Wednesday I, along with all the other 3rd grade teachers in the school corporation, had a workshop to attend. I didn't really know what to expect. Sometimes the presenters are GREAT and other times they are just a waste of time. By the looks of the guy, John Brogan is his name, I thought it would be a waste of time. But, then he came alive! He was funny, told great stories, and was not at all pretentious. Not to mention he gave us permission to teach the way we all know we should be teaching!
My favorite quote of his was this, "Children do not learn at the government rate." Yet his test scores jumped so high in such a short time, they sent someone out to see what he was doing (or check to see if he was cheating). Turns out teaching from your heart is more effective than teaching a list of objectives assigned by the state. (The hypocrisy of the fact that the same people who are telling us to teach these objectives are the same ones who hired this guy to come talk to us, was not wasted on me.)
What made me want to teach was working with an amazingly gifted kindergarten ELL (English Language Learner) teacher. Again, the tests they did on these kindergarteners were higher than the English Speaking kindergarteners. They sent someone out to see what she was doing. They have tried to reproduce it. They snatched her up from the classroom to have her give workshops and I'm sure like John Brogan she has inspired others to teach from their hearts.
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I've considered that 5 year thing to wipe out my students loans, but I don't think I'm cut out for it. I'm a small town girl and want to teach in the same community in which I live and when I see the opportunity for the job, I don't want to waste any time snagging it up. So, unless one of the smaller local schools become considered "at risk," which they may be, I think I'll just pay it back. I don't think I'm cut out for the larger, urban schools.
It is extremely tough. There is an awful lot of disrespect and apathy...even in the elementary school.
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