This image has found its way in front of me on two separate occasions in the last three months. The first was at an instructional coaching workshop led by Elena Aguilar in June and the second was in a book I’m reading for a class called “Being an Effective Mentor." by Kathleen Jonson.It is based on research conducted by Ellen Moir in 1999 and is used all over the internet to illustrate the stages of development teachers experience in their first years in the classroom. When I look at this image I have two VERY strong emotions. The first is one of familiarity. I can see my first year of teaching so clearly in this illustration. I'm almost sure that the drawing of the person standing over December is an exact likeness. I remember the piles of paper on my desk, the parent conference that ended the statement, “you’re a new teacher, you don’t know what you are talking about so I want a second opinion.” As I think about it my shoulders instantly begin to slump just like that figure in the picture. In fact, there are times throughout all 16 of my years in the classroom when I can remember stumbling from survival to disillusionment and back to rejuvenation. After I recover from first year flashbacks, my next thought is one of anger. This image is based on research that was done in 1999. Why is it still the norm for teachers all over the country? In nearly 20 years Education has not improved the experience for the majority of teachers in the first years in the classroom? As a coach I find myself in the position to employ some real strategies for helping teachers who are moving through these stages. I can not simply accept that it is part of the job to experience feelings of “survival” and “disillusionment” because I know it can’t possibly be good for kids. I love that my current work as a Teacher Ambassador for MontanaPBS gives me the opportunity to support teachers as they experience the ups and downs of these first years but I am also overwhelmed because I’m not sure HOW I can help and make a real impact. As I look at the calendar I can see that October is coming and many teachers will be feeling swamped in that “survival” stage. I feel that this image and its repeated existence in my life is a call to action. Last year, I thought it was best to leave teachers alone when I saw them sitting at their desks feeling overwhelmed. I assumed I was doing them a favor and staying of the way. And as a first year coach, I wasn’t sure they wanted my help. That was more about my own insecurity than their needs and I see the error in my ways now. My new plan is to do the opposite. I’m going to shower them with support. Not the “pushy-in-your-face kind” (I hope) but in the “I’m here for you” gestures that I hope will go a long way. Last year, I started the year by giving all teachers a gift bag with a notebook and some other goodies. I held on to those things this year I and plan to hand them out the first week in October. I also have a list of things I’m going to try to do in each building throughout the months of October, November and December. It’s just a start and I’m open to more ideas if anyone in the blog-o-sphere would like to share them, I am all ears! My Plan to Combat Disillusionment in Schools
1 Comment
There are two questions people always ask me about leaving the classroom to work for MontanaPBS. The first one is, “Do you miss teaching in the classroom?” and the second is “What made you leave?” The first question is always easy to answer: “Yes, I miss classroom teaching every day. I miss saying the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning, reading aloud to my students, listening to my students read to me and birthday treats--I really miss birthday treats. The second question is more complicated. It’s hard to explain to people why I left the classroom after I tell them how much I loved it. I didn’t leave in an angry rage or with a bad taste in my mouth for teaching. I didn’t leave to get out of recess duty or writing report cards--although I can’t say I miss those things that much. I left because it was always part of my greater plan. From the day I started teaching in my first classroom, I told myself that eventually, when the time was right, I would leave to teach teachers. I knew I wanted to mentor others the way I had been mentored by the experienced teachers and college professors who prepared me to enter the classroom. On our first date, I even told my husband that some day I planned to teach teachers. He reminded me of that when I began thinking about leaving the classroom last year. I have always known that the time would come for me to step out of the traditional classroom and into a role where I supported teachers in their growth as educators. I just didn’t know when...until a year ago when MontanaPBS advertised the job for a Teacher Ambassador who would represent the station working in rural schools supporting teachers to integrate technology all the while doing research about how digital media was changing classroom instruction. It was all there in that job description. While I can’t remember the exact words I do remember the important words, the ones that made my heart beat fast and my stomach do flip flops: “support teachers in rural schools,” “deliver professional development,” “technology integration.” Suddenly, after sixteen years in the classroom with students I knew it was time to step out. These were all the things I had become the most passionate about. I was spending so much of my time outside of the classroom speaking at conferences, sharing my classroom stories on Twitter and researching new ways to integrate technology successfully. I knew the job was just what I wanted to do next and I didn’t realize it until I read that job description. I used to wonder why all the most inspiring teachers I met had chosen to leave the classroom. Why would someone who was recognized for being great at what they did choose to leave it behind? Why would they take themselves out of the game when they were winning? Isn’t the best place for an accomplished master teacher in the classroom using their gift to change the lives of students? What I have learned is that classrooms aren’t the only places where people learn, and not all students are children. And if you want to be good at something you seek out experts, people who have been successful doing it, to teach you how to be better. In this job, I get to help teachers be better at what they do. I do it for teachers and I do it for students. It’s been nearly seven months since I left the traditional classroom and became a Teacher Ambassador for MontanaPBS. It’s been an incredible shift in my world. Suddenly, I’m in five different schools throughout the month working with more students and teachers than I ever have before. When I’m not in the schools, I’m immersed in this new world of public media where everyone I work with loves TV and technology even more than I do. And when I’m not in that setting I’m at the university taking classes to earn my doctorate and surrounded by people who I am pretty sure are much smarter than I am but, who are teaching me more than I thought I could learn. My world has undergone a huge transformation and while I’m reeling from all of the changes, for the first time in a long time, I’m feeling stretched and challenged and perfectly positioned to do some hard core learning and growing. This post was originally published on the Montana State Teachers of the Year website. |
|