When DLS lost a teacher last semester and threatened to close two sections of the very popular elective, Criminal Justice, Jen and I saw this as an opportunity to jump back in the classroom. “We will team-teach it,” we said; “coming back from a pandemic won’t be that hard,” we said; “it is a subject we are interested in and have a grain of knowledge about,” we declared…
Nevermind that many trusted colleagues said we were on drugs to take this on right now…
Flashback to this summer and our frantic realization that a “grain of knowledge” does not a teacher make… this led to the purchase of textbooks and content material to provide us with foundation support that would keep us — we hoped — a few steps ahead of the students.
So we are a quarter in, and I find myself channeling the first lines of the Dickens classic…
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…
That probably sums up our first quarter — and teaching as a profession.
My takeaways so far:
- My biggest sense of conflict is fearing that I am doing either the Admin piece or the Teaching piece injustice. They both take time and they require different brains — even if some skills transfer
- You get attached to your students. I love the connection a classroom provides. They frustrate me, they make me laugh, I find myself cheering for them on the sidelines
- I think about the class ALL THE TIME…
- Sometimes the stuff that worked best with my middle schoolers is not “too childlike”
- Picking a subject I have never taught as a step back into the classroom was hella stupid
- Teaching takes a bunch of time… it’s good time but there is no escaping that it takes ALOT of time if you want to do it right
- I love the high you get when everything lands and the classroom energy is humming. It almost makes up for the pit of despair when everything flops
- I can’t let go of my forever defaults. I have always believed that students need constant feedback and a lot of formative assessments… that their grade can not depend on just a couple summative assessments
- I am conscious that I am much more conscious of the SEL piece than I was back in the day. I always tried to put myself in their shoes to try and anticipate how lessons would go and what they needed… but I did that as a collective. I find myself scanning the room and feeling how things land differently for different groups. I am very aware of the body language of our students of color and their absolutely not taking the bait about engaging in difficult conversations about racist policing
- I have a lot of boys — 26 students of my 31 are DLS. They are lovely. They require many middle school strategies. I would have preferred having a class with many more girls, only because I wanted to have a bigger sample size of what a Senior Student of Carondelet at the end of 4 years of the innovative curriculum can do
- I like team teaching. I have a great partner. This may not make sense, but when I raised my boys I was a single parent and what I felt was the hardest thing about single parenting was about the horrific loneliness of not being able to talk to someone about “your project” — someone who gets it and would not get bored of the topic. I have never team-taught but I enjoy the process. The conversations, the compromises, the debriefs
You describe the experience quite well. It’s all in or not at all. Teaching is as much about relationships as it is about content. And each student can be so different.
The boys do come from a different learning experience. They are not used to getting second chances to do better. A retired assistant principal used to tell us that boys have fewer cognative processing skills than girls and need more focus on the lower order thinking skills.
Anyway, I am glad to hear that both Jen and you are enjoying teaching the class.
Your last point really resonated with me – and I totally agree! Teacher Big History and HFCE with a team is a whole different ball game than teaching AP Psych. While the content of my AP Psych class is my favorite there is definitely something less enjoyable about teaching something on your own without the banter of the highs and lows of different things you try in class.
I have the same thought of "wow that is great, we are building something that allows students in each group to get a similar experience." when I see consistent feedback on our evals in MBS as well. Thanks for sharing!
Love this Elizabeth. Teaching is why we are in education in the first place, striving to create that connection with students and to share our desire to help them grow and develop. Of course we love our content, which is why I think it is so very cool that you are teaching an area of "non-expertise," but that also creates the opportunity to learn from the students and can put the teaching in their hands, the best way to learn. Every year in my Psych Realism class I am given new thoughts as students apply the psychological principles to novels in their own unique way….and I look forward to it every year knowing it will be time consuming, that I will feel that same fear that I am short-changing on aspect of my job, but that I will also love being with students in that setting.
You are absolutely right, they are NOT used to getting second chances… I have seniors so they may be less squirrelly but I find them delightful!
I totally get it… maybe even more for an AP?
all of these things! I know you get it because I love when you come out and tell us Psych Realism stories!
I have really enjoyed this experience as well. It's also frustrated the heck out of me. Either way, in a year where we are returning to the classroom along with everyone else (sort of) was an important thing to do to truly empathize with teachers and students.
so agreed… am I crazy to volunteer for Maternity leave AP Psych?
I'm glad that you and Jen are enjoying the experience. I don't think that the general public realizes how much thought, work and careful planning go into designing a good unit or lesson plan. I find myself thinking about my classes often and I think about questions such as, "how can I engage, and spark interest in my students in a way that reflects their diverse learning needs? How can I create a positive learning community in my classroom? What is the best way to give my students feed back and evaluate their work in a fair and equitable way? So much time, analysis, and work go into teaching that unless you are an educator or work in education it is doubtful that people realize the demands of the career.