November Challenge: Gifts are nice....

Day 4

What was the nicest gift you ever received from a student/parent/colleague?

As a high school teacher, I don't receive as many gifts as those teachers of younger students. When I taught overseas for several years I did get some nice gifts.  One family gave me a lovely scarf for Christmas.  A couple of years ago I had a student give me a pair of earrings.  Compliments are always a nice gift.  It's nice to be recognized as a good teacher by students especially if they don't normally like my content.   It's also nice to hear that my colleagues consider me an inspiration.

I suppose I could go on and on about gifts I've received.  At Christmas my department always gives wonderful gifts to each other.  One of my colleagues whom I carpool with always gives great Christmas and birthday gifts.  We do a Secret Santa gift exchange, and I have gotten some really fun things from those, too.

But I think the nicest gift I was one I got anonymously--and quite recently, too.  I came back from my parking lot duty a week or so ago and found a basket of goodies on my chair.  It was filled with snacks and lotions and sodas and a note.  The note said that one of my colleagues wanted to surprise me, so I was to pick three things from the basket and then put three more things into the basket and pass the basket on to someone else.

I have no idea who put that basket on my chair.  All I know is that I needed that little encouragement just then.  I took three items out and put three items in.  Then I put the basket into someone else's room.  I don't know who has the basket right now, but I hope it is still making the rounds.  It was a blessing at just the right time.

In this month of Thanksgiving, why don't you pay it forward and show some thanks to the people in your life; it may just be the blessing they are needing at just the right time.

November Challenge: The best aspects...

Day 1

What are the best aspects of being a teacher?

Some of the best aspects of being a teacher stare back at me every Monday-Friday for 180 days from mid-August to mid-May with holidays off.  The students.  I know that seems cliche', but it's really true.  The students really are some of the best aspects of being a teacher.  I teach high school kids, and they are filled with hormones and attitude and angst...and I love it.  Every day is a new day with them, and that makes teaching them a challenge.  A challenge I really enjoy.

Another of the best aspects of being a teacher are my colleagues down the hallways of my school.  The people I work with are some of the most devoted people I know.  We work hard to help the students in our charge.  These teachers I work with spend hours of precious time giving their all to our community.  The parents in our community are sending the best they have to us, and we honor that trust by giving our utmost in all our endeavors.

These are the best aspects of being a teacher--the students we serve and the people we serve with.

Reflective Teaching: Day 17, Challenges in Education

Day 17--What do you think is the most challenging issue in education today?

The most challenging issue in education today is having to do more with less. I don't know if that is a new issue; I rather think it isn't. We go into this profession because we feel called to bring knowledge to the next generation.  Most of us go into this career to make a difference.  Few become teachers assuming we'll make a lot of money.  In spite of low salaries and long hours, most of us welcome the ups and downs of the school year.  However, we public school teachers are facing extreme pressure to push our students harder in order to match the scores set by students in other nations while at the same time getting less support from the public.

School districts all over the US are tightening their monetary belts, and that increases the challenge in education. I know people who think that education gets enough financial help, and if only they (read: schools, school boards, departments of education) would manage their money better everything would be okay. That is likely true. However, that thinking does not help the teacher in the trenches with an over-large class of students who are reading below grade level. The resources that might have been there in the past to help have dwindled to trickling. The school that used to pay for after-school tutoring can no longer afford to, yet the teacher is still expected to offer tutoring. The teacher used to get a decent supply budget, but now she is finding that she spends almost $1000 a year for basic classroom supplies out of her own pocket. True, she wouldn't have to do that, but then there would be kids in her classes who didn't have paper or pencils or resource books or a healthy snack when they needed it.

Pressure to excel adds to the challenge in education with test scores becoming the litmus test of teacher ability. High standards in education are absolutely a good thing; however, when a teacher's job is on the line because of how well his students do on some standardized test that they do not have any personal stake in, that's not a good thing.  Too often the students do not care about how well they do on those tests because they are not held accountable for their scores.  The teacher is, however.  Because of this, teachers find themselves spending more and more time prepping their kids for that high-stakes test.  Especially in smaller districts where the poverty level is high (and that is often judged by the free and reduced lunch percentage), teachers are expected to reach almost impossible standards with students who are more worried about whether they have enough to eat than whether they master the content.

With less support, we face more challenges.  These challenges are not going away any time soon, so those of us in education must gird ourselves for the battles we are bound to face.  Luckily, we teachers are good at doing more with less.  Whether we should have to be good at that is an issue for another day.