Day 8: Celebration #aprilblogaday

I had a rough day today. It's hard to think about celebrations after a kid loses their crap AT you in a small group setting. But I'll try...

Ways I have celebrated...

I make cupcakes for every advisee on their birthday every year. They get to pick cake and frosting flavor.  We have cupcakes 11 times a year.

Before the winter break we go out for a dinner together, as an advisory (11 junior girls). It's a nice way to come together and share a meal before winter break.

After the AP exam I have a party with my class.  It has been joyful and celebratory of their evolution.

Teenagers like to celebrate with food.  (Who doesn't?)

I produce the Talent Show twice a year- a celebration of all the creative talent and performing artists in our school.

Our school does a great job of celebrating and thanking teachers for their work.   

Big picture- ritual is important, even in your class.  I love the rituals my advisory had created to celebrate.  

16. Appreciation and Expectations- My Journey Through Heartbreak #Edblogaday

A friend of mine posted the above image on Facebook last week and I set it aside, knowing that it would become a blog post.  I suppose it would have made a great Teacher Appreciation Week post, but after participating in the #NYEdChat last night on Twitter, it is clear to me, now more than ever, that teachers thrive in positivity.  This does not mean that we need to inflate each others egos or provide untruths.  It means that teachers should speak up and speak out about what IS working.  This is why writing about appreciation, not just for a week in May is integral to growth, development and cultivation of community.

I, like many of us, have already had many jobs in my short 38 years. I have had great employers and I have had horrible ones.  When I saw this image, the first thought into my head was, of course I do! I want to work hard when the hard work is recognized.  I have always thought of myself as someone who does work hard.  My parents let me get my first job when I was 10, as a Mother's Helper- before I was old enough to babysit.  I worked at the local Rec Center on Saturdays, earning a paycheck for score keeping through the winter basketball season.  (Though at the time it was really just a way for me to be around the older boys from the neighborhood who I thought were cute.)  I think I filed my first Federal tax return in middle school.  I understood that hard work pays off and leads to more work, more OPPORTUNITY. 

Teaching is the first field I have worked in where appreciation is much harder to come by than punitive gestures.  It leaves teachers feeling guarded and overly cautious, and as a result, not trusting themselves to do the work they know they are trained to do.  The work they know they are good at and in most cases they love.  At the end of year 4 I was crying almost every day at work. I should have found a new job.  I felt a loyalty to my students and stayed one more year, even through it was not a good decision.  I no longer had the support of my administration (and it was unclear why this has happened) and it felt like nothing I could do was good enough.  I had tenure.  I had great test scores.  I moved students forward every year.  It didn't matter.  I didn't feel appreciated.  I felt hated and as a result I didn't want to take on any more than I needed to.  I left right at the end of the school day.  My job that I had loved more than anything was breaking my heart.

The longer I am in the system, the more stories I hear like this.  It now frames my thinking about what it means to be a leader.  I am starting an admin program this fall and I have started to build many ideas about what it means to be a school leader. I have been watching our administration more closely, noting how teachers are supported, encouraged, developed and appreciated.  It's all food for thought as I grow in my career.

Most days, I do feel appreciated. Most days I know I play an important role at my school.  I don't know that every teacher at my school feels this way but I think it's possible for appreciation to be felt by all.  Not just for one week in May.

#12 Three Important Things To Make The End of The Year Manageable (with musical accompaniment)! #Edblogaday

I had a hard day today.  It was capped off with my 9th graders electing to just toss their laptops into the cart in a pile rather than storing and plugging them in as we have been doing since SEPTEMBER.  It made me so angry and disappointed on so many levels.  I kept the kids, telling them that they would all be losing their laptop privileges for the remainder of the year.  However if the responsible parties came forward and took responsibility for the lapse in judgment, I would reevaluate.  And at that, I let them go.

Two young men came up to me right after class and took responsibility explaining what they did and where the error in judgment had come into play.  I thanked them for their honesty, expressed my disappointment and that I would need to think about the consequence for the choice- which ultimately will be that they will manage and monitor the laptops for the remainder of the year, a good job for both boys.

Moments like these are good reminders for teachers, that the year is coming to an end, kids and teachers alike are tired and mistakes will be made, on both parts.  I offer three things to help us all get through the remainder of the school year.

1.  Try a little tenderness.  Take a moment, breathe through those tough times that push you to your limit and step back.  99% of the time, it is just a misstep, not a deliberate choice.  Be tender, with yourself, with your kids, with your colleagues.  You will be all the better for it.

2. Find moments to celebrate.  I don't know if you are like me, but I have been with ALL my classes ALL year long.  No mid semester change.  We are ALL tired of each other.  Bring in treats, put some music on and have a mid class dance break, give kids awards for non academic endeavors.  Anything that brings smiles to your faces.  Celebrate with your colleagues too.  I know we just closed out teacher appreciation week- but if you are anything like I am, celebrations, especially in the next month will be life savers!

3. RELEASE & LET GO.  At some point you have to surrender and ride the wave.  Don't fight it.  Especially if your year culminates in two weeks of testing as it does for all NY high school students.  It's a tremendous amount of pressure for students and teachers.  Elaborate tutoring schedules are created, teachers give up afternoons and Saturdays to spend that extra time to help our highest need kids have a better shot at doing well.  I don't know if you are like me, but I want kids to do well, so much so that I get stressed out about it.  It think some of this is carry over from years in alternative schools where passing these exams was a HUGE deal, not just a hurdle to get over.  At some point, you have to let go.  You have done all that you can and it is time to let our kids rise to the occasion and do what they ARE prepared for.  In most cases it is success.  If it isn't, well cross that bridge when you come to it.