Yukon Chatter Bug

My second year of teaching is well under way, and what a relief it’s been that the learning curve isn’t as steep as last year. I still feel scattered and overwhelmed, but having a year under my belt makes for a much reduced stress level.

For one, I already knew most of my students before the first school bell rang. A huge advantage I have over a regular classroom teacher is that I get to teach my students year after year, so I see them grow in their knowledge and blossom in their language skills. The drawback is that I only get to see them a short period each day, so building rapport is tougher; I don’t get to know them as well as their homeroom teacher.

I’m also familiar with the school’s routines, staff, and layout, which makes navigating the system much smoother. I’m still getting hit by information overload but of a different kind, and I can actually assimilate more of what I’m receiving.

The curriculum is not all new, and I’m starting to get a better feel for what students at different grade levels should be able to do. I know I missed plenty last year and probably will again this year. Things will eventually fall into place…thank God.

Teaching is such a complicated job, and those not in the business really have no clue what it’s all about. They only see the visible part of teaching: students working in class; lessons being taught; workbooks being filled. They don’t see the hours (outside of 8-4) of preparation and marking. There is more that goes on behind the scenes than what is visible. Kind of like the old analogy of a duck looking calm on the surface but paddling like hell underwater.

I’m feeling good about this new venture, which is more than I could say this time last year. Things are getting better.

Well, it’s just about done. Primary students finished last Friday, while secondary students are writing final exams. This year-end winding down offers time to reflect on this past year.

As most of you know, this was my first year of teaching. It had its many challenges, but right there along with these were many successes.

It took a while four months for me to finally feel like I was getting somewhere with one of my primary classes. Some of them hated, hated, hated English. They would have nothing to do with it. Every time I spent time trying to plan a new, fun activity, all I got were sighs and eyes rolling.

Around the half-way point in the year, something just clicked. I haven’t put my finger on it yet, but suddenly they seemed more willing to try new things and get to work. I couldn’t give them enough work; they literally begged for more. They ended the year with a read-aloud of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which they ate up, and I ended the year with a feeling of having succeeded, if nothing else, at getting this keen group of kids motivated in English class.

One of my secondary classes spent a very busy year socializing, getting involved in sports, and socializing some more. Of course, this is what life’s all about at fourteen. When overdue assignments weren’t coming in, I felt like a witch having to put my foot down and threaten to dock some marks. It’s all part of my learning curve too, I’m well aware. Trying to get them to write even a little was like pulling teeth.

At the very end of the year, however, they completely blew me away. They wrote beautiful narratives and essays linked to a class trip, and their stories brought tears to my eyes. The tears had nothing to do with the writing itself, but with the realization of how much they learned about real life on this trip.

I was told by an experienced teacher:

A seasoned teacher gave me advice in my first year of teaching.  She said that in your first year you tend to concentrate on  yourself.  That’s ok.  Do what you need to do to survive.
The second year you concentrate on curriculum. That’s ok.  Do what you need to do to learn where you’re expected to take your students.
By the third year you can then concentrate on the students.  Your students become more real to you; then you can invest in their lives and try to meet needs.

Here’s to surviving my first year!

While attending this year’s Yukon College Convocation ceremony, I was reminded of a little mishap when I attended my own ceremony last year. My mother-in-law, who sent me this clipping, also has a good sense of humour. Unfortunately it took me a year to post it:

Tantalus School, Carmacks, Yukon

In trying to reach my goal of losing 30lbs before my 40th birthday, I joined Weight Watchers and increased the amount of physical activity I do. One of those activities costs nothing, needs no specialized equipment, and can be done anywhere: jogging.

The school in Carmacks hosts the annual Tantalus Ridge Run, and other Yukon schools are invited to take part. There’s a 3k portion for the younger ones and a 5k for the older kids.

The two wonderful teachers in grade 7/8 at our school invited me along with their class to join them in the run. Because I was always busy teaching while groups of kids trained for the run, it was up to me to train on my own time.

I didn’t expect to run the whole race since I hadn’t quite worked myself up to 5k’s by today, the day of the run. But I got three girls in my truck, and while they took care of the tunes, I sipped my coffee and bopped along with them as we drove the North Klondike Highway two hours north, stopping to gawk at members of the Braeburn Elk Herd basking on a hillside along the way. (I love the Yukon!)

It was sweltering hot, but my water bottle kept me hydrated as I started off after the starting signal. The race started on a wooden boardwalk along the Yukon River, then edged its way left on a refreshing trail in the woods where not all the snow had melted yet. The coolness was a welcome sensation halfway through the run. (Another reason to love the Yukon!) Then came the ridge with the hot sun beating down on us. That was the hard part. While someone offered water about halfway, the sun offered my first sunburn of the year.

I’m proud to say that I managed to run the whole race (except for a short hill that was so slippery with mud that I had to hold on to trees to keep from sliding back down).

The most exhilirating part, of course, was near the end hearing my name shouted as I ran across the water-logged lawn to the finish line. I don’t know what my time was, nor do I care. I’m happy I did it! YEAH! The great people of Carmacks had water jugs full and huge bowls of orange wedges waiting for runners finishing the race.

Oh, and did I tell you I’m down 20 lbs?

Now that I’m about halfway through my first year of teaching, people constantly ask, “How’s your first year going?…How’s teaching?…How are you liking it?” Actually, they’ve been asking since the beginning of the year.

Enough already!

The answer to all those questions depend on what kind of week I’m having. As you have seen on a previous post, the first year of teaching is like a roller-coaster ride. There are moments of exhilaration, but there are many, many moments of despair, discouragement, and, well, insert any negative word here: ___________.

I don’t mean to sound negative, but teaching is not an easy task, and it’s definitely not what most people think it is. So, since I’m only in my first year, I figure I should at least have a couple more years of experience before I can answer the questions, “How’s teaching? How are you liking it?”

For now, all I can say is that it’s not at all what people think it is, and it’s not at all what I thought it would be. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, and it doesn’t mean I hate it. I just need to get through the initial learning curve so that my opinion of teaching is not influenced by the challenges associated with its early years.

I’m still a baby in terms of my career, and I so want to be all growed up! So while I work my way through this learning curve, don’t mind me if I ramble on, and keep in mind that my answer to your questions will change week by week…at least during the first couple of years.

At this time of year, kids are extremely excited about Christmas. Of course, it’s next to impossible to to anything academically in the last week before the holidays. So, we played word games, sang songs, and read stories.
My challenge, since I teach almost all students in the school, is to have a little something for them on the last day. I’m not a fan of giving sugar to kids, but the only thing I could come up with (and afford) were candy canes. Of course, they all loved having them, but I’d like to plan something for next year or the end of this year. What though?

Something hand-made would be ideal, but it would have to be extremely simple, since I’d have almost 100 to do. I’m thinking painted bookmarks with their name on it.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Phases of First Year Teaching

For the first couple of months, though, the line should look more like an ECG graph going down a steep hill in a barrel. Judging by this representation, I should be at the bottom right about now. Well, I’d say it’s pretty accurate.

The sad part is, this phase looks like it won’t let up until the spring.

It’s going to be a very long winter.

Lucky for me, our teachers’ association offers a mentorship program to help beginning teachers. Within the program, I hooked up with a veteran teacher who also happened to be a host teacher for one of my practicums (or, practica, in case Dave’s dad is reading). Another thing is that the school administrator is exceptional. He is very understanding and supportive. He has a very positive way of communicating. It’s hard to explain it in a few short words. Considering that anywhere from 20-30% of new teachers leave the profession within two or three years, I’d say that I’m fortunate to have this support around me.

It’s still going to be a long winter, but I’m still determined to “experience” this first year of teaching.

After looking over a spelling assessment I administered recently to my third graders to try to figure out where to start with them, I came across one word on the test that made me smile. Instead of writing We, one student wrote Wii.

They are keeners!

The biggest shock at work this week came when I spent time with one of the high school groups. On my second day with them, and after telling them a little bit about myself, I asked them to write a short bio.

The first kid asked, “Can we do it on our laptop?” (Every student in the secondary wing gets a laptop on loan from the school.) There were only 15 minutes of class left, so I said no, that we didn’t have time for all of them to go out, get their laptops, and get started.

“But we all have our laptops with us,” piped up another student pointing to his bag on the floor.

“Really? How long will it take you to get set up?” I asked.

“Like, thirty seconds!”

After giving them the go ahead, I had 20 students sitting in front of me with open laptops. Wow! I think it’s wonderful, but that’s only half the story.

The next day, I wrote a tongue twister on the board as a warm-up before the students were to do mini presentations.

“Some of us can’t read what you wrote on the board,” a kid on my left exclaims.

“Oh, is there not enough light? Or maybe the sun is reflecting off the board?”

I start walking toward the light switches when a few of them say, “No, no, it’s the writing…the letters like that, all connected!” I was floored.

Cursive writing is a skill usually taught in grade four, but apparently these kids either didn’t learn it or forgot how to do it. When I asked whether or not they had learned cursive writing, I was told, “Yeah, a little bit, but we don’t need it anymore!” The kid points to his laptop.

So, is cursive writing going by the wayside? When I told my story to another high school teacher, she mentioned that many kids don’t know how to write cursive, although some can read it.

Interesting discoveries this week, and this was only one of them. I’ll have to keep using this font for my blog!

A high-fiver from a colleague on Friday afternoon felt good. “To surviving your first week of teaching,” he exclaimed with a smile on his face.

“Yes, I survived,” I sighed.

“No, I didn’t survive my first week, I lived it. I prefer to to say I lived it,” smiled another newish teacher.

When you understand the colour of the French language, it gets even more interesting. In French, the past tense survived is rendered SURVÉCU, and lived (or experienced) is VÉCU. Therefore, she said: “Pour moi, le l’ai vécu plutôt que survécu.” I liked that. Add three little letters at the beginning of the word, and the whole perspective changes.

I walked away reflecting on the short encounter. I honestly felt like I survived my first week. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING prepares you for teaching. I had four years of educational psychology, child psychology, pedagogy, practicums practica in the classroom, and the list goes on. By the third day, I felt so overwhelmed with information coming at me a mile a minute, I just couldn’t get my brain to stop rolling.

I have about three long lists of things to do, ideas, and resources, and a couple of pads worth of sticky notes glued to every available surface. I have paper, books, and stuff scattered on my desk I don’t know what to do with. I have kids whose names I need to learn, let alone wanting to build a rapport with. I keep running downtown with lists of things I need to buy in order to help the classroom run more smoothly. I have curriculum I need to cover, and 45-minute periods fly by so fast, I barely get down to business*. As a result, stress got the better of me, which meant my emotions were hard to hide. In 24 hours, I think I must’ve shed tears as many times.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t just sit there and cry all day; I was fine in the classroom. But the slightest questions from colleagues as to how things were going brought on anything from watery eyes to downright sobbing. So, it was time to reach out.

I approached superman a super-organized teacher for ideas/suggestions.
I met with a high school teacher for help with planning.
I met with a primary teacher for suggestions with my fourth graders.
I talked with the school “counsellor” and simply unloaded…super-nice, understanding guy, by the way.
I even talked with my principal who is so there for everyone. I like his style, but that’s for another post.

And my husband, oh, my husband. He has been the most caring, understanding, and loving person in the whole world. He has taken care of breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week. The house was kept tidy with my whirlwind comings and goings. He held me when I sobbed at 3am. He gave me practical advice about dealing with the bursts of information hitting me like pop-up windows on a cheesy site.

Now, I feel ready to start my second week. Yes, while other people are going on their last camping trip of the summer, hiking the Chilkoot before winter sets in, or closing down their summer cabins, I’ll be organizing. Prioritizing. Planning. Working.

Most importantly, I’ll be living from now on. Yes, living my first year of teaching. Experiencing it. Learning from it. Tasting it. And hopefully, loving it.

______________________

*Kids in grades 3-6 come to my room for their English class in the mornings. Afternoons, I go to the secondary wing for grades 7-10.