Oh boy! I had no intention of going so long before I finished this up. Not exactly sure what happened! But here we go!
#7 – Technology vs relationships – Technology is necessary in today’s world. However, when it replaces relationships we begin to see problems. Parents can’t be bothered with their kids and so they instantly hand them a device rather the engage the child, teach the child to entertain themselves, or simply allow them to be bored for a bit. I can’t tell you how often a parent picks their child up from school and instead of talking with them about their day, they immediately hand over a device and go back to their own phones. Students don’t know how to interact with each other, don’t understand social cues, and are “bored” if everything doesn’t change every five seconds. I want my students to understand and value technology, but I want them to understand and value human relationships even more. I probably don’t incorporate technology into my classroom as much as I am supposed to, but at 7 and 8 years old I believe that they will have all the time they need on electronic devices.
#8 – Useless trainings – Y’all I like to learn new things. I want to be better at what I do, but when I spend hour upon hour in required trainings that have no practical take away for me, I am frustrated. Teachers spend an incredible amount of time in trainings….especially the first two weeks we return in August. Two weeks of training after training after training. There are trainings during the year as well. Trainings that SOMEONE from the school needs to be at so that our school doesn’t look bad at the district. Trainings that don’t benefit us and aren’t what we want and that take us out of the classroom and away from actual teaching. I am determined to not be a part of this game in the upcoming year. I will choose carefully the trainings I will attend. I am exploring some additional learning on my own that I feel WILL be beneficial.
#9 – Customer Service Mindset – Somewhere along the way we lost the respect and the mindset that we know what we are doing as educators and have let parents start dictating to us. Parents want to tell us what they want their child’s education to look like and we are expected to comply. Parents don’t want their kid to have to do homework at night because they had soccer practice or dance rehearsal…oh and there can’t be any consequences for this or they will go to the administration, or the district. Parents don’t want their kids to have to come to school on time or at all, but expect us to give up our time to catch their child up on anything they missed. I’ve had parents who complain when their child misses out on something despite the fact that I’ve sent multiple reminders. I’ve had parents ask me to send a week’s worth of school work with them on their vacation two weeks before Spring Break because it’s cheaper than actually going during Spring Break….only to come back with almost none of it done. We don’t hold parents accountable and we aren’t treated as if we know how to do our jobs.
#10 – Mental and Physical Health – Being a teacher is not a 7:30-3:30 job. I didn’t become a teacher expecting it to be. What I didn’t realize was that it is a 24/7 job at times. I wake up thinking about lessons, co-workers, students, etc and go to bed thinking about them as well. It is easy to get wrapped up school being your whole life. It is easy to not take care of yourself…mentally and physically. I work really hard to keep a balance between work and personal life. Some times I do a really good job of it…sometimes I realize I need to do a better job of keeping balance in my life.
Hope King in Wild Card says, “If you are comfortable you are no longer growing.” I think she’s right – the only way to keep growing is to get uncomfortable. Many of these 10 things in the last three posts are things that make us uncomfortable, which means they are opportunities for growth. I, for one, am glad for opportunities to grow even when it’s hard. I can do hard things.
As always, I’m interested in your thoughts and comments.
recalculating 