This is a most welcome report from Angie. Those who remember the year she went through last year will want to read this. Here is a link to that other article if you want to read it first:
https://benslavic.com/blog/2012/10/25/angie-dodd/
The work Angie is doing now is not a high status job. But it is true work and so cutting edge that it doesn’t even look cutting edge, in my opinion. What is the work she is doing? She is observing.
Hi Ben,
You’ve been so supportive of me in my journey into teaching, and I wanted to send you an update. I applied for several language teaching jobs over the summer and interviewed a few times but was not hired. I live in southern Vermont, so there weren’t a huge number of jobs available. Anyway, when I realized that I wasn’t going to find a position teaching Spanish I started applying for paraprofessional jobs and at the eleventh hour I was hired as a 1:1 in a kindergarten classroom! After a week on the job, I feel like this is a great opportunity for me professionally, if not financially :). I’m learning so much about students and am constantly practicing staying calm in chaos and using a firm, confident, non-patronizing and unperturbable tone of voice with them. I’m also observing language acquisition in action, especially with my 1:1 student, who has speech delays. Plus the class takes French once a week, another observation opportunity. And 5-year-olds are endlessly entertaining, so it should be a fun year. On the down side, it’s hard to see how much negativity gets heaped on to their young spirits and how they get rushed from one thing to the next. Many of them are not able to finish their meals, for example. Teachers often speak in harsh tones and use shaming language. Even after what I’ve been through (resigning from my first job because I couldn’t handle the discipline issues), I still hold out hope that it is possible to be firm and in control with children without resorting to shaming, intimidating, and yelling at them. I guess I am now starting at square one to explore that possibility. I don’t blame the teachers anymore, I watch them with curiosity to see what factors are weighing on them or what reasons they might have for the choices they make. And I watch myself with the same curiosity, trying not to let myself feel like a failure but stepping up to the challenge of believing in myself enough to be willing to guide others with confidence. Being a para gives me the luxury of having enough space in my brain to do this kind of thinking and observation. I don’t know where this path is leading. I plan to continue to follow the blog and work towards being a Spanish teacher someday. Thanks for all your help and advice!
Love,
Angie
