handed one of these classes over to me on the fly in order to take care of another situation demanding his immediate attention. One simple request at the beginning of the class period burst my rose-tinted bubble.

     I just asked a few students to return to their assigned seats so we could get class started. One small defiance led to a larger defiance, and when reason and respect failed, I used my CT as the excuse: he wants everyone in their seats. That was matched with further defiance, the student claiming that when my CT got back he would take her side. I stood my ground and did what my CT had instructed me to do in this situation; I offered her an alternative seat in her administrator’s office. I played the A-card! How did I escalate to that so quickly? My guilt and shame were quickly compounded as, minutes later, another girl announced to the class that, since the CT was not there after ten minutes, and I was not a “real” teacher, they could all leave. I played the A-card again, letting her know that I would also give the hall monitors and security officers know to expect her at the door should she decide leaving was a good option. She decided against that option, but the tension in the classroom was high, everyone now questioning my authority and casting a suspicious and negative eye.

My CT returned and things went okay until class let out. Then I confessed my failure….and learned a lesson. 

     It was not entirely my fault. My CT was angry (thank goodness not at me) and determined to speak with the class about my role in their classroom. He also told me that, given the circumstances, I had done what he expected me to do. Yes, he had told me that he had a no-tolerance policy for disrespect and disobedience and that I was to send students to the administrator if they would not cooperate, but he rarely ever has to go that far. Why did I? Why couldn’t I diffuse the situation without dropping the A-bomb? I asked him what I should have done differently. He said, “Nothing.” They should know that any adult in the classroom is as good as a teacher, he explained, assuring me that he would clarify that for them.

     Later, after mulling this situation over, I realized that Wong’s tenets did not apply to beginning of semester in the same way they applied to the beginning of the school year. By semester the dominance of the teacher as alpha pack leader has been established and disruption of that chain of command requires considerably more time. My conclusion to the “What do I do then?” question is an expansion of Wong’s pedagogy. First, it is imperative that the CT, the alpha, clearly explain to the students who the student teacher is, what they will be doing, and the place they hold in the group dynamic. Even with this, though, the process of acceptance may take a while because the student teacher was not there in the first days.

     Next, and what ultimately made me stop despising my actions, the CT and student teacher must be on the same page. The first discussion of this semester between my CT and I focused on how he wanted me to handle disruptions and inappropriate classroom behavior. I followed his expectations, so I at least knew he would not be furious with me.

     The last thing I realized you have to do (and my CT praised me for doing it) was standing my ground despite my desire to avoid confrontation or threat. He said they were testing me, pushing the boundaries while they had the chance. Now that they knew I meant business, he offered me one other gem of advice: tomorrow (after he had the chat with them) pretend like it never happened. Hold no grudges, offer help as you would to any other student, and be fair in your treatment of them. So far, this plan seems to be working. Since my CT stood up for me and set the rules straight with the class, we have been able to work productively and even begin to form some tentative rapport. I feel more comfortable in the class as well, but I worry still. What if they never accept me? So here is my question to anyone reading this?

     What advice can you offer me? Have you had a similar experience? What did you do? If you have suggestions, please share them. I know I can use all the good advice I can on this topic.

Wishing you all a wonderful winter and a successful semester,

Sincerely,

Ms. Iseminger

P.S. We watched this video in all my classes today. The students really liked it, even if they wouldn't all admit it. Just makes me smile! I want to be like this teacher....and he has great moves.