Eeegads! I can’t believe it is April. 2013 was thorny to say the least. I'm so glad 2014 is here and the school year is winding down. My
new little family has gone through many growing pains. I came to Yukon to teach 5th grade Math, Science and Writing.
It was one of the best and worst decisions I’ve ever made. Best; the amazing women and men I’ve met this
year, the dazzling and darling students, and the challenging subject
matter. Worst; the pay cut (2 months
without pay and less each month), increase in stress and the unrealistic
expectations. I had to learn how to share my space with 3 awesome, spectatcular and messy people. Then to close out the year, we lost Shae and Lyric's beloved mother.
Since I have decided to leave teaching I haven’t
wanted to share with many the reasons why. The stress is a big factor. Elementary teachers have the highest stress of any of their colleagues and worse than many other professions as well. The issues in my work have never
been the individual children. The large number of them yes, but never an
individual child. As inclusion has
become the norm for classrooms across the country, I’ve realized how truly
unique I am as a teacher.
I have
extensive experience with people of many disability categories. My brother is
severely disabled and I loved participating in Special Olympic events with him.
I also initially majored in Special education.
I speak
Spanish (not fluently but enough). I spent years working in Oklahoma City’s
Southside with more than 95% Spanish speaking students and briefly lived in
Guadalajara.
Some of my favorite students are the troublesome
little boys. Perhaps, it’s because I myself was a troublesome student. I
understand what it’s like to not respond well to the stress of being stuck with
nearly 30 other children in a small room and told not to move.
I’m certified to teach the blind and visually
impaired, and I can type in braille. You see, teachers do this crazy thing in
summers called continuing education. One particularly ambitious summer, I
learned; to type in braille, how to orient and move without sight, and utilize
amazing tools available to the visually impaired. So all my little specialties
added up to a class with 22% special needs ranging from hearing, vision,
autism, gifted, learning disabilities and ADHD. I also have 16% English
Language Learners.
Hooray specialties?! I love being able to teach such
an expansive ocean of children. Give me the little fish with the most problems
and I’ll have him swimming in no time.
Honestly, it isn’t the percentages that bother me. I
go gaga for my special students. They make me truly remember why I am still
coming to work everyday. It is the fact that they are jammed into rooms with almost
30 of their peers. This creates an illegal, unsafe, and overwhelming situation
for even an average group of learners. These
students who need more, also more suffer more.
It is a challenge for even the best of students. The more capable of my
students complain of headaches from the noise inherent in an overcrowded
classroom.
It is the new standards without new and complete
curriculums. I went to school when we were taught how to properly use the tools
provided by a district to educate children. This new plan of
What is this washed out teacher going to do next
year? Honestly I’d love to author materials for our new Common Core
standards. Realistically I have no idea,
I’ve looked at non-profits, unions, and other types of educational institutions
for employment but I can’t say I’ve found many promising leads.
So my dear blog readers, do you have an idea for me?
Where could I use my years of experience (lifeguard, swim lesson instructor,
sales, security guard, computer lab tech, 2nd grade teacher, Computer lab
teacher, 1st grade teacher, 5th grade Math, Science and writing teacher) and
find a decent paying job to continuing supporting our beautiful growing family?
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