Which Comes First - the Career or the Loved Ones?

When you truly love and care about your teaching career often family and friends are sacrificed, often you must choose - loved ones or career. 

Some people will disagree, tell you that you can do both, but really, you can't. You either bring work home or you don't. 

Perhaps this is an English teacher problem, but every year I reinvent the wheel, every year curriculum changes, every year I am trying new things to get my students to where they need to be. 

Maybe it's because I am trying to get my students to pass the AP exam, or because I am trying to get my students to pass the EAP placement test, or maybe it's because I just want my students to be good writers. Whatever it is - I work hard, and grade hard. 

But I am career-driven and that can cause unintentionally blinders. I don't do it to neglect those I love; I do it because my students are our future and I will do everything in my power to make then productive citizens in our society. 

Such a task means sacrifices, but it is for a worthy and necessary cause, and all I can do is hope that my family and friends understand. 

Quarter-Grade Fatigue

It is around this time of year that teachers start to feel what I will dub "Quarter-Grade Fatigue". All of the papers that we have not graded begin to haunt our dreams, make us feel unorganized and inept, and cause stress acne, back pain, or neck tension.

This morning during our AVID PD I could see the fatigue on my colleagues faces. I am sure they are looking at me every time I volunteer an answer and thinking "shut up, Flansburg, you're making us look bad." That's not my purpose; my purpose is to, of course, speak my mind, and also to help the people running the PD. Our staff this morning was a tough crowd. They are normally so responsive and willing to work, but QGF is a strong force.

Some teachers are comfortable taking a day off to catch up. I like this idea, but have never done it.

This morning I looked at the bags under my eyes, and then looked at my to-do list and said to myself "tomorrow you are going to be 'sick.'" But when I went to request a sub I thought about the facilitating that my lesson would require and decided that I would rather be in class than have a sub. I care about my job, I want my students to succeed, and I truly value my time in the classroom. What I NEED is a teacher work day.

One of my wonderful colleagues, another Union rep, suggested a great idea. At the end of first quarter we should have a 4-day weekend for the students, and a 3-day weekend for the teachers. The teachers get a day to catch up and a day to relax, while the students get to enjoy the "fruits" of their labor.

Until we make this happen, I will just have to plug away at my to-do list as best I can, and dream of Thanksgiving break. *sigh* 

Weekend Warriors

Being a teacher means you take work home. It is only during Christmas Break and Summer Break that teachers actually get a break (pending conferences, summer school, retreats, etc...).

With this in mind, I try to take at least one day a week where I don't work - usually Saturday. But some weekends I feel that there is just too much to be done.

Working on the district's RCD Unit Writing Team means that many teachers are depending on the documents/organizers/plans that I am creating; and I want them to be the best that they can be! But that means work, lots of work.

Sadly, I have other work that I need to address. I am not entirely sure about my lessons for tomorrow and I really need to grade essays, lots of essays. And those are just the items on my to-do list that are of immediate necessity. The list runs long.

At least I was able to clean my house, get groceries, prep my food for the week, spend time with my friends and family, relax and watch a few episodes of Dexter on Netflix.

But, seriously, my queendom for a three-day weekend! #neverenoughtime

Make it Meaningful

Attitude is everything. The more passion and excitement that a teacher can muster, the better. But students know when your're faking it; they know when you care and when you don't, which is why honesty and transparency are key. 

I decided to try Cornell Notes (for real - repetition, study tool and all) for two reasons; one, we are trying to regain our AVID demonstration school status, and, two, I have never really given these notes a chance. 

As a literature major I rarely took notes. We read books, annotated texts, discussed concepts, and wrote essays. Notes were not part of MY college experience, hence my hesitation. But I recognize that if I had majored in science or history I would have constantly been taking notes. 

Rhetoric is challenging for teenagers to fully understand, so I front-loaded the unit with notes - three days of notes. Excessive? Maybe. A useful resource for the unit? Absolutely!! I told students, these notes will be used for every task in the unit - from games and gallery walks to essays and projects.

One student told me straight out "I hate AVID and I hate Cornell Notes." I was honest with him. Cornell Notes were never my thing, but I am giving them another shot and being supportive of the AVID program. He nodded at my response and continued his notes. "Let's see what happens, huh?" I said. He nodded again. 

Students need to understand why teachers are asking them to do what they ask them to do; they need to understand the relevance, the point. But I don't fake it. I always try to find a way to make the task at hand "meaningful". If a teenager has to be "bothered" with high school, it should, at least, be meaningful. 

What Makes the Struggle and Juggle of Teacher Life More Manageable

Students don't learn from people that they don't like or respect. I want my students to like me enough to learn from me, but respect me enough to not take advantage of my compassion. As petty as it may sound, having a student tell you that "you are the best teacher" or "a great English teacher" or "I wish you taught that class" is worth all of the strife caused by apathetic and disrespectful students.

Today I had several experiences of student gratitude that make the struggle and juggle of teacher life more manageable. 

Student One is new to me this year, a journalism student of mine that is extremely sweet and obviously needs help with "your" and "you're". She wrote this note on the board while I introduced a new student to interviewing skills. When I saw the note my OCD-side said "don't write on the board!" while my heart said "thank you!".

Student Two is a known trouble-maker; a junior with a bad past that I am trying to look beyond. As I went over the rhetoric notes I fielded questions and comments that clarified the rhetorical terminology. Student Two had a few epiphanies that led him to state "Ms. F, you are the best English teacher. For real." Teenagers are impassioned and hyperbolic, but statements like this drive teachers and make us feel like progress is possible. 

Student Three is a former AP student that lovingly drops by to harass me with sarcasm, help me around the classroom, and occasionally ask for academic guidance. After school today he stopped by for help with a theme essay about a William Carlos Williams short story that I had never read. I delved in to the text, questioned his understanding, and helped him come to a thematic statement and an essay outline. By the end of my "lesson" he said "I wish you taught AP Lit" - a statement that I love and hate to hear. He has a great AP Lit teacher and he knows it. But I am here to help when I can, and I am grateful that he wants to ask for my feedback. I am happy to help!

I Heart Rhetoric And, Eventually, So Do My Students

Today I began my rhetoric unit (unit 2) with my 11th graders. Despite the fact that the lesson involved introductory notes, you can tell that the topic interests them once we start discussing examples of rhetorical devices; it interests them SO much that what was supposed to be a one-day lesson will now be a two-day lesson with Cornell Notes, summaries, and a Cornell Note peer evaluation.

If this sounds boring to you than you don't love rhetoric like I do - and trust me, as a teacher, I emote. My first period peer tutor (a senior that was in my AP Lang class last year) beamed when she saw my notes for the day. "You don't know how happy this makes me," she said. And as she graded annotated documents for me, she giggled and covered her mouth trying not to interject into my lesson.

My 7th period peer tutor smiled when she saw the notes and asked if they were the same ones that I used in my 6th period AP class, the class that she is currently taking from me. "I modified them," I said with a smile, "they don't need to know ALL of the devices that you do."

I have some documents that I like to use again and again, but I like to use different texts each year because rhetoric changes with time, like the connotation of a word. The political cartoons and comics that I use to explain satire this year, may not be relevant or relatable next year. I want my students to relate to the material and see the relevance.

Sometimes though I get stuck on what I know; I always use the same Eminem lyrics to explain assonance. "His palms are sweaty, knees weak arms are heavy, there's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti. He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting..."
Some students smile and say "oh yeah, Ms. F can rap!" while others smirk and say "you would choose Eminem." Why? Because he's white and I'm white, and for some students that is all they see.

But as the unit progresses they will begin to see rhetoric EVERYWHERE. Just like I do. My first period peer tutor says "I can't listen to a song without hearing the rhetoric." There is always more to learn (I learn something new every day), but since my peer tutor is now my tutor and not my actual student, all I can think is "my life is complete!" BUT, my job is never done. And that, I am grateful for.

Positivity and Productivity

As mundane as professional development meetings can be, I always try to take something positive/productive away from the experience. Today, through the AVID PD meeting (one of many we have been having to prepare for our Re-Evaluation as an AVID demonstration school) I had some positives and some productive moments.

- Productive: Reviewing Unit 2 with an AVID lens I chose a few strategies that I will add to the prepared tasks for the unit (at least try them!) And if they really work well I can add them to the RCD unit when we finalize them at the ed of the year.

- Positive: In terms of WICOR - I am ready! But I still have some strategies that I need more practice with. There is always room for improvement. 

- Productive: Some of the other teachers and I calibrated on rhetorical analysis and sentence stems to use for the rhetoric unit. I LOVE rhetoric! 

The rest of the day involved having to find a video online from a website that was NOT blocked by the district, biting my tongue when receiving snarky and apathetic student comments, and realizing how far behind I am on grading small tasks like warm ups and graphic organizers.

Positive: the teacher life is never boring.