Has the Experience Been Easier or Harder Than You Thought?

            Coming into this school year, I was very confident about my ability to thrive in whatever situation I found myself in. I had some valuable experience doing volunteer work in Memphis City Schools, so I had already seen what it was like to deal with kids in a critical needs environment. Moreover, my experience at the MTC summer school was awesome. I was challenged there, but it was very necessary. Those 5 or 6 weeks in the MTC summer school were very formative in my development as a teacher. Because of those experiences, I was very confident about being a successful first year teacher.

            Armed with confidence, and a somewhat imposing presence, I stepped into Byhalia Middle School ready for anything. I wasn’t overly confident because I knew that I could be faced with a situation that I wasn’t quite ready for. My biggest asset was organization and consistency. With these two things, I could stop a lot of negative things from possibly happening. Actually, lot of situations have been preemptively squelched because of organization and consistency.

            That is why my experience so far has been a little easier than I thought it would be. I prepared myself for the worst so that only very few things might have a chance of overwhelming me. The kids are generally very respectful, and they have a pretty good work ethic. Like all schools, there are students who constantly misbehave and neglect academics, but I haven’t found those students to be particularly challenging. The hardest thing has been trying to develop character in my students. The basis of my class is discipline and hard work. I’ve been trying to convey to my students that neither of these requires them to be the smartest person in the world. If these character traits can be developed, then they will do just fine in my class, all of their other classes, and life. Everyday I tell them that the minute they stop working someone is outworking them and putting themselves in a position to capitalize on a major opportunity. This has taken some hard lessons, and patience, but I think most of my students are grasping the concept of what I’ve been preaching for this first month and a half.

            I think one of the things that skews first-year expectations is the forewarnings, admonitions, and horror stories from people who have taught already. While their experiences are very valuable, they can sometimes leave first years jaded before they even step into their own teaching situations. Some of my initial worries came as a result of the talks with second years and team teachers. There were a lot of “don’t forget,” “watch out,” and “you’ll see” conversations. Even reading some blogs and portfolios left me trying to figure out how people make it through the program if all of the reflections are negative and sad.

            I’m glad I put more stock into my personal evaluation of myself, because it allowed me to be very introspective and really understand myself before I could try to influence the lives of 140 7^th graders. My introspective approach and confidence put me in a position to feel like I could thrive at Byhalia Middle School. And right now, I feel like I am thriving here. I love my job, I am not stressed at all, and I look forward to coming to work everyday!

Is Mr. King Fair???

I thought it would be best to ask my 3^rd period class whether I was fair or not. Simply because that is the class who’s most behind, and the lowest achieving. Moreover, I’ve had to discipline that class way more than any of my other four. I was not surprised by the mix of “yes” and “no” responses. What was interesting was the explanations. I told them that a simple one-word response wouldn’t suffice, so they actually had to put some thought into it. What I got was a few impassioned responses; these struck a chord, and will continue to resonate throughout the year.

Student: NO!!! Because he’s mean, and makes us stand in the sun!

            This particular reference has a good story behind it. One day, 3^rd period decided that they didn’t want to come back from lunch in an orderly manner. So, they had to stand in the sun outside of 8^th grade hallway, quietly and in line, while the rest of 7^th and 8^th grade passed to and from lunch. We lost 25 minutes of class time and they had to complete and grade an assignment with the last 15 minutes of class. We haven’t had a problem since then.

Student: Yes! He’s not mean at all. He’s very nice if you don’t get on his nerves!

Student: Yes, because he treats everyone equally.

            This one meant a lot because I try as hard as possible to treat every student equally. I know this doesn’t happen nearly enough, but I’m glad they see that consequences and rewards are dolled out as equally as possible.

Student: Yes! Because he gives you chances and choices to do things the right way. It’s not his fault if you don’t take advantage of those chances.

            My class is built on student discipline and responsibility. I try to frame everything as a choice for them. That way, when we do have to have disciplinary interventions, they know it’s because they chose not to do the right thing. Also, they understand that their lack of achievement on tests/quizzes is based on them choosing not to study or participate in class.

Student: No, because he expects us to do stuff in a small amount of time. Yes, because he tries to get us to think faster and more critically.

Student (who had turned around tremendously): Yes he is, because he gives us things that’s right in our face. And everyday he tells us what we are going to do and what we need to do. He makes us write down everything that we are going to need. His tests are easy because he gives us notes to study.

            I am glad that one of the students who started out hating me, and being lazy, has realized why my class is structured the way it is.

Overall, I am pleased with the responses. They gave me some insight into how they feel about me. A lot of them said that I’m mean, which is fine. They’ll appreciate it in the long-run.

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