This is the day we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. here in the United States, so it seems an appropriate time for me to get back to my racism series. I taught at a new high school in Year Five of my 23-year high school teaching career. This school was a consolidation of two … Continue reading Considering My Own Racism: The biggest lesson I learned from some of my high school students
Education
Just what does a new school year mean for teachers?
If you're not a student or teacher, this time of year might mean extra muggy and hot days and the hope of cooler weather in a month or so. It might mean another month for beach vacations and swim parties and grilling outside. But if you're a student or teacher around here, early August has come … Continue reading Just what does a new school year mean for teachers?
Stress x Stress = Survival mode : My Middle School Experiment, What I Learned, Part 4
The everyday stress of teaching students in the throes of beginning adolescence adds up over a while. AND The everyday stress of living in poverty (which was about 90 percent of my students) adds up over a while. Put those two situations together . . . and you get a classroom full of students - … Continue reading Stress x Stress = Survival mode : My Middle School Experiment, What I Learned, Part 4
Not if I can disrespect you first! : My Middle School Experiment, What I Learned, Part 3
That is one of the most difficult and trying challenges of teaching in a high poverty school. Dealing with the disrespect you so often encounter.
My Middle School Experiment: What I Learned, Part 2. Less ego, more patience.
As I said in earlier posts, I'm sure I learned more during my semester of teaching middle school than my students did. And a lot - probably most - of what I learned was about myself. In this post, I'll share one of the "good" things I learned. I learned that I am a great deal more … Continue reading My Middle School Experiment: What I Learned, Part 2. Less ego, more patience.
My Middle School Experiment: What I learned, Part 1
It was a month ago that I completed my semester of teaching middle school. This was a semester - 90 days - of experiment. An experiment to find out what teaching middle school is like, what middle schoolers themselves are like, what it's like to teach in a high-poverty middle school, what it's like to … Continue reading My Middle School Experiment: What I learned, Part 1
The Just-Right Trip: Healing the energy of 90 days of teaching in a high-poverty middle school
Though it was right on the heels of a difficult 90 days and the teacher in-service days that followed, my trip to what I call "out West" was just what I needed. Maybe it's because it was right on the heels of this challenging time that it was just right. When I left the house on … Continue reading The Just-Right Trip: Healing the energy of 90 days of teaching in a high-poverty middle school
Teaching Middle School, Week 18: The finale
The much-anticipated Day 90 of my semester-long experiment of teaching a careers class in a local middle school came on Friday. That day was the last one of the semester. I thought I'd feel many emotions: joy, exhilaration, pride - and most of all, relief. But, honestly, I don't feel much of anything. Except tiredness. Perhaps … Continue reading Teaching Middle School, Week 18: The finale
Teaching Middle School, Week 17: “Because we’re bad”
Two comments to me at school this past week have stuck with me. Both were from 6th grade students. The first occurred while three of my students were working on their project for the end of the year. They were talking, and one said he had signed up for careers (the class I teach) next … Continue reading Teaching Middle School, Week 17: “Because we’re bad”
Teaching Middle School, Week 16: What I find most wearing and wearying
The main feeling I've had through these 16 weeks of teaching middle school is exhaustion. Being in the classroom every weekday makes me tired. Tired, tired, tired. And more tired. That's what I felt at the end of my high school teaching career 8 years ago. And it's what I feel now. If you've never taught … Continue reading Teaching Middle School, Week 16: What I find most wearing and wearying
eddies and currents 