A few weeks ago an alumnus showed up at school just to visit as they often do when they return home. I was running around like a maniac as usual trying to put together some sort of lesson and the kid and the guidance counselor stopped to tell me that I was one of the few teachers in the school who made him think critically. I was floored. Did none of the other teachers expect this of the students? My initial response was, “Good. Then I’m doing my job.”
But in the last couple of weeks, I’m wondering how I can keep doing my job as a teacher well?
The focus of our jobs as educators has shifted in the last 10 years. We are expected to teach more classes with less prep time, and this really cuts into the creativity of teaching. It does not give us time to evaluate large sections of curriculum and to tweak them. It makes us robots.
Let’s begin by explaining my daily schedule which is not unlike most of my colleagues in small rural districts. This year, I taught 4 separate classes and one study hall. World Literature (1 section), English 9 (3 sections), Media English(1) and 7th grade communications(1). Each course has a separate curriculum that must be followed and achieved throughout the year.
There are 8 class periods a day so I have 45 minutes in which to prepare for 4 classes during the day, grade papers, help students who are falling behind and contact parents.
I have approximately 120 students to grade which I usually do at 5 am on the days I don’t go running. I can’t grade papers at night – I’m too exhausted to do a good job, and my brain is just spinning with what has to get done tomorrow. So I grade papers on the weekend and most weekends I also spend 2-4 hours in my classroom just catching up from the week before and prepping stuff for the next week.
In addition, I coach the Forensics team and am the Drama Club advisor. I was also the Junior class advisor this year – this means Prom (luckily this duty is only once every 5 years or so – we rotate). At least two days a week I ran meetings at lunch. I supervise play and forensics rehearsals almost every day after school from January to May. I officially worked 4 weekends – going to tournaments and doing performances – but with extra rehearsals for the play on Sunday nights, it was more. Those teachers who coach sports have similar schedules.
Now you might say I shouldn’t take on so much – but the reality in a small school is that if the one teacher qualified to supervise the activity quits, the opportunity disappears. And for some kids, drama and Forensics is an important part of their development – the only place they can express themselves. If students are not especially musical, and are a little bit dramatic, they need a positive outlet.
So, in my 45 minutes of prep time, I am usually running triage. What’s up tomorrow? What do we do next? What is absolutely essential to my survival this minute? There is no thought behind why I’m teaching what I’m teaching. There is no time to say – is this the best way to teach this idea? This book? This concept? There is no time to fit the curriculum to the students. How can I differentiate for groups within the classroom? How can I even think about what I’m doing?
As I reflect on this school year I wonder: How can I teach kids to think critically if I don’t have the time to think critically myself? In the year of 1 billion dollars in budget cuts to schools in our states our prep time got cut in half. That cuts my ability to teach creatively, think critically and be effective at least in half. If I have no time to reflect on my teaching, then how the heck can I expect my students to reflect on the concepts I present to them?
I tell the kids to question everything but if I'm not doing the same, then what good is it?