Education Nation?
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
Now here this! In roughly two weeks, I begin my 186 day descent into the public school educational abyss and hope to come out with my dignity and mind in tact. I'm sorry "public" but I've been a dedicated, hard-working, serious-minded professional in the field of education for six years and well, I can't make heads or tails of any of the decisions being made by our politicians. None of them, NONE of them have ever taught in a classroom of 25 or more. This, THIS I find interesting considering educational policy is being dictated by these very policy makers. When did education become political? When did teachers become the enemy? The political rhetoric and negotiating that is happening behind closed doors is insulting to anyone who has gone into teaching for one reason...They wanted to help young people. They wanted to make a difference.
As August is coming to a close, and school buses make their trial runs, I am amazed by how many incredibly horrible news stories are being published on the internet about "teachers gone bad." How timely. Just when I've spent a couple hundred dollars on supplies, planned my curriculum and written my "Welcome Back" letter to parents about how important "kindness and respect" will be in my classroom. The public is then reminded of how many incompetent, horrible educators are working, causing irrevocable damage. On another note, when was the life of a teacher ever presented with dignity and the respect it deserves on a television show or movie? Yes, perhaps there are a few but not enough to keep the interest of the iPad, iPhone, X-Box generation.
I spent over 20 years in the business world. I worked without unions and survived solely by my morality and ethics. I survived and kept an apartment and spent my money on used cars and an occasional manicure. Then I met my husband and I was happy to revisit the life long dream of teaching, spending more than $36,000 on my masters degree and yes, I graduated with honors. The universe opened up and I was hired as an academic intervention teacher for English language arts. Another word for, "We're giving you every student with every variable on ability and well...here's a pencil. Tenure in three years. " I worked hard. I dedicated myself to the kids in front of me...hungering for guidance, encouragement and faith..Things they were NOT getting in their homes.The last time I read an article on the subject of tenure, 50 per cent of those entering the field of education will drop out of teaching within the first five years. If teaching was indeed the "cake-walk" job the public believes it is, then why do so many leave? I was not going to leave. It meant too much. It still does.
I spent over 20 years in the business world. I worked without unions and survived solely by my morality and ethics. I survived and kept an apartment and spent my money on used cars and an occasional manicure. Then I met my husband and I was happy to revisit the life long dream of teaching, spending more than $36,000 on my masters degree and yes, I graduated with honors. The universe opened up and I was hired as an academic intervention teacher for English language arts. Another word for, "We're giving you every student with every variable on ability and well...here's a pencil. Tenure in three years. " I worked hard. I dedicated myself to the kids in front of me...hungering for guidance, encouragement and faith..Things they were NOT getting in their homes.The last time I read an article on the subject of tenure, 50 per cent of those entering the field of education will drop out of teaching within the first five years. If teaching was indeed the "cake-walk" job the public believes it is, then why do so many leave? I was not going to leave. It meant too much. It still does.
Teaching is not for the weak of heart. I work with strong personalities and now I understand how they got that way. Teaching is not for the timid. We are faced with the most incredible apathy and disrespect ever witnessed in decades and are expected, no less, to accommodate that behavior with understanding even when the behavior would make anyone's toes curl. I'm 51 years old and when I was a kid in school, I wouldn't have dreamed of speaking to any adult the way students speak to the adults at my job. Education has to take place...respect has to be given and I don't see any of this being addressed by any politician, from New York State to Hawaii. Teaching is a three way street. It's parents, school teachers and administrators. We have to work together and set the boundaries. That's right, I said boundaries. Our children, our students need them. It's simply that simple.
We can stop the insanity by understanding and accepting that not all students will be academically focused and that they should be given alternatives so that they can support themselves and their future families. Yes, I said families...It's quite easy getting pregnant and becoming parents but it's another to actually "parent" and expose children to all of the possibilities the world offers...and parents are the first line of defense in the appreciation of a good education. That might not mean a regents diploma or a college degree. It might mean learning a trade. It might mean furthering their education when they have the appropriate support and maturity. Education occurs when one is ready to receive it. It happened for me that way and I suspect it happens for most people that way as well.
By the way, summers off are NOT a luxury but an essential part of coping with the year long physical and emotional requirements of the job. I can say this legitimately because I have spent a great part of my adult life working for companies outside of public education and the allotted two week vacation always seemed to be enough of a perk. For the teacher, those two months mean re-developing curriculum, workshops and additional jobs that pay college loans and maintain the teaching license. There is very little down time and teachers understand this however, what the public doesn't understand is that with every new school year, there are new personalities to contend with, work with and some of these personalities exhaust even the strongest of us. Some devastate and sadden us too.
In just about two weeks, my colleagues and I will begin a new school year with our intentions pure and our hopes high that we will be successful in reaching our students and hopefully they will care enough about themselves to do their homework, study and actively participate in their own education. Every year, I hope that parents will support my efforts. It's never encouraging when you're looking at a class of 30 and less than half have done their assignment which you assigned five days ago in great detail, step by step. Staring into the sea of faces that have no explanation for their lack of effort except, "I didn't feel like it."
In just about two weeks, my alarm will ring at 5:30 a.m. and at 7:50 a.m., I will be introduced to a new deluge of students. Some will have learning disabilities. Others will struggle because they slipped through the cracks and are simply a part of the current educational abyss that is trying so hard to educate everyone and the significant failures continue to chip away at all of us who want better for each and every student that is sent to us.
An "Education Nation" requires that we not accept politics and public policy from those who have never taken on the profession. An "Education Nation" can only evolve if it's public understands that education is the HIGHEST priority and that education comes in many forms and not just from a text book. An "Education Nation" means that education is a predictor of ability but not the end result. More options have to be given. Availability of technology needs to be improved. It means encouraging creativity and critical thinking, not test taking.
Education comes in many forms and not just at a desk and chair. We need to impress upon students the importance of empathy and concern for mankind and that begins and continues to develop at home. The 42 minutes I have with a class may impact them for a brief moment but as soon as my students arrive home, the familiar takes over. Education means teaching students how to use technology and the internet responsibly and not to abuse others. Careful monitoring and controls within the home are needed more today then ever before.
I had such respect and love for my teachers growing up. Instead of a cell phone or iPod, I had pencils, pens and notebooks carefully organized and I learned how to take control of my learning by understanding that my education would make me a better person, not a cell phone. Did I always succeed at school? No. No, I did not but I understood that failure was never an option for me. To fail meant I had given up and we need to teach perseverance and patience to our young people. We need to teach them that with failure comes more effort, more work and ultimately, we survive it all.
Lastly, an "Education Nation" gives its highest regard and importance to stirring curiosity and problem-solving. It encourages questioning, discussion and perpetuates the very best in all of us. it doesn't point fingers and ridicule or use education as a political punching bag. I look forward to a new year in the classroom but I also know that I will be faced with student issues that I won't be able to solve and my accountability for those issues will count towards my "effectiveness." I can only ask my students to understand that their efforts define them, not me. I am only the channel they can travel...to get to the other side.
In just about two weeks, my alarm will ring at 5:30 a.m. and at 7:50 a.m., I will be introduced to a new deluge of students. Some will have learning disabilities. Others will struggle because they slipped through the cracks and are simply a part of the current educational abyss that is trying so hard to educate everyone and the significant failures continue to chip away at all of us who want better for each and every student that is sent to us.
An "Education Nation" requires that we not accept politics and public policy from those who have never taken on the profession. An "Education Nation" can only evolve if it's public understands that education is the HIGHEST priority and that education comes in many forms and not just from a text book. An "Education Nation" means that education is a predictor of ability but not the end result. More options have to be given. Availability of technology needs to be improved. It means encouraging creativity and critical thinking, not test taking.
Education comes in many forms and not just at a desk and chair. We need to impress upon students the importance of empathy and concern for mankind and that begins and continues to develop at home. The 42 minutes I have with a class may impact them for a brief moment but as soon as my students arrive home, the familiar takes over. Education means teaching students how to use technology and the internet responsibly and not to abuse others. Careful monitoring and controls within the home are needed more today then ever before.
I had such respect and love for my teachers growing up. Instead of a cell phone or iPod, I had pencils, pens and notebooks carefully organized and I learned how to take control of my learning by understanding that my education would make me a better person, not a cell phone. Did I always succeed at school? No. No, I did not but I understood that failure was never an option for me. To fail meant I had given up and we need to teach perseverance and patience to our young people. We need to teach them that with failure comes more effort, more work and ultimately, we survive it all.
Lastly, an "Education Nation" gives its highest regard and importance to stirring curiosity and problem-solving. It encourages questioning, discussion and perpetuates the very best in all of us. it doesn't point fingers and ridicule or use education as a political punching bag. I look forward to a new year in the classroom but I also know that I will be faced with student issues that I won't be able to solve and my accountability for those issues will count towards my "effectiveness." I can only ask my students to understand that their efforts define them, not me. I am only the channel they can travel...to get to the other side.
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