Day 28: Why Teach? WHo would be crazy enough to do that? #aprilblogaday

-->Prompt:  Would you encourage young people to consider the field as a profession?

Image Via schoolsweek.co.uk

Every teacher has seen lists like this one in the HuffPost titled "21 Reasons To Quit Your Job And Become A Teacher" (2013) I, like many teachers here in NYC, am a career changer.  I started grad school in the fall of 2006 at the age of 29.  There were not any fancy incentives for me becoming a teacher.  I don't teach math or science and I am not a special education teacher.  I am a run of the mill English teacher.  What makes me a little different is that I am also a theatre teacher.  I am licensed in both subjects.  I also has a successful career as a theatre professional before moving to teaching. I didn't become a teacher because I couldn't DO what I intended to in my first career.  I became a teacher because I wanted to (and I have already established how selfish teaching is).  It was my evolution. 

I often tell my students is that one of my biggest priorities as their teacher is to make sure they know how to learn independently from me.  My best teachers gave me freedom to discover what I loved and the space to explore that passion.  While school is very different than it was when I was in school, this is still my goal.  I want my kids to leave my room as independent and confident thinkers, researchers and challengers of scholarship.  A sense of inquiry is essential to growth.  My students hopefully go on to college and careers confident and ready to take on anything they are presented with. 

Becoming a teacher--and working as one-- is an investment in both time and money.  I often joke with my kids that I have a MA from NYU instead of children.  In NY one must ultimately have at least a Masters degree to continue teaching. (You can start with a Bachelors degree.)  I also tell the kids though, that education is the best way to invest.  It can not be foreclosed upon. The debt has been worth it.  The journey is worth it.  

If you are not sure about teaching, don't start there.  Do what you think you want to do.  Try it.  See how it goes.  Then if you still want to teach, you will find your way.  

For my friends who like data, here are some numbers for you...

In NY State (2011-2012)

Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics   

Total Teachers: 241,000 

Percent of teachers, by highest degree earned
Less than a Bachelors - 2.8%
Bachelors - 4.4%
Masters -  84.2%
Education specialist  or doctor's -  8.6%

Percent of teachers, by years of full-time teaching experience
Less than 3 - 5.3% 
3-9 years - 30.0%
10-20 years - 45.5% 
Over 20 - 19.1%

Average Class Size
Elementary 20.7
High School 25.2

Note: I have no fewer than 30 kids in each of the classes I teach.  The biggest is 34, the cap here in NYC.  I did teach in an alternative high school where my average class size was about 20.  That was ideal.

We need teachers.  We need strong, confident people of all backgrounds to teach and lead in schools.  It is just that simple.  Do it.

21. When Do You Feel Most Like You Work On A Team? Reflection on what makes a successful department. #edblogaday

Source: Golspie H.S.

You have all heard it, "There is no I in TEAM."  I always tell my kids that cliches are cliches for a reason.  I have had some amazing team work experiences.  They seem to empower all the players, celebrate each person's strengths, and showcase what working together and hard can produce.  I have had experienced this trifecta of teamwork most frequently when I worked in professional theatre.  I think it is in part because each member of the team has a speciality and focus, something unique that they bring to the table and that is celebrated and capitalized on for the betterment of the production.

In schools it is the same, yet different.  Yesterday at our spring day long professional development we began the day with an exercise I have done at least three times now.  The Leadership Compass Self-Assessment (from Be The Change Consulting) You go through the list of traits for each of the compass points and then determine which direction represents you the most.  We were then directed to go and stand at that point.  I moved to the East- the "visionary".  I looked around the room and one member of our ELA department stood at each point of the compass.  This is why we work so well.  We all bring different strengths to the table and we balance one another.  

As we have interviewed new ELA teachers this spring, its been interesting to really think about what we as a group need.  What will both challenge and compliment?  What strengths does someone need to bring to the table to further build an already strong group?  I think there is a lot we could do to work better as a team.  My hope for next year is that there is more time for content specific PD for our department, to learn and grow together, not just facilitating business/administrative decimation of information. I want to see us evolve, take on different points of the compass and navigate through out first year with 9-12 grades.

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.