We've Got a Ways to Go

Our third nine weeks unit is easily my favorite unit that we teach. We spend three months, from January to March, teaching our students texts from and about the American Civil Rights Movement. This year, this unit of study has taken on a new significance for me. In past years, the unrest of our society has been more subdued and has lived further in the background of everyday life. However, that anger and anxiety and unrest has risen again to the front pages of our newspapers and the forefront of our thoughts as events like those in Ferguson, Missouri have reminded Americans that we've still got work to do.

As an educator, I want to move beyond "teaching tolerance." I don't want to teach children to tolerate each other, to see their difference as something to simply be allowed. I want to teach acceptance. I want to teach justice. I want to teach equity. Life won't always be fair, but we should strive to ensure that it is just. In an effort to bring these ideas to an applicable level in my middle schoolers' lives, I ask students to write their own "I Have a Dream" speeches, to denounce bullying and honor the work and writing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I've shared excerpts of these speeches in previous blog posts, but as I sat at Starbucks this morning grading this group of speeches, I came across one that I could not help but share in its entirety. This student's speech spoke straight to my heart, and it I hope it will speak to yours, too. 

The Bottom Line

Bullying stands as a great obstacle in the face of today's society. On a daily basis, there are about 2.1 million bullies bullying over 2.7 million victims in American schools alone. Bullying has never been such an urgent matter as it is in this generation. But I believe that the great fires of hatred and discrimination may be put out by the sweetest waters of kindness. But I believe that the great shadow of bullying that looms over its victims can and will go away by the brightest lights of friendship. But I believe that if we stand together as one against this great tyrant we face today, we will overcome it. 

Students who are victims of this great terror, stand together! We will not tolerate the pain that these bully terrorists have put on the children of our schools, our playgrounds, and our very homes. I want a world free of the fear of going to school to learn and receive a free education because of the bullies that await them. I want a world free of turning on the TV and seeing another suicide story about a kid who was a victim of bullying. I want a world free of the heavy chains of dealing with a bully weighing down upon kids' shoulders. I want a world free from bullying.  

Dr. King had a dream years ago not much different from the one I present before you today. Just as African Americans were bearing the weight of racism, students bear the weight of bullying. Just as King once said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," I have a dream that no matter what color, size, shape, form, or fashion you are, you will not be judged. This pertains to all people, to those who are red, yellow, black, and white; no matter your race, you will not be judged. 

Those of us who are not victims, we must not forget those who are. We must not forget the pain, the guilt, the suffering they must be going through! Victims, you must not forget that as long as this great menace called bullying torments and rips at your soul, we will stand with you and try to put out this great fire that scorches you today. Bullies! You must not forget that others have feelings, too. And although you may have been a victim yourself, that gives you no right, NO RIGHT to put others in the line of fire. "15% of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied as school. It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students." That is 160,000 children that could be learning and taking advantage of their right to a free education but aren't because of bullying. 

The bottom line is that bullying is wrong. It can cause so much pain that kids die every day by their own hand. Hey, and newsflash! Bullying is illegal! And yet, "90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying." I'll say it once and I'll say it again, stopping bullying has never been such an urgent matter. We must put an end to it. 

I hope that in your interactions with others this week, you will think about the way your actions and words reflect your feelings and thoughts. Dr. King said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." We can only continue to make our world better if we constantly and deliberately strive to put light and love into the world around us. We've got a ways to go, but we know where we're headed. Let's be sure we walk in the light.

Stop and Listen

As promised in my last post, I have been working hard to maintain my classroom resolutions. First, I've been trying to make more time for myself to read and write and cook and generally take a break from work. I just finished binge reading Kiera Cass's Selection Series, and if you're looking for an addictive YA read, I completely recommend it! I finished all three books in two weeks and put myself well on my way to meeting my GoodReads reading goal for 2015. So I'm going to count that as a personal win for the new year.

I'm also keeping my resolution to slow down at work and be more reflective. Tomorrow, I get to begin working with my first student teacher. Guys. I am SO excited! And I've been excited about her time in my classroom since I found out that she would be teaching with me last November. However, this week I also got really nervous. I remember my student teaching semester so vividly. It was a stressful, exhausting time, but it was also incredibly rewarding, and I huge part of that awesomeness was my amazing mentor teacher. My mentor teacher really helped me become the teacher I wanted to be. She gave me the space to grow creatively, but she also challenged me to think critically and to fully engage in my work with students every day. As I've been at school each day this week, I have thought to myself, can I do that, too? I don't want to just share my classroom; I want to share my love for this profession and share the reward of what we get to do everyday. 

In an effort to prepare for tomorrow, I took some time this evening to go back and read all my blog posts from 2010 when I was an intern teacher. It was so interesting to walk back through that semester and see the way I grew as a professional and as a person. I could read in those words not only the joy I found in learning from that experience, but I could also recall the personal changes and challenges in my life at that time. I didn't write them out, but I could see them hiding behind my words and hanging in the lessons I learned from my students each day. I began that semester searching. I could see it in this very first post: 

 I think the key to being a successful student teacher is having an open mind and, more importantly, open ears.  You have to listen to what's going on around you. So, for the rest of the semester, I'll being listening for pieces of wisdom from the middle.  Of course, this wisdom will be gained from my mentor teacher and the other teachers and administrators at the middle school where I'm assigned to student teach.  But even more importantly, I can gain so much from listening to students.  

So much of what I do in my classroom is talking, but the listening is really where the learning takes place, not just for my students, but for me as well. I've always had a restless spirit; I'm constantly wanting to grow and change and learn more than I already know. I've never been one to be able to settle in because I'm always thinking about where I need to go next. I hope that this semester is a time of growth, not just for my student teacher, but for me as well. I can't wait to see what we learn when we slow down and listen. 

Let's Not Make Wishes

Happy 2015! As a new year begins, I can't help but think of ways I want to improve and grow. I'm a sucker for resolutions (even if I don't always stick with them the way that I should). One thing that I love about teaching is that I feel like I get two chances every year to make resolutions since my life is still split into semesters. While the holidays can be stressful, they can also be a time to recharge and refocus my energy. As I was looking back on blog posts from this last semester, I found that I took less time to reflect than I would have liked. It may sound trite, but I truly believe that a teacher is only as good as his or her ability to reflect on what happens in the classroom, and sometimes that requires one to step away from the work. Hence, Christmas break is the perfect time to take a look at what's working and what's not and to think about how I can make 2015 my best teaching year yet.

During the fall semester, I feel like I wrote a lot about my struggle to stay positive.  I found myself overwhelmed by the number of things that had to be done in a day. However, as the semester came to a close, I found that all those things I thought just had to be completed didn't actually have to get checked off my to-do list immediately. A girl can only accomplish so much in twenty-four hours. This semester, I resolve to look at the big picture instead of focusing on the tiny details of my day-to-day. 

While I believe that servant leadership is the most effective way to create a positive school environment, I realized this semester that you can't help others if you don't first help yourself. I'm a better teacher if I take time to read books for fun, exercise, and just generally give my brain a break from work. I resolve to make time for myself to step away and leave school at school. 

I also feel like I often found myself racing through the day in such a way that it all turned into a blur.  I started this blog as a way to record the small tidbits of talk I caught from students each day.  It was a way for me to remind myself that students will blow you away with their insight and their wit if you only slow down long enough to catch them at it. This semester, I want to get back to that. I resolve to look for those small, perfect pieces of wisdom from the middle every day in my classroom. 

On New Year's Day I read a reflection that said there's a big difference between resolutions and wishes.  Wishes are big, broad statements with no action to back them up. Resolutions are measurable ways that one wants to create change. I don't want to make wishes. I want to take a step back and take the time to be better and more present in my classroom each day this semester. What's your plan? Are you going to make wishes or resolutions this year?