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.
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