By Tracey

I have a high school student who comes to my classroom and spends the day helping me out.  She comes twice a week, every Tuesday and Thursday.  She's in my room all day, from the start of school at 8:40 to 2:00, sometimes 3:00.  She's very kind and pleasant.  Last week she changed the bulletin board paper out in the hall.  She's in a program that matches students with mentors in careers they want to pursue.  She came to me in September, asking if she could interview me about being a teacher.  And before I knew it, she was showing up twice a week asking if she could stay and help.  I'll admit, it's nice to have the help.  I have her help me with logging in homework, filing papers, and organizing the classroom library.  But, what is she really getting in return?  Three fifths of a 9th grade education and some paper cuts? That's my worry.

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 By Tracey

One sunny afternoon in the spring, during my third year of teaching, I walked into my classroom to find two strangers.  They were smiley and warm, and apologized for startling me.  They were also elementary teachers.  I could tell this was true, as they wore the uniform – sandals, jumpers, and turtle-neck shirts.  They explained that they were attending a conference nearby.  They went for a walk and stumbled upon my school and my open door.  They were most excited about seeing the word science posted on my schedule for the day.  “Wow,” they explained, “You have time to teach science everyday?  Where we come from they got rid of that.  We’re lucky if we can teach it once a week!”  I think they said they were from Idaho, or maybe it was Iowa?  In any case, I thought that comment was strange at the time, and then promptly forgot all about it until recently.  It was as if these women came from the future, foreshadowing what is yet to come, and warning me of the road ahead. And now here I am, ten years later, remembering their prescient words while feeling lucky to have the chance to teach science once a week.

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 By Tracey
 

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By Tracey

Old Mother Hubbard,

Went to the cupboard,

To get her poor class some dry erase markers and sticky notes.

When she came there,

The cupboard was bare,

And so she ran out and bought some.

I’ve always started the year with trips to the store to purchase supplies, but never have I had to buy so much.  In addition to the regular pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, and folders, many supplies that were for regular classroom maintenance have also fallen into my lap.   I see teachers daily opening up the cupboards in the office that once housed supplies for our classrooms, looking for the basics, such as dry erase markers, index cards, sticky notes, manila folders, envelopes, etc. and there’s nothing to be found.  What a prize to find a Sharpie buried deep in the far corners of the tippy-toe shelves.  But, I still need dry erase markers to write on the board; and I want my students to have post-it notes to mark places in their reading.  So, who picks up tab?  I guess I do.

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Our first day of school was last week Wednesday.  I love the first day of school.  I love meeting all my new students.  I love all the excitement and the nerves.  I love to remember first impressions during the year as I get to know my students better.  Usually, the first day is a whirlwind.  I’ve planned twice as much to cover in a day.  Students are somewhat shy and nervous.  Not this year.  I still planned much more than was needed – we covered about a quarter of what I had ready.  My students were aggressive attention seekers, with six boys competing for the role of the “class clown”.  Not to mention other students enjoying the unplanned entertainment and encouraging more.  After a late evening of phone calls home and a few subsequent meetings with parents, I began to wonder… what happened to the multi-age classroom?

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By Tracey

Since Travis used only one, can I have his remaining four?  Because I can think of at least nine things I would do to improve education if money wasn’t an issue.  I realize that’s a little unfair.  Maybe it’s a perk to being the last blogger to post to this meme?  The teacher in me can’t stand by and watch four perfectly good, fully-funded ways to improve education go to waste.  But, I’ll play fair.  I’ll follow the rules and attempt to squeeze in all that I can with some broad categories.  The 5 ways I’d improve education is by opening the school to serve the community, team teaching with smaller class sizes, authentic and meaningful learning through field experiences and community connections, an educator attitude check, and learning 21st century skills.  

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