The teacher of the month in March, if you remember, was Jeff Brickler. Click on this link if you didn’t get to read about what he has done this year, heroically, I might add:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2013/02/21/teacher-of-the-month-march-2013/
April’s selection is working now as a substitute teacher. Her name is Angie Dodd and she quit her job in the middle of this, her first year. It’s something we all want to do at some time or another, because the pressure can be just too much – only teachers know that quitting, having some kind of out, is not a weakness.
So she quit. No harm no foul. She had to take care of herself and she did. Priorities. She has been working as a substitute teacher since. But the thing is that she has stayed with us here, reading and reflecting. Right there that says something. It tells me that Angie is really a teacher. Angie Dodd is really a teacher.
So, subbing, Angie has been working on the discipline piece and it has been working. Going into schools. Working at those gnarly subbing jobs. Not giving up. Turning it into a kind of meditation, I would imagine, separating out and focusing on the classroom discipline part from the academic part, working on that part just by itself.
Then, last seek, a new PLC member named jessica called me out on my complaining about an out of control classroom I happened to be sitting in (it was a language lab actually) and I had to agree with jessica that I shouldn’t have done that. Here is what she said, edited down a bit:
…I began teaching when I was 22-years-old. I entered the classroom with every intention of using TPRS and being teacher of the year by the end of my first year. I dressed much older than my age and even got a haircut that aged me. I was very nervous because I knew I would be barely 4 years older than some of my students. Once the year started, though, I quickly lost control of my classes. I had never had to deal with people who were just flat out mean to me for no reason or that would blatantly lie on a daily basis. I hadn’t had to deal with bullying or lackluster students. My classes were loud, unruly, and chaotic. It became a year of survival….
Then she said:
…in a few weeks, I will be finishing my 6th year of teaching. I am constantly complemented by my principal about my ability to transition flawlessly and maintain control of my classes. I have even mentored first year teachers … It had to come with time. While I do not know this teacher [ed. note: the one in the language lab] …, I have seen many first year teachers with that fear in their eyes of having no idea how to handle a situation. I hope in the future you’ll put your judgement aside and instead offer advice to the doe-eyed, young teacher who is just trying to survive her first year…
The point jessica made to me was that first year teachers with discipline problems should not be targeted in a scathing manner, but rather should be met with understanding and support, because they can grow and change.
Angie read that comment by jessica and here is what she said, which speaks for itself in terms of honest self reflection:
…Ben, I thought that your post was interesting and relevant, and I loved Jessica’s response as well. As a first-year teacher who ended up quitting because of a lack of these management skills and understanding how to go about being the adult in the room, I would hate for you to limit your comments around this subject. I recently spent 5 hours in a car with my sister-in-law who is a Human Resources director at a college, and she schooled me on so many management skills that I am now ready to understand after failing so dramatically in the classroom. Well, what I realize now is that I actually wasn’t failing, I was going through a normal process. A lot of people tried to tell me that, but I was already gone, down the hole of anxiety and despair. I am now learning, as a sub but still learning, how to take control of a room energetically, how to stand behind myself fully and take up space, to be firm and clear and not a pushover. How to believe in rules and enforce them warmly and dispassionately. To not be NICE to people who are fucking with me, but to feel sympathetic towards them and understand that they are not behaving effectively for communication or learning, and to guide them and hold them accountable even if it hurts. Better to be kind, firm, and wrong than be a wishy-washy pushover. The first can be comprehensibly fixed, the other is just a big mess. It takes a lot of self control and belief in your own judgment. I feel like I’m moving in that direction now, and it feels amazing. It really does feel like truly becoming an adult for the first time at age 43. So thanks for the post, and thanks Jessica for sharing your thoughts and experiences. It is so helpful to me to read this stuff….
Now you can see why Angie Dodd is our PLC featured teacher for April.