Below are some posts I made in the past about my progress. So much of my teaching continues to change. I am so please to be returning to North Panola for a third year. I have done so much, but there is much I still need to do.
"Preparation is absolutely THE key to surviving as a teacher. Summer training with MTC made me the type of person who I once fundamentally opposed: a micromanager. These past three weeks I have spent the majority of my days thinking through every detail associated with my classroom. I am doing my best to anticipate everything I will need to be an exemplary teacher. I have rearranged my room multiple times, I have banished clutter and excess materials. I am praying my students don't realize I'm a first year teacher. If I have to, I will lie to them and tell them I've been teaching since before they were born." - Me in July of 2015
However, I'm not a seasoned, leathery old teacher. In fact, I was more like chum in a shark tank. Summer training taught me that procedures are essential and that students need order to thrive.
" However, I have about 9 hours until school starts and I have no rules, consequences, or rewards hanging anywhere in my room. I am spending two whole class periods on what it means to be responsible and follow the rules, but somehow I feel as though I won't make myself clear to students.
I keep thinking back on summer training, remembering how it felt impossible and like the exhaustion would never end. But now, things are sort of worse. I think I'm so exhausted that I'm entering avoidance. Also, I'm losing track of my own physical safety. Here are two examples:
1. Today it was raining sideways and storming so badly that tree branches were falling all around me. I was in the process of taking materials from the trunk of my car to my classroom, and instead of running for cover within the school (which was about 100 yards away) I stayed in my car. For about ten minutes, I fumed at the time I was wasting not doing anything in my classroom. Just a mere ten minute window where I was resting felt like a gigantic waste of time. I was also disappointed in myself for not running across to the school. Had I risked my life (just for a few seconds) I probably would have had used that 10 minutes getting an anchor chart done.
2. I never want to be around other adults and when people talk to me I want to pretend like I speak another language so that I can avoid communicating with them.
Other than my soul slowly dripping into a reduced emotional state, I am ready for school and my class looks excellent."
The most helpful aspect of summer training was the authenticity of grueling hours and expectations for excellent work. I appreciated that, though we as first years were allowed to make mistakes, we were expected to try our hardest to make every lesson perfect. This meant that there was a mutual respect and understanding between all the first years. We all knew not to complain too much, because our individual experiences were not unique. All of us struggled, and all of us had to stay awake for a long time, doing difficult work. There was plenty of solidarity to go around.
As far as removing some aspect of summer school goes, I don't think there is anything immediately that comes to mind. Most elements of the summer school experience were sound. Something that may be changed is pulling more TEAM teachers from different cohorts and graduation years. It would have been nice to work with more teachers who had experience across different districts, and more than three years of teaching in their portfolio. It was nice to have Mary-Kate and Camille, but a higher number of TEAM teachers from a variety of cohorts would have added dimension to the experience.
Upon reflection, summer school was excellent. The flow of information, the set up of each day, and the support from TEAM was beneficial. I appreciated that a curriculum was made for me ahead of time, by second years, so that I could focus more on the manner and style of teaching rather than spending time worrying about content. I would have never expected myself to say this: I am looking forward to the next round of summer school.
"One element of my classroom that certainly will not change is my door. I spend LOTS of time on my door. Usually, I hand paint it. Sometimes, I add plastic jewels which my students tear down and stick onto their ears. In any case, my door is a source of pride and gives my room the outward appearance of organization. What happens on the inside of my room may not be so nice, but my door is always splendid." - Me, a ridiculous first year who apparently thought time grew on trees
"The list of changes I will make next year is a long one. It is difficult for me to identify everything I will change, considering so much is beyond my control. There has been a huge shift in leadership at the junior high, which I know will change many aspects of my day to day job. The district, I’m sure like most districts, has a habit of prescribing ridiculous parameters to each department’s lesson lines, pacing guides, weekly objectives, etc. This means there are quite a few unforeseen elements of my role as a teacher next year.
The biggest change I will make as a teacher is defending myself and taking more responsibility of what happens in my classroom. In essence, this means I will not give up planning periods for useless meetings. Now that I’ve spent a year doing almost everything the building principal delegated to me, it’s time that I stop being “voluntold” for everything. I cannot begin to explain how much my classroom instruction suffered because I was not able to properly plan my lessons in the fifty minutes given. Furthermore, I was so exhausted by the time I arrived home for the night, I could not plan. So many times, Ms. G and I were asked to brainstorm ways to improve our instruction USING the hour window devoted to planning instruction. It was frustrating to no end.
The next aspect of my year that will be different is my front-end planning. This past year, I had so many moments of frustration and confusion as to what I was supposed to actually DO in my classroom. The standards are meant to encourage critical thinking and problem solving. I spent too much of my time building in extra work for me to do, while limiting what students were expected to do. My students are ultimately responsible for their effort, I have to be the bridge between engagement and content-knowledge. Now that I have a year under my belt, I can spend more time planning units and less time trying to find reading passages all over the internet.
Possibly the easiest yet most significant thing I will do next year is fill out a requisition form for toner. This school year, Ms. G and I easily spent over eight hundred dollars on toner and drums for the printer we crowdfunded. It was so difficult, feeling as though every copy of paper I made was money out of mine and Ms. G’s pockets. I think it was Ms. Sherrill or maybe Ms. McConnell who pointed out the absurdity of having to provide our own supplies. I think one of them posed the question, “In what other profession do you have to provide your own supplies?” Of course, a surgeon isn’t expected to purchase morphine for his or her patient. A server in a restaurant does not have to buy the point of sale system. A camp counselor doesn’t have to buy each camper’s sleeping bags. Yet, teachers are expected to bridge the gap in the face of a lack of funding. Next year, North Panola will have to pay for my toner, particularly considering the english department has no copier or printer of its own.
The last element of my classroom that will certainly change is my attitude as a teacher. I am no longer the fresh, young (sort of stupid), first-year teacher. My students don’t have to know I love them in the first nine weeks of school, or the second nine weeks of school. My students do, however, need to see that I am competent and buy into the rigor I demonstrate in my room. This means, far less smiling and far more expectations on behavior and work ethic. Though I did not have many referrals this year, I still did not appreciate the way my classroom behaved most of the time. Next year, I will raise my standards on how a student should behave, what a student should be engaged in, and ultimately make my classroom an excellent working environment." - You go Gracie! Good plan!
For all the changes that could be made in a teacher’s second year, I have found some comfort in what little has changed. My students are still mischievous, my classroom is in the same location, and my job description has hardly changed. However, I am completely different. Last year, I had no accountability with my students for their learning. I had no plan for the rigor of my classroom. For a large part of the year, I struggled with standards and question stems. For these reasons, a new teacher has stepped into my shoes, making changes and fixing what went wrong. This “new” teacher is someone to be celebrated. There are two specific areas that I have completely changed this year.
The first, being my overall preparedness for school. The first few days were not fraught with anxiety and lack of preparation. Rather, I found myself breezily heading to Office Depot to make copies of a syllabus (adapted from a former MTC/NPHS teacher’s syllabus) and a parent letter (adapted from Hunter Holt’s West Point classroom). The latter printed on blue paper, and the former printed on green. Both documents required about 25 minutes of my time, 35 of my precious dollars, yet saved me a world of hurt later on. My procedures and rules were set, in writing. Students and parents were required to read and sign. I heard many students whispering “Why these teachers so high school?” The masses were fearful, solely because a few pieces of paper had tricked them into believing I was a veteran teacher of high seniority. This change has absolutely made practicing, perfecting, and enforcing all rules and procedures much easier.
The second, being quality of instruction. Last year, I struggled constantly with the rigor of my classroom. This year, I inherited the ten reading for information standards, yet I was still more prepared. I was not overwhelmed by the new workload in the least. Granted, fitting ten more standards onto my pacing guide was seemingly difficult. Last year, I leaned so heavily on informational texts to drive my instruction. So, adding the R.I standards this year did not make a huge impact on my classroom. Rather, I was prepared with rigorous bellringers, question stems, and articles I had used during summer school and last spring’s semester.
At last, my students reacted to me with respect. Though my classroom is not nearly as organized or efficient as I would like, the changes I have made this year are felt in my lessons. Students see rigorous bellringers and they all complete them to the best of their ability. My syllabus holds students accountable for their learning. My parent letter informed parents what kind of room their students would enter. I only had to purchase supplies for two students. The rest managed to come prepared with their own. So far, I am thrilled with the gains I have made. I am proud of making wise changes. However, I know that the success of my classroom depends on the teacher who shows up every day to lead rigorous instruction. My “new” teacher self has got her agenda, her vision, and her focus for what students need to achieve in the classroom.
"Preparation is absolutely THE key to surviving as a teacher. Summer training with MTC made me the type of person who I once fundamentally opposed: a micromanager. These past three weeks I have spent the majority of my days thinking through every detail associated with my classroom. I am doing my best to anticipate everything I will need to be an exemplary teacher. I have rearranged my room multiple times, I have banished clutter and excess materials. I am praying my students don't realize I'm a first year teacher. If I have to, I will lie to them and tell them I've been teaching since before they were born." - Me in July of 2015
However, I'm not a seasoned, leathery old teacher. In fact, I was more like chum in a shark tank. Summer training taught me that procedures are essential and that students need order to thrive.
" However, I have about 9 hours until school starts and I have no rules, consequences, or rewards hanging anywhere in my room. I am spending two whole class periods on what it means to be responsible and follow the rules, but somehow I feel as though I won't make myself clear to students.
I keep thinking back on summer training, remembering how it felt impossible and like the exhaustion would never end. But now, things are sort of worse. I think I'm so exhausted that I'm entering avoidance. Also, I'm losing track of my own physical safety. Here are two examples:
1. Today it was raining sideways and storming so badly that tree branches were falling all around me. I was in the process of taking materials from the trunk of my car to my classroom, and instead of running for cover within the school (which was about 100 yards away) I stayed in my car. For about ten minutes, I fumed at the time I was wasting not doing anything in my classroom. Just a mere ten minute window where I was resting felt like a gigantic waste of time. I was also disappointed in myself for not running across to the school. Had I risked my life (just for a few seconds) I probably would have had used that 10 minutes getting an anchor chart done.
2. I never want to be around other adults and when people talk to me I want to pretend like I speak another language so that I can avoid communicating with them.
Other than my soul slowly dripping into a reduced emotional state, I am ready for school and my class looks excellent."
The most helpful aspect of summer training was the authenticity of grueling hours and expectations for excellent work. I appreciated that, though we as first years were allowed to make mistakes, we were expected to try our hardest to make every lesson perfect. This meant that there was a mutual respect and understanding between all the first years. We all knew not to complain too much, because our individual experiences were not unique. All of us struggled, and all of us had to stay awake for a long time, doing difficult work. There was plenty of solidarity to go around.
As far as removing some aspect of summer school goes, I don't think there is anything immediately that comes to mind. Most elements of the summer school experience were sound. Something that may be changed is pulling more TEAM teachers from different cohorts and graduation years. It would have been nice to work with more teachers who had experience across different districts, and more than three years of teaching in their portfolio. It was nice to have Mary-Kate and Camille, but a higher number of TEAM teachers from a variety of cohorts would have added dimension to the experience.
Upon reflection, summer school was excellent. The flow of information, the set up of each day, and the support from TEAM was beneficial. I appreciated that a curriculum was made for me ahead of time, by second years, so that I could focus more on the manner and style of teaching rather than spending time worrying about content. I would have never expected myself to say this: I am looking forward to the next round of summer school.
"One element of my classroom that certainly will not change is my door. I spend LOTS of time on my door. Usually, I hand paint it. Sometimes, I add plastic jewels which my students tear down and stick onto their ears. In any case, my door is a source of pride and gives my room the outward appearance of organization. What happens on the inside of my room may not be so nice, but my door is always splendid." - Me, a ridiculous first year who apparently thought time grew on trees
"The list of changes I will make next year is a long one. It is difficult for me to identify everything I will change, considering so much is beyond my control. There has been a huge shift in leadership at the junior high, which I know will change many aspects of my day to day job. The district, I’m sure like most districts, has a habit of prescribing ridiculous parameters to each department’s lesson lines, pacing guides, weekly objectives, etc. This means there are quite a few unforeseen elements of my role as a teacher next year.
The biggest change I will make as a teacher is defending myself and taking more responsibility of what happens in my classroom. In essence, this means I will not give up planning periods for useless meetings. Now that I’ve spent a year doing almost everything the building principal delegated to me, it’s time that I stop being “voluntold” for everything. I cannot begin to explain how much my classroom instruction suffered because I was not able to properly plan my lessons in the fifty minutes given. Furthermore, I was so exhausted by the time I arrived home for the night, I could not plan. So many times, Ms. G and I were asked to brainstorm ways to improve our instruction USING the hour window devoted to planning instruction. It was frustrating to no end.
The next aspect of my year that will be different is my front-end planning. This past year, I had so many moments of frustration and confusion as to what I was supposed to actually DO in my classroom. The standards are meant to encourage critical thinking and problem solving. I spent too much of my time building in extra work for me to do, while limiting what students were expected to do. My students are ultimately responsible for their effort, I have to be the bridge between engagement and content-knowledge. Now that I have a year under my belt, I can spend more time planning units and less time trying to find reading passages all over the internet.
Possibly the easiest yet most significant thing I will do next year is fill out a requisition form for toner. This school year, Ms. G and I easily spent over eight hundred dollars on toner and drums for the printer we crowdfunded. It was so difficult, feeling as though every copy of paper I made was money out of mine and Ms. G’s pockets. I think it was Ms. Sherrill or maybe Ms. McConnell who pointed out the absurdity of having to provide our own supplies. I think one of them posed the question, “In what other profession do you have to provide your own supplies?” Of course, a surgeon isn’t expected to purchase morphine for his or her patient. A server in a restaurant does not have to buy the point of sale system. A camp counselor doesn’t have to buy each camper’s sleeping bags. Yet, teachers are expected to bridge the gap in the face of a lack of funding. Next year, North Panola will have to pay for my toner, particularly considering the english department has no copier or printer of its own.
The last element of my classroom that will certainly change is my attitude as a teacher. I am no longer the fresh, young (sort of stupid), first-year teacher. My students don’t have to know I love them in the first nine weeks of school, or the second nine weeks of school. My students do, however, need to see that I am competent and buy into the rigor I demonstrate in my room. This means, far less smiling and far more expectations on behavior and work ethic. Though I did not have many referrals this year, I still did not appreciate the way my classroom behaved most of the time. Next year, I will raise my standards on how a student should behave, what a student should be engaged in, and ultimately make my classroom an excellent working environment." - You go Gracie! Good plan!
For all the changes that could be made in a teacher’s second year, I have found some comfort in what little has changed. My students are still mischievous, my classroom is in the same location, and my job description has hardly changed. However, I am completely different. Last year, I had no accountability with my students for their learning. I had no plan for the rigor of my classroom. For a large part of the year, I struggled with standards and question stems. For these reasons, a new teacher has stepped into my shoes, making changes and fixing what went wrong. This “new” teacher is someone to be celebrated. There are two specific areas that I have completely changed this year.
The first, being my overall preparedness for school. The first few days were not fraught with anxiety and lack of preparation. Rather, I found myself breezily heading to Office Depot to make copies of a syllabus (adapted from a former MTC/NPHS teacher’s syllabus) and a parent letter (adapted from Hunter Holt’s West Point classroom). The latter printed on blue paper, and the former printed on green. Both documents required about 25 minutes of my time, 35 of my precious dollars, yet saved me a world of hurt later on. My procedures and rules were set, in writing. Students and parents were required to read and sign. I heard many students whispering “Why these teachers so high school?” The masses were fearful, solely because a few pieces of paper had tricked them into believing I was a veteran teacher of high seniority. This change has absolutely made practicing, perfecting, and enforcing all rules and procedures much easier.
The second, being quality of instruction. Last year, I struggled constantly with the rigor of my classroom. This year, I inherited the ten reading for information standards, yet I was still more prepared. I was not overwhelmed by the new workload in the least. Granted, fitting ten more standards onto my pacing guide was seemingly difficult. Last year, I leaned so heavily on informational texts to drive my instruction. So, adding the R.I standards this year did not make a huge impact on my classroom. Rather, I was prepared with rigorous bellringers, question stems, and articles I had used during summer school and last spring’s semester.
At last, my students reacted to me with respect. Though my classroom is not nearly as organized or efficient as I would like, the changes I have made this year are felt in my lessons. Students see rigorous bellringers and they all complete them to the best of their ability. My syllabus holds students accountable for their learning. My parent letter informed parents what kind of room their students would enter. I only had to purchase supplies for two students. The rest managed to come prepared with their own. So far, I am thrilled with the gains I have made. I am proud of making wise changes. However, I know that the success of my classroom depends on the teacher who shows up every day to lead rigorous instruction. My “new” teacher self has got her agenda, her vision, and her focus for what students need to achieve in the classroom.