I Miss the "Quiet" Time!

Monday - August 24, 2009

It's that time of the year in which there are things I sincerely miss. The adrenaline flowing through my body and the enthusiasm for working with a new group of kids!!! Now there were years when the enthusiasm would soon dissipate quickly. Why, hmmmmmm - the make up of the kids in the classroom sometimes was overwhelming. I felt more like a security guard rather than a teacher.

I always loved the "quiet time" we were finally granted to work alone in our rooms. The time when we would actually be able to see the students names, the size of each class, and what our schedule would be like was what I always looked forward to at the beginning of the year! We would have access to the students test scores as well as the grades from the previous year and with that information we were to come up with plans for the year! I actually would look at the scores and make a chart of the weaknesses and strengths and then put that chart off to the side.

I would start to work on lesson plans for all my classes. Experience had taught me that many of the students "forgot" many of the concepts of grammar and writing taught to them over the previous seven years!!! English was and is one of the hardest classes to teach on the middle school level. The students want to write the way they talk - whether it's correct or not. They would always tell me that the correct way "didn't sound" right!!!! Sadly, many students learn to speak incorrectly and then they are expected to learn the rules. This was one of the hardest things to try and correct. Repetition is a great tool, and was one I used over and over and over and over and over. :):):) Even though we may have finished one skill, we would continually review that skill through out the year.

I would sit in the quietness of my room, browsing through lesson plans from previous years, remembering what worked and what didn't. Each class is different, thus I needed a plan that would accomplish what I wanted the kids to be able to do with as little stress for them and me as possible. So, away I would work on the plans for the first week. It was usually a review of things they should already know. Each class results were different, thus making planning a little more complex. One plan would definitely not work with all the classes, so begins the new year of finding ways that would work with each class. The skill was taught to all, but a different approach was taken for some of the classes. In the end, with a lot of hard work, repetition, and encouragement, the classes would grasp the skill! Those were such happy days for the kids (and me too)!

Some might be wondering if I ever looked at the test scores after putting them off to the side. Yes, I did. I would look over them after having the classes for a few weeks and would then determine what I needed to focus on to get them up to where they needed to be before test time. I actually would look at them periodically through out the year. I didn't dwell on them, I just tried to zero in on some of the weakest areas trying to help the kids do better.

What was really important for the national, state, and local levels was that the kids passed the test of all test - the achievement test which was given that year. It seems as if the test given was changed every ten years. Most years, the kids did well. The test results actually depended on the test and the time of the year the test was given (some years the test was given in February!),

Yes, the quiet time of preparing for the year or the day is something I do miss. Bill and I would always get to school at least an hour before our classes were to begin. We tried to have "quiet" time to begin our day! In the last years of our teaching career it was easier for Bill to have quiet time than it was for me. My room was across from the cafeteria! Ahhhhhh, the noise coming from there was not music to my ears that early in the morning. Have you ever noticed that a cafeteria of kids do not know how to talk in a normal tone. The only level they know is "yell!: :):)

I don't miss all the required meeting where I heard the same information for over 30 years. I don't miss the squabble and complaining that went on in some of the meetings. I definitely do not miss the whole faculty being jumped because of the actions of a few. What I do miss are the friendships made; the thrill of the knowing what I had done had actually helped my students; and the love I really had for do what I was doing.

Teachers are constantly put down for the failure of the kids. Hmmmm, seems to me that there are more involved in this learning process than the teachers!!!! Read to you child; help and encourage them; be involved with the learning process; and support not only your child, but the educators involved in the learning process. As with all occupations, there are some "bad apples" out there, but don't blame the whole "bunch" for the actions of a few!

To all my friends in the education field - you have one more day before the kids come. I hope you have that day as "quiet time" preparing for your year ahead! I really do miss "some" of what you are still doing!!!! Have a great year!!!!!!