#ReflectiveTeacher Day 9: Proud of Myself

Today we were asked to blog about something that we were proud of that no one knows about.

When I first started teaching, I was an "um-er." You know, one of those folks who said "ummm" or "like," like, every other, ummm, word. I am also a fast talker - like, fast enough that words can get lost or garbled. My first real opportunity to spend any amount of time speaking in front of others was a part of my graduate teaching position in psychology (before I had any plans to become a teacher). Behavioral observation was part of my thesis! I knew my delivery needed to improve, and I really wanted to do better for the sake of the students in my course. I began to try and consciously track my "ummms" and "likes." There were a lot. Being aware of them helped me stop myself from letting as many pop out. I also make a conscious effort to slow down my speech.

I began teaching middle school and then as I moved on to student teaching (yeah, I did those out of order, that is for another blog post). I finally worked on slowing down when I speak, tracking my filler speech and being sure I was communicating in a way that all of my students could understand. I also recently discovered that much of my speech issues are the result of a language/fluency disorder called cluttering, which you can learn more about here. The rapid fire speech that words or syllables get lost it? The fillers and interjections? All of part of it. I am lucky in that my language delivery issues are pretty mild.  A primary therapy is learning to monitor your own speech patterns, making conscious efforts to slow down appropriately.  It has a genetic component, and is related to stuttering, something I remember my father struggling with a lot when I was younger. 

Other than being told to "slow it down" or repeat myself, and my husband teasing me gently about some of my most-common slurred together words such as "juhmean" for "do you know what I mean?" no one had recognized that I had a language disorder, or that I worked to overcome it. 

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 8: Desk Drawers

HA! Well, this post is a bit of a challenge for me, if only because I don't have a desk, so no drawers to talk about. I ditched my big old teacher's desk before the start of last school, and don't miss it one bit.

I do have a small table in the corner and a bookshelf. I guess I can think about what I keep on my bookshelf, and what that says about me. I have a box of "emergency supplies" for students - think band-aids and tampons. Being an adolescent/young adult is a stressful time, and we unfortunately do not have a school nurse. I have mastered the art of the stealth tampon or pad hand off, and even recently got a cute little pouch that looks like a purse girls can use when needed.

There are my stuffed fossils - Fred the trilobite and George the eurypterid (this is George, with his fossilized counterpart).

A jar of individually wrapped chocolates I like to hand out to the rest of the science department now and then, when I think we all need a little pick me up chocolate love. Mmmmmm... chocolate. :)

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 7: Inspirational Colleague

My inspirational colleague is my partner-in-crime and fellow teacher, Melinda Callihan.

Melinda is constantly striving to improve her teaching, and inspires me to do the same. The moment you walk into her ELA classroom, it is apparent that she loves her students and wants them to excel. While her students can rock a standardized test, but that is never the central focus of her teaching. She wants students to read, to write, to think, to be passionate and care about things.

She pushes me to be a better teacher, acts as my sounding board for all ideas (crazy or not), and makes me laugh. She gives us both a great chance to model adult friendship for our students, and gives amazing hugs. She will pop in and join a science lab, and I jump in and read "Fences" aloud with her class. I am thankful every day that I get to teach in the same school as her!

(P.S. - go visit her blog as well! http://melindacallihan.blogspot.com/ )

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 6: Being a Mentor

Pre-service and early career teachers are in a challenging position. You are expected to hit the ground running, ready to take on one of the most challenging jobs I can possibility think of, and are expected to do a good job from the start. You are under the scrutiny of your colleagues, the administration and parents. You chose this profession because you want to work with young people, and make a difference. You didn't really understand all of the other things that come with the job. The paperwork, the phone calls, the true weight of responsibility for getting it all done.

I only had the benefit of a mentor for a brief time in my early teaching career. I had a administrator for a year when I taught in a middle school in Buffalo that was the most amazing supporter. I was working and teaching in a grant funded position, without my certification, and she was really the one that made me believe that I was a "real" teacher, and that it was the profession I was meant to be in. Her commitment to the students in the building as the real priority was inspiring. I remember her calling me into her office to discuss a meeting she had with another teacher, who had complained about the noise and apparent chaos coming from my classroom. She told me firmly that she knew learning science was a loud and messy endeavor, that she thought my students were engaged and excited to be with me, and that I should just close my door and keep on with the important business of teaching.

I have now had the change to mentor multiple student teachers in my own classroom, as well as early career teachers in my department. I try to take that responsibility very seriously. I feel that a good mentor has to walk the line between support staff and colleague. I have learned just as much from my mentees as I hope they have learned from me. I want them to see me as someone who can offer advice, but also someone who wants to learn and grow and become a better teacher as well. I do not have all of the answers, not by a long shot. But I do have experience, I have "been there" for most of the challenges that a new teacher faces, and I want to help my mentee perhaps struggle just a little bit less than I had too.

I also hope to help my current new teacher keep her passion and excitement. This is her first classroom and she is so excited and passionate about teaching! I want her to keep that spark and that love of being with students, and perhaps steal a little of it for myself.

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 5: A Snapshot of My Classroom

Today's challenge asked for a picture of our classroom, and a description of what we see - and what we don't see.

I see a space that is designed for my students much more so than me. We start from day one in groups, working with others to tackle problems and work toward solutions. I see supplies that are totally accessible to students, with the expectation that they will respect them and use what they need. I see a comfy spot in the back to read or work. I see a space that is hopefully welcoming and safe, with just enough clutter to make you feel at home. :)

What do I NOT see? I don't see a teacher's desk. Immediately to my left from where I took this picture is my little "teacher's corner" where I have a small table from Ikea pushed against the wall with a bookshelf next to it. I ditched the big teacher's desk last year right before the start of the school year, and haven't looked back since! It took up too much space and didn't really serve a purpose. I meet with kids in the groups, or they can pull a chair up next to me at my table and we can chat. But it keeps me up and moving and with them, where I should be. It also reinforces that this space is ours to share.

I've put a lot of thought into our learning space, and based on the number of students current and former who congregate in my room before and after school, I think it's paid off.

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 4: For the Love of Teaching

What do you love the most about teaching?

I was just thinking about this today, even before I saw today's prompt. We did a staggered start of our students this year, and today was the first day I had all of my students, freshmen through seniors, in classes. I had my classes working - tackling the Marshmallow Challenge, collecting Bouncing Ball data, getting to know each other while collaborating and doing STUFF. I loved listening to them navigate the tasks, watching the students who instantly started talking and planning, and those who hung back and took it all in. We talked about risk taking and making mistakes and trying again. 

It was a great day.

So what do I love most about teaching? Getting to spend my day with young people, encouraging them to learn how to collaborate with others to accomplish more than they could on their own. Hopefully they walk away knowing some science too ;) But honestly, I think these kids are awesome humans who, even on their angsty days, are pretty cool to be around.

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 3: Observations and Evaluations

I feel like one of my weakest areas for teacher evaluations has been parent contact. I love working with parents, and eagerly team up with them when they reach out and want to see their child doing better in my class or in school in general. But I have struggled with reaching out to parents as much as I feel I really should. There are many reasons (excuses?) as to why. 

Time: Most years I prep for 4 different classes, and have mandatory remediation time after school. That doesn't leave a lot of time for phone calls or emails. 

Hard to reach parents: Many of my students and their families have insecure living situations, leading to frequently changing addresses and telephone numbers. It can be tough to track down the best way to contact home, or to be sure of who the adult caretaker is.

Insecurity: Even as long as I have been teaching (its been... a while :) ) it is still nerve-wracking sometimes to make that phone call home to a parent, not knowing how they will react to new about their child, good or bad. Or sometimes you DO know how they will react, and that can make you less the eager to call home as well.

Solutions! This is the important part. 

First, I am going to carve out time weekly to make phone calls home. I am putting it on my calendar, putting a sign on my door, and making it happen!

Second, I hopped on VistaPrint, and made myself some postcards just for mailing quick notes home. I'm hoping this will relieve some of the insecurity part of phone calls home, and let me keep in touch with parents for good news and not-as-good news! 

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 2: Technology Integration

One of my positions at school involved helping other teachers find effective ways to integrate technology into their classrooms. This doesn't mean that I am the all-knowing expert, by any means! 

My goal in my earth science classes this year is to have my students use data probes to collect data, and analyze it using software like LoggerPro. I have traditionally reserved these tools for my senior physics course (in part because I didn't have enough laptops or probeware for my much larger earth science classes!). Thanks to a kind donation of equipment from a local university and the re-purposing of old and outdated laptops, I am hoping to get all of my kids using tech to examine data! 

I have offered the probeware out to other science teachers in my building, but they haven't taken me up on it. I think it can be hard to want to take the risk that it won't work the way you planned, or to find the time to figure out the best ways to use the equipment. Hopefully I can help them feel more comfortable taking the leap. 

#ReflectiveTeacher Day 1: Goals for the School Year

This school year, I have set two primary goals for myself.


Goal 1: Student Feedback

Every year, I have struggled with giving timely feedback to my students on their learning. How can I expect my students to really grow if they don't have a good understanding of what they need to work on in order to improve? I plan on tackling this in several ways. 

I have run a pretty asynchronous classroom in the past, which has many benefits. Students could move at their own pace, chose activities in the order they wanted, and learned to be more independent. However, it also meant it was harder for me to know where individual students might have gaps at any particular time, and didn't allow for as much whole class dialogue to work through their own understanding. So I am reigning in the asynchronous nature of at least my labs, to allow time for discussion and exploration as a class. I am also hoping to use more frequent in-class formative assessment like Pear Deck  and Friday lab quizzes to keep track of where my students are more frequently.

Goal 2: Self Care

My other major goal for this school year is a bit more personal. This year, I really need to focus on preventing burnout for myself. I am often the go-to person for my department, other teachers, admin, etc. This year, I want my own classroom and myself to be the primary focus of my efforts at school. This year I am going to be "selfish" and learn to say NO. My students deserve to have my full attention, and my family deserves a much less stressed version of me. 

A welcome and a start

With the encouragement of my lovely friend and coworker Amanda, I am going to tackle the Reflective Teaching 30 Blogging Challenge, starting September 1st.