Teacher World

Like everything else in education, disciplinary methods are always changing. When I first started teaching, corporal punishment was very much a rule of thumb. In fact, in my interview with the gentleman who would later become my principal, I was asked about my view on corporal punishment. Like any new teacher just out of college, I gave a verbose description of my well-rehearsed discipline plan. I rebutted the concept of corporal punishment labeling it archaic and unproductive, and talked instead of making the punishment match the crime to make sure that better habits would develop over time. My soon-to-be-principal proceeded to inform me that he was a firm believer in the use of the paddle and so were the teachers in his building. I remember leaving that interview both disillusioned and convinced that I would never hear back about that teaching position.

To my surprise, not only was I offered a teaching position (I am convinced it was more because I said I would be willing to take a coaching job than any great impression I made in the interview) but before long, I found myself buying into the corporal punishment frenzy. And it was a frenzy! I taught in a middle school at that time, and discipline was always a huge issue. Many of the male teachers had honed their paddling skills to such a degree that they volunteered their services to those of us who were too squeamish to do the deed ourselves. Eventually, corporal punishment became a thing of the past, but I sometimes look at where we are now and think perhaps we went too far in the other direction.

Many parents have become almost militant about teachers denying their child privileges as a disciplinary action. You can take away recess, but heaven forbid you take away a class party, field trip, or fun activity. (Even if their child does not deserve it.) I believe it is a reflection of our society that work needs to be fun and, rather than striving for those intrinsic rewards, it is rapidly becoming more about the extrinsic rewards. Why do schools feel they have to buy into this philosophy? I think it is because the fear of parent advocates and lawyers coming into the schools has become a reality.

Suddenly, our school system has gone soft. And the irony is that ours was once a school system which actively utilized an extremely harsh form of punishment on a regular basis. Now I would never want to go back to the days of corporal punishment, but is there no middle ground between that and the so-often-too-soft-to-be-effective forms of discipline we see in schools today? Let’s send the firm message that you earn what you work for; you don’t get it just because your parents will make a big enough stink!

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I’m sitting here the night before a new school year begins. This is always such a bitter-sweet moment for me. I look back nostalgically over a summer spent on so many activities that it has raced by, as always. I feel the sadness as the memories I have carved are added to the memories of all my other vacations. I will miss the sunshine days, the lazier evenings when I did not have to contemplate school work, the magic of family and the joy of being with my grandson. So much to tuck away that it hurts a little. And I, somewhat begrudgingly, adjust my focus from summer back to school.

With an equal measure of excitement and trepidation I have prepared my classroom, put up new bulletin boards, planned lessons and run papers, labeled folders, spelling workbooks, desk plates, and attendance cards. As I write out each new student’s name I can’t help but wonder which ones will blossom, which will need extra tending and nurturing, which will soar and lead the way. Each year marks a new beginning, something that makes education such a great career. No year is ever like the last. This year will have its own challenges and successes; its own highs and lows. And there is no predicting what lies ahead. This unknown element always makes me a little fearful but, at the same time, it is what keeps me energized.

I love the new beginning; the sense of starting over and pulling out tried and true strategies from my teacher’s bag but mixing it up with new techniques. It’s a little like an artist starting out with a brand new pallet. She uses her familiar brush strokes but is always adding something different and surprising so that each piece is unique and worthy. Teaching is like that. Each year is unique and worthy.

I know I will lay awake tonight unable to fall asleep as I anxiously wait to see what tomorrow holds. I always do. I can’t wait for those celebratory moments when I see dawning excitement on a student’s face because something previously hidden is suddenly revealed and learning takes flight. That’s why I am a teacher, that’s why I put up with things I don’t like about my job, and that’s why I know it will be another great year!
Good luck to all of you teachers out there. Have a great year!

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As I work to prepare for the upcoming school year, I always write up the first two weeks of lessons plans. Yet even as I write them into my lesson plan book, I know that everything I write is subject to change as there will be countless interruptions to our normal schedule from handbook assemblies to picture day to ear and eye checks, It is one of those annoying issues we complain about every year to no avail. We have even suggested that they bundle all of these interruptions into one day and be done with it. Obviously, this suggestion has not taken root.

But as difficult as these countless interruptions are, at least they are at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, we find ourselves complaining about the many interruptions that occur throughout the year, especially the ones that inconveniently get scheduled in the weeks prior to state assessment tests. This is a time that should be adamantly reserved for the most intensive review and preparation. It is not a time for programs and assemblies, follow-up eye and ear exams, etc. that could be scheduled at other times. Our principal has developed better hearing over the years and cut down on many of these interruptions, but many still remain.

What gets me is this: all year long we have meetings about how to improve our test scores, spend hours poring over last year’s test results to target weak areas, provide intervention for those students who did not pass tests the year before, create pre-assessments and short-cycled assessments to track our students’ progress, work through test prep materials to familiarize students with test format, and create various review activities to increase learning. We are inundated with the message that it is critical that our students pass these tests. There is absolutely no doubt, as far as teachers are concerned, with the necessity to get students in their classroom to do their very best.

Then here is the big question: if this is our school systems’ goal, if this is as important as we have been repeatedly drilled that it is, then why isn’t every attempt being made to limit interruptions which distract our students and derail our lessons? Come on, principals, if high performance on state achievement test is so important to our schools then please help us to make it the priority you want it to be!

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On Monday mornings in my classroom we spend the first few minutes reconnecting after the weekend by sharing something exciting we did over the weekend. One memorable morning this past spring, we were making our merry way around the room sharing our happy tales until I reached one young man, I will call Tim, who had been absent on Friday. Thoroughly expecting to be told that Tim spent most of the weekend in bed, I inquired, “So, Ted, I know you were sick so I assume you didn’t do much this weekend, right?”

To my utmost surprise, Tim boldly proclaimed, “I wasn’t sick on Friday.” Okay, so now I expected to hear that perhaps he had a doctor’s appointment or a family obligation, so I asked him if either of these two possibilities was true. He very patiently replied, “No.”

Now I was stumped. So I pursued the matter a little deeper by asking why he had stayed home then on Friday. Now get ready…His exact words were, “I had to stay home and help my mother set up the pool.” This happens to be a student who has struggled academically all year and whose mother I had been in regular contact with for support, so it took awhile for this proclamation to sink in fully, not just for me, but for the rest of the class as well. When I trusted myself to speak, I asked if he had begged to stay home to help. Tim retold the story that his mother came to his bedroom door in the morning and asked him if he would like to stay home and help her with the pool. Again, I had to take some time removing the shocked look from my face as I asked if this pool work could not have waited until he got home from school or over the weekend. He just smiled and shrugged. At this point I questioned whether setting up the home pool qualified as an excused absence. The only thing that saved me from a complete melt down was the fact that I was not the only one in that room that was amazed at the craziness of this situation.

I tell this story because it is indicative of a serious problem we face in education today. So many activities are becoming more important to parents and their children than school: sports, movies, computer games, vacations, concerts, and now I have to add pools to this list. For those of us in the business of educating and trying to get students to pass state tests, it is frustrating to say the least. I’m sorry, but when parents believe that setting up a pool is more important than getting their children to school, our schools and our students take a real dive.

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