Balancing the Administrative with the Teaching

It has been a while since my last post. I could try to blame it on the hurricane and the hurricane recovery, but the truth of the matter is that teaching keeps me busy. I have been trying to find some time to think about a though provocative post, but just trying to stay on top of my lesson plans has been occupying too much of my mental capacity. So, finally I thought that I should make a post about this very matter.

Recent surveys have found that new teachers quit because of too little planning time, too much paper work, and lack of assistance from administration and the district. Now, I consider myself very fortunate in my school district with two out of the three. As a new teacher I get a lot of support, get two planning periods, and I have a really good administration. However, the paper work is killer! I have never had to fill out so many forms, send so many emails, call so many people, go to so many meetings, and document so many things. Honestly, it is easier for me to do my taxes than it is to keep on top of all the paper work.

Now, before any of you think that I am throwing in the towel- think again. I am glad to be a teacher. However, I must admit that I am having a difficult time allocating sufficient time to teaching. Unfortunately, I spend more time in administrative tasks than I do preparing quality lessons and helping students. I worry that it is having a negative impact on the quality of learning in my classroom. Speaking with and observing other teachers has led me to believe that there are two ways to remedy this problem.

The first way in finding time for both the administrative and teaching, and the most prevalent as far as I can observe, is to make things easy. Oftentimes, fellow teachers will tell me, "It is just an elective class. You have to make it easy or the kids wont want to be in the class." Or even, "Grade the papers easy and then you wont get so many students or parents calling you." Well, I can see how this would solve the time problem: keep the students and parents happy with higher grades and then they wont take up as much of my time. However, this causes a much bigger problem in my mind. What is the point of grading- or even learning- at all if it does not accurately reflect student growth? I might as well let the students eat pizza and watch movies every week if I take this approach! (Any students who have taken my class know that I will never do that.)

I believe that if we are going to spend the time and the tax payer's money to make every youth attend school, I better make my class worthwhile. This means that I cannot subscribe to the first approach listed above. This leaves me with the second option to remedy my time balancing problem: actually be a great teacher.

Now that is the hardest part. It is not as easy as saying that I am going to be a great teacher today. The teachers that I do know who can find the time to be great teachers and still make it home at a reasonable hour did not get to this point over night. They have been practicing it for years. Ironically, it seems that the only way to find the time is to first spend the time. Looks like it may take me a while before I can master this balancing act.

Could We Be More Clear?

Many times I have wondered why students have a propensity to ignore directions. Even after writing directions on the board, stating them verbally, and including the directions on their classwork, the question is still asked, "What am I suppose to do?" or even, "I did not know about that!"

Recently, we had class registration. The process was supposed to be simple. The parents and students were to pick up their schedules, verify that classes were correct, give the schedule to a runner that would pick up the appropriate textbooks for them, and wait for their names to be called. Maps were provided, signs were posted, and verbal instructions given. Yet, it did not go so smoothly. Even the parents did not know what they were doing.

This experience caused me to stop and ponder for a moment. Could we have been more clear? Or is there something inherent in humans that prevents us from paying attention? Were the parents just as careless as the students, or were we the cause of confusion? I took a moment to look around. The map was readable, but it took me a long look before I could understand it. The signs were easy to read, but with a hundred other people in the room they could not be seen. Although verbal direction was given, at times the directions between stations were conflicting.

Often, as educators, we feel that we got the message across. We have told them what to do, but they still do it wrong anyway. We can get frustrated when this happens. Maybe I should learn from this registration experience.

Like the map, maybe my directions are not as easy to digest as I thought they would be. I am sure the person who drew it understood it, but the people who really needed it could not understand it. Do teachers sometimes give familiar directions to an unfamiliar audience? I'll check myself on this one for this upcoming school year.

Do we sometimes give directions in distracted environments? I believe that society used to expect people to organize themselves ahead of time, but more and more I see that society is leaning towards more instantaneous experiences. We only learn what we need to know, when we need to know it. So, if I am in front of the class blabbing on about some important instructions, am I expecting too much for them to listen at that point in time when they wont be doing the actual work for a while longer?

In the past I have tended to be a little hard on the students when I thought they were not following clear directions. Maybe in the future I need to take a look at my teaching and see if I am really being as clear as I thought I was.

What do you guys think? Is it the teacher? Or is it the student?

Meeting the Needs of the Gifted and Talented

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow educator recently about meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. His argument was that our current educational system no longer meets their learning needs. He recalled being in the gifted and talented program growing up, and contrasted that to what we expect from our brightest students today. It was his belief that we no longer push these students to achieve as well as they can, because education has become very homogenized. Advanced placement classes exist, but often times enrollment is open to all. This results in a watered-down curriculum for the gifted. As a result, they are not pushed to learn and become lazy with their education.

This brings up some important questions about how we Americans approach education. Open enrollment for advanced classes helps to bring down perceived socioeconomic learning barriers. Since most any student can feel that he can join a rigorous curriculum, there appears to be a more level playing field for the gifted and the regular student. This homogenization masks educational ranks, making all students appear smart... but I ask do we all appear smart, or are we only dragging down the brightest to our level?

How can we better meet the needs of students that are already ready for something more? Sticking them in an AP class and then reducing the curriculum does not appear to be satisfying their needs. Would it be better to create a track system, similar to the ones often used in European countries? Students who really can achieve above the rest can be placed into a more advanced track where they can be challenged while the rest of us can sign up for standard classes. It appears that such a system would allow the regular achievers to continue to learn while allowing the opportunity for the gifted to excel.

But many Americans would say 'that's not fair!' Why should some students receive more educational privilege? Why should my kid be in a regular class while my neighbor's kid gets to be in a special class? These are all fair questions to ask, after all, but think of it this way. Instead of asking if it is far for a student with obvious academic aptitude to receive more education, ask if it is fair that such a student continues to be hindered by a lack of educational rigor. It is not that the mainstream students are receiving any less of an education. They will still learn just as they did before, while the gifted receive an engaging instruction.

Would such tracking lead to a greater educational disparity? It very well may, but it will not be because us regular folk are not getting a fair education. It would only be because the gifted and talented could finally reach their potential.

What do you think?

Purpose of this Blog

Growing up in the USA public education system, I have been a student to all types of teachers. Some have inspired me to be better and work harder. Others were apathetic to teaching, or outright loathed it. Ultimately, the impact they had on me must have been for the better. After all, I chose teaching as my profession. But I must ask myself, were the excellent teachers from my childhood what convinced me of the importance of education... or was it the bad ones?

It may have well been all the bad examples that prompted me to be a teacher- hoping that I can keep this generation's students from having to suffer one less bad teacher. If this is the case, one must ask why there are bad teachers to begin with? What is it in the USA public education system that seems to allow for such mediocrity to exist in the very people that should be examples of excellence? What are we doing wrong? Or am I seeing something that is not there? Is everything fine the way it is?

We seem to read and hear more and more that our educational system continues to fall father and farther behind the accomplishments of foreign countries' education. Is that because they are trying harder, or is it because we have stopped trying? Should we be more concerned with the welfare of our son's and daughter's education? Or is the status quo good enough?

As I continue my career as an educator, these questions occupy my mind more and more. I believe that we could do better as a country and as individuals. As my part to the public discussion of education in America, I have started this blog. It is my intention to post some of my experiences as a teacher, ask insightful questions, and hopefully receive the expertise and opinions of others. To anyone out there listening who ever wonders about education, feel free to post to this blog your comments and questions. Let's do education as it should be done... Let's learn from each other.