It's almost the end of May! I have almost finished my first year as a 6th/7th/8th SPED math and science teacher/counselor/stand-in parent/shoulder to cry on/much needed disciplinarian and bringer of structure!
As the year is closing out, I am already beginning to feel excitement for year two. (That is how you know that this is the job for you - your administrators may not support you and make you cry, but you still want to teach the little nuggets!) I hope year two continues to be a year of growth and positive change.
Below are some growths and changes that I would welcome at my school for the 2011-2012 school year.
1. An overflow of flora. I would love if we had flowers outside the building and in the courtyard which is currently harboring too many patches of weeds. Flowers make people happy. Happy people raise student achievement (and close the achievement gap).
Update: Our maintenance staff has been so wonderful as to plant flowers outside of our school. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR THE FACT THAT THEY CONTINUE TO IMPROVE OUR SCHOOL even though I know that several children are not always (read: rarely) respectful of our school grounds.
2. Decked out hallways. This is one of my BIG GOALS for myself this coming school year. Our hallways need love. College banners hanging on the walls. Possible career aspirations dancing among them. A colleague and I were discussing that we aren't all about the movement to college. Most of our students won't go to college. Some of them probably shouldn't. To us, pushing college as the "only option" is silliness on our part as adults. When a kid doesn't like school, the last thing they need is being told to go through even more (optional) schooling. Yes, I think college is a great opportunity that opens many doors. However, not everyone aspires to a career that requires extensive schooling - and that's okay. If we can lasso them in with practical skills and connect to what they want to do and learn while teaching them about the greatness that is continued high education, I think that's a winning formula. No Charlie Sheen involvement intended.
>>>We interrupt with rare praise for my school! One of our teachers took the initiative to make name cards for all the faculty in the building. Below our names are the degrees we have and the colleges we went to. It's totally cute.
3. Repainted bathrooms. With sinks that don't require you to hold the knob when you want water to flow out. Also, with waste baskets in the stalls because the girls are gross and throw them on the floor. Let's also add on a student conduct assembly at the beginning of the year. Amen to that. I'll lead it. And it'll begin like this: "Trash. It goes in the trash can. Here's how..." I'll have slides that go along with it.
4. Lockers that don't just pop open when you hit them. This is just a pipe dream...
5. Middle school appropriate desks. No cubby desks, please! Oh, and water fountains I will consider drinking from. One day I was incredibly thirsty, went to the fountain to fill up my water bottle and it was cloudy. Needless to say, I bring my own liquids now and would rather be dehydrated than drink that stuff.
6. Staff as a community. We should do something to pull our school community together. People should know other peoples' names. Hold conversations and learn about one another. It doesn't have to be anything big. A monthly breakfast. An icebreaker activity before the staff meeting officially begins. A calendar with everyone's birthdays. A bulletin board with information about or pictures of the staff. And I mean all the staff. Teachers, paras, DAs, administration, coaches, custodians, lunch staff, secretaries, and everyone else who contributes to the daily functioning of our school. Everyone matters.
7. SOLID school rules and consequences. School rules like RESPECT everyone and everything in the school (and hopefully, outside of it). School rules like COME PREPARED AND TRY YOUR BEST. Currently, our school stands meekly stand at: walk to the right side of the hallway, no backpacks or electronics, wear your uniform properly, and no destructive behavior or language. These are little not-so hairy or audacious goals.
8. Minimal requirement for cart teachers. It sucks. 'Nough said.
9. R-E-S-P-E-C-T for SPED. Teachers at my school have openly said that SPED belongs somewhere else and certainly not in their classrooms. No other way to say it: rude. While some students who are SPED should be in more intensive programs, many of our SPED students aren't too behind their peers.
10. Admin support for all teachers. And no telling us that our job is easy.
11. Time to meet and plan with co-teachers, department and team members. We need to be able to be on the same page with each other so we can teach strong lessons and convey a united front. Especially on the discipline side.
12. Again, assemblies and discussions with our students about proper conduct. Before the ideas of college can be pushed into their heads, they need common courtesies and practices of students to be drilled in there.
A school could be falling apart. But if the staff is positive, hard-working and united, I don't really think it matters. Improvements in student learning will be seen and we'll do the work we set out to do.
I will update soon on the things that I personally will bring to my classroom for SY 2011-2012. :)
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