Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers

Brad: Finding Anchorage

Well, I’ve made it through another winter solstice here in Alaska. This means that we’ll finally be seeing an increase in light and eventually warmth over the next six months. During the last two months, the first periods of the school day typically passed in darkness. The sun didn’t begin to rise until between 9 and 10 a.m. And the last month or so, the sun regularly set around 4:30 p.m.

Not unexpectedly, many of us have a difficult time remaining alert and focused through such prolonged periods of morning darkness. I think I can speak for most Alaskans when I say that I’m truly looking forward to the growing light of the New Year.

Although I teach in urban Alaska, I’m still continually amazed by the beauty that I witness here -- and even the ways I sometimes take it for granted. For example, the first snow on the Chugach Mountain range is always momentous, both in its stark signaling of the end of summer and its pristine contrast to the mountain’s rugged face.

Megan: More than Just a Job

“Follow your bliss.” ~ Joseph Campbell
 
Maybe it’s just my perception, but lately when I’ve met new graduates or people thinking about going into education, more and more of them are considering special ed. I’m always excited to meet other potential special educators. But oftentimes, their answer as to why they chose this particular field troubles me: “It’s where the jobs are.”

I am so enthusiastic to get more people involved in special education. I’d recruit any good teacher I could by talking about all the perks: lots of hugs, moments where a student reads for the first time—I could go on and on.

But as many of us know, special education is not for the faint of heart. While I whole-heartedly feel I am in the best profession, it is not a job that one should go into simply because there is a shortage of positions in other areas of education. I often hear people say they are going to use their special education degree to get their foot in the door, then switch over when something else opens in their district. This boggles my mind. I don’t find special education to be a stepping stone; it’s a path unto itself.

Melissa: ’Twas the Week Before Christmas

’Twas the week before Christmas
and all through my brain
was a message on repeat:
“I think I’m going insane.”

The presents are wrapped,
my finals are done.
So what stands between now
and eleven days full of fun?

Ah, just three days of school
till our break will arrive;
not even a week...
but will I survive?

My lessons were planned
with the utmost of care
in hopes that my students’
attention I’d snare.

Brad: Leap of Faith

 A few years ago, I sat in a wooden chair and fielded job interview questions from an administrator of a rural Midwestern school district.

“How do you teach a child to read?” he asked. I recall telling him I’d start by finding out the child’s interest and by developing a rapport with him or her.

“How do you know a student’s made progress?” he said. “After all, sometimes it can be pretty hard to tell.” I wasn’t sure how to answer this, so I fell back to what I’d read about grade-level assessments, parent input, and comparing the pace of progress to that of a student’s peers. I rambled, then stammered. By the time I’d stopped speaking, I felt as though I was figuratively, in addition to literally, in the principal’s office . . . in trouble.

The administrator took a long moment to reflect on my answer. Finally, he said, “I taught special education for 15 years and I found that there were times I didn’t know, or couldn’t find out. But that didn’t keep me from trying.”

Throughout the last week, I’ve been inundated by paperwork, parent phone calls, and delivery-of-service questions with respect to my caseload of students and their schedules for next year. These are the times when I wonder how it’s possible to teach a student the breadth and depth of curriculum I’ve imagined for them—the one I truly believe they deserve.

Melissa: Another Holiday Project in the Bag

I’m excited to write this follow-up to my last blog post about the Mouse Project. (Glad you all enjoyed reading about it!)

My students did a great job on our second annual fundraiser project. We “adopted” a local family of three boys whose parents both have cancer. We decided to shake it up and make snowflake ornaments instead of the mice ornaments we made last year. And, silly me, I only got two bottles of tacky glue again, so my students had to share.

One of them asked if we could serve cookies to our “shoppers” this year. I thought that was an awesome idea, and a great way to sneak in some more social skills and life skills lessons. So we bundled up and headed off to the grocery store; each student had to find two or three items, and then go through the check-out themselves.

We returned to school, where the students had to quarter the original recipe (sneaky math!) and each mix up his own batch of dough, which he later rolled out and cut into cookies. I also discovered one of my students is a frosting-making whiz; he whipped up several shades of green frosting in about two minutes. I was very impressed—I even used his method when making cookies at home!

Megan: My Holiday Wish List

“And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again . . .”
~ “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”

Dear Santa,

I know I am a grown woman, but I still believe in the magic of the holidays. I have my students write letters to you, while reminding them that you are always watching.

You know, back when I was a paraprofessional, the teacher I worked with said to me, “The day before winter break is the best day of the year.” And I wondered, “Isn’t the last day of school the best day of the year?”

She explained that in the world of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, the end of the year can actually be a rough time. Summer, and the accompanying long days without consistent structure, can be scary for them. Grades are due, IEPs need to be updated, rooms should be packed up, nerves are frazzled.

The day before winter break, however, is a day when everyone is in festive mood. There is a palpable excitement in the air. As a teacher, I can now agree that the day before break may just be the best day of the school year.

Sheena: Life is Reasonable Again

Hi everyone! I know it has been a while since I last posted. Thanksgiving was a much-needed time to relax, rejuvenate, and regain focus. It was just what the doctor ordered.

Since my last blog entry, I’ve survived a hectic month of deadlines, IEP meetings, and paperwork – not to mention completing another graduate school class. With just 10 more work days before our winter break, life finally feels reasonable again! I believe everyone looks forward to breaks this time of year. For me, it’s relief from mid-year worries about raising test scores and squeezing in all the standards before benchmarks.

Yesterday my seventh-grade team had a Taco Day, and each teacher contributed a dish to our 20-minute lunch feast. In between bites of spicy salsa and chips, I felt a certain level of solidarity. We were all exhausted. Not only was it Wednesday, the dreaded middle of the week, but it was the middle of our school year. We sat and ate and laughed and bonded over food in the teachers’ lounge. It was perfect timing for a get-together, but it also symbolized our need to support each other. We sat together—with different backgrounds, different personalities, and different interests—and shared our own “Thanksgiving” meal.

Reality 101 Tops List of Elementary Education Blogs

Reality 101 has been named one of the top 50 blogs written by elementary educators, this time by mastersinelementaryeducation.org (see the last section on teaching children with special needs).

Congrats to the Reality 101 bloggers!