Someone explain this to me??

-Take the last 3 digits of your mobile number, for example 866-555-1212, write it down like this @*[212:0] remove the star and enter it into the comment box below. A random name appears. 

Confidence Issues

I often think, when I am reading other teachers' blog posts or tweets, that it must be a great feeling to be so confident of one's abilities.

I am having confidence issues.

I am confident that I care deeply about my students, and I am confident that I try my very best to help them learn. Other than that, I am on shaky ground.

I am not confident that what I am teaching them is what they really need to know.  The Common Core Standards may tell me that I am on the right track, but I am not very confident in the Common Core Standards, either. I see kids who are so disengaged and turned off by the curriculum that no project is going to bring them back. You can't make kids be intrinsically motivated about things that they care nothing about.

But, on the other hand, if kids DON'T learn some of the less-than-thrilling concepts in the Common Core Standards, can they really be called educated?

Can ALL learning be engaging? Do all kids need to learn the same things? Can't the curriculum be differentiated as well as the instruction?

I have confidence issues across the board, so it is only natural that I would question what I am doing in the classroom.

I just wonder if anyone else out there fights the same demons?

Inspirationally Speaking

On Friday, I attended a workshop on transition with a group of kids with IEPs. The workshop started off with an inspirational speaker.

Now, if you knew me, you would know that I am a person who always sees the glass as being half empty. I am always sure the worst possible thing is going to happen, and sad to say, I have been right in this assumption most of the time. My life has been a series of self-fulfilling prophecies.

Given my pessimistic frame of mind, most inspirational speakers leave me quite cold.

Brett Eastburn was different. He was born with no arms and no legs. If that was me, I would have lain in a bed for the rest of my life and wanted someone to take care of me. Not this guy. He said he didn't want to use prosthetic legs and arms because they get in his way, and I believe him. He could dribble a basketball, throw a football, and break a board with his...this sounds awful, but it is what it is...stub. He was an art major in college.  AN ART MAJOR...with no hands.

Mr. Eastburn is also a stand-up comic. He has one wicked sense of humor. Here is a link to his website:
www.bretteastburn.com

I have some heavy issues on my plate, but nothing nearly as heavy as this man has had to deal with on a daily basis in his life.  And so, I haven't allowed myself to wallow in self-pity since Friday. Wallowing in self-pity is something I do with great skill and regularity, but Mr. Eastburn truly made me see that I am a lot luckier than I like to admit.

It is like that old saying that has become trite through overuse : "I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet."

The kids who went to the workshop with me were talking about Brett Eastburn today in class. They think it would be a good thing for the entire school to hear him.

I think so, too. If he could reach a crusty old broad like me, imagine how many kids' lives he could touch!

Voices of Experience

I have been reading a lot of comments about how older teachers won't get on the change train.

I can't quite figure out where I fit in this age thing. I am definitely old enough to be considered an old-timer, but because I stayed at home with my kids when they were small, I've taught about 12 years or so, which makes me middle-aged in experience.

Wherever I fit, it saddens me to hear of people over the age of 50 denigrated as "not getting it".

My father, at 85, was the wisest person I have ever met when it came to educating kids. I miss bouncing ideas off of him, because I haven't found a sounding board that can even come close to replacing him.

If teachers with over 25 years of experience don't hop right aboard the change train, it is probably because they have ridden that train before, and it didn't take them where it was supposed to go. There really aren't that many new ideas in education. We keep recycling the same things and giving them different names.

Why don't we listen to what these seasoned veterans have to say? REALLY LISTEN, not just sit there and think, "Oh, she's old, so she doesn't get it" while we nod our heads.

We're all feeling beat up right now. No one seems to like teachers. The least we can do is like one another and respect everyone's opinion...young or old.

Why I Like Having a Boss who Twitters

Things haven't always been sunshine and lollipops between me and The Boss (@phsprincipal).  I learned pretty quickly that I wasn't the first choice to be hired (#1 was happy to let me know she had been hired first), so I was hurt about that.  I had just gone through an ugly divorce, so I didn't like men very much anyway. The Boss was even a Taurus - just like The Ex.  I think that they might even share a birthday. I took that as a bad omen.

I was terrified my first few years at this job. I was new at being a Special Ed teacher, and my last teaching job had been 20 years before. The Boss scared me because I couldn't read him at all, and reading people is typically one of my strong suits.  My plan, those first few years, was to avoid the office whenever possible. Naturally, this didn't lead to any greater understanding between me and the administration.

As I became more comfortable at my job, I became more comfortable with The Boss, but I still didn't feel like I knew him very well. He's a very private person, as he will be the first to tell you. And since I had always had a friendly relationship with my past bosses, I missed that in this job.

Then the Twitter thing happened.

The Boss was on Twitter a long time before I was.  I lurked for months before I posted, then when I posted, no one seemed very interested, so I lurked again.  During this lurking, I paid particular attention to what The Boss was tweeting.

He had a sense of humor! A wonderfully wry sense of humor! And sometimes...he was actually kind of...dare I say it...goofy! Who knew?

I read what he retweeted. I learned that he and I have very similar views on education. Who knew?

I also saw that he was respected by other educators and held in high esteem by other members of the profession.  This made me start thinking that our school was darn lucky to have him.

The Boss and I aren't best friends, nor should we be. But I do feel, thanks to Twitter, that we have a friendly working relationship.  I know that Twitter has led to an increase of my respect for him. I think I better understand the direction he would like to take our school. Those are all good things.

So, all you administrators, keep tweeting!  Who knows how it might affect your staff?

Things My Mom Taught Me

My mom passed away a year ago today.

Mom has been on my mind all day, and I have been thinking about some of the things I learned from her.

1. Pass on your passion.  She sure did a great job of this! My brother and I both love music, and so do all of our kids. Mom insisted I take piano lessons, and she and I sang together almost every day.

2. Be proud of your work, no matter what your job is. When Mom was a stay-at-home-mom, her house was spotless, and the meals were delicious. Once she went back to work, she was an excellent employee and gave her job her absolute best. I didn't pick up on the cooking and housekeeping, but I have always tried my best at any job I have had. And if circumstances force me to do something other than teach, I will give that job the best I can, too. I think this has passed on to my kids, both of whom are good, hard workers.

3. Family first, always.  Nothing came before her kids and grandchildren, and my kids are the most important people in my life, too.

4. Stand up for what you believe in.  Mom never backed down from a fight if she thought she was right (and Mom always thought she was right ;-) ).  Sometimes, I wish I wasn't quite so much like her in this regard, but I am.

So tonight, I'm sending thoughts of gratitude to Mom. I hope she knows how much I appreciate all she ever did for me.

Evaluating Evaluations

(I posted about this yesterday and decided it wasn't saying what I wanted to say. This is take 2.)

Anytime an administrator walks into my room, my first reaction is "Oh no, what did I do now?"

My second reaction is "Oh dear. Am I going to be doing anything that is worth seeing?"

I am a nervous wreck when there is a boss in the room. The exception to this is @phsprincipal.  I think he doesn't make me nervous because I know he thinks I am a good teacher. The other two bosses - I don't think they are so impressed.

When it comes time for an "official" evaluation, I am REALLY nervous. I over plan. I stage what I am going to say and how I am going to act. In short, if I know when the evaluation is going to take place, the bosses aren't really seeing me. Instead, they are seeing me ACT like I think a good teacher should act.

Last year, after the pre-evaluation stuff, The Boss and I set a date for him to come in and observe me. Really, this was kind of silly, because my room was right across from the office, and he was popping in all the time. But, we set the date. An emergency came up, and he couldn't make it. We were talking about a new date out in the hall, and I told him just to come in the next hour.

He did. I had no time to prepare my "act". He saw the real me teaching. I received the best evaluation of my life.

The way we do evaluations now are not a true reflection of a teacher's abilities. There should be more than one observation. There should be feedback after each observation, no matter how short the observation. There should be more than one person observing, and one of those people should be someone that teaches in the same area.

Definitely, for Special Ed teachers, one of the people evaluating should be another Special Ed person. That evaluator should have access to the IEPs the teacher is producing, and there should also be some way to check and see that legal notifications are being sent on a timely basis.

I am on our school committee to look at our evaluation forms and possibly come up with something new.  I think this is going to be quite interesting! I would love to know how your school handles evaluations. Please comment!