Educators
Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Teachers
Even though I am employed by a local community college, I recently decided to conduct an experiment to see if I, with my soon-to-be twenty years of classroom experience, could land even a part-time position in any school district within a desirable radius. I updated my resume and cover letter and applied to four local school districts. Did I get a bite? Not one! At first I was bitter, but now I understand. There are just too many teachers….
My Brain is About To Explode
For real.
It’s happening.
I’m. Having. A. Total. Meltdown.
I’ve been trying to figure out this anti-plagiarism program called turnitin.com, and while the program appears easy enough to use, well, it isn’t working for me. And I seem to have found the ugly truth: apparently no one works at this company. There is no technical support. No phone number provided at which to reach a human. After major investigation, I found a phone number. Elated, I dialed. And then I got that automated voice that tells you to please wait. Please wait. Please. Wait. (I watched an entire DVRed episode of Survivor while the music played in the background.) …
School Is Not the Time To Make Friends
In 1976, we had so many opportunities to practice civility. It was okay to have a little chitter-chatter time built into our day. The classroom was where we learned our academics, but we also practiced our social skills. These days, I would imagine that most administrators would tell parents that there is simply not time for idle chitter-chatter. In fact, a few years ago an administrator told me that “school is not the place for children to make friends.” She argued that kids needed to get involved in extra-curricular activities to make friendships. That teachers needed to make the most of classroom time to prepare their students for standardized tests. That teachers have more to teach than ever.
In 2010, I would argue “the civility piece” has fallen out of the curriculum — along with idle time….
I Hit a Wall
I fell down an entire flight of cement stairs, hit my head really hard, and I think I actually suffered a slight concussion. I’m okay now, but I don’t want to do that again. Picture me in my sassy, short skirt and tall boots with black stockings. I’m looking very professional and confident and competent when, suddenly, I miss a step and I am rolling head over heels down down down about 12 steps where I proceed to slam into the wall (somehow) face-first. Amazingly, I never let go of my rolling bag with my gradebook. I hit my head really hard, and I think I actually suffered a slight concussion. I’m okay now. (What do you mean I am repeating myself?) Plus the plagiarism stuff has left me exhausted. (Did I say that already? I think I might have said that.) …
Nabbed a Cheater!
I just busted someone for crazy, overt plagiarism.
I hate this part. I hate this part. I hate this part. I hate this part of being a teacher.
My thought is to have The Despicable One take a look at his paper and a copy of the Plagiarism Contract which he signed earlier in the semester and write me a letter explaining why he thinks I am having him review this document (thus having HIM document the offense). When he is done writing, I would listen to what he has to say and explain to him how serious an offense this is. We’re talking honesty here: Integrity. Basic values which everyone agrees seem to be on the decline….
Pep Talk For New Teachers
1. Don’t take things too personally. You have to know this up front. Your students are going to talk about. If you are lucky, they will say nice things like, “I like Mr. X’s hair,” or “Ms. Q. is kinda cool.” More likely, you will overhear them in the halls: “(Insert your name here) is unfair. Not flexible. Boring. Biased. Unqualified.” Let’s face it. Not every student is going to die for your class. Not every student is going to find the Quadratic equation fascinating. Not every student is going to care about conjugating verbs. They won’t all be interested in Mendelian genetics. Some of them won’t like your unit on Lord of the Flies, or insects, or rain forests. Listen to their comments, glean from them what you will, and then let them go. This is especially true for teachers of older students when you receive your first batch of student evaluations….