Musings from a Pre-Teacher [Part 2]

J and I were talking last night about incredibly stressful our year has been (school year, that is).  However, it is really, really, really good stress.  We are both following our professional passions and fulfilling our educational drives.  What's especially nice is while we are in different disciplines (education and creative writing), they are inherently interconnected and we find plenty of things to talk about.  It's nice to have someone who is equally as interested in talking for hours about what we are spending most of our time talking about, but who is also outside of our own school.  So thank you, J, for helping me to grow in my education.  I hope I'm doing the same!

I'm discovering so much about myself during this process.  I am putting more into my education than I have my entire life and I am essentially re-learning everything I ever learned.  Broad and huge?  Yup.  It's an unbelievable challenge.  I'm re-learning math.  I'm re-learning how I conceptualize reading and writing.  I'm re-learning what it's like to be a child in the public school system.

I truly believe that if the education system was truly, and I mean TRULY reformed, a large portion of our societal and cultural problems/issues would begin to dissipate.  However, I have also started to realize that living in a capitalistic and democratic society, particularly this one, means we will always have people living in a "lower class."  The basic building blocks of who we are as a country means that we will always have people living in poverty.  However, this viewpoint also points out the inherent inequality within our structure.  The people living in poverty and in this so-called "lower class"  (not a term I like very much) mostly consist of people from a minority race/culture/ethnicity and those living in affluence and in the "higher class" are of the majority Caucasian.  There is, and always will be, exceptions and this is not a rule by any means.  But it is something we should all be aware of and something that should continue to be investigated and challenged.

This is where I am at.  I suddenly and vehemently feel a call to social justice like I have never felt before.  I come from a long line of extremely active citizens fighting for their neighbors and for equality.  I feel like right now I am preparing myself to join this legion of extraordinary human beings, trying to make whatever tiny difference I can make.

I want to be an advocate for education.  I have zero interest in becoming a politician, but I want to be someone who is well-versed in educational policy and can inform policy makers and politicians from a teacher's perspective.  I don't even know if that exists, but I hope there's some form of it.

I had a revelation the other day while I was writing my "Cultural Autobiography" for a class.  I feel like (and please forgive whatever Velveeta cheese this conjure up for you) I am continuing my Granddaddy's ministry.  While it is not religious in nature, I am going to do whatever I can for my students to help them think critically, question the roles prescribed to them by society, and always, always want to learn more.  I want to do my teency little part to decrease the achievement gap in education.  I want to be a damn good teacher. 

A new movement in teaching?

This makes me hopeful.

Musings from a Pre-Teacher [Part 1]

It has begun.  My new professional journey.

This semester's classes:

• Language and Mathematics Literacy in the Early Grades (includes Field Work at IPS 46)
• Diversity and Learning:  Teaching Every Child (includes Field Work at IPS 46)
• Psycholinguistics for Teachers of Reading

 Part-Time Job:

• America Reads*America Counts (IPS 63)
• Tutoring in reading and math for children in elementary school. 

This semester has already proven itself to be the toughest academic beast of a semester I have ever experienced.  The main reason is the sudden and voracious dedication I feel for this profession.  I have fallen in love, completely, with the field of education and the thought of teaching.  I say the "thought of" teaching because I have not done that yet.  Sure I have helped children with their education but never truly taught them in a formal setting, with all the tremendous pressures and challenges that a teacher faces on a moment-to-moment basis.

The beginning of this teaching program contains self-reflection and self-analyzing and within a mere two weeks my mind has opened up to entirely new ways of thinking about the world, about myself, about my community, about my family, about my past education.  Because of these revelations, I often subject my loving husband (squee!) to my "A-HA!" moments.  He patiently listens to my ramblings about a chapter I just read explaining a method of teaching 5-year-olds how to become an effective problem solver.  Lucky for me, I married a fellow educator and since we are both in school it is our current geek-out subject of choice.  At some point in our conversation J mentioned the idea of writing some of this stuff down so I don't forget it.

[cut to present day]

Here's what I'd like to focus on for this post:  future challenges.  I believe at this point in my education, I foresee these things as being my biggest hurdles to overcome as a teacher.  I have definitely accepted the fact that I am going in to an institution that is fundamentally broken, a job that is frequently thankless and most definitely low paying, a career that is both fundamental to the basic survival of our democratic, capitalistic, and competitive society as well as the among the least respected and most scrutinized career we have... 

...so yeah, besides that, here are some things I've been thinking about:

• I need to be mindful of my soapboxes.  I already have a lot of them and I have a tendency to get animated and intense on ALL of them, rather than saving fervor for the day I am truly educated about them.  For goodness sake, I've been in school for 2 weeks.  Education can be an emotional and frequently polarizing field and I need to wait and pick my battles until I learn the other side of the coin.  That is, the side where I am an actual, certified, working teacher.  
• Sensitivity to the topic of Special Education.  Don't get me wrong, I think my sensitivity to the topic is one thing that will ultimately improve my abilities as a teacher and I know that I will always have a level of comfort and ease around children with disabilities that my colleagues will not always have.  But my sensitivity to it can also lead to losing patience with ableist attitudes.  Most of the time it is merely lack of education and exposure (which can both be helped) that causes ableism.

I could go on.  Really.  For a really, really, really long time.  But I'm exhausted.  Please do not mistake my critical thoughts and opinions for negativity.  On the contrary, I want to be proud of the work I do in school and to believe I am truly doing my best to be prepared (or as close to it as possible) as a future educator.  And I think a big part of this process is critically thinking about essentially everything I currently know and understand...not to be dramatic or anything.

So yeah.  About that sleeping idea...

Death by Story Problems

I'm taking Math for Elementary Majors, a requirement to get into the Transition to Teaching program at IUPUI. I have actually been looking forward to it because I've always enjoyed math. I like stretching those brain muscles. I felt the same way about music theory.

However, I was slapped upside the head by the math gods (demons?) when I realized that an enormous chunk of math for children in elementary is...DUHN DUHN DUHN...story problems.

It's hard to describe my hatred of story problems. I know I need to change my attitude, and I'm working on it. Luckily I have a very patient fiance who is not only good at story problems, he's also a teacher. Hopefully I won't drive him too crazy this semester.

Gettin' down to brass tax

Lots going on, little time to get it all done. Luckily all good stuff!

Wedding

• 121 days! Hooray! And eek!
• Dress: to be picked up very soon.
• Excitement: at an all-time high!
• Stress? nah, never heard of it.

School

• Classes: (Math for Elementary Majors, Introduction to Scientific Inquiry, Introduction to the English Language) So far, so good! The second class has not met yet, the instructor has been very sick. Talk about bad timing! It's going to be a challenging semester but doable.
• Actual Transition to Teaching program: application is due early February. Fingers crossed!
• The State of Education address: teacher licensing changes, Indiana Growth Model, civil rights issues in Indiana schools, Indiana's first Education Reform Cabinet, and potential teacher merit pay. Some interesting ideas, time will tell.

Crafts

• Cross stitch: my first experience with waste cloth. I'll definitely be doing it again, I learned a lot and there's a lot of potential for really neat projects
• Sewing: A friend of mine and I will be taking sewing lessons (at some point) and I'm getting really excited! I still need to own an actual sewing machine, I guess that's step 1. I hope to do some house projects like curtains, pillowcases and tablecloths. Simple stuff to start out. Then move onto sun dresses and other fun and challenging projects.

Pets

• Stinky and ornery
• Happy and healthy
• Oh, and it turns out walking your dogs is a good thing. Who knew?

Happy Wednesday to all!