Unwritten rules

Meltdowns

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/5792547940/">sean dreilinger</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

The last week has brought me many new lessons.
The meltdown challenge week

I have lots of education and experience working with students in a positive supportive environment.  This past week, however, I was tested like I've never been tested before.  I had two separate occasions where students were very angry and even insubordinate during class.
I am trying to create a successful learning environment for all of the students.  It is hard to do that when you have an openly hostile student.  I did have to call in back up in one instance.  Calling in back up though made me feel like I couldn't my classroom and I felt like I had failed somehow. 
I have read all the paperwork on the students (IEPs and BIPs) and I've consulted with the teachers of record, but I feel ill-equipped to handle the melt-downs. 

I need to know the unwritten rules.  Who do you call and when?  Do administrators frown upon you when you call in back up support?  What works?

Is it time to overhaul education? What does that mean to a brand new teacher?

Is it time to overhaul education?

Will Richardson's TED talk was very compelling.  He gave some great examples of how access to on-line learning is revolutionizing our world.  The entire time he was speaking, I was framing his words in my mind with "how I can deliver his message to my students"? 

Many of my students have failed proficiency tests, are credit deficient, have low GPAs, and are at-risk of dropping out of school.  They are the epitome of a failed system.  They are not, however, failures.  They are future entrepreneurs, inventors, soldiers, business owners, politicians, farmers, and firemen (like the one Sir Ken Richardson spoke of in http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity) that make our communities function.

For the first two weeks of school I was blissfully unaware of what their scores were.  I just knew them to be very bright and capable of almost anything.  When I was able to access their scores, I just could not reconcile the students with their scores (I still can't and wish I didn't even have to consider them).  I however, cannot ignore them because many of my students must pass the proficiency tests in order to graduate.  The scores are the yardstick by which we are measured.

The Wall in Berlin

I'd say we need a new yardstick. 



Where does that leave me as a new teacher?

I must show that my students make gains by increasing their GPAs, graduating them, getting them work, enlisted in the military, or enrolled in a secondary education path. 
I must also prepare them with all the soft skills they'll need to succeed on whichever path they choose. 

It's crazy because I've been mostly overwhelmed, and feel very unprepared since I started this journey a few weeks ago.  I'm reading everything in sight and asking colleagues at every turn for advice. I learn a ton from reading posts to our class site (thanks everyone), but sadly it seems as if each teacher must sort of find their own way.  I find myself falling back on what I know, using traditional lesson plans with lots of paper, fill in the blank, and tests on knowledge gained.  The students know what to do and seem to respond by getting it done, but are they really learning?  We are entrenched in what  Mr. Richardson referred to as a "system built for a world that no longer exists" 

I think that the most important things that I can impart on my students is the "life prep" that Will Richardson spoke of.  I need to build in them the curiousity and drive that will make them successful, whatever their vocational choice.  I need to help them to learn how to learn and help them find the resources they need.

Teaching and my second act: Uprooted, and oh by the way, you have one week to learn how to be a teacher! HELP!

Change

I personally love change and have made a career out of helping people navigate change in one form or another.  I consider myself a lifelong learner and I love to explore new subjects and develop new skills.
Throughout my life, I've always been open to change and new experiences.  So, I love to travel and every place I've gone, I've asked asked myself the question: "Could I live here?"  With only two exceptions, I have said yes.  The two exceptions are/were Los Angeles (too crowded), and Las Vegas (too hot). 

Even though I'm an intreped explorer, my home location has been fixed for 31 years.  My husband and I have been looking to relocate our careers to another state and a bit warmer weather than Western Wyoming.  We were looking for a nicer climate with 4 seasons but not too far from family.

I was really worried that my opportunities for career growth were limited by the size of my community as well as my chosen profession (education and human resources).  At the age of 50, I was also worried that if I didn't make a move then my options would deplete further because of my age.  If I stayed where I was until retirement, then I was really worried about stagnating, both in my career and personally. 

Opportunity

Early this summer, my husband got an opportunity to promote and transfer with his company.  He was excited and I hoped that my prospects would grow in this new location.  The ironic thing was that it was very close to one of my least favorite places on earth (Las Vegas).  The small town he was transferred to was smaller than the one I was leaving, so I assumed that prospects would be slimmer and I would have to commute to Vegas. 

There were no jobs listed in the community and no others in close commuting distance to our new location.  Then through a family member, I heard of an opportunity (through a more than coincidental meeting in a casino) in the tiny little community to teach class to at-risk kids to help them graduate and find a career and/or go for higher education.  It sounded like a wonderful opportunity but I didn't have a job description to go on to draft my resume, so I just put one together with my skill set.  When I had my first interview, I received the job description, and it was nearly an exact fit with my resume.  Even though I didn't have a teaching degree, I was hired!  I was very excited about the idea of teaching, but I knew that I would have a lot to learn. 

Second Act

I had one week to learn the program and to get things ready for my first day of class (OMG)!!  I've been working for 3 weeks now and I can barely keep my head above water.  I'm learning every day, and I look forward to learning from others.

I need help knowing basic things like great classroom management, how to use all the technology, where to go for help, what the rules are (written and unwritten), and who to trust. 

In my first day of teaching, I told the kids a little about my wild and quick introduction to teaching, but I said that "I feel like I'm exactly where I'm meant to be." 

I'm jumping in and hoping to be the best teacher that I can be.

Second act here I come!