Life in Education

I'm sorry that I have not updated anything in this blog in quite some time. I got a part-time (.5 FTE) position in Royal Oak which made a commute to Ann Arbor and Royal Oak a weekly task, which, in turn, added to my already crazy life of a substitute teacher. I was originally somewhat reluctant to accept the position, given that I would be teaching only one half day per week teaching Spanish to Elementary students, but accepted nonetheless with hopes of having my foot in the proverbial door. WELL...mission accomplished! After being initially "laid off," I was called back and told that I was to be signed on for a full time position. I was free to apply to any position open in the district, many of which were vacated due to the "incentive" (read: threat) in Royal Oak schools for teachers to retire. I was told that I definitely had a position, but they have been unable to give me a straight answer as to what exactly I will be teaching. Celebration ensued. A...

I think we have exciting times ahead of us in the age of technology. Let's just hope they don't try to replace us with MacBooks and DVD's . Oh wait, they already did .

Today I subbed in an 8th grade English class at Royal Oak Middle School. It was a very different experience from what I've grown accustomed to at Ann Arbor Open, as well as having my own Spanish classes at Northwood Elementary. As the bell rang, kids quietly filed in, took their chairs down, and began to read, EXACTLY as was noted in the lesson plans the teacher had left for me. After 20 minutes, they got out their notebooks, and composed letters to elementary school students about why reading is fun and important; again, as noted in said lesson plans. All of this was happening while I, the substitute teacher - whom most teachers must assume are, shall we say, less than capable of running a functional classroom - had nothing better to do than read from "The Giver," which was what I'd be reading with the next four classes. Upon witnessing these students drone though what had the potential to be an enlightening experience, I found this teacher's selection of no...

Substitute teaching at Ann Arbor Open (the system for which my dad has been a teacher for 35+ years) has been a rejuvenating experience this year. There is a certain amount of excitement on the kids' parts about being at school, and that sentiment seems to be shared by the teachers. There is an overwhelming sense of respect between teacher and student that goes beyond the "expectation" that children are to adhere to every request of the teacher without a second thought. Students are invited to question teachers, choose their own interests, and have a say in the curriculum. It just seems like the most logical way to inspire kids to learn: let them figure it out themselves! Teachers aren't viewed as the omniscient source of all knowledge (nor, in my opinion, should they be,) but rather, simply as classroom facilitators. Especially in the upper grades, there's a trust that ranges from work to behavior that most students, having grown up in the open system, are ...

Apart from my livejournal, which I all but abandoned years ago (save for one post about a month ago,) I wanted a forum for my thoughts. Being a teacher who has yet to find a "real" job, I wanted a place for my musings on education, inspiration, frustrations, and thoughts about the subject of education. Though I'm sure my thoughts will stray, I want to keep on the topic of education as much as possible as a place to refer to both for myself as I evolve into the educator I strive to be, but also for anyone who may want to know what I'm "all about" when it comes to education. Tonight's Daily Show, albeit a satiric source of news, actually got me thinking about education. Especially when they cited this guy . To save those of you whose attention spans are as short as mine, the LT. Gov. of South Carolina essentially (and literally) compared kids on free and reduced lunch to stray animals. Going on, he says that such programs encourage poor people to bree...