(no subject)
I'm back home in H-Town now, after a fairly sucessful 5-week run as a Detroit Public Schools teacher. I know my explanations needed a bit more organizing - I need to take more time to lesson plan and think about what I'm going to do. But I think that may come with getting to teach social studies next year. I just feel like there's so much more I could DO with social studies, as opposed to Algebra. Even though I really do like solving equations - yes, I do realize I'm a huge nerd. Always have been, always will be :) And I need some work on my discipline...one kid even said I needed a backbone, because they apparently thought I let some of the students walk all over me. I did start to lose control a bit of first hour and second hour - some kids pushed me, and Mr. Garcia stepped in, which made me lose my role as an authority figure a bit. I think it would be easier if I didn't have to worry about a kid getting kicked out of school for the summer if I sent them down to the office or even sat them outside the room. But discipline is what every rookie teacher has problems with, so hopefully I'm starting to work the kinks out now so I'll be awesome my internship year. Mr. Garcia said he liked how organized I was, even though I think I could have been more organized.
This stint in Detroit did lead me to decide I could probably never be happy working for Detroit Public Schools. Simply because I do not like how the school district seems to be run; like any little problem could send the whole system crashing down. I was talking about this with my brother last weekend. In Holt, and maybe this is unique to Holt, maybe this is what it's like in all suburban schools, or maybe it's just common to good school districts, but it seems like we could undergo a major disaster, like losing an entire building, and everything would be adjusted to a new normal, and you wouldn't really be able to tell after a few days. It just seems like the administration has everything under control, that the teachers have everything under control, and that everyone is on the same page. It's a comforting feeling as a student in that kind of a situation. It makes it easier to concentrate on learning. In Detroit, on the other hand, the teachers and the administrators don't seem to work that well together sometimes, and that doesn't get hidden real well from the students. Their curriculum is so planned out that it doesn't leave any flexibility for planning from the teacher to integrate what would be useful to the current group of students. I've gotten the same kind of out-of-control feeling from the Lansing School District, but that was a middle school. I'm willing to, and want to, give Lansing a second chance at the high school level, because even though I like them, I realize that middle schoolers are nutty.
Now I have no idea where I'll wind up teaching for my career. I do know it will be a public school system, because I believe in public schools. But other than that, it just has to be a good fit, where I feel free to be myself, try new ideas, and be able to truly connect with my students. Just as in coaching, if your teaching philosophy doesn't match the school district's philosophy, it's just as well that you don't get hired, because if you do, you will never be happy there.
On a side note, I saw Cobb tonight at Riverwalk, and it was awesome. If you aren't doing anything tomorrow at 2pm, stop by and see it :)
This stint in Detroit did lead me to decide I could probably never be happy working for Detroit Public Schools. Simply because I do not like how the school district seems to be run; like any little problem could send the whole system crashing down. I was talking about this with my brother last weekend. In Holt, and maybe this is unique to Holt, maybe this is what it's like in all suburban schools, or maybe it's just common to good school districts, but it seems like we could undergo a major disaster, like losing an entire building, and everything would be adjusted to a new normal, and you wouldn't really be able to tell after a few days. It just seems like the administration has everything under control, that the teachers have everything under control, and that everyone is on the same page. It's a comforting feeling as a student in that kind of a situation. It makes it easier to concentrate on learning. In Detroit, on the other hand, the teachers and the administrators don't seem to work that well together sometimes, and that doesn't get hidden real well from the students. Their curriculum is so planned out that it doesn't leave any flexibility for planning from the teacher to integrate what would be useful to the current group of students. I've gotten the same kind of out-of-control feeling from the Lansing School District, but that was a middle school. I'm willing to, and want to, give Lansing a second chance at the high school level, because even though I like them, I realize that middle schoolers are nutty.
Now I have no idea where I'll wind up teaching for my career. I do know it will be a public school system, because I believe in public schools. But other than that, it just has to be a good fit, where I feel free to be myself, try new ideas, and be able to truly connect with my students. Just as in coaching, if your teaching philosophy doesn't match the school district's philosophy, it's just as well that you don't get hired, because if you do, you will never be happy there.
On a side note, I saw Cobb tonight at Riverwalk, and it was awesome. If you aren't doing anything tomorrow at 2pm, stop by and see it :)