Afternoon Pages: Finals Week

©2019 BaxiaArt

So as we come to a close on spring semester 2019, hell week is upon us. For me, and all other English majors I have talked to, it feels like this week is the worst one because all of these papers are being due. All projects are finishing up. It’s the craziest time in all of our lives.

What do I do to handle stress?

Sometimes I just have to push everything away and not deal with it. Sometimes that is the best thing to do because you need to just decompress and relax. It will be there when you get back to it. Listen to some music. Watch one episode of a show you’re really into (but don’t get into a show hole), or anything else you enjoy.

Sometimes I wish K-12 teachers would have had ways for us to handle stress a lot better. I remember a few of mine telling me to grow up and suck it up in a shortened sense. All adults have stress. We all have to go through stressful things so it’s not that big of a deal.

News flash: it is. It’s such a big deal to have great coping mechanisms and knowing how to properly deal with mental health. For you to be able to perform your best academically, you have to be able to be at your best emotionally too. Sometimes it’s hard, but you have to make time for yourself.

I want to always remind students to take time for themselves. I want to teach them how to balance their personal and academic lives. Just like how I need to learn how to balance my personal and professional life. It takes some time, but we have to do that to be in the right state of mind.

Afternoon Pages: Tools and Machines

©2019 Phenix59

Something that I think would be great would be having Kindles in the classroom. That way books can always be easily accessible, up to date, and it’s guaranteed for students to have all of their books with them at all times. While Kindles are sometimes expensive, there are other options such as Nooks from Barnes and Noble (hey, at least they’re teacher friendly!) but something that doesn’t go on the internet all the time. Its primary use is for students to always have access to their books.

Another thing I really think would be great is a server that students can create websites for projects on, but they can only be accessed on that server. That way the child’s identity stays safe. If they’re more in a high school level, then students can put it out in the open if they would like, but it’s another way to protect students while using technology.

I think at this point in our society, we just need to try to update our schools. While books are so important, we also need to understand that technology is taking the forefront, and we need to give students as many resources as possible to keep up with the times.

Afternoon Pages: What Will You Make

©2012-2019 Vanishin

For me, the direction of my badge is how to help teachers not hit their breaking point during their profession. While we give so much resources to students (which is great, and we should honestly have more), there is very little to no resources for teachers. Why is this? Teachers are being constantly drained because of the needs of students, the boundaries of the education system, and having their whole lives become a long running episode of “A Day in the Life of a Teacher”.

Teachers should care about their students. They should be passionate. But they should also have time for themselves, time away from the school environment that they have to bring home with them. There should be more out there to help them come down from that breaking point, or to stop it before it starts.

Keeping teachers mental health in place will also create a better place for students. They will get more out of their teaching. They will see a happier teacher. You can’t tell me that at any time during your education you haven’t seen a teacher that is tired, worn-out, and even slightly on edge. I know I have.

Losing the teachers that are just beginning to come into the world of education is just as much of a detriment as a teacher leaving the profession for retirement, but for different reasons. A young teacher leaving two years in removes the experiences her experienced teachers gave to her. There are less male teachers in the faculty. Less diversity in the staff. Students notice. There isn’t enough representation for them.

Being an advocate in this area doesn’t only help my teaching, but society as a whole. Having more resources for teachers so they can stay in a healthy, stable state of mind is so important. We don’t need teachers leaving the workforce so soon. We need them there so we know what type of learning our students are getting. We don’t need it going to waste.

Choices in Education, But at What Price?

©2019 JoannaJohnen

“Critics of charter schools argue they represent an attack on the public education system, erode the power of school boards and teachers unions, and can drain traditional schools of resources and more motivated families.”

Sarah Carr

This is a very heated debate because there are a lot of things that are good about charter and private schools, but there are also bad things that come from them, just like any other education system. While I don’t think either of these other forms of education are detriments to the education system, in fact we really should have more options for students, but I don’t know if vouchers are the right way to go. In some ways it could go great; maybe the school board might actually do something about the public system and fix the problems in schools so that they can still have full classrooms. It might also even out the amount of students per classroom so it could help teachers properly teach the students and actually have time for them per the allotted classroom. But it could also decrease funding in the public school system, which is something we don’t need. I do think it depends on how it’s implemented, how many vouchers are given out (it wasn’t specific, just stated that it would depend on geographic), and then limited how many could go to each section.

Homeschooling on the other hand is a difficult subject for me. I do think that parents who choose to homeschool their kids, and properly homeschool them, should get the funding that they need. Regardless, it is teaching their students, and there might be reasons that they have to homeschool their children; autoimmune disorder or other types of illnesses and possibly even disabilities. However, there should be some type of way to make sure it is being done properly and to make sure that students are still within the learning curve of children their age.

Afternoon Pages: Letter to my Future Self

©2019 CecilyAndreuArtwork

Dear Saja,

So you graduated, you might have actually got a job right out of college (such wow, much impressed) and you get to finally start the work you have been preparing for. You’re probably ridden with anxiety having those kids, your kids, walking through your classroom door. What do you do? You’re probably going to try to have that perfect image in your head come to life. That’s probably not gonna happen though.

It’s not always going to work out according to plan. But you can try your hardest. Make sure that they know from day one that your classroom is safe and open to them. Make sure that they know that you’re a valuable resource and you will always be there for them. They will know if you’re being sincere or not.

Things will be tough. They will be scary and exciting all at once. It’s okay, let that happen. It’s easier to say now then later when I’m actually at that point, but you can do it. You’ll probably have some oopses along the way, but take them in stride.

One step at a time. It’ll happen. Believe in yourself. Everything will be okay. And if it’s not, then you can fix it on day two. Just remember to hand out the syllabus.

Advocates for Educational Reform

©2019 LoverPrints

While looking through advocacy, I’ve really noticed that there was not just “one way” of advocating something. People have different types of techniques, and they advocate for a variety of different things. The two websites that I chose to look at were Coalition of Essential Schools and National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. While both organizations stand for different things, it’s interesting to see the similarities that weave between them.

Charter schools are really interesting because while they do follow the standards set by the state, they have more freedom on how the things are taught since they are not a standard public school. For example, when I looked for charter schools in Fort Collins, I stumbled across Mountain Sage Community School. While they are a public charter school, so therefore they’re not paying fees and tuition like you would see at a private school or a private charter school, they do have this thing called a lottery, which is how new students hope to get into the school. It’s actually quite a common practice. While parents don’t have to pay thousands of dollars’ worth of fees, not every student is just allowed in. NAPCS is a non profit organization that helps improve state charter policy. With their policies, they are helping teachers actually able to run their classrooms, principles being able to run the school, and parents being able to choose what type of education their child has.

While this organization is no longer active as of March of 2017, CES was helping teachers creating more innovative and effective teaching for more than thirty two years. Even after their years of advocacy have ended, many schools are still using the core principles left behind; personalization, less is more: depth over coverage, learning to use one’s mind well, a tone of decency and trust, demonstration of mastery, democracy and equity and many more. CES wants the student to reach their highest potential, and they wanted to help teachers have the necessary tools for students to be able to do so. This organization would actually create schools with their common principles where students would start school and graduate from.

The thing that can be seen here is that regardless of what is being advocated for, the root reason is for the teachers and the students. It shows how many individuals in the education system are not getting the education they deserve and how we need to fix the large gaps that our system has.

Self Assessment

©2019 fantazyme

So the thing that interested me was that I stayed in a fairly even rate with North, South and East during this assessment. However, I leaned the heaviest on the West part of the assessment. It wasn’t by much (11 vs 7,7, and 9) but I could definitely see by looking more at the consequences of being this type of person that I can agree with my results. I think sometimes it’s funny to be seen as distant and withdrawn, but I don’t always see it as a bad thing. Sometimes I would rather work on something by myself because I have this feeling that my group members won’t do the quality of work I do. It’s just been a constant thing for me ever since I was little. I hold myself to this high expectation and I feel like if I don’t have control of everything, then it will all fall apart.

But I do think it’s great that I can find flaws in projects, because then it can become something better. Especially in advocacy situations, people will try to find tiny holes in your plan if they don’t agree with it. In this case, I would then be able to make sure that my plan is as solid as it can be, and I think that is so important. But I do think emotional is also a big thing, because if you aren’t passionate about something, then what are you doing? You should be advocating because you want to, not because someone thinks it’s a good idea.

I think there is always room for growth, but that comes with time. While I don’t think I’m horrible at anything, I do think maybe trying to work with people more and be more willing to hear their ideas would make me a better advocate. Sometimes having a fresh set of eyes on something may uncover what you didn’t see before.

Can Young Teachers be Advocates?

©2019 Ellysiumn

I do think that young teachers can be advocates in the profession, but maybe not in the same ways as older, more experienced teachers can. For example, one of the five ways it shows you’re a leader is taking a teacher under your wing. Until I have a few years of experience under my belt, I don’t think I would be comfortable enough to do that. But I do think that young teachers in some ways have more gumption for change because we haven’t been beaten down by the school board yet. I think sometimes when you keep getting told no so many times, you would just rather not fight them about things anymore. While young teachers are scared, we also want to make change happen not only for us in the profession, but also for the students continuing their education.

I think the parent thing is so important also. While I’m not a parent yet, I know that my view will change once I have children and even grand children in school. You want what’s best for them in an educational sense, so you want to make sure that’s what they’re getting. So I think translating it, and in some ways giving a bigger impact, when you’re both a teacher and a parent, makes a big difference. I also think in some ways you have more of a voice as a parent than a teacher because you are sending your child to school there.

Overall I do think young teachers can make a difference though. Just like our young, future voting population can make waves, so can we. We don’t always have to have a lot years into a profession to know when something is wrong.

Why be an Advocate?

©2019 borda

The funny thing is that I already decided on this badge before I had to even write the proposal. I decided on it when I was deciding on the second badge, but I never really thought about why I wanted to do this badge.

After finishing the Teacher as an Ally badge and watching other presentations from those doing the Advocate badge, I realized how similar the two are. I guess a better wat to put it would be how the two go along with each other. To be an ally, you have to be advocating something. But to also be an advocate, you have to be an ally to those in the group you’re advocating for. I think this badge it’ll help extend my knowledge on how to help students who are underrepresented in our schools. It’ll also help students who are represented, but still don’t get the proper resources and tools they need to succeed in the classroom. I also think advocacy goes more along the lines of what is happening in the political side of society rather then focusing on the students and how they interact in the classroom. I think it would be exciting to see the extended form of this, and how teachers, or anyone in general, would extend their alliance from the classroom and place it into problems we’re facing today.

I think it’s going to give me more knowledge about the diverse student population that I know exists. Even though I didn’t go to a school with a diverse population, I know that there are so many schools, both public and private, that have diverse cultures on their campus. I think this will help me because while I know it’s important to be an advocate, I don’t know how to be an advocate. Or, how to at least do it properly. I think sometimes we think it’s one thing and it’s really something else. I think it will also open my eyes to how many problems there really are in the education system, and while everything is a serious problem, helping to find some of the bigger issues that could alleviate some of the smaller issues would be a great thing as well.

What’s kind of funny is that I think it would go back to my UGP in a sense and relating it to why I hope it’ll help me in the classroom later. I hope this badge gives me a different type of passion besides the typical “I hope everyone succeeds” mentality. Why I do and always find that important, I hope to find another side road of teaching and what else I can do being a teacher in the classroom. I want to be more than just a teacher, but a motivator and a mentor. I also want to find something that I’m passionate about that isn’t part of the classroom, but still works its way into the classroom. You can’t put your whole life in the classroom, but rather, you can integrate certain parts in and watch your students flourish. I just want to find that one piece that makes people say, “yeah, that’s definitely something she focuses on”. While I don’t know what that’ll be quite yet, though I’m sure it’ll come as a shower thought, I think this badge will help give me the tools to let all of that information come together.

Pose, Wobble, Flow

©2019 Noir-Division

Considering that I have already done my UGP (and did well on it, bless) I’m going to direct it towards this badge.

Honestly wobbling now, there really isn’t much besides on the teach in. I think that just where I’m most nervous because if something goes not according to plan, then I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it. Or if a question gets asked and I don’t know how to answer it, I know I’m going to stutter and fumble. So I’m trying to become as well rounded as possible so I’ll be pretty much ready for anything that comes my way. (But if we want to talk about the wobble on my UGP, it was writing the poem I wanted to do for my slam poem video. That was rough).

I think the same applies to both the UGP and this badge; sometimes I just make myself sit down and work on the project for thirty minutes to an hour. I don’t let myself get distracted. Or I tell myself ‘you will complete three things today, big or small’. The soft deadlines also helps so I know that I’m in the right time frame to do all of this. Sometimes it’s very hard to do everything at once, so breaking it down into sections makes it not seem so overwhelming.

I think wobbling with students makes you, as a teacher, more human. Students sometimes think we’re just robots with endless amounts of information about our concentration, and that’s not the case. We’re human, we make mistakes too, and I think that can help build relationships in the classroom. But then they also can realize that it’s okay to make mistakes too, as long as they learn from them.