Still Trying To Figure It Out

I enjoy ruminating with a hot beverage. This is especially true when the crisp air of autumn arrives. The epitome of cozy is warm socks, a thick blanket, and a hot beverage. All three can be enjoyed either on the couch or sitting on top of my freshly made bed. Today I am writing this under just such cozy conditions. 

It's the day before Thanksgiving and all through the house, nothing is stirring... Oh, wait, wrong holiday. My husband is very much stirring. As I enjoy my quiet stillness, my husband doesn't stop moving. It's one of the things I find endearing about him. Today as I enjoy the cozy comfort inside, Bill has been working in the yard. Bill's work ethic is strong. Mine has gotten less strong as I've gotten older.

I've continued to substitute teach and with each assignment, I get a new perspective of what it's like to teach students in today's world. I'm still learning how to adapt my "style" as I try to learn from each experience. 

In one high school class, the teacher left specific instructions that phones were to be placed in a central station before class and were picked up as they changed classes. When I made this request to the students they looked at me as though I had three heads. Not one student stood up to comply. Of course, the students said the teacher doesn't require phones to be collected. Which begs the question, "Why was this specifically spelled out in her instructions to me?" and, "Why was there a place hanging on the wall to accommodate cell phones?" I simply said, "I'm sorry if this isn't what you are used to, but your teacher's instructions for today are clear". And I told them that we would handle this as part of the roll call. With each child indicating their presence, I simply asked "Do you have a cell phone," and then I asked them to bring it to the front. It was somewhat surprising that by handling it this way they complied. I think it was when they were asked as an individual that the group non-compliance mentality lost some of its effect. 

Was that a battle I necessarily wanted to fight? I don't know. When I was a student we "passed notes". Today, they use cell phones to text. I think the difference is that our note-passing was covert and not so unapologetically overt as cell phone usage is today. It surprises me how students are willing to blatantly communicate disinterest to the person trying to engage them. 

I secretly regretted choosing to follow the teacher's instructions regarding cell phones. This is for a few reasons, the first being that I set myself up for battle the very first thing. I set myself up to be a clear "enemy". In addition, I did not realize that there was another teacher who was taking charge of the instruction. 

The notes gave directions for what the students were to do individually. When the literacy specialist came in she simply said, "I'm the literacy specialist, I work with students in this class." In my other experiences, the specialist takes students aside to work with them individually. I expected the same from this specialist and I gave the students instructions (per the lesson plans). I thought that she would seek out the students that were struggling. To my surprise, and truthfully to my embarrassment, the specialist proceeded to pass out books to the students and told them to open the books to a certain page. She then began to read the chapter, asking the students to follow along. She stopped periodically to engage students in discussion and to recommend that they make a note of certain quotes for the projects that they were working on. 

If I had understood that this was the specialist's class I would have taken a back seat immediately. Instead, I felt that I had put myself into a power play with her. I think her expectation was that I would simply take attendance and leave the rest to her. That is what I wish I had done. I feel foolish, to be honest. But, I also understand how I made that error. My lesson from that is I should ask them specifically specialist what their role is and what they need from me. 

I should mention that the specialist did a great job of engaging the students. They participated when she stopped for discussion, and they asked questions when they didn't understand. I just have to repeat that if I had understood the protocol I would have stepped aside immediately. I'm still sick about how that went down. I feel I stepped on her toes and that I acted foolishly. It's funny how working with teenagers can bring out my underlying insecurities. 

There is one more reason I regret the cell phone decision. It is one that I think shines a light on something bigger than simply what is expected in the classroom. During class, one phone that was set to silent vibrate rang almost incessantly. When I heard it I struggled with how (or if) I should handle this. My concern was that this may have been an adult family member who desperately needed to speak to their child. Ultimately, a student asked to use the restroom and as he was leaving stopped to get his phone, which I thought was entirely appropriate. Later when he returned he again received a call and politely asked the teacher leading the class if he could step out in the hall to take the call. This reminds me that I have no idea what real life is like for any of these students. I have no idea what sort of home life situations require the student to be able to take a call when it comes in. 

It reminds me that assumptions about the appropriateness of such things as allowing students access to their phones are likely skewed. This includes my own assumptions. Once again my myopic view of the world with the flawed assumptions is exposed. 

I can't help but learn from all of this.

Kids Today

I'd dreamed of being a teacher when I was younger. I even had a blackboard that I used to teach my stuffed animals. I received a copy of the Young People's Science Encyclopedia which I read several times. The book was volume 1-Aa with information on how educators can order the entire set for their classroom. I'm not sure how I got this one, but back in the day, I mailed off for almost everything offered in magazines. 

I also received a book about cats from Little Friskies Cat Food. I had to mail away with the coupon cut from the food back to prove my purchase of their food. I had a huge appetite for information about things I cared about (cats).

Both of these books are available from booksellers for a minimal price. These books do not possess any antiquity qualities that I know of, so their only value is that of nostalgia. As an aside, it would be interesting to see how much has changed in the subject of science since the late '60s. I looked at the Cat Book on one of the seller's websites and they showed pictures of the book's interior. When I saw them I knew I would still love the contents.

Remember there was no internet and I was dependent on reading (books) for knowledge. Our family even had our own World Book Encyclopedia set. I used those extensively for the little research papers we were assigned in elementary school. 

Now that I'm a substitute teacher, I get the opportunity to sample the job as it is today. I am not saying I'm experiencing the teacher's actual job. There is so much more that goes into teaching than just showing up. When the teacher leaves lesson plans, I happily follow them. I've gotten to see several different teaching styles based on the plans they leave behind. For the most part, the students understand their directives and appear proficient in doing their work. That's not to say that they don't have questions. Which I happily answer. Sometimes my answers don't work for the student. When this happens I recruit another student to be a tutor. 

Except for 1st grade, I've subbed for classes in each K-6 level, including one special education class.  Elementary grades were fun to work with. The students were excited to show what they knew. 

I've also subbed for 8th, 10th, and 12th grades. I subbed for high school grades in two different schools and the experiences were very different from each other. At one school the students wanted to get their work done and they were cooperative and positive. At another school, the students were defiant and disrespectful. It was filled with disruptive boys that alternated between making cat sounds and shouting "F... You". The boys were impossible to appease or control. This was a shame because there was a small group of girls who dutifully did their work. 

Eighth grade at one school was also an absolute nightmare! This included three blocks of different 8th graders. For these classes, I made the executive decision that they would not be doing work on the laptops. Instead, I assigned them reading in an actual textbook and assigned worksheets to complete. I made this decision early in my first class. The kids were shocked that I told them to put the laptops away. "We always do our work on laptops", they whined. To which I said, "Not today." The students were further shocked when I told them they had to hand the worksheets in and those that didn't work didn't work on them would get a "zero" for the day. "You can't do that," they said,"you aren't the teacher". To which I said, "I am today." 

Who knows what the regular teacher did with the stacks of "zeros". I hope he follows through. I was shocked to find that roughly a quarter of the students did the work. 

Lessons:

#1: Teaching and learning looks completely different in this post-COVID world than it looked when I was a student. (I wrote about that in my last post.)

#2: Many students are NOT motivated to do well for the sake of doing well. 

#3: Some student populations have a culture that rewards being disrespectful. 

Long story short: Nothing in Middle School or High School will reflect your own school experience.

Herculean Heroes

A long while back, I took two years off as a sort of "sabbatical" from banking. One of those years I spent teaching Middle School Math. Fast forward to today. I have one year of actual teaching in the school system under my belt and I can tell you that teaching today does not look like teaching in the early 2000s. It definitely doesn't look like the 1970s. The county I've been substitute teaching for has fully embraced technology and each student is provided with a laptop. In some classes, the students are using technology for their school work almost exclusively.    

I've observed a lot of interactive learning applications being assigned with knowledge checks at the end. This is true across grade levels. I can only hope that the technology helps reduce the time that the teacher works outside of the classroom. Working in the classroom requires a significant amount of stamina and patience. At the end of the day, teachers deserve to truly clock out. But, of course, that is not the case for them. 

Most of the teachers I have subbed for provide clear plans for their classes. I cannot express how grateful I am for this. Some of the plans include directing students to complete certain assignments on their laptops. In those cases, my job is to make sure students are actually on task, which is not hard to do. I do it by walking around. Some teachers use the "share the student screen" technique. It allows teachers to check any student's screen while they are in their classroom. There are incentives for the students to complete their work, which can include game time on the computer. 

One nice thing about computer learning is that students can complete their work at their own pace, without being intimidated when others have finished. The apps also provide bright, kinetic animation which presents information in several ways. It can help a visual learner grasp the concepts as well as an auditory learner. It also has practice features that help the hands-on learner. 

Electronic presentations are simply "how it's done" now. This is true even in the field of adult learning as well. For corporate training, I can't help but think of the time that can be saved when there are good training packages that can reduce the individual trainer's prep time. When I was in the corporate world, I appreciated online training because it allowed me to schedule for myself. The information could be reviewed quickly, which I really appreciated.  

Some people express worry that using colorful and interactive apps to teach our students will diminish their ability to learn the "old-fashioned" way. For as long as I can remember parents or concerned adults worried something important would be lost with each teaching innovation. 

As a product of the '70s education system, I can tell you we were not hurt by such things as Sesame Street or "The New Math" or other such things that were new. When calculators were introduced in the classroom the concern was students would become dependent on them. --Heck, I'm dependent on them. The difference is that today a calculator is readily available on our phones. 

For an accurate analysis of what educational tools work for today's students, I defer 100% to the teachers using them. I don't know which applications help our teachers and which add extra layers of work. My guess is there are some of each. 

I hope that it is the teachers that are consulted for any new school curriculums. I hope that it's the teachers who decide which books (or applications) are best for each group of students. The reality is that their voice is probably rarely consulted. My guess is that teachers' needs (which is another way of saying student needs) are not the biggest consideration. 

When we speak about "what's wrong with education today", it is certainly not the teachers. Teachers are herculean heroes. If we really want to know "what's wrong..." then we need to ask the teachers. They are the only ones truly qualified to answer the question!

View from Parking Lot of School