Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers

Katie: Laptops and Webcams and SMART Boards – Oh My!

I remember being in grade school and getting that coveted computer time. Twenty minutes to sit in front of a big, bulky, black-and-white screened machine that was noisy and slow. We would play Oregon Trail, using the keyboard to move our digitized covered wagon (or at least that’s what it was supposed to look like) across the screen. I was enthralled by this technology and loved when I earned the time to use it.

My, how times have changed! Young children are now surrounded by technology, and they know how to use it. Gaming systems, MP3 Players, CD players, computers—and how many kids do you see walking around with cell phones?! Meanwhile, I fondly remember my own cassette tape player and thought I was so cool in eighth grade with my pager.

My preschoolers are able to manage this technology with ease, even upon their first introduction to it. This was evident last week when we brought in a digital camera and laptop with a webcam for the kiddos to use (I know, what were we thinking?). The children did remarkably well—right away they picked up on how to aim the camera while looking at the screen and push the button to snap a shot of a friend. (I wouldn’t say they will be having a gallery showing anytime soon, but some people might see free expression in the heads chopped off of every picture.)

Kathy: My Work with Emotional Disabilities – Then and Now

When I was in college, a hundred years ago, my plan was to get a regular elementary teaching degree and endorsements in what was referred to back then as M.I. (mentally impaired) and E.I. (emotionally impaired).

Everything went swimmingly until it came time for E.I. student teaching. I was assigned to a middle-school class of seven boys with emotional disabilities. Every day was a struggle. I would go home exhausted and in tears. Emotional problems seemed so complex and depressing to me.

About three weeks into the semester, I reached the breaking point when one of the boys went home and committed suicide. I quit and never completed my student teaching for the E.I. endorsement. I decided there was a special place in heaven for those wonderful folks who worked with students with emotional impairments—and I just wasn’t one of them.

Jennifer: All-or-Nothing Teaching

When I first began teaching, I thought I would lose 15 pounds the first week. I figured I was getting enough exercise with all that moving around, so I put the gym off to the side and would only go when I could devote a full hour. Even if I had 30 minutes, I would just say “I’ll go when I can get a real workout” and again delay my gym date.

The result of my “all or nothing” attitude was actually an EXTRA 10 pounds by the end of the year. No joke. I am writing about this not to drum up support for my love of anything baked—especially  chocolate chip cookies—or in hopes of finding someone to commiserate with, but because I have recently found that the “all or nothing” approach that was so detrimental to my exercise habits has recently snuck its way into my teaching as well.

At the end of each week, I review the lessons that were planned and those that were never completed. I recently discovered that the list of lessons completed was much shorter than that of those waiting to be learned. At first I just thought it was because we move at a much slower pace . . . but I feel like that perspective essentially blames the students for how far we get. My students go at the pace that I set, move to the schedule I have put together. The problem was not in their learning needs, but rather in the fact that I would only teach certain subjects if we had at least a full 40 minutes to dedicate to them.

Ellen: Stir-Crazy

It is my sixth day of being snowed in at my parents’ house in northern Virginia. I was smart enough to make my way over here before “snowmageddon” hit, so I’ve got my sister and my parents for company, plus some nice meals and a much lower chance of frozen pipes than in my apartment, which is in a 250-year-old historic building!

My two cats came with me and are pretty much in heaven with access to more windows, more napping spots, and more people to manipulate. They’re not really impressed by the snow, but at this point, who is?

As it’s been a week since I’ve seen my students, I’m starting to miss Room 127, where Miss Ellen reigns. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the break. But my cats are getting to be a little much. 



Cats are not people (shocking, I know, but try telling them that . . .). Otherwise I’d have to refer to them in people/cat-first language: Mae as “my cat with a serious attachment disorder and fear of machines” and Shirley as “my cat with sociopathic tendencies and chronic narcissism.” Instead, let’s just say that Mae is generally a one-person cat who hates loud noises and Shirley is . . . a girl who knows what she wants.

Kathy: Winter Blues

Let’s see, what to write? Well, it is February in Michigan. Those who live in Michigan would not need me to write anything more; they would just nod and know exactly what I meant. But for the rest of you, it’s grey . . . VERY grey, it’s cold, and it’s getting a little old!

My new semester has begun, which means new students. Our young adults (ages 18 to 26 with disabilities) are assigned to job sites typically for one semester at a time and switch to a different site every semester. Our students spend half the day on the job with a job coach (like me) and the other half at school taking classes that are geared toward independent living.

My group is In-House Custodial, fancy for “we stay at school and clean it.” I am assigned students who are new, are not ready to go out to other sites, or are difficult to place for one reason or another. I also take on stragglers who arrive at school late and have missed their ride to their normal job site.

Jennifer: A Byproduct of Budget Cuts

I have to admit, although I am overjoyed at my new job and absolutely love my work, the looming discussion of budget cuts is making me a nervous wreck. It has definitely affected me, not only in how much money I’ve been putting away lately and how much spending I have personally cut back on, but in the decisions I make for my class as well.

Last summer, I spoke with so many teachers who had gotten pink-slipped. They all had thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of learning materials stored away in their garages—materials they had purchased themselves. Some of those teachers were unable to find jobs again or changed careers altogether; of the ones who were lucky enough to find new employment, some were unable to get the same placement or grade level as before and had to go out and buy all new stuff. Granted, most districts supply their teachers with money to help them supplement curriculum materials, but the budgets aren’t necessarily huge and sometimes teachers are forced to go way out of their way and wallet to get materials that their students really need.