Teaching is Hard

I'm have been teaching in some capacity since 2003. I started out as a substitute teacher and did that while I went BACK to school and got my teaching certification through a Career Switchers Program. This is a great way to go if you have already graduated from college, by the way. It took about six months to complete (going two nights per week and every Saturday morning) and I got a job right out of the gate. I interviewed at two middle schools and one of them offered me my first job. 

I started out teaching sixth grade ELA (English and Language Arts) and did that for two years in northern Virginia. Then I got married and moved to Maryland and taught a year of seventh grade ELA there. This brings me to my first beef - it is not easy to move a teaching certificate from state to state. Each state has different requirements for teachers. Moving oftentimes means going back to undergrad to take a history class or something that you did not take that they think you need to take. Ugh. Luckily, Virginia to Maryland wasn't too bad and I could start right away. I had two interviews and got a job offer from one of those.

My husband's job has us relocating quite a bit. We are not military family mobile, but pretty mobile all the same, moving every 3-6 years. After Baltimore, we moved to Bloomington, Indiana. There I went back to subbing because there were no teaching positions to be found. Indiana University is right there and it is a teacher factory. I had a second job during this time as a medical assistant, which I kept for four years - teachers don't make enough money to live off of one job. We often need to work two. I honestly had such a hard time getting back into teaching that I almost went to nursing school. I took more classes and tests, and got my Indiana teaching license. I subbed for two years and then landed a job at a private school teaching pre-K and then kindergarten. I even started a Masters program. Then, guess what? We moved.

To Illinois. For whatever reason, Illinois does not make it easy to get a teaching certificate. I subbed for a year, was an aide for a year and then got a job as a fifth grade teacher, which then segued into a first grade position (big jump here, and not legal to make a teacher do this, but did it anyway). I loved working with a predominantly Hispanic population. The families were as supportive as they could be and the I felt like I was making a positive impact. After those two years, Illinois changed the licensing requirements and I was no longer eligible to teach - after getting a Masters of Science in Education and teaching for eight years. Soooooo, back to school I went, and became a paraprofessional in the meantime. By the way, I was also working at a bookstore and tutoring students to supplement my income during this time. Finally, I landed my dream job teaching fifth grade math and science. Then we moved.

To California. For those of you who don't know, California makes it very difficult to get a teaching license. It was a big move for my girls and so I planned to take a year off to help them acclimate. I joined a gym and signed up for Pilate's. In that class, I met two teachers and they recruited me. I started guest-teaching at their school in February and was offered a job teaching fifth grade for next year. I have my substitute certificate in California, but since it is a private school, I do not have to be licensed in CA. I just have to have a teaching certification somewhere, and my Illinois license is still good. My plan is to apply for my CA certification while I am teaching and get that in place. I'm teaching in a private school again. The people are kind and the classes are small (~20 kids). I mostly teach math and science but have a reading and writing section thrown in as well. I have a teaching assistant and my partner, who teaches mostly humanities and ELA, and she has a teaching assistant as well. I feel very fortunate, and a little out of my element. The families are wealthy and the school provides for everything. Honestly, I have run the gamut in my career.

I have been in this field for 16 years. I have seen many teachers come and go. This is an honorable, difficult profession. We don't teach for the money - we do it because it is a calling. I work through the summer, planning for the next year, meeting with teachers, planning field trips, decorating and organizing my room. During the school year, I work 8-9 hours per day in the building and then work 1-2 hours per night at home. I stay late on Fridays getting ready for the week ahead. If I call in sick, I have to plan out every minute of my day for someone else to (hopefully) teach my students. If someone else calls in sick, I have to use my planning time to cover their class. I get multiple emails per day from parents, who are oftentimes asking questions that would have been answered had they read my weekly bulletin.  I get emails from students asking for directions that I have already given. I go to Bat Mitzvahs, soccer games, community plays, beauty contests, and spaghetti dinners at churches to be with my students in my free time. I go on overnight field trips that take me away from my family for days at a time. I have my own children help me put stickers on papers and my husband sometimes helps me grade.

I have countless mugs, apple themed items, candles and gift cards. I love every gift I get because I know that child was right there thinking of me. I have letters that I have kept for 16 years or less. I have crafts that are homemade and even some jewelry. I love my students and their families. I have held students after they received bad news, I have sometimes delivered that bad news because their parents didn't know how. I have bandaged bloody wounds, held ice packs to swollen eyes, and packaged teeth for the fairy to come that night. I have celebrated birthdays and half-birthdays and am learning about all of the Jewish holidays. I have taught half in Spanish and and now learning (slowly) some Hebrew. Teachers are always learning, so that we can continue to teach.

Love your teachers. We are tired and trying and loving your little people. We are human. We get sick and overwhelmed and sad. We are not paid enough to live on our own on one job, but we keep showing up. We pay for your kids supplies when you don't send them in. We give gifts from our own pockets and plan parties, escape rooms and scavenger hunts. We stay late for conferences and open houses and we miss our own children's school events to be at yours. We give all that we have. It is not a thankless job, but it is a hard one. And you could not do yours without us.

A Note to Teachers

I am in the position where I can view the classroom from a visitor's eye - as a guest teacher (commonly referred to as a substitute).  Over the years, I have come up with a list of suggestions (pleas, really) for classroom teachers.  And I know of what I speak - I am a teacher myself.  I am simply a "homeless" one at this point.

If you are going to have a substitute in your room...please:

1.  These people are not substitutes.  They are guest-teachers.  They are doing your job for the day (or week, or three-month maternity leave).  They deserve the respect of being called guest-teacher.  Not sub.

2.  When you see them in the hallways, don't ask them, "Who are you today?"  They are themselves - everyday.  They are not morphing into the teacher for whom they are guest-teaching.  My standard (read "cranky") answer to that is, "I am Mindi (everyday).  I am guest-teaching in Mr. or Mrs. So-and-So's room."  Nothing makes a guest-teacher feel lower than not being called by their own name.

3.  Overplan.  Have more plans than what the school day can hold.  You never know when the Promethian Board won't come on, or the school will have a fire drill, or the sub can't find the materials for science.  Give them other options from which to choose.  The worst thing that can happen is that the guest-teacher has to come up with something for the kids to do.  That is your job.  It is their job to make sure that it gets done.

4.   Leave a class list and a seating chart, for pity's sake!!

5.  Leave detailed instructions on how to call the office and/or the teacher next door.

6.  Leave them an hour-by-hour schedule of your day.  They need to know if they have time to use the restroom between classes or if they have a break at some point during the day.

7.  Leave them a list of students with allergies or behavior/medical problems.  This is necessary.  Really.

8.  Leave them a map of the school with pertinent places (office, restrooms, lounge, playground, fire exit) highlighted.  It is a courtesy, and a greatly appreciated one.

9.  Don't leave them a movie to watch unless it is part of your actual curriculum.  Kids choose this time to misbehave - believe me.  If you do leave a movie, provide an assignment to go along with it so that the students are forced to pay attention.

10.  Leave out the materials that the guest-teacher will need in nice, neat piles.  Don't make them take their eyes off the class so they can hunt for something you could have left out for them.

11.  If at all possible, schedule tests for the days that the guest-teacher is there.  This makes their job slightly easier.  You can even leave an answer key and I bet they will grade them for you!

12.  If they did a good job for you, request them again.  They do not have job security like you do.  They get jobs based on their performance.  Many of them are licensed teachers (like me).

That's all, folks!

Mindi

We Have Been Busy

Hi there!  Wow - what a whirlwind of a holiday season that was!  We have so much to catch up on, but here are a few of the highlights.  I will definitely go into more detail in a later post.

First of all, I am trying to go more vegan this year.  I can't promise all vegan, because we do go out to eat on occasion and I would like to have carte blanche with the menu (hello, right??).  However, I am trying.  Just so you know, I will not be foisting this onto my family and friends, although there are a few friends out there who I know will be joining me on my journey, but I will likely slip a vegan dish in every now and then.

Ok, so the other day, I am walking out to the trash can and talking on the phone at the same time.  I fling open the lid to the dumpster-on-wheels and proceed to scare the ever-lovin-crap out of a squirrel.  A squirrel who had apparently been snacking in there.  Of course, the cute little ball of fluff scared the crap out of me, too.  In fact, being the pillar of bravery that I am, I ran off down the driveway screaming at the top of my lungs (I had forgotten I was still on the phone).  I am sure the neighbors enjoyed this sight.  After I got my wits together, I went back and took a picture of the aforementioned ball of fluff.  Can you see him?  Can you??

Look reeeeally hard.  He is there, looking back at you.

Dan put up lights this year.  First time he has ever hung them on the house.  Yay, Daddy!  Poor picture, but you get the gist.

Good jhob, Dad.  Good jhob.

Then Abby and I attended Juli's holiday extravaganza at Goddard.  Oh my cuteness, Batman!

Seriously???  Can you stand the cuteness??

Oh, I got picked up for subbing in Libertyville.  Here I am on my first day.  Feels goooooood to be in a classroom again, even if it is not mine.

How about a little lesson on the ethics of human cloning, eh?  A far cry from my precious kindergartners, but you know - go with the flow!

We took December off from Mommy School to do Christmas crafts and read a different holiday book every night.  This was so much fun, and it will be repeated next year for sure.  What great memories we made!  Now we are back in the swing of things, though.  Today, we read about Moses and the burning bush in Juli's Family Time Bible and then we read this:

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

Great book!  It only has about 12 different words in it, which makes it "readable" for pre-schoolers.  There are lots of details in the illustrations and at least four different themes to follow.  First, and most obvious, is the frisky little gorilla who steals the zookeeper's keys and lets all of the animals out as the man says good night to them one by one.  Then they all follow him home and....well, you know I don't ruin endings!

Then there's the mouse who follows the gorilla.  He is trying to carry a banana.  Too cute - look for his valiant struggles.

Check out the animal's cages - you might see some toys that you recognize.

Finally, look at the pictures in the zookeeper's house - it is clear that this man (and his wife) loves his job.

Then, Abby and Juli ate bananas for snack, of course!

That's all for now, folks!

Min