Okay, teachers... ( 1

[Jamul]

You wanted a forum to natter on about all your tribulations, so I expect to see some serious nattering.



Start...............................





NOW!!!!

Mike Hommel

Marshmallow Head, Hamumu Software

http://www.hamumu.com

jamul@hamumu.com

[Anonymous]

Okay...so now we have our own little corner of the forum! That is SO cool. Mike - you are wonderful!!!



So I thought that the first things to do would be to introduce ourselves a little! You know...what to call you (if not your nickname), general location, area of teaching expertice, how long you've been teaching...that sort of thing. Whatever you are comfortable sharing! I guess I will go first! (This feels like the first day of class when everyone has to go around saying what they did over summer vacation!! Hey! That's a good idea...maybe everyone should share something...like...what was your reason for becoming a teacher?)



Name: Sol Hunt

Age: 23

Location: Southern California

Degree: WI - Early Childhood

CA - Multiple Subject

Years: 5/12 of a year! (I just graduated in August!! )

Experiences: I started subbing in October and have been in a ton of different classes. I am currently in a long term position in 2 special ed classes with all autistic children. It is something else!!

Reason for teaching:

My dad was a teacher and I guess hanging out in his room before school and having him teach me got into my blood 'cause I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I used to make my sister play school with me for hours! I also think that the only way we have any hope of realizing a peaceful, livable society is thru our children. That means that we, as the people who are basically shaping their young thoughts and lives, are VERY important and powerful. It terrifies me to see bad teachers and gives me hope for the future to meet good ones. I am thrilled to have met everyone on the Hamumu forum. I am sure we will have fun with our newly aquired education area!



So anyway, that is me in a nutshell. As we talk more you will realize that I tend to ramble, I get very emotional when it comes to treatment of children and I am super friendly. I can't wait to meet everyone else!



Peace,

sunny
"if the world is night,

shine my life like a light"

[Anonymous]

Profile:



Name: Lundaris

Age: 25

Location: Southern Texas

Years of experience: 1/2 a year (I graduated May 2000)

Degree: Elementary Education(1-6)

Minor: Reading



Experiences:

I have always felt that the power to change a childs life is wonderful indeed. I have always had the desire since I was very little to teach. Although, I decided early on, that I would not go into secondary education but would stay with elementary. I feel that I can be more effective and do more with smaller children.





Graduation:

When I graduated in May of 2000, I was a very happy person indeed. Over 3 years in college to reach that momentus day and so many sacrifices I had to endure during that time, to finally reach graduation day. It was a pivotal moment in my life. I looked for work during the summer, and actually found it at the school I was student teaching in. It was 6th grade, the highest grade level I can teach. I was happy, I had a teaching job, starting in August and I was used to that school already. Everything seemed like it would work out well for me. I had graduated and obtained my degree and now I had my job as a 6th grade Social Studies and Language Arts Teacher. There was also the need to take the state tests to become a certified teacher. These tests can be very hard and I only just completed the second test that I needed to pass and now I can become a fully certified teacher. The elementary comprehensive test I took, is composed of various questions from diffrent subjects such as math and science, and about 200 questions. It took me 3 tries to finally pass the test. Anyway, back to where I had graduated and had a first job as a 6th grade teacher. The decision to work at the 6th grade level at that campus was a mistake that I regret to this day.



A very tough 1/2 year:

You know it seems as if things would work out at my campus, and that as a first year teacher I would get the help that I needed, but sadly I did not. My first month teaching went well, but getting used to all the responsibilites of grades, discipline, aftershool meetings, lesson plans, seemed to overwhelm me very much. At our school, we work in teams of two, I teach two subjects, Language Arts and Social Studies and my team partner would teach Math and Science. I had a class in the morning and one in the afternoon. A total of 50 students, 25 in the morning and 25 in the afternoon.



Helpless:

If only my partner had been helpful or supportive, but he is a teacher with over 35 years experience and almost on the verge of retiring. It seemed that all he cared about was to have the year ended and would not help me in any way. It was as if, we were each left to do what we could without supporting each other. As a first year teacher, I know it is vital to get all the help you need. Even my mentor teacher which was supposed to help me, was herself always very busy with all the things she needed to do for her class. She never took the time to sit down and see if I needed any help. The principal was always coming in, and he was one of those principals that is very strict. I let the students go early one day and it was only a minute early, but he found out and warned me not to do it again. He was not a bad principal but there were days were it felt like I was in a prison.



Discipline in the class:

I was not getting any help as I mentioned above and then what I did not want to happen occured. I guess I was not as strict with the students as I should have been, and I had many problems with them as a result. Worse, I dont even fully blame myself, I would send students to the office and they would come back grinning from the office because I had to fill out so much paper work before they could do anything. It almost seems that the office tries their hardest to keep teachers from sending students to the office.



Things just got worse and worse, as the months of teaching dragged on. I was told I would get a good class of students, but I got so many different problem students, as I would find out from many other teachers. So, it was not necessarily me that was at fault. But having no where to turn to, no help from my mentor teacher, from my team partner, I was left wondering what to do. It seemed that things never worked out the way I wanted to. Some students would always cause problems, not do their work, or just make chaos for me. I would constantly look at the clock wondering when it would be time for lunch, the end of school or electives class, so that I could have a break from these students. I did have a few very bright students in each of the two classes, but the majority in both overwhelmed me very much. At the beginning of the year, I would come in early, about 6:15 in the morning, because I was a new teacher and I wanted to get things ready for my students. I had so many dreams, ideas, but they never happened. I then started coming in exactly when class started, because I did not want to spend more time with the students than I had to.



The last few months:

I knew about 3 months into teaching that I had lost the class, and would not get them back. I tried very hard, to change lesson plans, seating arrangements and so many other things. But with no one to turn to, and the students unwilling to work with me, it just got worse. On sundays, I would get so depressed because I knew that a whole week of torture would be coming up, and I did not want to go to class. Imagine that, a teacher not wanting to go into their own class and or even losing all desire to teach.



I sat at my desk often when I was alone, pondering the road I had taken. I would close the door of the classroom, turn the lights off, sit at my desk, and burst into tears at what a horrible semester it had been. I questioned my decision to go into teaching many times, and wondered why I had chosen this career, and thought about this constantly. I took at least a day off almost every week in the last few months at the school, as I could not stand being at the school for an entire week. I had changed, I was depressed, I had lost my smile and happiness and all desire to teach. What was I to do?



The painful but wise decision:

It was November of 2000, about 4 months into my teaching career at the school, and I made a decision. I could not go on the way I was, I was so depressed I had lost the students, and I knew if I continued I would lose my desire to teach forever. I decided that I would resign effective at the end of December, before the holidays, at the end of the first semester. It was a day filled with pain and anguish, making that decision. But I looked at what was ahead for me. Could I actually stand another semester the way I was. I had no help from anyone, and I did try to get some. But it seemed this was the only decision to make, and now looking back I think it was the best one. My last day before the students left for the holidays was filled with both happiness and pain. Happiness because a semester of torture would soon be over and sad, becuase I would not be a teacher there anymore. I know that I am a great teacher, it is just that so many things worked against me that semester and I learned many things that I would not let happen again.



What I learned:

I learned that I had gone into the wrong grade level. I went into teaching at the 6th grade campus with the expectation that I would recieve some help, but none ever came. Now I am subsitute teaching or as I call it, teacher substituting, starting in January of this year and it is helping very much. I have learned that I am more comfortable in the 1st and 2nd grade level, a huge difference from 6th grade. By substitute teaching I am getting the experience to know which grade I prefer if openings come out again. It is helping me very much, and also helps me to structure my discipline on the students. I also have gained my smile back and very happy that I dont have to wake up every morning and go into that 6th grade classroom ever again. I feel as I am free from the bars that had closed around me, and able to decide where else I would teach. I have never lost my desire to teach, but it almost came close that semester last year. If anything, a new teacher must understand if they will recieve any help from the school, and must understand the grade level they most comfortable teaching. I made those mistakes, hoping I would recieve help at my school, and thinking that I would enjoy 6th grade. Now I wont make those mistakes ever again. I know that the dreadful experience I went through last year was meant to help me understand the mistakes I had done and to never repeat them. I know I am a great teacher, with so many ideas and dreams, and I know that soon the experience I am hoping for will indeed come. While I dont expect that it will be easy, I know that it will be much better than what I went through in 6th grade.



Thank you for reading this, and I hope to see other teachers respond to this forum. I felt comfortable in talking about that horrible semester I had. I hope others will feel they can share what is happening to them, whether bad or good. I know that sometimes, we put on false images, and pretend as if everything is going well. I did it myself, but I could not keep it up for very long. I hope we can share our methods to teach and discipline, and give support to each other when it is needed. I know my semester would indeed have gone better, if I had that support. The future looks bright though, and I know I will eventually be in a 1st or 2nd grade classroom, and feeling the power of being a teacher. I have high hopes that by the new school year in August of 2001, that it will indeed happen!



Have a wonderful night all!








Edited by: Lundaris at: 3/9/01 7:49:07 pm

[Anonymous]

Wow. Sounds like you had a rough semester. I am sorry that your first teaching experience had to be like that. I admire your willingness to keep trying and learning so that you can eventually teach. Part of why I decided to sub for my first year came from a fear of exactly what happened to you. I wanted to get in a year of extra learning before I tried to take on a classroom of my own. I am now getting a chance to practice teaching strategies, see different room set-ups, experience different discipline methods, and get a feel for different schools and principles so that when there are openings available I will be able to make a knowledgable decision. I have already learned that I would not be able to take on a special ed classroom of my own at this point. But I have also learned that if regular teaching starts getting monotonous for any reason I would be interested in getting a special ed certification. I have also had a chance to develop my own style of approaching students. I have figured out what I am comfortable with and what students seem to respond to best around me. These are all things that are very hard to learn when you have all the responsibilies of a full time classroom. Especially at a challenging level like 6th grade. There are so many other things - grades, meetings, parents, etc - to be dealt with. I have kind of looked at this year of subbing as an extra year of student teaching only I am getting paid for it!

Anyway, I am glad that you are finding out what ages and schools you are more comfortable with. I hope that you will find a job that allows you to use your ideas and keep your smile. Good luck.

Sol
"if the world is night,

shine my life like a light"

[Anonymous]

Thank you sunangel for your wonderful comments, it means alot to me coming from a fellow teacher. Yes, subbing has allowed me to experience as you have, the different principals, schools, programs, discipline management and grade levels. I think this is preparing me alot more than having jumped into teaching as I did.





Have a wonderful weekend!

[Anonymous]

Thank you Lisa for your kind and encouraging words. As I continue subbing I am learning to be a stronger and better teacher. Thank you for your words which mean very much to me.





Have a wonderful day!!!

[Anonymous]

And to think that I went for 21 years not knowing that my name made for the perfect game character! Actually my name is Solange, but around these parts I tend to be called Sol.

And now I have a character and a game named after me. Very flattering, if you ask me! Someday I will get a t-shirt with a pic of her on it and I will be the coolest substitute teacher around!

As for the sound effects, I played a part but Mike did most of them. I am the female "hello" and the stick witch. I forget what else. Mike himself made the adorable stuck-in-a-tree sounds! The magic of sound manipulation! He also made up all the music in the game. Pretty awesome, huh?! He is so talented!

I read some of your other posts and I want to congratulate you on your will-power. I think it is great that you are teaching Ryan that there are other things more important than buying everything you can, as soon as you can! And just think how cool Mother's day will be!

[Anonymous]

Name: Zook, RJ (Randy) [When the school started a site I couldn't think of anything in 10 seconds or less, so zookrj it was!)

Age: BDate 05-03-1960

Location: Orlando, Florida

Degree: BA Secondary Education, Mathematics, been pursuing a Mathematical Science Master's degree forever

Years: 19, all at the same Lutheran High School, now grades 6-12 (I guess God has me where he wants me to be!)

Experiences: Taught every math class from Pre-Algebra to Pre-Calculus, Health, PE, Theology, BASIC Programming (on TRS-80s!-those were the days), Word Processing, probably some stuff I don't remember (old age), coached Soccer, Baseball, still coaching Volleyball and Softball.

Reason for teaching: We have all been given gifts and a calling from God. Mine is to teach. I have had the opportunity to move into administration (oh yeah, I was Athletic Director for 8 years, forgot that in experiences), but I truly feel in my heart that my place is in the classroom (or the trenches as they are lovingly referred to at times). What did it for me was my first fourth grade teacher, Mr. Cavausos, the first male teacher I had ever had. Once I found out that guys could be teachers, I was hooked.



As you can tell, I may have Sunny beat when it comes to rambling. Must come from growing up with Steve Martin (all together now - "I'm a ramblin' guy....).

Peace,

Randy


"Success lies not in being the best, but in doing your best"Edited by: zookrj at: 4/8/01 11:14:03 am

[Anonymous]

This is sunangel under a new name!!

I don't think it is just you...teachers are expected to teach way more than they were even 10 years ago. In college I went to listen to this speaker who was trying to motivate teachers. Somewhere I have the handout he gave us showing how the topics teachers teach have grown over the past 100 years or so. It started out with jsut reading, writing, math, social studies, science, etc. Now we have health and PE and sex ed and art and communications and conflict resolution and basic hygiene and all the basic skills that kids used to learn from their parents and other adult role models. And we have to be teaching all these things to children who are much more worrried about whether dad is going to hit them or mom is going to come home or how they are going to find something to eat or whether the kid who sits next to them on the bus is going to have a gun like he threatened...it goes on ans on. And somehow we have to convince these kids who don't even have their basic needs met that they should be learning geometry and geography and history. What do they care about how people lived 100 years ago? They just want to know how THEY are going to live thru today and tomorrow. Teaching is quickly becoming the only profession that is going to heal the huge gaping holes that are tearing our society and family structures apart. And at the same time we have political bigwigs taking away all of our funding to put towards tax cuts for the rich and budget boosts for the military. It frightens me sometimes to think about how easy it would be for our unstable little country to fall into a completely militaristic, brainwashed culture. (Can you tell I have been reading scary futuristic books like The Handmaid's Tale? Sorry!)

Anyway...when I am teaching I will stop anything...anything at all...it I think there is a genuine opportunity to teach my students about kindness and understanding and acceptance of differences. If my students only learn one thing from me I want it to be that they are worthwhile people and that they deserve respect and have the responsibility to be respectful of all living things. Because if I can instill that feeling of self worth then they will learn the curriculum stuff. That is the easy part.

That is just one womans humble opinion tho. I could be way off base. I am interested in hearing what others think.

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, teachable moments. A time for teachers and students to learn about each other on a personal level. This last fall one of our graduates (class of 2000)was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in an apartment just around the corner from the school. Talk about your teachable moments! As many of the students were upset by the condition of the body (defensive knife wounds on the hands and arms)and other circumstances (afterward he set a fire, barred the exits and succumbed himself to smoke inhalation and died a few days later in a hospital after being rescued, never regained consciousness, never stood trial) it really opened doors for discussions on domestic violence, forgiveness, etc. I agree, the day's algebra lesson is secondary to life lessons.



One of my student's favorite questions is, "When are we ever going to use this?" The answer of course is, "Probably never (unless you plan to continue your math studies in the future)!" I then go on to explain that 90% of what you learn in high school you'll never use again. It is not the facts and figures that are important (unless you go on "millionaire") but it is the ability to process information. In other words, "learning how to learn". Once you decide what it is that interests you or in what profession you plan to spend the bulk of your waking hours, it is the ability to learn new things and process them, assimilate, internalize, use whatever buzz words you want, that is important. I love math, but let's be realistic, when was the last time I used the quadratic formula outside of the classroom? (I actually did use integration one summer while sitting on a riding lawn mower passing the time figuring how many linear feet the mower would actually travel to mow a rectangular field by continuously mowing around the perimeter, but then I am a little strange.) On the other hand, how many times have I followed a set of instructions to put together that Christmas present, bake a cake, install a car stereo, etc. Every year I look up my tax liability on a tax table [reading a chart], follow a map, balance my checkbook, measure something, etc. (Speaking of measuring, it is amazing to me how many freshmen don't have a clue about 12 in = 1 ft, 3 ft = 1 yd, 5280 ft = 1 mile, or anything about the metric system! Tell them there are 8 oz in a cup and they don't believe you! Please tell me that you elementary teachers in other states are actually teaching this stuff! One of my colleagues would like to teach a course entitled "Forgotten skills" that would teach things like the proper way to answer a phone and take a message, shake hands [no limp fish], saying please and thank-you, common courtesies like opening doors for others, etc. Unbelievable that it has come to it, but then I teach finding common denominators for the purpose of adding fractions to 9th and 10th graders every year. One final "unbelievable but true": In 1999 when I mentioned that there would probably be some specials about the 30th anniversary of landing on the moon I had more than one student respond with "We landed on the moon?" No wonder our best students are ranked 12th in the world.)
"Success lies not in being the best, but in doing your best"[i]

[Anonymous]

Well i'm 13 and being taught, i'm in the 8th grade and doing my best i get C's-A's, so i'm not that good of a student, i don't like the teachers that get in front of the class and yell and all. I learn better from someone showing me. I was not that good at math till the 7th grade when i met the greatest teacher i have ever met , even today (everyone here doesn't count couse i haven't really met you), he was very nice and sat down with me as i was struggling very badly, no-one had ever done that, no i'm pretty good at math ( it's my favorite subject, except for science , couse if i do really good there i get to do chemistry and blow stuff up).
sincerely,
Justin989

[Anonymous]

I, for one, am thrilled to hear your point of view. And I totally agree that teachers who just get in front of the class and yell shouldn't be teachers. I am glad that you have found a teacher who you connected with. Be sure to let that teacher know, somehow, that you appreciate them. The best teachers often go unacknowledged and ignored and teaching is one of those professions where a little encouragement goes a long way! So let your favorite teacher or teachers know that they have a fan!! And thanks for joining our little education forum! Can you do me a favor? Think back to your favorite elementary teachers...or even the ones that you kinda liked...and tell me what made them special to you. I am hoping to have my own classroom someday and it would be great to have your opinion on what makes a good teacher! Thanks in advance...

Sol

[Anonymous]

Well what made my elementary teachers so great is that, they would read books to us, and becouse of that i could read some books by 1st grade, I now read at a higher level than highschool even.
sincerely,
Justin989

[Anonymous]

boy it's quiet here , "crickets chirping".
sincerely,
Justin989

[Anonymous]

Hey, i got a tip for you teachers. if you leave the room and you want to know if your students are behaving you should(if you have one) look inside the window looking into the classroom before you go in. if they are behaving,(not so usual) well, teachers luck! If not, give them some kind of punishment. :"> :"> :">

[Anonymous]

Now that school is out for summer...I hope all the kids and teachers are having a great time! Just don't forget to read; we wouldn't want anybody's brain turning into mush over the summer!

[Anonymous]

I'm mainly reading words on TV Commercials. Just kidding, I am also reading comic books. I just got out of school on Thursday.
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[Anonymous]

no it doesn't
Edited by: devon44 at: 7/30/02 11:05:21 pm

[Anonymous]

Reading is a hobby for me! Comics esp., but I used to read at least 2 books per day! At night , reading made me sleep a lot more better!(but made me stay up until around 12)

[Anonymous]

I watch TV until 11:00. Then I read for two hours. An hour after that, I go to sleep. Today, I got up after 3 hours of sleep.




Eye on Springfield

The Springfield Odyssey

[Anonymous]

My dad told me when we were in the USA that kid's in USa get out for summer holidays early and we get out a week later or so and then your summer holidays are over but we get the week that wasn't are summer holidays!

[Anonymous]

I read 300 page a week. Or more. cool, huh?

[Anonymous]

How much homework do you teachers give out compared to other teachers?

I am in the sixth grade and I live in a town outside of philladelphia. I get about 1 1/2 hours of homework per night including working on long term projects.

My teacher is really cool but she isn't the sort of teacher who plays video games. My fith grade teacher was even cooler and had a son who was about nine. I should tell my fith grade teacher about hamumu. I love reading and I recomend the book "The first two lives of lucas kasha" by Loyd Alexander to everyone here.

Here is a link to the book on amazon.com



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0141300574/qid=1044636278/sr=1-19/ref=sr_1_19/103-6097617-9795854?v=glance&s=books



Loyd Alexander is my favorite author, you should read some of his other books too, such as the marvelous misadventures of sebastian.



I read very fast. In fact I read faster in first grade than most of my classmates do now.



I look out the window and see 7 inches of snow. No school today.:">

Bye!

[Anonymous]

Why homework?, Im not shure if I like school or not I say i hate it then I say I like it So the odds are I don't care about school I guess. *sniff sniff* I'll never know!

[Anonymous]

Have you ever read "Iron Ring"? That books good. I read it in 4th grade though. I just had a bad experience at school today. one of my friends got really mad at the teacher, and then the teacher said if you have any problems go to the principals office, and he said fine. Everyone thought he walked home, but NO, he actually went to the principals office! Good thing is, he only got a suspension, I'm suprised he didn't get expelled!