Interview!

Oh my god, I just had two interviews and a photoshoot. I'm going to have my picture in the paper, and a feature on a website. This is surreal!

I'm teaching a new class next year, and it's kind of groundbreaking. Which is super exciting and inspiring, and also means that lots of people care, and apparently that newspapers and magazines want to write about it!

It's strange to be the voice of this, because there are so many people who have worked so hard for so long to make this kind of thing happen (if you know me, you know what kind of thing, and what kind of class, I'm talking about), and in many ways, this just fell into my lap. And now people are asking me to speak about it!

I'm going to do my damnedest to do it justice, though. I have so many ideas, none of which have to do with standards or alignment or anything else that curricular specialists would say I should focus on - it's a revolutionary class, so why shouldn't the approach to education be a little revolutionary?

I'm going to bring in podcasts and speakers and teach activism and infuse art into every nook and cranny of this learning that I can. We'll read primary documents and create context and compare intense hypotheticals because they've got enough focus on literacy going on. Skills are great and all, but if you're not inspired to do anything with them, then what's the point?

I didn't talk about that in the interviews so much though. Instead, I talked about how amazing the community I teach in is. There aren't many places that would allow this kind of class, and even fewer that would be celebrating it. I feel so blessed. And the pressure's on! This has to be good.

#fingerscrossedemoji

Victory!

I've been advocating for something at my work for a very long time. For as long as I've worked there. Many people who just didn't want to change have been against what I wanted, but I did not give up. I researched, I argued, I modeled my own practices, and today, my boss told me that I'd changed his mind. Starting next year, the change I wanted will happen!

I can't be more specific about it yet, because not everyone who is involved knows about it yet, but if you know me and my work, especially where I began my teaching career, you might know what this is.

I'm so excited to see this change happen, and so glad I didn't give up.

Nope

Got this from my district today, inviting all NBCTs to come watch, it'll be great!

Nope. This kind of junk is part of what keeps us underpaid. My students are not a mercy project, they are people who need me to do my work well for their benefit, not in order to feel like a superior person. My craft is not built out of good intentions, and good intentions aren't where learning comes from. Teaching IS a job. It takes talent, work, study, and it should be paid like the profession it is. We don't say this about doctors or firefighters or politicians. And you know what? We pay them properly. I wish my district and my union would stop perpetuating this crummy myth that teaching is done out of goodness, rather than out of passion and talent and desire for career.

I hate this narrative about my profession. It's damaging to me, my students, education as a whole.

Professors: Teachers or Researchers?

A bill in North Carolina is proposing to make professors at universities teach 4 classes per semester. And that's in addition to the research they must do (commonly referred to in academic circles as "publish or perish"). Understandably, those in academia are upset by this. Being required to do your job a certain way, and particularly in a way that it doesn't work, is infuriating. Being required to do so by people who are not in your industry: even more ridiculous.



But...why are we conflating these two things? Why do professors have to be full time teachers AND researchers? Where did we get the idea that subject matter experts are the best teachers? Clearly, some professors don't really get the work that goes into teaching:

Teaching college, especially if you’re good at it, isn’t particularly hard. But it does take time—and those 75 minutes in the classroom are the least of it. There are the office hours (which most students eschew for for professor as 24-hour email concierge); there’s the prep (anywhere from two to 10 hours for one class meeting); and then, of course, there are the hours upon hours—upon godforsaken hours—of grading. Four (or five!) courses, even with the shortcuts afforded by a teaching assistant here and there (which most people don’t get), are a full-time job in and of themselves.

You know what happens when true subject matter experts (the kind who just get it from the start) teach? They can't explain things. They understand so intrinsically that they are easily frustrated when students don't. And they can't see why their classes don't understand the steps to solve a problem, in large part because they don't see all the steps clearly themselves.



Education reformers, especially those who haven't spent time in the classroom, think it's all about making sure teachers know things and are infallible sources of information. But we're not that. We're problem solvers, explainers, writers, activity designers. Teaching is not easy. It's not simple. And it's definitely not something that should be done while also conducting huge research projects.



Why don't we separate the research from the teaching? I would love to be a college lecturer, but I would not like to be a researcher. And I definitely would not like to do both.



North Carolina education bill: It would require public university professors to teach eight courses per year.

Undervaluing Teachers and Women

This Washington Post article is making the rounds among my teacher friends lately. They share it to build awareness, to counteract their perception that teachers have a terrible reputation, that we are maligned, that no one appreciates the work we do, that we are "rotten apples." 

…. First, let me clarify what it means to be a public school educator in the United States today. Unfortunately, at college campuses around this country, [education students] are berated by their peers for their career choice. I was told on many occasions at the University of Virginia that I was wasting my time and talent on teaching. 

And in many ways, I agree with that perception, and with the teacher who originally wrote this letter to TIME Magazine, in response to this pretty awful cover.

The article itself is much more nuanced, though still flawed...but this cover is pretty crappy  
(image via Time)

No one does get the work we do, but everyone thinks they do! Because we've all gone through school, sat there for 13 years critiquing our experience, knowing with certainty that we would do better than that crazy lady up in front of the room, we (as a country) think we know what teaching is. Trust me, you don't know, unless you've done it. It's a juggling act that requires constant mental acrobatics. It's being criticized and challenged all day long. It's answering questions with questions, making the worst things sound hopeful, loving those people who drive you crazy, and making the most boring thing in the world seem thrilling. It's being mistrusted by parents, manipulated, constantly censoring yourself. It's running out of words at noon but still having hours of talking to go. 

Also, when I hear the phrase "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Teaching is a craft, in and of itself. I bet you I could teach biology better than a lot of biologists, because even though I understand so much less of the subject, I understand teaching.  
(image via teachers with a sense of humor)

But it's not the sacrifice of self that this article, and so many others, present it to be. 

Or at least, it shouldn't be. 

Teachers - stop it. Stop doing unpaid work. Stop giving more than your job description requires of you. You are damaging our profession and YOU are why we are under appreciated. 

No other profession claims this...why do we, and so proudly? 
(image via teachers with a sense of humor)

Let me explain - when we go above and beyond, when we work extra hours, when we buy our own supplies, we tell the world that we don't need better salaries, that we don't need better funding. We are making do with less, so we are given less. 

And all the rest of the world sees is that they still don't get enough education or attention for their kids. They don't see that we're giving more than we get, because WE are not their focus (nor should we be). Their children are their focus; their children who are being failed, across the board. 

They are subjected to awful tests that we administer, even as we say how much we hate them and how pointless they are. They are assigned huge amounts of homework, even as we protest the huge workload our students must cope with. We enforce rigid behavioral expectations, inwardly cringing at the ridiculousness of these arbitrary rules that drive our school system. 

We do this to ourselves 
(image via teachers with a sense of humor)

We have the power to change this, and writing yet another article detailing how willing we are to be doormats to ridiculous expectations is not the way to change it. 

Instead, we need to stop. 

Stop bringing in supplies. If our students don't have what they need, bring attention to THAT, not how great you are for bringing them supplies. No one likes a braggart. Also, it's not addressing the actual problem, which is that our schools are underfunded.

 (image via teachers with a sense of humor)

Stop working extra hours. Don't bring grading home. If it can't be done in the time you're paid for, it can't be done. Reevaluate your assignments, your lessons, how much feedback you give. You devalue all of us when you do this and YOU spread the expectation that we all are willing to work for free. You are the reason we earn 14% of what similarly educated adults earn, 60% of what our peers earn. 

I, for one, am not willing to work unpaid any longer. 

And here's the kicker. Teaching is largely women's work. And women's work is always the work that is undervalued, underpaid, unappreciated. We do more housework, more childcare, more eldercare. We manage families while working full time. Sheryl Sandberg has advised us to lean in, and while I see problems with a lot of what she says, I agree with her premise that we should not undervalue ourselves. 

Why not? Some days, I totally do this for the money. Because it's a job, not a hobby!

A stand by teachers, a refusal to sacrifice ourselves for some vague idea of the greater good, may be the reality check the rest of the United States needs. 

Because while we continue down this road of trying to create awareness of our sacrifices, we're only going to perpetuate the expectation that we make those sacrifices. 

I wish.
(image via teachers with a sense of humor)

I'm taking a stand. I won't work unpaid any longer. I will teach, I will grade, I will care and correct and coerce and create passionate learners. But I won't do it at the expense of my self. I'm worth more than that.




Disclaimer:  I work in a wonderful and privileged urban school. My students have more advantages than many, and I am afforded more time in my day to plan and meet and prepare than many other teachers. I work for a wonderful administration who believes in teacher freedom whenever possible. It may be that my stand is a luxury that some other teachers don't have. But if I can do it, and start setting the example, then I should, and hopefully others will be able to follow.

I Did It!

I earned my National Board Certification! That whole big project, all bazillion pages of writing and hours of recording and months of stressing - it was all worth it!

And the way they tell you...up until a week ago, I didn't even know when I'd know. But then they sent out an email saying scores would be released on the 15th. Naturally, since I knew they ran on east coast time, I logged in yesterday just after 9 to see if, just maybe, I'd be able to get to my scores. And this is what I saw as soon as I hit "login"

Just like that! Ross and I were both shocked. I wasn't sure I'd pass, and I wasn't sure the scores would be ready, and I definitely wasn't expecting to see the congratulations there right away!

A whole lot of yesterday was hard and kinda crummy...but this was the best end possible! And then I got to run across the backyard, to my sister's place, and share a celebratory glass of wine with her and my dad. Hard to beat that!!

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I'm thankful today for our crockpot, because it makes delicious food while I'm not home; for my dad, working tirelessly to lift our family up and make sure we know how proud he is of us; for the internet, because it relieved me of that awful "running to the mailbox 10 times in an hour just to see if your results have arrived" feeling that I remember so well from the college app days; for my students - I could not have looked so competent without them; for my sister, for a million reasons, but today because she didn't tell my dad I'd passed, even though she knew, so I got to see him read my text and get all surprised and that was really fun; and finally for my husband, because that man read every.single.word I wrote in my National Boards. And it was not good writing. And he told me it was even while deleting huge passages of useless word soup that I'd written at 2 am. And he kept me supplied in snacks and bubbly water and backrubs while I wrote, and never complained once. Except about how the National Boards don't give you nearly enough space to answer all the questions they ask - he complained about that one a lot, as he eliminated every transition word I'd written. But they earned that complaint. So thanks, babe!

Just a Nice Little Wednesday

I've been back at work for a little over a week now, and while it's still hectic and I'm still learning the names of my students (I think I know all my seniors by name, and about half my sophomores...not too bad for my 10th day of work this school year) I'm also at the point where I'm starting to enjoy myself more than I worry.

I wasn't quite sure where to start off my classes, because although my amazing sub did an amazing job, she couldn't possibly make it exactly like it would have been if I'd been there doing the teaching myself. So I started back unsure of what I should teach, and after a mini panic attack, I decided I should start with what I love best, and not worry about the calendar so much!

So seniors have had a week of feminism in AP Gov, and are going to start a unit on Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, and Privilege next week. I reviewed the French Revolution with my sophomores, made fun of Napoleon a bit, and taught skills rather than content (outlining, listening for lecture cues, making educated guesses and practicing being wrong (and being ok with it)). Next week, they'll be starting the Industrial Revolution.

I have a pretty great "hook," or intro, for my Industrial Revolution unit: I bring in tiny coffee stirrers and feathers, show the kids how to make quills, then divide them up into teams (modern versus pre-industrialized). The modern team gets 2 members, and the rest of the class is on the pre-industrialized team. Then they have to race to make illustrated books with some of my favorite quotations about history. The modern team always wins the race, but they never make books that are as interesting or beautiful as the pre-industrialized team. It's a pretty cool way to talk about how technology replaced the artisan, especially since my students are so very artsy.

This year is also my first year at my school not running student activities. It's strange to not be super-involved in everything that's going on, but also awfully relaxing. My prep time so far hasn't been interrupted more than a couple of times (the equivalent of what a typical hour was like last year!) and the stress levels of just teaching, versus teaching while planning expensive events for hundreds of people but also teaching leadership and event planning skills to teenagers who sometimes would prefer fun to work, are just so much lower!

Honestly, a good part of today, including my walk to MUNI and the BART ride home, felt a little bit like a vacation! Because seriously, for a working mother of a 2 month old and an almost 3 year old, indulgence is listening to NPR streaming on my phone while absolutely no one touched me or tried to steal my food!

List #11 - Priorities of the now

#1 - National Boards - I've got about 3 weeks left to finish this project, and I'm only about halfway done. Maybe. I'm spending all afternoon and evening on Mondays and Thursdays writing, then two more evenings at home, and a good chunk of my weekends.

#2 - Health - trying to fit in yoga, naps, non-microwaved food, time to talk about feelings n shit. I get each of those things maybe once or twice a week right now...not the best case, but once I'm done with National Boards and school for the year, I'll get to yoga and nap lots!

#3 - Work - it's insane at the moment. Not in any horrible awful "I hate this" kind of way, but in the way of Prom is next Saturday and I'm organizing it, and we're trying to sell tshirts and hoodies but people aren't buying so we may lose money, so I need to figure out another fundraiser, and also AP tests start May 5th so that's a lot of work, and also I'm one of the main graduation planners this year, plus I have to do student gov interviews and find a sub for my maternity leave....and that whole teaching thing too.

#4 - Time with my little family - they just keep losing out right now. The kiddo has been staying up a little later, so I'm seeing him for at least 30 mins most nights, and I've gotten a couple evenings with the big compound fam which has been lovely. But I don't feel like I see any of them often enough. E is clearly agreeing with me, because he's glued to my side whenever we're both home together, and demanding attention if I step away for even a moment...bathroom doors shoved open, climbing up to kiss my face piles of times while I'm researching, throwing things, shouting...I get it kiddo, I really do...I wish I had more time. Soon.

#5 - Housekeeping and other chores - I've so been dumping all of this on Ross. And he's been great about it. Clean clothes show up in my drawers at least once a week, and the house gets picked up, dishes get done. Our little family gets taken care of, and I'm so thankful.

#6 - Friends - I think I've still got some! Hopefully seeing one or two tomorrow for a going-away party for a great friend who's moving to Baltimore to attend Johns Hopkins. The time away from writing makes me feel anxious, but she's worth it.

#7 - Blogging - clearly. Oh well. It's not like I'm not writing ALL THE TIME anyways.

American Idol - Go MK!

It's been years since I watched American Idol at all, let alone paid attention early on in the season. But this year's different! One of my former students, the awesome MK Nobilette, is in the top 30!

I'm so proud of her, and I can't wait to see more of her performances! She's a great person, not just a great singer, not to mention a trailblazer for gay women.

Check out some of her stuff here:

Audition Video (in case my superskill at html doesn't work, she starts around 8:52)

Idol Group Performances (she starts around 3:20)

Pre-Idol awesomeness:

Business Trip, Woah

Tomorrow I'm going on my very first, all grown up, overnight business trip! I'm actually ridiculously excited. I get to stay in a hotel, and visit artsy places, and talk to other professionals about teaching and schools and all sorts of stuff! I get to "expense" things! How neat is that?

Granted, most people my age, who have been in their careers for as long as I have (in education since age 19 - probably about 10 years total in the field, since I took that little break to have hot orange hair and work at Urban Outfitters) have done this kind of thing already. But it doesn't happen nearly so often for classroom teachers.

I'm totally panicking about what to bring - should I wear dresses? I don't have any suits...I usually wear very casual clothes at work, 'cause that's the kind of school I'm at. But these other schools - who knows what they all wear? I think I'm gonna go all Ms. Frizzle, but with less crazy hair. I've got a couple of very teacher-y dresses, and even though it's gimmicky, they've gotta be a better option than jeans, right?

I'm gonna try to take a ton of pictures of cool stuff I see, and I may have to do a total education dork-out post after, because I'm pretty sure I'll be all amped up on best practices and stuff!

And then, after the business trip, it's Kelle's baby shower! It's gonna be so great. Almost all of her boyfriend's family will be there, I think, including his grandmother who just arrived from Vietnam, maybe even planning her trip to be in California for the shower. And all our Liggett aunts! They're the best group of strong sisters ever, and I can't wait for all the hugs and chats and wonderful love they'll be bringing.

I'm super happy for Kel, too, that they're all doing this - I know I loved having my family there for my wedding, and this celebration of a new life is so important too. We really just have the best family - there for each other, so much!

List #1: To Do

This week I need to:

1. Make my kid's halloween costume. I know, it's only two days away, which means I've procrastinated on this one almost as long as humanly possible. To be fair, his hair will make up most of his costume, so all I really need to do is make him a headband with ears on it, and maybe a tail. You see, his hair has the potential to be giant. It's so curly, that will a little brushing and a bit of hairspray, he'll have grown his very own mane, and can then go around the neighborhood roaring (or as he pronounces it "whyyyying") at people, and he'll make a perfectly wonderful lion (or yiyon, if you want to be specific). Which brings me to:

2. Make my halloween costume. I was going to be Ms. Frizzle. I still might. I'm so torn. Because I look like Ms. Frizzle, and I'm a teacher, and I have dresses with lots of skirt and big earrings and tons of hair. BUT. I could easily be a yiyon tamer instead, which would be even funnier. Maybe.

3. Laundry. Always.

4. Pull down all my sweaters from the high shelf in the closet. Ross and I share one little dresser, because we have a small room in a small house, and so I can't keep my sweaters in there during summer time. But man, it's gotten cold lately, so I think it's time.

5. Rework my revolutions project. I wrote this project during my first year teaching, with my awesome students teacher at the time, Adrienne. It asks the students to study the art of a particular country, a revolution within that country, then analyze how the revolution was expressed through art, and then create their own art project based on that country and their revolution. It's complex and important and I'm really proud of it, but last year, it didn't work. The kids complained more than they ever have before, they didn't do it right, they actively tried to do it differently, blah blah blah. It was really frustrating, and I'm still not sure why it didn't work, but I do know I need to make some changes. So I'm going to rework it somewhat, and instead of making it a month-long project at the end of the year, I want to spread things out more. Which hopefully will cull a lot of the "I didn't have enough time" complaints. Because a full semester has got to be enough time, right? And I want to document this adjustment, which will help me to:

6. Start writing my National Boards. I've signed up for, and partially paid for, the National Board Certification Program for teachers. It's an intense and writing heavy evaluation of my work as a teacher, and I just can't seem to get started on the actual writing. Ha. I've kind of laid out my plan in terms of lessons and goals and things, but somehow that first bit of writing just doesn't happen. I think part of it is that I'm used to paper prompts and instructions, and this is all in PDF form, and it just doesn't feel natural to me. The other part is that it's not as fun as blogging or talking to my coworkers or almost anything else.

7. Share this with people. I haven't told anyone except my mother (HI MOM) about this blog. I mean, I've mentioned it in passing, but I haven't given anyone the link. I'm a little bit chicken, and a little bit not ready, and a little more shy about my writing, and basically a whole pile of things that add up to "I don't want to share because what if I suck at this" which is silly, cause it's already out there on the internet. Seriously, though, I may enjoy my lists, but I don't know if anyone else will.

8. Beef up the Etsy site. We have a few things there, but not enough. I'm not confident in the pictures I'm taking of Ross's paintings, or of my photography canvases, and so I haven't put them up. But I can always change them, right?