Jobs?

I luckily, have been offered a job at my former high school. I will be teaching 9th and 10th grade English coming this fall. I have been so fortunate to be offered a position, especially the first position I interviewed for. Unfortunately, MANY of my peers are in the opposite situation. I find young teachers sitting on either side of me, who are just brimming over with new ideas and methods they are simply DYING to implement in their classrooms. Simply because of union regulations, and the unwillingness of older, dinosaur teachers to step down from positions they no longer pursue with zeal, my peers and friends may find themselves jobless in the Fall.

The stark reality that all of these brilliant young minds, who are eager to influence and improve other young minds, may be forced to find different positions in different fields. There is an emerging problem in our education industry. In the 1960's there was an influx of young teachers into the education field. Many of them were eager and full of ideas from the programs they had just exited. HOWEVER, the problem is that now, some of these teacher are still teaching, and they are still practicing in the way that they did when it was 1965. There has been an influx of new education research and new methods of instruction in the past 20 years. Unfortunately, these old dinosaur teachers oftentimes (not always), do not adhere to any modern education pedagogy. Instead, they stick with what they know and what is most  comfortable to them, and their students sometimes suffer.

I am not suggesting that we instate agism and toss all teachers over the age of 50 out of schools. But I do see an enormous disparity between the eager enthusiasm of my peers and the tired, dogged persistence of some of the dinosaurs I know. If anything, teachers should be FORCED to attend pedagogy update seminars and technology training in order to help them update. Teachers who have been teaching for longer periods of time should be subjected to as many, if not more, reviews and observations as other teachers. I sincerely hope that all of my peers will be offered positions in the very near future.

The Old Guard

I am so fortunate to have a job this coming Fall. I will be teaching English to 9th and 10th graders at my old High School, in Orange. There is no place I would rather be than at my alma mater, attempting to inspire a zest for reading and writing in my students. However, I have heard my new principal mention a group of teachers several times with a mild loathing in his tone. He calls them the "Old Guard." Without having to ask, I know who these teachers are. These are the teachers who began their careers in the late 60's and early 70's. They are tough, venerated and confident. For the most part, they find technology unnecessary in their classrooms. They often refuse to enter grades online or participate in new types of training for technology advancements in the classroom. Some people call them "dinosaurs," but my principal calls them "the old guard." Many of my classmates are simply waiting for these "dinosaurs" to retire, so they may take their places. In fact, I would not have my job unless a member of "the old guard" had not retired.

Here's the problem: my mentor in high school, my role model for teacher, my educational inspiration, is one of this "Old Guard." In fact, she's probably the leader. She does things her way and the rest of the faculty follows. There is probably little room for negotiations, I doubt I would have the fortitude to challenge anything she says or, really, decrees. My conundrum is about how to negotiate the murky waters of implementing my new, fun, possibly innovative technology practices within the realm of her, and other members of her "old guard," tolerance. My strategy thus far consists of flying under the radar. Let's hope it works.

A Technology - Free Classroom

In this day and age, is it possible to have a technology free classroom? Well, yes, I would say, however it does depend on how you choose to define technology. If you define technology as basic advancements in science that make life easier, such as telephones, air conditioning and clocks, then obviously a classroom without those common appliances would be challenged. However, if you, like me, choose to define technology in the classroom as 21st century advances in teaching that can aid classroom instruction (or detract from it). Then you could easily have a challenge here.
I have unintentionally met this challenge this year, well this summer to be exact. I am teaching Summer School for sophomores who failed during the year. My school is located in Orange County, in a very low S.E.S district. Here's the catch, Summer School is not funded by the district, it is funded by the local community college. This means that while we are located on this beautiful modern school site with computer labs and technology galore- we don't have access to them simply because the community college doesn't pay for them. So, I am a brand new teacher teaching without the benefit of computers, printers, copy machines, projectors or internet. This is hysterical. At first I was confused and thought I and my students would be lost without these much-relied-upon classroom staples (oh yes, I forgot, I don't have a stapler either). But I am finding, the more the days go by, that our discussions are richer and more open than they would be if my students and myself had technology to rely upon. I know that this revelation is counter productive to what this Tech. class is supposed to be about, but I will say that it is nice to know that if you take away all the fancy devices, students are still perfectly capable of learning. My students are writing essays by hand and revising them by hand as well, this gives them valuable insight into the value of the written word and they are, in turn, learning to be concise and meaningful in their phrasing. This is a lesson that would be difficult to teach in front of a computer screen.
The moral of the story? While I cannot wait to get back to a normal classroom and school with standard technology for students and teachers, I value the time we have been forced to spend without these modern conveniences; it has helped all of us realize the value of basic words.

Tenure Track

I have been accosted as of late by the notion and concept and ages-old institution of tenure. I have recently been hired for the first time, so now, many of my future plans revolve around achieving and retaining tenure. Tenure is a monster. It, and the unions associated with it, is what is driving the destruction of the Education field in the US today.
Tenure holds back the hiring of young, promising, newly trained, eager teachers. Tenure is responsible for retaining old, ineffectual teachers who are practicing old fashioned and ineffective methods. Tenure develops and encourages laziness in teachers and does little to protect the students from poor practices. What would happen if we abolished tenure? Teachers would actually have to engaged in continuous practice evaluation, educate themselves on new practices and pedagogy, and new teachers would have more of a chance in obtaining a permanent position.
Also, tenure is the great green monster who ties the hands of districts and administrators when they try to get rid of bad teachers.
Where is the benefit?

The infant stages of Natalie's training in technology

To begin with, my father never makes a big purchase, or any purchase for that matter, without first thoroughly researching the product, it's competitors and the place from which he will be bringing the product home. This in mind, of course it took him a solid 4 years to decide which computer he would buy. In addition, my dad extensively compared product reports when he decided to purchase the family's first hand held camcorder. Hand held is, of course, a slight misnomer. My dad balanced the monstrosity he came home with on his shoulder, and secured it to him in case of slip and falls with large black velcro straps. I still remember trying to type papers and surf the infant Internet on an old, blocky Mac computer.
Needless to say, my father did not run around picking up the latest, greatest, hottest gadgets. This taught me  to carefully choose my technological purchases and to place value not in material things, but in the time spent with those you love.