the scariest part of teaching...
Teaching itself is going great, actually, despite the subject line. I really love 5th & 6th grade. I have a wonderful faculty mentor, who teaches the rest of the 5th & 6th graders. He's old, but very youthful and sharp-minded, has a blunt and hilarious sense of humor, and is really the sweetest man ever. He never taught me, but I've known him since he began teaching at the lower school when I was in the high school. As for my students, they're wonderful too. There are those particular students (just 2 or 3) who may be grammar proof and will just never get any language. Even so, those kids are really sweet. The majority of them, though, I think are just total geniuses. They constantly surprise and impress me. They make me want to stay on for the next school year.
My responsibilities with the Middle School, though, are a little less enjoyable sometimes. 7th & 8th graders are much more moody, demanding and full of baditude. Tough to deal with on a day-to-day basis when I don't really know most of them through any class, but still have to make sure they're behaving in the halls, at lunch, and at chapel. Soon tutorials are going to start,
We're now halfway through the first trimester (we do trimesters to line up with the sports seasons... just easier that way), so progress reports came this past week (like midterm grades) and one of my main Middle School responsibilities is about to begin on Monday after school: tutorials. These are 5 days/week intensive study halls for students making below a C in any class. The more classes they have a D or below in, the more days/week we work with them. A few are kids who just don't get the material, or didn't realize that yes, there are tests in Theology or Health, even though you only take them in 12-week rotations, and yes, you have to study. But most of the kids will be the lazy ones who just don't care about doing homework or studying for tests. I will run these, helping kids to understand math or science the best I can, or quizzing them, or just making sure they get homework done, with the other intern (incidentally a girl from my graduating high school class who attended the school all 12 years like me). We began drawing up the schedule when progress reports were submitted on Wednesday afternoon. We try to work around their sports schedules, if they play school sports, but just the scheduling is a task. Then we have to call the parents (who are supposed to already know it's coming from talking to the teachers of the particular class(es) where they're struggling) and tell them which days their children will be staying after school. There's a certain amount of flexibility, but the last thing we want is to have all 22 kids on Monday afternoon. The only alternative option is for the parents to hire a private tutor to work with the kid for the same number of hours/week that we would be working after school otherwise. Then they don't have to come after school. It's quite a task, and I really dread it starting. I have to call 7 of the 22 tomorrow... we split it up between me, the other intern, and the faculty member overseeing the whole operation.
So far, though, I've decided the scariest part of working at a school (especially a private school) is not the kids, but the parents. This fear became warranted Friday when I sat in on the parent-adviser conferences for the students in my "co-advisory." I'm a co-adviser with a more experienced adviser. Of course, she does a lot more of the work for our nine 7th-grade girls' well-being, but I'm there to learn and as back-up since she also functions as the Dean of Students and school counselor. Most of the conferences went great because we have a great group of girls. Then just before lunch things turned bad when we met with the one and only advisee who is failing Theology for God-knows-what reason, even though she has straight As otherwise. Guess she just thought it was a blow-off class. I went into the conference having just finalized a tentative schedule of all the tutorials, and thinking that this is handy that I can get one "tutorial phone call" out of the way in person... much easier because we can discuss options face-to-face.
At first the four of us (the student, the mother, the other co-adviser and me) discussed her wonderful grades in her core classes. When we got to the theology report, I brought up the tutorials thing, mentioned that it's school policy that the student either attend tutorials or get a private tutor, just as the policy is written in the school handbook, which the parents and students were required to read during the first week of school and return a signed form saying that they had. Nonetheless, the mother got extremely upset at this idea, saying something about how she thought that tutorials were for "bad kids," despite my assurances that it's not detention, but an opportunity for students to bring up bad grades aided by me or the other intern. And despite my assurances that the schedule is somewhat flexible, especially if she was willing to pull the daughter out of volleyball practice once a week, she was all up-in-arms about how busy she and her husband work. She said things like, "I can't believe there's just no flexibility..." This, despite my willingness to make adjustments.
It then got worse, "As a consumer," (i.e. paying tuition) "I think I should have more control over this. Who do I need to talk to about changing this obviously faulty policy? The head of the middle school?"
I responded, "Yes, he's the person to take up grievances with, but this has been a standing school policy for a number of years, and I think we can work this out..."
She retorted with, "Oh, so it's school policy, so I need to talk to the head of the entire school?"
FUCK NO, I thought, the Head of School has nothing to do with this insignificant shit!
She then began to vent about her personal situation... "I know that some families at this school only one or neither parent works full time, and they can drive their kids wherever at anytime, but my husband and I both work full time and we have two at this school with different schedules, and this is just going to be a hardship... This is why we had to hire a person to help us."
This struck a nerve with me, considering my own parents' sacrifices as full-time employees and their ability to get all five of us kids (before I could drive) and now the other four to all the places where they need to go... and all without any extra help (other than what I could offer) after the kids turned 11 when our last nanny graduated college and moved away. If this woman had continued along this vein and pushed one more of my personal buttons about her scheduling "hardships" I probably would have lost it. Luckily she stopped after seeing the shocked looks on both mine and the co-adviser's faces.
She finally said, "I'm just frustrated that we've hired this tutor to work with the two kids on weeknights on their homework..." As soon as she said this I wanted to shake her like you're not supposed to shake a baby.
"If she already has a tutor," I said, "she doesn't have to be in tutorials after school. All I need is the tutor's name and contact to follow up on her progress." We could have avoided the 10-minute barrage of verbal abuse if she had opened her fucking ears and heard me initially say, "The student must either go to tutorials or have a private tutor for the same number of hours per week to help them bring up the grade..." I just think she wanted someone upon whom she could unload all her frustration that one of her perfect little angels was failing a class. Lucky me.
When the conference was over, and we had finished talking about the rest of her daughter's classes, we cordially said goodbye (in my mind, it was more of a "Go-fuck-yourself with a rake"). I gave a look of sympathy to her precious daughter who had to sit through it all (can you imagine?). And my co-adviser and I thankfully had our lunch break where we discussed what the fuck had just happened. I was on the verge of tears for a few minutes as I recovered. She mentioned how she probably would have lost it and broken down in tears if she had been in my position. I told her that I probably would have too if she hadn't been right there. Even though she didn't say anything during the whole conflict, since it wasn't really her place with me as the tutorials person, I was steadfast thanks to her presence. It was weird because up until that point I hadn't really liked her all that much. I didn't dislike her, I just didn't like her either. Now that we've been dragged through what felt like Scylla and Charybdis together, I feel a little closer to her. I also feel a little more prepared for the tutorials phone calls I must make tomorrow.
On the brightside, I really enjoy all of my colleagues. Even the ones who were once my own teachers and whom I was afraid would not accept me as a true member of the faculty, are just wonderful and are always asking how everything is going. We have "faculty wellness club" meetings every other Friday afternoon at a local bar for happy hour, which are always fun because we basically just gossip about the students. It's sort of weird to think that this probably once happened when I was a student... but it's amusing nonetheless. There are also many more "young" people on the faculty than when I was a student and even of those who aren't young in age, many are young at heart and appreciate a well-deserved margarita. ;)
So generally things are going well. I don't think I ever realized just how much time and effort teachers put into their work. But I certainly appreciate it now. I have also been partaking in a mandatory week-night 10-10:30 bedtime which has so far been well-needed.
As for the distant future... I still like the idea of grad school for MA in Classics... Wash U has a program, don't know how good it is, but I'm considering that. Probably need to get on the application wagon pretty soon, but I need to get more serious about it in my head too. Moving up to St. Louis would of course introduce a lot of logistical issues that would need solving, and right now life's just very comfortable (except for the occasional teenage-angst-induced family feud at home... you know how it goes).
My responsibilities with the Middle School, though, are a little less enjoyable sometimes. 7th & 8th graders are much more moody, demanding and full of baditude. Tough to deal with on a day-to-day basis when I don't really know most of them through any class, but still have to make sure they're behaving in the halls, at lunch, and at chapel. Soon tutorials are going to start,
We're now halfway through the first trimester (we do trimesters to line up with the sports seasons... just easier that way), so progress reports came this past week (like midterm grades) and one of my main Middle School responsibilities is about to begin on Monday after school: tutorials. These are 5 days/week intensive study halls for students making below a C in any class. The more classes they have a D or below in, the more days/week we work with them. A few are kids who just don't get the material, or didn't realize that yes, there are tests in Theology or Health, even though you only take them in 12-week rotations, and yes, you have to study. But most of the kids will be the lazy ones who just don't care about doing homework or studying for tests. I will run these, helping kids to understand math or science the best I can, or quizzing them, or just making sure they get homework done, with the other intern (incidentally a girl from my graduating high school class who attended the school all 12 years like me). We began drawing up the schedule when progress reports were submitted on Wednesday afternoon. We try to work around their sports schedules, if they play school sports, but just the scheduling is a task. Then we have to call the parents (who are supposed to already know it's coming from talking to the teachers of the particular class(es) where they're struggling) and tell them which days their children will be staying after school. There's a certain amount of flexibility, but the last thing we want is to have all 22 kids on Monday afternoon. The only alternative option is for the parents to hire a private tutor to work with the kid for the same number of hours/week that we would be working after school otherwise. Then they don't have to come after school. It's quite a task, and I really dread it starting. I have to call 7 of the 22 tomorrow... we split it up between me, the other intern, and the faculty member overseeing the whole operation.
So far, though, I've decided the scariest part of working at a school (especially a private school) is not the kids, but the parents. This fear became warranted Friday when I sat in on the parent-adviser conferences for the students in my "co-advisory." I'm a co-adviser with a more experienced adviser. Of course, she does a lot more of the work for our nine 7th-grade girls' well-being, but I'm there to learn and as back-up since she also functions as the Dean of Students and school counselor. Most of the conferences went great because we have a great group of girls. Then just before lunch things turned bad when we met with the one and only advisee who is failing Theology for God-knows-what reason, even though she has straight As otherwise. Guess she just thought it was a blow-off class. I went into the conference having just finalized a tentative schedule of all the tutorials, and thinking that this is handy that I can get one "tutorial phone call" out of the way in person... much easier because we can discuss options face-to-face.
At first the four of us (the student, the mother, the other co-adviser and me) discussed her wonderful grades in her core classes. When we got to the theology report, I brought up the tutorials thing, mentioned that it's school policy that the student either attend tutorials or get a private tutor, just as the policy is written in the school handbook, which the parents and students were required to read during the first week of school and return a signed form saying that they had. Nonetheless, the mother got extremely upset at this idea, saying something about how she thought that tutorials were for "bad kids," despite my assurances that it's not detention, but an opportunity for students to bring up bad grades aided by me or the other intern. And despite my assurances that the schedule is somewhat flexible, especially if she was willing to pull the daughter out of volleyball practice once a week, she was all up-in-arms about how busy she and her husband work. She said things like, "I can't believe there's just no flexibility..." This, despite my willingness to make adjustments.
It then got worse, "As a consumer," (i.e. paying tuition) "I think I should have more control over this. Who do I need to talk to about changing this obviously faulty policy? The head of the middle school?"
I responded, "Yes, he's the person to take up grievances with, but this has been a standing school policy for a number of years, and I think we can work this out..."
She retorted with, "Oh, so it's school policy, so I need to talk to the head of the entire school?"
FUCK NO, I thought, the Head of School has nothing to do with this insignificant shit!
She then began to vent about her personal situation... "I know that some families at this school only one or neither parent works full time, and they can drive their kids wherever at anytime, but my husband and I both work full time and we have two at this school with different schedules, and this is just going to be a hardship... This is why we had to hire a person to help us."
This struck a nerve with me, considering my own parents' sacrifices as full-time employees and their ability to get all five of us kids (before I could drive) and now the other four to all the places where they need to go... and all without any extra help (other than what I could offer) after the kids turned 11 when our last nanny graduated college and moved away. If this woman had continued along this vein and pushed one more of my personal buttons about her scheduling "hardships" I probably would have lost it. Luckily she stopped after seeing the shocked looks on both mine and the co-adviser's faces.
She finally said, "I'm just frustrated that we've hired this tutor to work with the two kids on weeknights on their homework..." As soon as she said this I wanted to shake her like you're not supposed to shake a baby.
"If she already has a tutor," I said, "she doesn't have to be in tutorials after school. All I need is the tutor's name and contact to follow up on her progress." We could have avoided the 10-minute barrage of verbal abuse if she had opened her fucking ears and heard me initially say, "The student must either go to tutorials or have a private tutor for the same number of hours per week to help them bring up the grade..." I just think she wanted someone upon whom she could unload all her frustration that one of her perfect little angels was failing a class. Lucky me.
When the conference was over, and we had finished talking about the rest of her daughter's classes, we cordially said goodbye (in my mind, it was more of a "Go-fuck-yourself with a rake"). I gave a look of sympathy to her precious daughter who had to sit through it all (can you imagine?). And my co-adviser and I thankfully had our lunch break where we discussed what the fuck had just happened. I was on the verge of tears for a few minutes as I recovered. She mentioned how she probably would have lost it and broken down in tears if she had been in my position. I told her that I probably would have too if she hadn't been right there. Even though she didn't say anything during the whole conflict, since it wasn't really her place with me as the tutorials person, I was steadfast thanks to her presence. It was weird because up until that point I hadn't really liked her all that much. I didn't dislike her, I just didn't like her either. Now that we've been dragged through what felt like Scylla and Charybdis together, I feel a little closer to her. I also feel a little more prepared for the tutorials phone calls I must make tomorrow.
On the brightside, I really enjoy all of my colleagues. Even the ones who were once my own teachers and whom I was afraid would not accept me as a true member of the faculty, are just wonderful and are always asking how everything is going. We have "faculty wellness club" meetings every other Friday afternoon at a local bar for happy hour, which are always fun because we basically just gossip about the students. It's sort of weird to think that this probably once happened when I was a student... but it's amusing nonetheless. There are also many more "young" people on the faculty than when I was a student and even of those who aren't young in age, many are young at heart and appreciate a well-deserved margarita. ;)
So generally things are going well. I don't think I ever realized just how much time and effort teachers put into their work. But I certainly appreciate it now. I have also been partaking in a mandatory week-night 10-10:30 bedtime which has so far been well-needed.
As for the distant future... I still like the idea of grad school for MA in Classics... Wash U has a program, don't know how good it is, but I'm considering that. Probably need to get on the application wagon pretty soon, but I need to get more serious about it in my head too. Moving up to St. Louis would of course introduce a lot of logistical issues that would need solving, and right now life's just very comfortable (except for the occasional teenage-angst-induced family feud at home... you know how it goes).