What Teachers Make...

Yesterdat was payday. Woohoo! Now I can do all the things that accompany the 10th and 25th of each month. Bills get paid and all that other fun grown up stuff happens, but this isn’t about the money I make teaching school. Our business manager/payroll lady sent us all a forward, it’s a message called “What do teachers make” - I’ve seen it before but it was nice to get a warm, fuzzy message on payday.

It’s no surprise that teacher aren’t among the highest tax bracket. Paper put to pencil would likely discover that the hourly wage teachers make isn’t impressive either. However it’s not about the money to be made or the material riches to be amassed during one’s career. It’s about the love for our profession, the love for kids and the other little things that make teaching great.

So what do teachers make? (this is my take on things)

Teachers make kids behave. They might not be getting that attention and instruction at home. But we do our best to instill some common sense behavior, the little decencies most people take for granted, and the general courtesy that makes our world a nicer place to live.

Teachers make learning possible. We provide the knowledge, information and opportunities to learn and grow. Many of my students wouldn’t know some of the stuff they do if it wasn’t for school. Unfortunately not every kid comes from a home where learning is important so for many school’s the only place they get to experience these things.

Teachers make someone’s day. Every day teachers see kids come into the room who don’t have someone to tell them they are valued, loved and important. So many kids come from really crappy situations and school is the one place they can escape that.

The article sums up by saying teachers make a difference. That’s why they are teaching, that’s why I teach.

Not a babysitter –

Everyone has those hot button issues that get their blood boiling. For me one of those issues is viewing school as child care. This morning on the news I heard a report about how parents of one Albuquerque school were angry because the school wanted to change start times to accommodate students and deal with construction delays. In the past I have heard similar reports that parents are opposed to professional development or in-service days for teachers. All because it is inconvenient for them and they have no one to watch their kids, nothing to do with them for extended periods of time, no one to get them to and from school, and so forth.

This is where I want to scream – TEACHERS ARE NOT BABYSITTERS and SCHOOLS AREN’T FOR DAYCARE .

Okay, I am better now. Kinda.

But seriously teachers are college educated professionals. We are expected to teach a variety of subjects, make sure kids can perform to the educational standards mandated by law as well as maintain a classroom that is safe and productive. I honestly don’t believe that any teacher went to school to be considered a babysitter or child care professional. And it’s not that we do not care about our students, that we do not want them to safe and well cared for, but their well being is not our sole or primary concern.

Even though we often spend more time with them than their parents do, we are not their parents. However due to what I feel like is the breakdown of society, teachers are now expected to provide the social, behavioral and other training to help make kids productive members of society. Things that were once the job of the parent and took place in the home are now being given to the school and teachers. (I feel another blog idea coming on!) But seriously, who am I to impose my ideals and values on someone else’s kids?

Schools are NOT daycare. There are babysitters that make more than teachers. When the kids go home, the babysitters are off. Once a classroom clears, a teacher still has lesson plans to create, copies to make, papers to grade, grades to record, reports to file, and the list goes on.

I am not a parent, but I really don’t understand how or why the responsibility for childcare becomes a school issue. I cannot wrap my mind around that idea. But I am about to digress into a whole other can of worms so I will stop for now.

Playing Keep Up...

So I have kinda been a slacker in keeping up with my blog this past week. But I've been busy, lol. Haven't we all. But in reality the part of my job that is Ag Teaching/FFA Advising is just about to get real crazy. Ag/FFA are year round, it's not like coaching a sport in a specific season or advising a club that might have one or two big events each year, there is always something for an FFA Advisor to do.

I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with one of the best Ag Teachers in NM...I'll even say he's likely one of the very best in our nation. But together we have a pretty full plate when it comes to our FFA activities (just got another blogpost idea!)

Last week we started our Spring Semester contests with Parli Pro. Our kiddos competed at District in Carlsbad and it was a pretty good night. The Jr High Kids (my team) was 2nd in the Opening Ceremonies contest. The Greenhands (9th graders) were 3rd in the Greenhand contest and the Chapter (10th & up) were 3rd in their contest. All of them qualified for a State Contest.

The Greenhands and Chapter kids competed on MLK Day in Portales and we had a really good day. There are some highly competitive Parli Pro teams in NM and we were able to get 3rd in Greenhand and 5th in Chapter. A good real good showing in our opinion.

The little guys won't compete until February at the NM Leadership Conference in Albuquerque. That's when the majority of the Jr High Contests take place. NMLC (MFE back in the day) also has workshops for members put on by the State Officers. It's a very positive FFA experience and our kids really enjoy it.

I'm going to try to keep up better this week! Until next time...

In my next life...

I am going to be an educational consultant. There are many of these people out and about in the world of education. Some are former teachers, former administrators, former professors -- I think the key word here is FORMER. They make lots and lots of money to go into schools with a silver bullet to fix all the problems related to AYP, underachievement, etc. They have the ability to come into a classroom and give you all the strategies you will need to be successful. But they don't know you, they don't know your situation and they dang sure don't know your kids.

Today I had the distinct privilege of being visited by a literacy specialist. I am very thankful that my school wants me to be a better teacher. I appreciate the fact that I am able to learn from experiences and ideas of others. However, today was just not the day for all that. I was gone from school yesterday. I expected to spend my prep time catching up on what happened yesterday -- look over the papers the kids did, read the note from my sub (if she'd left one) and get ready for the day. Oh no, that didn't happen.

Thankfully a colleague let me know that I was on the "list" for a visit and so I was ready. I was in the middle of writing a little vocab quiz (22 words) when the charming lady came in. She stopped what I was doing....very, very long story short...I found my quiz abandoned and being told to watch her do her thing, and take notes so I could do the same thing in my next class. So after an hour of watching her treat my kids like 3rd graders and have them echo and do read-alongs I felt like I was back in college and visiting some type of Elementary school classroom.

My kiddos and I survived it. I maintained my composure when she basically questioned my teaching ability and knowledge. Thank goodness she didn't take a dry erase marker out of my hand like she did one of my colleagues (that would have gone over badly). It was remotely humorous when I tried my hand at the strategies she wanted me to use...I think my kids were tempted to see if I had a fever or it my Orthodontist scrambled my brain.

Her style of teaching is good. I am sure that it is well researched and data driven. Goodness knows her snazzy website means she is more than capable of doing a great job. But that is NOT me. I like my students to be independent and autonomous. I think challenging work is good. Not everyone is going to pass or get it all the time. No Child Left Behind sounds nice, but if you know anything it's not very practical.

Playing Hooky

I am not really skipping school. I took a sick day so I can make the journey to Clovis to see my orthodontists. It's ridiculous that at 29, I miss school to get my braces worked on. I've had these dumb things in my mouth since a week after graduating from college with my Bachelor's degree. I am so over them. But I can thank myself for being less than diligent about wearing my rubberbands and then my teaching job has made it hard to go as often as they like to see you. However I am hoping that today we start the process to getting these things off. I knew going into it that braces would only be able to fix so much, and surgical intervention is not an option I'm willing to take, so at some point progress will stop. At nearly 5 years into this, I am done. Hopefully the Drs agree.

On a separate note, I HATE missing school. I mean the actual having a day off every now and again is nice. It is refreshing. However, the work that it takes to get ready to miss school is ridiculous. It's easier just to be there. Then there's the worry of what is going to happen while you are gone. I have been lucky to have some good subs and kids that can behave, but everyone has those days. Missing a day here and there isn't a big, big deal but I have missed up a week at a time for FFA stuff and those are the time that really take major prep. It takes lots of copies and elaborate planning to make sure there is enough work to do. Occassionally I don't have it all together and leave a film (films are educational, but movies are entertaining) but that can be a mistake.

I will enjoy my trip to Clovis. I will probably visit Dillards and I get to see my fabulous hair lady. But I am not excited about the drive. Oh well going anywhere in NM requires a drive.

I'm a copy cat...

In the world of teaching, it is commonly accepted that you beg, borrow and steal the best ideas. Today's blog post is no different. I am taking an idea from my friend Tiffany's blog (which is a fantastic read by the way) and writing about the past ten years. It's hard for me to think about the fact that I've already taught for 5 years, but here's what the past 10 years of my life have looked like.

2000 -- the year I graduated from high school. That summer I unsuccessfully ran for State FFA Office. Decided to attend Eastern and competed in the National Extemp contest. I also had my first Collegiate FFA trip which was NOTHING like the other Ag trips I had ever been on.

2001 -- I completed my first year of college that Spring and decided to run for State FFA President. I also "dropped out" of college and lost my Lottery Scholarship and several others that were making college possible. However, the experiences and relationships I made that year were well worth it.

2002 -- I finished my year of being State President and after travelling about 10,000 miles a visiting almost every school in NM with an FFA chapter, I still wanted to be an Ag teacher! lol. I also ran for National FFA Office (and lost) but saw a new side of the organization I love so very much. I turned 21 while at National Convention that year and was back in college at Eastern.

2003 -- After not being elected to a National FFA Office, I was appointed to serve on the National FFA Alumni Council. That was an incredible experience. I learned a lot about people and how they can work together for something they love. I was alo the Outstanding Sophomore in Agriculture that year at ENMU and started my experiences with Student Government.

2004 -- For some reason I have trouble recalling the important events and things of this year. I was elected to serve as Student Body Vice President that Spring.
I do remember that my Grandpa passed away 2 days after my 23rd birthday and that I was busy with college and ASENMU stuff, but other than that I don't remember all of it.

2005 -- I was nearing the end of my college career. I was working hard to get ready to student teach. My student teaching semester was the Fall '05 and was in Elida. I had a great time working with Mr. Savage and made some of the most important decisions of my career there.

2006 -- This was the year I was officially "grown up". Chase and I graduated with our Bachelors degrees the day before Mother's Day. I spent most of the Spring subbing in Dora and Elida...those were some adventuresome days. But I also took my first teaching job in Elida as the Home Ec/History teacher.

2007 -- I taught school and learned A LOT. We qualified an FCCLA Parli. Pro team for Nationals in Anaheim, CA. That was a fun trip with a great bunch of kiddos.

2008 -- I resigned my position in June from Elida and took a job in Hagerman. I moved to Roswell. Some of my responsibilities changed, I was now just a History teacher and taught 2 Jr High electives called "Journalism". I was also the Student Council and Jr Class Sponsor.

2009 -- Coached my first State Champion Judging Team! It was the first time Hagerman ever had a Dairy Foods team and we managed to get first. Sadly 3 of my 4 kids moved away and we didn't get to compete at Nationals. But the remaining student and I went to the National Convention and we had a great time. I got more involved with FFA and became a co-advisor to the chapter.

2010 -- Over the summer, my peers in the NM Ag Education Teacher Association (NMAETA) selected me to the be the Rookie Ag Teacher of the Year, which was really cool. Chase was Young Ag Teacher of the Year. A pretty special summer for our family. When school started up in the fall, I was no longer the Student Council sponsor but instead took on the role of being more involved with FFA. We started a full fledged Jr High Ag program and now have over 100 members in our FFA chapter. In December I completed my Masters degree in Secondary Education...whew that was a long, hard battle but so worth it!


Looking back there are a few things I might do differently, but for the most part I think that things happen a certain way for a reason. Not getting elected to State Office the first time I ran opened opportunities for me in other places and let me appreciate my year as State President that much more. Attending Eastern allowed me to make friends and have experiences I might not have otherwise. It's funny to see how much I have changed, what I thought I knew at 19 and what I've learned at 29. However, if I had to take just one lesson away from this is that lifelong learning is important. To be a good teacher I have to keep on learning new things.

2011 Goals

This semester in an effort to keep my sanity and be more productive I came up with a list of goals that I am going to work toward while I am at school each day. Hopefully in sharing this goals I will hold myself more accountable and be successful. Here's the list I came up with the other day during inservice --

1. Keep Up With Grading -- Grading papers is probably the teaching chore that I HATE the most. I am not sure why I have such an adversion to this, but I think it has something to do with sitting down and focusing just on that task. However I realize this is a very important part of my job and one that keeps everyone happy if it is done promptly and frequently. Plus, I refuse to take papers home to grade. Call me crazy and I know that I ask the kids to take homework home to do, but really I do not want to spend my time at home doing that. So this semester I am going to try to grade everything at school in a timely manner. Along with this goal comes the task of having to stay strict with deadlines, not accepting late work, etc (ideas to address in another blog)

2. Keep My Classroom Straightened Up -- Another thing that I am not sure why this is an issue or challenge for me, but really I think part of it relates to the fact that I am a "saver". Don't worry I won't be on Hoarders anytime soon, but I like to keep copies of things, especially worksheets and papers that I create myself. This has proven helpful to me especially since my first school laptop had the untimely death on the first day of school and I lost tons of stuff. I haven't had time to throughly clean my room yet, but hopefully I will tackle this project and some organizing in the near, near future.

3. Better Classroom Management -- One of the greatest challenges in teaching comes from trying to keep everyone in line and doing what they are supposed to do. I have been fortunate enough to teach in two districts with very, very minimal discipline and behavior issues. Most things we deal with can be categorized as typical kid mischeviousness or silly drama. We are lucky like that. However as a teacher, I think that one of my areas of greatest growth can come in the realm of dealing with my kids, keeping my classroom productive, etc.

There are other things that I want to work on this semester that I think will positively impact my teaching, however these 3 goals are my top priority. I'll try to let you know how things are going as the semester progresses.

The Start of Something New..

So after spending some time reading a friend's blog, I've decided to be a bit adventourous and try something new. I hope I have to creativity and self-discipline to write about the experiences I have in the process of a day of teaching. I will probably start off with daily recaps and recounts of the funny things that happen each day, the randomness that somehow finds it's way into my life and the frantic pace that comes with trying to teach both History and Ag.

The title of my blog is kind of explained in the header, but I am sure that I will find myself writing about how it those things come into play. I got the title from a conversation I found myself having with an old high school friend, he called me a "Scholar of Young Minds". I am still not 100% sure what he meant, but I'm quite certain that I learn from my kids everyday. The lessons run the gamut and sometimes it takes a couple of days for the lessons to sink in.

I hope this ends up being something people want to read. I'll try to be interesting! Thanks!