New Terrain

"Long nights" and "Dark(er) Novembers" aren't limited to classroom educators. Everyone, from principals to custodians and apparently program directors, are prone to some kind of school-year slump too. I know the work we're doing is critical, but I just get so tired sometimes. Students aren't showing significant improvements yet. Teachers are getting bummed out. Morale is low and sometimes it's hard to see the difference my 14-hours of work each day makes.

That's why it was so heartening to speak two weeks ago to an accepted 2008 Teach For America-Rio Grande Valley corps member. I got "Meredith's" phone call in the middle of a long and draining meeting, but I crept out of the conference room to take her call. Her excitement is infectious. She is preparing to graduate college in the spring and is brimming with enthusiasm about her big move to south Texas as a first-year teacher. She knows it will be challenging, but is driven by her desire to help close the achievement gap in the country. She's idealistic, but is tough, motivated and smart. Before we finished our conversation on the phone, she asked me what my one piece of advice would be for new teachers. I took a deep breath and without hesitating, told her, "Perspective." It sounds trite, I said, but it's true. The hardest thing I and my colleagues found as teachers and now as a program director is maintaining our perspective and keeping our eyes on the prize. I suppose that has to do with any job we ever take, though.

I'm hearing from first-year teachers now, I told her, that without having done it, it's hard to understand what it means to stay up late preparing lessons, to get booed by a group of 15-year-olds, to take responsibility for their lousy grades... It's easy to get lost in the day-to-day struggles and forget the greater purpose of what you're working for. So the most important thing is to step back daily, laugh at the mishaps, keep trying harder, take joy in the big and small victories, remember all the reasons bigger than yourself that are driving you to teach for America.

I finally ended my monologue on my "greatest piece of advice for teachers." I paused. And said, "Thank you Meredith, it's been really inspiring to talk to you. Thank you for re-motivating me too." But what I really should have said was that my second greatest piece of advice is to remind others often on how to keep that perspective.

Posted by Jessica Shyu at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In New Mexico, we called it the "Long Night." In Texas, it's "Dark October" (which apparently stretches through November...). Whatever its name, it refers to the same thing that creeps up around this time of year for new teachers. It's that time to wonder: Who am I, what am I doing here, and why is that child throwing his chair into the wall?

For all you veteran teachers out there, whether you're in your second year or second decade, you know what I'm talking about. It's comes awhile after the August honeymoon. It's been a good couple months of trying new strategies and not yet seeing enough results. It's that growing pile of papers. It's not getting enough sleep. And it's missing Mom 2,000 miles away.

We spend a lot of time talking about retaining teachers year after year of teaching. But for the folks following blogs of new teachers out there, we must remember that there is also the darker side of after we get teachers into the classroom and half a year goes by. In my two short years-as a teacher and my few months as a program director working with first-year teachers, I've noticed two common reasons making teacher want to quit mid-year:

1) Not feeling effective in the classroom. Surely by quitting someone else would do a better job.
2) Teaching isn't exactly how you pictured it... Practice teaching doesn't compare with 150 kids of your own for 180 days with 1 computer and lots of paperwork.

Yes it's hard. Really, really hard. Some ideas I share with my teachers and friends entering the profession:

Remember why you are where you are! You're in the classroom not because you couldn't get another job. You're in there because there's an achievement gap in this country and our nation's children deserve to learn. Your kiddos aren't just a statistic; they need you.

You're awesome Recognize your daily, weekly, monthly, yearly successes. You are making a difference, but you're responsible for finding it. Look at what you're doing for your children. There ARE positives. You NEED to find and hang on to them.

Practice what you preach Work hard, keep trying, and don't give up, just like what you tell your students. And learn to backwards plan. I'm serious.

Use your personal days There is no shame in taking a day to rejuvenate when you're feeling scorched. "Relentless pursuit" doesn't mean nonstop work; it means making work sustainable.

Ask for help Practice what you preach. Ask for help. Get resources. Observe top teachers. Make an appointment with a master teacher and have them review your plans and course layout. Let your manager know you're struggling. Seek mental health if you think you need it.

Be yourself Being a teacher doesn't mean you're only a teacher. Maintain your hobbies. Take up a class of your own. Go to the gym. Force yourself to prioritize non-teaching things so you don't lose yourself come Dark October.

Keep it real Laugh and write it down for your memories, because, c'mon, there is something mildly hilarious about a kid who randomly gets out of his seat and throws his chair over his head and against the wall. And, yes, when your entire 9th grade class starts whistling in unison during your lesson on symbolism, you should definitely laugh when you're alone.

It gets better It shouldn't ever get easy, but yes, it does get easier.

And for the rest, let's take a moment to give a new teacher a hug, a thank you, a specific success you've seen, and a reminder that you've been there and are here to help.

Posted by Jessica Shyu at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

At the start of the school year, a new teacher asked me if it was OK to let her students start their warm up assignments one minute into the school's 3-minute moment of silence. My immediate response was no, it was not OK. That's because my philosophy is that when you plant yourself uninvited into a new community to teach, there are a few unspoken rules to follow, at least at first. Among them include:

1) Eat the food. Don't complain.
2) Try to like the music. Don't complain.
3) Avoid politics and religion, unless absolutely necessary. And even in those cases, don't complain.

As far as I can see, the mandatory moment of silence is a disguise for prayer in school. And that has to do with Rule No. 3: Don't mess with a community's religion when that community isn't yours (yet). Even though I, a secularist who believes in the separation of church and state, understood what she meant about her students being bored after 30 seconds of "reflection" and that the kids were the ones eager to dive into the work, I reminded her that it was important to follow the school's rules, especially when it came to something rather personal like reflection. I suggested she check with other teachers and with the administration on what is appropriate. The last thing she needed, I told her, was for parents to complain about her restricting their children's rights for a moment of silence and imposing her "liberal ways" on the students. Perhaps that sounds silly, but it is a real concern.

But the deeper issue that I contended with even after talking with her was whether a moment of silence is actually useful, especially when most students aren't utilizing the time to calmly reflect and prepare for the day. To me, that seems like an odd and silly thing to expect 15-year olds to do on command for three minutes. I don't think mandatory moments of silence should be built into the school day. I just don't see how they are useful. But maybe that's just knowledge I'm missing.

Two weeks ago, Teacher Magazine posted a survey asking readers whether they supported mandatory moments of silence in schools. What seemed like a whopping 47 percent out of 188 surveyed voted "yes." That makes me think that I must be missing something about the value of silence. How do you teach students to utilize the moment of silence in a meaningful way that doesn't involve prayer?

Posted by Jessica Shyu at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I joined a service program after college despite planning to leave education after two years. I joined because I knew I needed to serve my country in a direct way. If I hadn't joined, the classroom I taught in would have been led for another year by a long-term substitute. Without the opportunity to "try out" teaching in a supportive program, I would never have considered education as a field I would anchor my career in. My experience is nothing special. My partner, a returned Peace Corps volunteer, is earning his doctorate in international development. My former postman, a retired Marine, continues to serve disabled vets. A former teacher left education to attend medical school. But his time as a teacher in the Rio Grande Valley drove his decision to specialize in US-Mexican border health care.

I believe in service. But I don't believe in herding people en masse. I don't believe in the mandatory service promoted in Daily Kos's posting last week. The writer, Larry Sabato, explained a plan to make 2-year service mandatory for people between 18-26 years old. This could include military service as well as Peace Corps, Americorps and non-profit organizations like Teach For America.

What I do believe in is promoting national service to a Cabinet-level department, as fleshed out in Time magazine's article on national service back in September. I also believe in Time's proposal for a $5,000 bond to go toward education/housing for volunteers who complete their service commitment. I believe in expecting two years of service and including the first two-years of career public servants like police officers and teachers in the bond program.

But most of all, I believe in each service program making it their responsibility to not only train their members to teach phonics, build levees or use an M-16; I believe in each program have a strategic plan on how they will develop each member to become a leader in society. We need to be taught skills on how to evaluate our own effectiveness, how to influence and motivate others, how to initiate and effect change. All too often, service programs are seen only as opportunities to give back to the community, build grassroots experience or pay back loans. They're also seen as ways to "delay" reality and create "work" when you don't get into your choice of graduate schools. Rarely are they seen as a chance to have personalized professional development in leadership. That is how service programs (and schools) need to compete with law schools and investment banking offers. This is where we can start partnering with especially effective service programs, business schools and banks to understand how they develop large numbers of people into leaders. This is where we need to cultivate the new generation of leaders, whether they are leaders in classrooms, emergency rooms or boardrooms.

You can learn more about Sabato's addendums to the Constitution in his new book and Web site, A More Perfect Constitution.

Posted by Jessica Shyu at 12:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)