It surprises me how I seem to have so little backbone lately; I have never been fond of controversy especially when I am still acclimating myself. I find myself in a sticky situation. I am becoming increasingly unhappy with the attitudes and actions of some of my colleagues. I was told coming into this urban teaching environment that I shouldn't smile for the first 10 weeks and that I would need to be tough to get through to "these" kids. This does not bode well with my style as a teacher. I smile because I enjoy what I do, I can be stern but not angry, I refuse to yell but I will raise my voice, and I will never humiliate one of my students by insulting them in front of their peers. I am not sure how many details I want to give but basically I am getting fed up with hearing aids yell at students in my class and make insulting remarks. It is completely unprofessional the manner in which I sometimes hear statements being made to or about students. Who am I to say anything though, I feel like if I were to make a comment I would be disregarded because I am a first year teacher, a resource teacher to top it off. What is the chain of command when a classroom aid follows the students to their resource class? I am the one teaching, it is my classroom, my lesson, but do I have the right to tell them how to talk to their students? I am extremely disappointed with myself for not saying something to the teachers who are causing me concern. I do not want to accost them openly in front of their class but I feel like I should talk them in private at the very least; yet, the thought of bringing it up seems incredibly difficult.
My brain is a mess right now; I am trying to decide how to work this out with my colleagues while trying to get my emergency plans finished for my principal. I am supposed to develop three emergency lesson plans and I pushed it off while I was trying to get everything else worked out like my 23 class rosters that change every time I have a class. Three lesson plans normally would not be a problem, except that I am supposed to be planning for when I am unexpectedly absent and when you have 23 classes each in various grades it is not easy to make just three generic review lessons that meet all of the abilities/demands of those students.
Despite all of this I still feel like I had a great day with my students. I have modified my keyboarding lessons without creating a program from scratch and I feel like it is far more effective and efficient for me as well as the students. I am uplifted by my students accomplishments, especially students who are still learning English and from another country. I love that technology can be a universal language that transcends the oral language barrier. It was so great to see the excitement emanating from my students as they completed an activity while moments before they were frustrated but what seemed to be impossible. I keep telling my students that we are in training, like athletes, working to improve our skills and be professionals. They seem to like that analogy, even if it is just learning to type, I might just have to create a type-athalon.
September 16, 2008
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
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3 comments:
"Don't Smile Until Christmas" or whatever you're hearing is largely a metaphor. The point is that you have to be relatively strict early on. As you get to know each other you'll see where you can loosen the reins and where you can't. It's much easier to go from more strict to less than it is to go the other way.
As far as aides, this is something best handled by the principal. You "outrank" them in a way but the fact is, you have no real authority over them and can get in trouble should someone decide that the union needs to get involved.
As a parent with a child who has an aide I would hope there is a way that you could do something to help turn this situation around. I worry about how my kid's aide interacts with him/her.
I think all aides need to see their kid's value and to appreciate that they've got an pivotal job in the life of one very special and amazing kid (I know I'm a parent, but IMHO every kid should be looked at that way). It troubles me that such an important person is so poorly paid and often so under-trained.
Maybe on a peer-to-peer basis you could share some hints. Or, I think the teacher should be providing some level of supervision and guidance to the aide, so you could talk to him/her about your concerns. There's also the Special Ed staff, the principal or even parents (I'd sure like to be given input). I guess your input would be given at IEP meetings, although that's probably a long time in the future and a little drastic. I think it's important that something changes sooner rather than later. The tone that gets set by the aide will be followed by others and this kid doesn't need harassment and discouragement.
Sorry if this comes across a little like I'm preaching, but your post struck a little close to home for me.
You can be strict early but still impress upon the students that you are their advocate, a teacher who will support and care about them, not just teach them. In the long run, that will net you greater results than not smiling till whatever arbitrary holiday people come up with.
Is there a forum - faculty meetings etc., in which you can raise your concerns? Even talking (professionally) amongst a small group of colleagues who share your views may help. As long as it doesn't create "us vs. them" mentalities.
Good luck!
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