The Beginning

I love to teach. I'm a born teacher. That's not my ego talking. It's just the kind of person I am. From when I was young, I delighted in seeing people learn new things. Heck, I love learning new things. I've been an official, license-carrying teacher for 7 years now, although I subbed that first year I had my license. So I've had a classroom of my own full time for 6 years. I started in fifth grade. Two years were spent there. Then I spent about a month in second grade before redistribution sent me to third grade. Glorious third grade where the attitudes are still mysteriously absent and they LOVE to make their teacher happy, but they're reading chapter books and asking questions like, "Is Santa real?" After that I applied for a position labeled "writing/technology" at a school I would soon come to call home. That oddly flown position became mine and I've treasured nearly every day of it. The last couple years though, I've seen other teachers, mostly new teachers, a few seasoned vets with difficult classes, struggle with a lot of the things I've struggled with in the past. I got very lucky my second year and found myself with a particularly skilled teacher who I milked for all she was worth. After all, teaching is mostly about stealing ideas from each other right?

This last couple years though, I've run into a conundrum. As teachers, we spend a lot of time alone. We rarely get the chance to share our ideas with one another and plan things. By the same token, we're expected to be superheros and we rarely feel comfortable asking for help particularly when it comes to things like classroom management or curriculum. Heaven forbid we even appear weak and admin will bring the axe down on us. So, we keep quiet and suffer and scream at our students out of frustration. I've seen my colleagues and friends deal with this. They cry in their rooms, punch holes in things, cry in the staff lounge, cry at the bar, cry on the copier, curse up and down, cry in the car and it makes me sad. It makes me sad that it's looked on as a sign of weakness to say, "Help me." In some cases, I think we start to believe screaming and yelling is the only recourse we have. If we just scream enough, loud enough, long enough, they'll finally get it and stop talking RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY DURING MY MATH LESSON. Boy HOWDY have I been there too. I spent the majority of my second year of actual teaching crying and crying and crying over some boys I referred to as "The Magnificent Seven." They feared NOTHING and wanted NOTHING (til the consequence & privilege charts came along).

Here's the thing, it's kind of poor form to go to your colleague or friend and say, "Hey your kids don't have to hang from the rafters. Let me help you." Yet, I can't take seeing teacher after teacher cry and wring their hands because they feel they can't do anything about their unruly class. So, my thought was, what if you could steal ideas, tested ideas, and ask questions, but no one really knew who you were? Maybe, just maybe, that would help. So here it goes:

This is my blog where I'll post things I've stolen, things other people have stolen, but not just random ideas, things that have worked and stood the test of time. If a real teacher hasn't touched it, I won't post it. Sure, it's not the same for every class, but I have a few things that have stood through some pretty nasty, rough classes that have worked.

My first post, which will be separate from this intro, will be about my favorite classroom management strategy. Now, if you happen to work with me and you happen to read this and you'd like to see it in action, PLEASE ASK!! I will always be more than happy to do that (and it can be our little secret). If you're at your wits end, you're ready to quit teaching, please don't. Most of us give up within the first 5 years for very good reason. Teachin' ain't easy.