Where's that teaching job?

Dear reader, before you say to yourself "This girl can't even use proper grammar, she should not be teaching," you must realize I worded the title in such a way that would be catchy... you know, for entertainment purposes. But, that is not the topic of this post; this post follows my struggle with the infamous teaching-job-search and the endless frustration I find myself having with today's schools.

Four years ago, I, I'm sure along with many of my peers, went into college with the assurance that I would have a job when I walked across the stage. Teaching used to be a guaranteed job, but, with the budget crisis, the "one profession that touches all other professions" is no longer a definite. Here it is, four years later... college degree (and soon to have teaching license) in hand... but no job. My lack of career is certainly not due to laziness or failure of marketing myself. I have done everything my wise professors have advised me to do... from making brochures to hand-delivering resumes and cover letters all across my desired school district. After a while, it becomes disheartening.

This is the problem...
You're a recent college graduate with fresh, innovative ideas; you know it is not an easy task, but you have the drive and desire to push every student to his/her fullest potential. You want your future students to see what they never saw in themselves- giving them hope for their futures, while at the same time, providing rigorous activities allowing for high academic achievement. You stayed up many nights never getting sleep, making sure every mark on a paper or project was perfected. You wanted to pack your brain with every inch of teaching knowledge you could so that you could constantly improve yourself to so that you could one day best teach your future students. After all the sweat, tears, and coffee, you finally graduate and receive that beautiful diploma... but wait, where's that job you have been studying for the past four years?


I recently watched Waiting for Superman, an documentary about how America's current educational system is not the best for our students. Many problems were presented, and I'm sure many educators have noticed these issues, but are befuddled with how to fix them. The problems facing education today are BIG, which is why one teacher may not feel adequate enough to make all the necessary changes. But, I have the belief that one educator can do quite much- one educator can make the difference. We all know one teacher who made our lives a little easier; whether this teacher made learning fun, or just said hello to you evey morning while your own peers never acknowledged your presence as you stared at the ground while walking the hallways- this teacher impacted your life. So, you see, one teacher can make all the difference. I know I may be too small to influence the political powers and leaders, but I do know I can influence what occurs in my future classroom. And you see, the students one teacher influences then go on to positively effect the lives of their peers and their co-wokers, making a continuous chain of optimism and ambition. This chain... this never-ending line of encouragement... can make all the difference. This notion, I believe, is at the heart of all educators- this is what pushes us to do what we do, and in turn become frustrated when we do not have the opportunitiy to do so.

The first day of class at my school, I was shocked at the racial segregation of my classes; three of my classes contain primarily African American students, while my other two classes were made up mostly of white students. I have about four or five students who are fifteen, and the youngest age of my students is twelve. The ICR classes do contain at-risk students, and multiple students with IEPs. My students are also from various ends of the socioeconomic totem pole.
The abilities these students have is mixed in all of my classes; three of them are ICR, and two of them are AG. My first ICR class is not that big, while the other two seem to be larger. Both of my AG classes seem to make the room feel smaller. I was surprised when one student in one of the AG classes stated that her favorite books were written by Dan Brown. An eighth grader reading Dan Brown? This surprised me, but at the same time, worried me; the abilities of my students are literally on opposite ends of the spectrum. I am worried that I will not be able to teach effectively to each ability level, while also using appropriate differentiation.

Classroom Environment

Ligon Middle School is a supportive environment for diverse learners to excel; the determined staff contributes greatly to this positive learning space. Not only do teachers and administrators push students to succeed, but some families also provide student support. Even though some students’ parents and grandparents may come to volunteer, many students still do not receive the needed amount of support from home.
Ligon contains grade levels six through eight, with grade mixing among different electives which students choose to take. The school is located in a part of town that is surrounded by lower-economic status and government housing, but students are bused from all over the county, so diverse populations are present. Even though Ligon is made up of a diverse population, the mixing of students within classes is not evenly assorted.
Three of my language arts classes are ICR classes, and the majority of students in them are African American, while my two AG language arts classes are compiled mostly by white students. Within the three ICR classes, eight students are white, eight students are Indian, and two are Hispanic. The two AG classes contain ten students who are Indian and two students who are African-American. According to these numbers, diversity is present in these classrooms, but is not evenly distributed.
In the first two ICR classes, I have eighteen students, and in my third ICR language arts class, there are twenty-five students. I am glad the day starts off with a smaller class; many mornings, the air conditioning in my classroom does none turn on until around nine in the morning. A classroom full of antsy middle-school-students and no air conditioning may not be a great start to the school day.
The two AG classes are composed of twenty-six and twenty-two students. The classroom seems cramped at times with the larger classes, but it is still functional. Students have more trouble moving around into groups, so it is easier for them to work in groups on their particular rows; seating charts have been made to ensure cooperative learning groups will be present on each one.
All of these classes have a spectrum of abilities, and within the ICR classes, I know for certain five students have IEPs. During one lesson, my cooperating teacher read a short story out loud to the three ICR classes, but the AG classes were able to read more of the piece silently by themselves. It concerns me that many of these students still have extreme difficulty reading independently; especially when three students in the ICR classes are fifteen.
There is a big difference among students’ ages in these classes; the youngest age is twelve. Not only do these classes contain a big difference in age, but they contain an uneven gender distribution. In second period (an ICR language arts class), four students are male, while thirteen are female; third period shows almost the same distribution, with four students being male and fifteen female. Fourth period, a larger class, contains ten males and seventeen females. Fifth period has fourteen males and thirteen females, while seventh period contains nine males and fifteen females.
Even though the classes do not contain much diversity, the classroom is highly organized, and students can easily follow the days’ events and schedule by glancing around the room. Classroom rules are placed in front of the class, and strategically beside the clock. Also beside the clock is the school’s PBS discipline flow chart. Schedules are posted on every wall; a normal school day consists of eight periods, one of which is lunch, and each period lasting approximately forty-three minutes.
Supplies are also placed in front of the classroom and on sides of the classroom, along with a classroom library bookshelf, a bookshelf for grammar and literature text books, a bookshelf containing dictionaries and thesauruses, and crates containing grammar workbooks and soon to contain students’ focus question notebooks. There is an ELMO, a t.v. with VHS/DVD player, a projector, two computers (one of which is not working at the time), and a printer are also located in the classroom.

Ligon Middle School

This year, cooperating teacher has moved from Daniels Middle School to Ligon Middle School; even though this is an exciting move, I am not as familiar with Ligon as I was with Daniels. The school's location is a major difference than that of Daniels; Ligon appears to be set in a lower-economic part of Raleigh. The staff is very focused and positive about giving their students highly effective teaching; I am looking forward to working with them for a great (and busy) student teaching semester!

I did attend a faculty meeting at the beginning of this week, which was exciting because it was my first student teaching experience this semester. A lot of information was given that day, and it was a lot to take in; I have much more to learn. I need to learn more about Ligon's PBS system, along with everyday school procedures. I was never fully aware about the smaller details that make a school run much more smoother, such as duties and behavior policies.

There are many things I still need to learn about Ligon Middle School, and I plan to gain more knowledge on school policies and procedures this upcoming week.

Is it really exam time?

As this semester quickly approaches an end, reality starts to settle. I am one exam week away from holding the title of "Meredith College Senior." Senior year contains many memorable events in any college student's life, and for future educators, this long-awaited year contains the highly anticipated student teaching semester. Since freshman year, my education friends and I have discussed how excited we would be when we were about to student teach, and we would often count down the semesters until the time arrived... now, it is actually here. Student teaching is the Mount Everest of the track to receiving a license, so, am I really ready to conquer Everest?

My professors have well-equipped me with the knowledge I will need to be pedagogically sound, while putting theories to practice. The field of education has endless possibilities, and I am eager to use the many strategies I have been learning about for two years. Although I have completed the reading and studying
needed to successfully complete these courses, I will not fully understand these concepts until I'm in front of the class.

It is hard to grasp the idea that I will be student teaching next semester; the most important semester of my college career is only four months away. I do not mean to sound dramatic, but it is a little anxiety-inducing, but still extremely exciting, that I will soon be in front of the class. I do know that the fall will be one of the best learning experiences I will ever encounter; I am excited to see what next year brings and discovering more ways to teach effectively.

The Writing Workshop... where to begin?

We recently read Nancie Atwell's In the MIddle: Writing, Reading, and Learning with Adolescents in our methods course. The writing workshop, as described by Atwell, produces affective writers and improves students' writing abilities. She works one-on-one with each student, holding conferences to ensure each step of the writing process is taking place. Looking back on my middle school and high school years, I cannot remember a teacher who went through each step of the writing process and held conferences with each student. This may take much time, but when used wisely, much can be accomplished using this writing workshop model.
Atwell's model is extremely affective in her classroom, but I am nervous of where to begin this process in my future classroom. The closer I get to student teaching, the more anxious I get about classroom organization, an essential element in the writing workshop and for a positive classroom environment. I plan on keeping the class as organized as possible to create a positive learning place. This will take time and effort, but I am sure I can effectively organize the class so that students can become better readers and writers.

Technology this Semester

Walking into EDU 241, I felt as if I was technologically illiterate. I have improved my technology skills quite much in this class. I was super excited, and nervous, to find our we would learn how to create websites in this class. Looking back on my webpage and webquest, I am proud to know I created them from scratch. Knowing how to use Expressions will greatly help my career; I will now be able to create class webpages and webquests to incorporate 20th century learning into my future classroom. There are so many ways to use technology in the classroom, and this class sparked great ideas that I will carry with me into my career.
I wish we had spent more time on Access; this program highly confused me. Databases will be a great way to organize information about students, and I wish we would have spent more time on them.
Not only have I learned about technology in this class, but my confidence in using technology has increased. I am not as afraid of technology as I was at the beginning of this course- thank you Dr. Parker!