teacher stuff

Trying to explain this to people is complicated and doesn't lend itself to the blog very well. Also, at some point, I started to address my co-workers in the second person. If that's not you (read- if you just asked yourself what second person is), then sorry.

I teach with a fantastic group of people. They are a creative, insightful group individuals who care about both their subject matter and their students. They manage to successfully earn students' trust while continuing to challenge their classes to excellence. Furthermore, they're a blast to hang out with.

In general, I enjoy my job and feel like I'm keeping up my end of the bargain as a teacher.

However, I'm worried about a few things. I'll try to explain.

Reality #1: I've taught two new classes this year. When I'm not teaching the class I taught five times a day last year, (and sometimes even when I'm in front of those students) I'm generally afraid of what might happen. One of those anything and everything can and will go wrong situations...

I'm not sure why, but it genuinely freaks me out to tackle new material for the first or second time in front of 15 year olds.

Reality #2: I'm pretty sure that most of the people who occasionally offer me a flattering comment have no idea how unsure I am of myself when teaching my new classes this year. (And for those scoring at home, this applies to both courses I've taken on this year that aren't about American lit...)

Also, I'm well aware that I'm the guy who's always bugging someone with questions about this and that or how this happened or what went well a certain part of today and all that sort of thing. I don't know any other way to learn how to do this job.

Reality #3: If I had fallen into some other situation where the people around me weren't willing to explain lessons to me over and over, I would have quit. A long time ago, I would have walked and never thought twice about it.

That's not ok.

How can so many fantastic teachers exist around me and I not have a good way to learn from them?

(I suppose some witty/ironic thing about how there is now way for the teachers to teach the new teachers how to teach well should appear here... I'm not feelin it right now, but know that it should be said. )

Beyond looking at a calendar or sacrificing a planning period to watch someone else teach, there aren't many good ways to figure out how all that great teaching that happens in your classrooms comes to life.

In a meeting today, discussion went round and round about the merits and ills of submitting written lesson plans. I've seen fewer topics divide people and spur on pessimism like this one.

So, what's in it for you to write lesson plans?

If nothing else, they would help me learn to be a better teacher. If you write them how they make sense to you, it will help me learn to think differently. I would love to look through the notes my friends have made about how they teach The Road, Catch-22, Midsummer, Romeo & Juliet, 1984, Huck Finn, and a host of other works to see not only what my students may have discussed in the past that I could draw connections to with my units, but also to get ideas about what I might be able to adapt from other courses or levels to fit in my own classroom.

It's no big deal to me what the administration might do with the lesson plans developed by our department. I'm interested in looking at how you convince students to learn in your classroom. I don't want to know every gory detail about how class went or see some foolishly complex documents completed about what's happening in your room. What I'd enjoy seeing want to see is how you move from one thing to the next. I want to see the connections you make and the discussions you love having with certain literature. When I get stuck, it's the kind of resource that could both help my attitude and predicament.