Instead, I am going to celebrate. I am going to celebrate the fact that at 51 years old I am still doing what I love, and teaching with my heart. I am going to celebrate that we have a new positive principal, and have had a face lift to many parts of our building. I am going to celebrate that I am working with a faculty and staff whom I love and will stand behind in struggles and successes. I am going to celebrate that we are off the PLA list and have many programs in place to keep growing and moving forward. But most of all I am going to celebrate being a teacher. I am going to revel in my title. I am going to celebrate my colleagues and help the younger ones grow. I am honored to be part of a profession that changes things for the better. I am not Pollyanna. I understand that there will be low times...valley times...this year. But still. I challenge myself, and you to find at least one thing to celebrate each day. This teaching life is a tremendous one indeed.
I did not realize it had been so long since I posted. The school year of 2013-2014 was a challenge for me, and will not go down in the books as one of my best. I am, however. looking forward to a new year, and for some reason have a renewed sense of hope and faith in myself, my students and my community. I can't define the reason for the renewal and I don't plan to examine the reason much further.
Instead, I am going to celebrate. I am going to celebrate the fact that at 51 years old I am still doing what I love, and teaching with my heart. I am going to celebrate that we have a new positive principal, and have had a face lift to many parts of our building. I am going to celebrate that I am working with a faculty and staff whom I love and will stand behind in struggles and successes. I am going to celebrate that we are off the PLA list and have many programs in place to keep growing and moving forward. But most of all I am going to celebrate being a teacher. I am going to revel in my title. I am going to celebrate my colleagues and help the younger ones grow. I am honored to be part of a profession that changes things for the better. I am not Pollyanna. I understand that there will be low times...valley times...this year. But still. I challenge myself, and you to find at least one thing to celebrate each day. This teaching life is a tremendous one indeed.
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Wow. That was a fast semester. Other than ACT prep which had me in a constant state of worry, I'm pretty sure I relaxed and did some pretty good teaching. There was a time in my life when all things were chaos and I had a hard time staying in the groove. I could not utilize my gift because of the effect of outside sources. During my struggles I received from my brother a set of motivational tapes recorded by Doctor Wayne Dyer. I remember listening to his words of advice and thinking"I will never be able to put this in practice" I listened, I truly did,s but still I blundered along blindly, teaching the best I could and trying to stay afloat. His words though, must have stayed with me because in my best years, many of which have been at Cassopolis, they come back to me in droves. Now not only do I recognize their value, I successfully put them into practice. One of the most important concepts Dyer teaches is to "be in the moment." Sometimes we teachers get so distracted by reports we have to run, data we have to analyze, extra curriculars we have to supervise, that we lose site of the time we have with our students. This year I have tried to be present in the moment of each class I teach. That means not getting distracted, focusing on the kids and their needs, and fully immersing myself in the message in discussion and response that I get from them. And it has paid off. Ask AP English. We've gone from Iran, to an 18th century English Village, down the Congo River, and into the Heart of Darkness.
In Senior English we talked about relationships, leadership and the perils of Government control (ex. Orwell's 1984.) I have learned so much from these children this year, just by being in the present moment and learning and discovering right along with them. Its nice. This year, better than most years, I am a teacher, a learner, a scholar, and a guide. And it will all be over too soon. Some are excited to see June come. I have mixed feelings this year. I have more moments yet to be in. Its funny. When i was in teacher school, I was asked to produce my "philosophy of teaching" before I even got out of my stats class. I didn't know enough to have a decent philosophy. What a silly assignment for a 23 year old who's only classroom experience might have been to give swimming lessons to a group of seven year olds. I think to have a true philosophy, one has to be seasoned a bit. I think a teacher especially has to experience the cyclical nature of educations-to have those moments where she is sittng in an inservice thinking "oh. here it is again. Same focus different name." There are three facets of forming or to form a philosophy. The first is to know yourself, as a person, and an educator. That self-knowing takes time. I am certainly not the same person or educator that I was 27 years ago. As I have grown, "teacher" has become part of who I am. not what I do.
The second facet is to, as Coach Brian Kelly said today, become a student of the game. Both Yorktown High School in Muncie, Indiana, and Ross Beatty High School in Cassopolis Michigan recognized the leadership potential in me and sent me to almost every conference imaginable. I have been to conferences, clinics, inservices, and have in many cases been able to use the information I received to better myself in the classroom. Teaching English Methods at Bethel College was probably the most humbling experience for me, because as I was teaching best practice to future educators, I realized that I too, needed to continue to study, and utilize the best methods possible if I wanted to continue to be acceptable and successful in the classroom. You see, I don't want to be remembered as ordinary. I don't have to win teacher of the year. but I want to know that when I am done, I have been successful. And that does not neccessarily mean that my students have to have high ACT scores. Finally, in forming a philosphy you have to find, and articulate a balance. Although being an educator is now ingrained into who I am, I still need to balance being a mom, wife, daughter, grandmother, late in life athelete, mentor and colleague with my classroom work. I love my job. I love what I do. I love working with kids and seeing the lights go on after a long struggle. I like to make them smile and I glory in their little successes. I suppose, after more than a quarter of a century as an educator, that is philosophy enough. How nice it is to be back teaching, and to love what I do again. I'm not sure what happened last year. Certainly some wiring had malfunctioned. Perhaps I had to go dormant for a year to stir up new growth. As it is, I feel renewed. There is a sense of urgency at school, and a sense of focus. Although I dislike the formulaic way I have to teach ACT prep, I am beginning to realize how much better at the technical part of my chosen field it is going to make me. I took the practice ACT right along with my students and because of that, I am right there in the trenches with them.
My AP kids are so much fun to teach, and so much fun to challenge. We have already had amazing discussions on Job, Vietnam, and "Holy Moly" they even recognized Hamlet in Pirates of the Carribean. My regular seniors are up for anything. I'm proud of them for staying focused and determined to follow through. It feels like its going to be a good year. I had a run in with "big business" on Saturday. Out of the goodness of my heart, I agreed to volunteer at a booth at the Notre Dame game. Part of the proceeds went to a Children's Hospital. When I reported for training, which included running a cash register and figuring out fractions of weight, I indicated that I would feel more comfortable in a support role, perhaps behind the scenes. The trainer, who was also the owner, immediatley replied: "That's great. The world needs more janitors, cotton pickers, busboys and sanitation workers." Seriously? I think I mentioned in there somewhere too that I was a teacher. Now I get that he has a business to run, and its all about the bottom line. But to me, the bottom line are people. If I felt marginalized, I wonder how some of his employees feel? Maybe I should have asked him if he and RIck Snyder were friends? There were other back handed remarks during the course of the afternoon. I wish I had recorded them. In any case, I will not venture that way again. I'll continue to work "behind the scenes" and produce compassionate (hopefully well read) caring young people who will know how to be successful without being judgemental, arrogant and narrow. I supose that is why I will never be rich. My riches are measured in people. Not dollar signs. Incidents like this one remind me over and over again why I am a teacher.
Hard to believe this is year 25 of my career. It seems like yesterday I was the brand new kid on the block with new and somewhat unconventional ideas. It was amazing the raised eyebrows I received when I made it clear that I wanted to hear what my students had to say, even if it was a little off. Even worse were the looks I got when I began preaching that I was not looking for the "right" answer but the thought that went into getting there. 25 years later as I sit here planning for the 2011-2012 school year, I again am thinking about the questions I will ask, and the thought I will attempt to provoke. I stand by my philosophy that we need to turn out more than good test takers from public schools. We need to turn out good thinkers. The pressure is on,however, to up the test scores. RIght now I'm trying to figure out how to do that as well as teach the power of thought. 25 years in, and Im stil growing, reaching, and learning. Not sure I have 25 more years in the field, but I have this year. I'll give it my best shot.
I have been an athlete all my life. I was a competitive swimmer beyond college, and participated in Master's swimming competitions. About three years ago I embarked on a series of Boot Camp trainings. For three days a week, for an hour and a half, I lifted weights, moved tires, did more situps and pushups than i could count. I know how to push myself beyond what I think my body can do. For the last year I have been training for a half marathon. I could have trained for six months and still have done well, but doing well is not acceptable. I want to do my best. I want to exceed the limit. I was interviewed by a local radion station and I told the interviewer that "all of this training has made me a better teacher. I push my students harder, I push myself harder to be the best teacher I can be. I know that much of winning is mental, and that complacency has no record with success. I also learned that I am only letting myself down if I don't give my workouts 100 percent. It is the same with teaching. I teach poorly, the kids dont do well. And conversely, if they dont push themselves, no amount of my coaching and prodding will make them successful. My marathon is next weekend. I know I can push through to finish in less than 3 hours. The school year ends in 20 days. But I'm not done teaching. I'll start again, reading, planning. working things out for the 2011-2012 school year. Excellence does not allow for rest.
I was on a field trip with our seniors all day Monday in the rain. The seniors have been involved in problem based learning projects where they have to solve real world problems, make proposals, and come up with solutions. Today we had an opportunity to put those skills in to practice. We sanded piers, cleaned trails, built picnic tables and cleaned cabins. The students organized themselves, kept to a schedule, got the task done, and with great success and 100 percent participation. This kind of project adds Relevance to what they are learning. Will this type of experience help raise test scores? Probably not. But what it does offer is practicality and collaboration, both of which are necessary for the 21st century student and 21st century teacher. There seems to be a nationwide, state wide and local misconception about teachers, and teaching today. I don’t believe that misconception, and I won’t accept that misconception about the teachers I work with. . I would invite you all to come in, any day, at any time to any of our classrooms, and sit with us a while. You’ll see us differentiating instruction, engaging students in discussion, and teaching with rigor and relevance. What you will see won’t be the same in every classroom but our common goal is the same. According to the authors of Nine Shift “ the optimal work environment is different for each knowledge worker.” This translates to our classrooms. Draves and Coates go on to say “ Some people work best in a room with other people, some work best alone. Some work best with music playing, others in silence.” Teachers recognize this in students. I am hopeful that you can and will recognize this in your teachers. We work hard. We are committed. And we want the best for our kids.
Part of being a teacher is the ability to flex. We flex around abilities, around class offerings, and, unfortunately, around schedules. Everything can be adapted, shortened, modified, and pared down. The transition from block schedule to a traditional 7 period day, wont be easy, but can be done. In 50 minutes, a teacher can review skills, get a lively discussion started, and just as lightning strikes and the ideas flow freely, the bell will ring. And she or he will have to recapture that energy the following day. It can be done. A good teacher can surely make up those 4000 minutes that will be lost in the change of schedule. One of our hidden talents is that we are magicians. At the end of the day, I will always be a teacher, and I will know, and do know that I am doing my very best. Schedules come and go. Teachers endure.
Grading is the worst part about teaching. I know my students need feed back, and I realize that grade points count toward GPA's and honors points and placement tests and all that jazz. But I sure wish I could just teach for teachings sake. I wish I didnt have to assess what a student knows based on points or letters. If I could teach just to teach, to help a child grow..to bring him to a new understanding..to watch the light buls go on inside his head.....that to me would be true teaching. And I do some of that I suppose. Right now I'm teaching well. We are sailing through Gatsby at the senior level, and my sophomores are a joy. AP is exploring poetry. However, my grade book is a little empty. I know I'm teaching. know they are learning and growing. I just hate that I have to use numbers to prove it.
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Julie HerwickI love my job. Teaching is an art and I enjoy learning and growing along with my students. I can't think of any thing else I'd rather do. Archives
August 2014
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