Larissateaches

Since I began my career as a public school teacher fairly late in life, I feel that I have a pretty clear sense of purpose. I didn't really consider becoming a teacher in college. I was an undergraduate at Cornell and everyone around me was going on to become a doctor, lawyer or investment banker, so becoming something as mundane as a teacher didn't even enter my mind. I began working as a journalist and really enjoyed the work. I had hoped to freelance, but ended up busy with my own five children. Once I had to make a decision about how to earn money  my family needed, I realized that I now had the maturity to tackle teaching. I had to go back to a local college for the necessary English and education classes (my undergraduate major had been Russian studies), so I had to spend serious time and money before I got a job as a teacher. I realize that my life experiences can really add a new dimension to the classroom. As a parent of five children, I understand that educators p...

Ideal Visioning Ideal visioning makes sense. Often, the night before the first day of school I have nightmares about students who will not do what I ask no matter what. If I could reverse that and imagine some great lessons where students are engaged. I am now keeping a journal on my desk and when things are going really well, I try to jot down what happened and how it happened. I can't always replicate the same experience with a different class -- sometimes the chemistry in a class just makes certain activities click. But at least I know that they did happen and I can reflect on those moments when things aren't going as well.

ENERGY Paying attention to natural energy levels helps. I am usually pretty beat after school, so it's not a great time for me to do anything that requires a lot of concentration or patience. But making dinner with some music on is productive and relaxing for me. I try to grab moments to get tasks done when I have a bit of energy. So I have a prep period in the morning and I use for lesson plans which take a lot of time and concentration on my part. TIME  Truly, there is never enough time for everything I want to get done. I try really hard not to waste time, but I also try to plan some down time into my day. Watching The Office on Netflix isn't something I do daily or even weekly. But maybe once a month I will join my kids on the couch for some down time. Getting outside for a walk is usually a good use of time for me because I feel refreshed and ready to go after wards. I do have a fairly strict daily schedule since I work two jobs, so I need to prioritize what ne...

CLASSROOM Well, I was a traveling teacher for a few years, and I always had plans for how my classroom would look once I got one. I wish that my classroom was more pinterest-worthy... but alas, I can barely keep it organized let alone decorated. Hopefully my high school students like seeing their work and a few posters... I can definitely work on making the physical space more welcoming and bright and inviting. I'll have to check out pinterest and see what I can come up with. ENGAGEMENT I do try to make sure my lesson plans are engaging so that students are interested in what we are doing and can see the relevance. I try to have a mixture of whole class, small group and individual work most days because not everyone likes the same thing. I do try to keep things moving. Unfortunately with some of my students, it can feel like I can't do anything right. No matter what we are going to do, they would rather be on their phones or watch youtube. I will continue to do my best ...

Self-Efficacy I see this term everywhere lately. It makes a lot of sense to me. The administration at my school often makes announcements to tell the students how proud they are of them, how they always do the right thing. They have backgrounds in elementary schools where this might be helpful, but for adolescents it becomes a joke. We have positive drug tests every single day at our school, so they know they don't always do the right thing. I always thought they should say something like, "You must be really proud of yourself for XYZ." Teenagers don't do things to make teachers, administrators and parents proud; they do things because they want to achieve things. Even more so with adults. Teachers need to feel confident in our own abilities. There is very little external reward for our efforts. Depending on the class, I might work incredibly hard to prepare and deliver an amazing lesson, but students are zoned out for whatever reason. I need to feel ok about wha...

Honestly, I have no idea how to say no. When I hear about a new thing to do, my first reaction is excitement. For example, a school friend told me she was planning to start work on her 30 credits past a Masters, and I said "no way." I am too old to do this and I don't have the money and I don't have the time. But when I looked into it and saw how on-line classes were flexible enough to fit into my schedule, and I saw that there was a payment plan and I remembered how much I enjoyed taking graduate classes and I looked at the salary guide and saw how quickly I would make up the money, I was completely on board. I jumped in with both feet and I was so excited about picking my classes and planning my schedule. My friend, meanwhile, said that she needs more time to think about it and may start in the summer. So even when I say no, I can talk myself into taking on more work. I did refuse some committee selections at school because I didn't really see the value of wo...

How to handle stress?  Well, there certainly is a lot of stress. Teaching is stressful, and it gets even more stressful as we become more inundated with paperwork. The data-driven focus on student achievement, regardless of the student's needs or circumstances creates even more stress in an already stressful world. But what can we do? One:  Let go of the things you can't control. Some students have family circumstances I can't do very much about. Some students have attitudes I can't easily change. Some administrators don't really want to listen to what educators are saying. OK...  But I can still take a deep breath and focus on things I can change: taking an interest in the student while he/she is in my class, controlling my attitude and tone, and continuing to communicate as best I can with colleagues and administration. Two:  Keep the faith. What is your belief system? If you believe that God is in control, then you are not going to let minor details ...

We have been told that we need to take care of ourselves, but to some teachers (and mothers) it can seem selfish to get a good night sleep or take time out to exercise. However, over time we will pay for neglecting our health. I never saw myself as a morning person, and I was never a person who did well without a good night sleep. In high school, I had to get the bus at 6 am, and I always put myself to bed at 9:30. In college, many of my friends (particularly architects and engineers) would stay up all night working and still be able to function the next day. If I skipped a night of sleep, I (and everyone around me) paid for it the next day. It wasn't until I had got a part-time job at FedEx while I was homeschooling my children that I learned to be a morning person. My shift started at 3:30 am, so I needed to wake up at 2:30 am. After a few years of that schedule, sleeping until 6 am seemed luxurious. I found that getting up before anyone else in the house allowed me to focus ...

So my idea to use this blog to reflect on my teaching never really happened. So, instead it will be a place to reflect on what I have learned from the book The Well Balanced Teacher by Mike Anderson. This book gave some great ideas for how to regain my focus as a teacher, and these are my reflections on how to apply what I've learned to teaching and life.