My Students Are Great!

I'm always a little hesitant whenever I write a blog entry about something that could be misconstrued as bragging. This could be like that, but it is not my intention. I was just reminded today of how lucky I am, and I am so thankful.

Several teachers at my school have had to give state-mandated tests over the last couple of days. Fortunately for me, I have not had to give these tests in my classes, but the whole process did impact my classroom.

These tests have to be administered online, and guess who has a ton of computer labs...my department! So myself, and the other business teachers, have had to be flexible and accommodate the influx of teachers that needed to use our rooms. The whole process hasn't been that bad though, and the scheduling has seemed to work out relatively seamlessly.

I share an adjoining door with another business teacher, and I can frequently hear her teach and vice versa. But it is never a disruption or a problem. Unfortunately this afternoon, I had another teacher in that classroom, and I heard him/her yelling and screaming at his/her students repeatedly. (NOTE: I have some coworkers that read this blog, so I am being gender-neutral in my description of this teacher.)

I guess it surprised me, because I am not a yeller or screamer. My students all behave VERY well, and I get it done without raising my voice or losing my composure. Have I yelled at students in the past? Of course. Have I done it often...or even lately? No. It's not effective, and it doesn't work for me. I get more from my students by treating them with respect and having high expectations of them.

Admittedly the teacher in the other classroom was under a lot of stress. These poor teachers were given very little time to administer these tests, and of course they were completely dependent on technology. Unfortunately, several of the computers did have some technical problems, but that's what happens when (the district) provides such a narrow window for testing.

When this teacher continued to yell and scream at his/her students, the first thing I did was tell my students how great I thought they were. I thanked them for being such a good class and for letting me keep my sanity. It was at that time when one of my students told me that he had this particular teacher in class, and he/she was like this every day.

That made me sad...for the teacher AND the students. Teaching is a rough job, and I have had classes that have pushed me to the limit. For example my 5th hour class that I had in the fall semester of 2005 could be the fodder for a lot of therapy. But these classes are very few and far between. I just can't imagine what it would be like to ALWAYS be on edge with your students. That made me realize how lucky I was to have the rapport that I have with my students. I love my job. It's a simple as that.

It also made me sad for the students. I have been that good kid in the bad class before. I had a particular teacher in high school who would explode in anger from time-to-time. I was always on edge, and I could never relax, because I was always waiting for the explosion. When i became a teacher, I vowed to NEVER make my kids nervous. I wanted my classroom to be a safe and calm place. Thankfully, I think I have been successful with this goal.

After 13 years of teaching, it can become easy to lose sight of things. I have taken for granted the fact that my students are so well-behaved. Unfortunately, it took seeing a teacher on the brink of "losing it" to realize how good I have it. I am so thankful and blessed.

"Kevin the Advocate"

A couple of days ago a student, John, came into my classroom to talk to me about something. While I have never personally had John in class, I have gotten to know him quite well, and he is a very impressive person.

John is in a wheelchair, and he has a mild form of cerebral palsy. He is a senior, so he only has a few days left of school. He plans on going to college to major in political science and eventually go on to law school. So I'm very excited that he is going to get out into the world and show it that people with disabilities can be successful contributors to society. This, obviously, is one thing that I strive to do every day.

I'll get to the reason why John came into my classroom in a bit, but I want to mention how I first got to know him. Last year the teacher across the hall from me told me about how one of his students was having trouble with an accessibility issue at school. At that time, I had never spoken to John, but I went to him to find out if I could help him with his problem.

Apparently one of the curb cuts in the front of the school was at a grade that was too steep and the pavement also contained a huge lip in it. So essentially John would go down the curb cut everyday and hit the lip...and sometimes he would fall out of his chair.

He had gone to the principal, that is in charge of building and grounds, with his situation, and unfortunately he had not had any success. The principal tried to help, but he really didn't fully understand the problem, and John was having a hard time lighting a fire under him, as well.

So I became his advocate, and his situation was remedied once I mentioned getting the school board involved. It's amazing how those two little words can get things moving in my district!

So John came to me the other day because of his concerns about an incoming freshman student. This new student has Spina Bifida, just like I do, and he is apparently VERY apprehensive about making the transition to high school. John asked me if I could help out this incoming student, just like I had helped him. I told him that I would do whatever it took to make this kid comfortable. I was terrified of starting high school, and I wish I would have had someone around to let me know that everything was going to be alright.

Helping John out, and now helping this incoming freshman, gives me such personal satisfaction, and I have been trying to think of other ways that I could spread my message around.

In a perfect world, I would LOVE to be a motivational speaker. I have TONS of great stories, and I know that I could get the audience laughing. Since I am not married, I really would have no problem flying from city-to-city and doing keynote speeches, etc. Of course, I would have to give up teaching...or maybe take a one-year sabbatical, but it is something that I have really been thinking about for my future.

In the here and now, I have been corresponding with a woman that has an infant daughter with Spina Bifida. I have really enjoyed answering her questions and concerns and being a resource for her. I really want to do more of this kind of thing, with lots and lots of people.

So I have a fire in my now. I know that I want to help as many people as possible in this world. I just first need to get more people to read this blog. I want to reach more people, and I want to share my stories.

Helping people is why I got into teaching. It is the key component of my personality. I can't wait to see where this personality trait will take me in life. It's been a fun ride so far.

Update Time

This entry will be short and sweet, and if you don't understand it, just look at the end of my entry about the marathon.

15 SECONDS!!!