Wednesday, April 20, 2016

A Day in the LIfe of an Ordinary Teacher

A Day in the LIfe of an Ordinary Teacher
A Reflection by Richard Beatty

Today was very busy.  I got up at my usual time, 3am.  I read, “Four Dimensional Education” by Charles Fadel, and and then worked on my Reflection for my Evaluation.  Then, it was time to go to work.  I got to work around 7:30.  I checked my box and then went to my room to prepare for the day.  This week and last week, we are doing State Testing.  Yesterday the students did part of the Math Test on the computers, today we are doing a whole class activity to prepare them for the second part of the computer portion of the test.  The rest of the classroom time was active as well.

A highlight of the day was when I saw Emilio.  He came running up to me with his arms stretched wide.  “Mr. Beeeeatty!”  I kneeled down matching my arms to his and he gave me his monster hug. I told him to have a good day as he headed off to his kindergarten class.  Emilio’s mother was my student in high school, so I’ve known Emilio since he was a baby.  And now that he is attending school where I work, I enjoy seeing him on a regular basis.

Another highlight is Jocelyn. Jocelyn is my student right now.  She is working on an Informational piece of writing about John Steinbeck.  She wrote a wonderful paragraph outlining Steinbeck’s life.  We sat down and talked about 4th grade writing.  One of the requirements is that 4th grade writing must be multiple paragraphs.  So, we talked about Introductory paragraphs and how an introduction could orient her readers to why she was writing about John Steinbeck and why the reader should continue reading.  I scanned in her first draft and then the edited page.  She will now have to try to write her Introduction.  (I scan in their work, so that they can have it in the Google Drive.  Getting before and after shots of their edited work shows evidence of progress in the writing process and as she completes additional drafts, those will be scanned in as well.  Then, when her writing is finalized I will scan that in then make a video of her explaining her work.)

After school was out, I met with a fellow teacher who also happens to be our union building representative.  I was sharing my Evaluation with her and and she noticed something interesting about it.  In one area, my observation was marked “Satisfactory”, and in the final Evaluation, it was marked “Needs Improvement”.  She told me that the Evaluation can’t be marked like that. It can got from “Needs Improvement” to “Satisfactory”, but not the other way around.  So, we made plans to go see the principal together.

Then, I had to run to the bank to deposit some checks for our Union’s Political Action Committee, since I am the PAC Treasurer.  I had about three hour to kill after that because I had to be at one of our school sites to do some picketing.  So, I drove to Jamba to relax for a bit.

Right now, our Union is in intense negotiations over our contract.  Teachers are picketing several days a week at each site, and during school events like games and open house.  Parents seem to very much on the teacher’s side.  They were very positive and engaging.  They stopped to talk with us and they honked their horns as they drove by and they took yard signs to show their support.  It is a good feeling to know that teachers and parents are in agreement with a common cause.  One of the biggest concerns for teachers and parents is that we are losing teachers and we need a means of attracting quality teachers to the district.  Right now, our compensation is one of the lowest in the county, and we fear that the quality of education is going to suffer because of it.  During this teacher shortage, it does not bode well when you are losing teachers and do not have the means to replace them.  About 10% of our teaching workforce will be leaving this year.  This on top of the fact that more than 10% of our current teachers are new, nontenured teachers.  The feeling of the teachers and the community is that this has to stop right now.  From our information, the district has the money to settle the contract, but instead has plans to use it in other ways.

After the picketing, I got home later than my bedtime, around 8:30.  My bedtime is around 7pm.  I gave hugs and kisses to my wife and son, I sat down to read my Four Dimensions book as I wound down.  As the drowsies overcame my ability to focus on the words, I finally went to bed.

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