One thing I have learned as fact, is that teachers drink, maybe more than other professions. Why? I have some guesses, and I'm sure it's different for each teacher, but one overriding factor must be the stress and weight of the job.
Many teachers, like their students, get stuck. They become so immersed in their job that they are unable to have a functional life outside of school. They are not like the drunk stereotype of teachers we think of. Those who have given up, hate the job, and have resorted to keeping a bottle in the desk. I'm talking about those who are so dedicated to helping out others, that they forget about their own lives. When they come home, they drink. They are like addicts, they can't stop teaching, and it causes them to become melancholy.
I added a picture to this blog. A reminder to myself. I love this job, and I love having my own life too. A quick reminder of the importance of balance.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Feigning Knowledge
I have a friend who seemed to know everything. Whether we were talking about politics, football, wildflowers, or couches he had a story that seemed to show expert knowledge about the topic. One day I figured him out. He was able to convince the people around him of his expertise on topics he often had very limited experience in. I don't know where he learned that talent, but it is a tactic used by all teachers, and one I had to pick up quickly.
He reminds me of my students, who often pretend to be experts on something they have extremely limited understanding of. They pick up tid bits of information from parents and friends, and regurgitate it verbatim as holy truth. When confronted with contradictory information students sometimes suffer from cognitive dissonance. I don't work that way. I need to have more understanding of something before I share an opinion.
This is why I was terrified when my school asked me to teach subjects that I had limited understanding of. I was shocked that the school would arbitrarily give out classes within departments without placing teachers in their strength. I was asked to teach Law and Ancient History. These are classes I had never taken in college, or done much outside research. On top of that, you can't make me care about Ancient Egypt, I really just don't care. I didn't know where to start. Worst of all, students are like raptors. They smell anxiety, nervousness, and fear. How was I going to hide this?
I found out two factors that allowed me to teach what I don't know. Student surveys during my student teaching, and from my first years told me that the students believed I was an expert at what I taught. Students always believe you are an expert unless proven wrong. How else could you be a teacher? I realized all I needed to do was carry the same air of confidence with my weaknesses as my strengths. Confidence can take you far in the classroom.
The second factor I found out was that I did not have to be an expert. So long as I had a unit plan, with a clear objective, and I stayed one step ahead of the students, everything would be ok. I could still go into depth and do involved, fun lessons. So long as I was confident, prepared, and one step ahead, the students would have no idea that I resented the subject or had a serious lack of knowledge.
With teaching, knowledge is not everything anyway. Sure, most teachers are smart, but whats most important is that they know how to structure lessons to help people learn and retain knowledge and skills. Kids don't care about minute details and serious intellectual controversy within a field. Yes, I had some flops, and some great successes, but what's most important is that you don't let it faze you, and that you keep coming back day after day. Teaching those courses taught me that you really don't have to be a college professor to teach. In reality, all you do need is organization, diverse strategies, passion, and most of all, confidence.
Let me tell you about dark matter...
He reminds me of my students, who often pretend to be experts on something they have extremely limited understanding of. They pick up tid bits of information from parents and friends, and regurgitate it verbatim as holy truth. When confronted with contradictory information students sometimes suffer from cognitive dissonance. I don't work that way. I need to have more understanding of something before I share an opinion.
This is why I was terrified when my school asked me to teach subjects that I had limited understanding of. I was shocked that the school would arbitrarily give out classes within departments without placing teachers in their strength. I was asked to teach Law and Ancient History. These are classes I had never taken in college, or done much outside research. On top of that, you can't make me care about Ancient Egypt, I really just don't care. I didn't know where to start. Worst of all, students are like raptors. They smell anxiety, nervousness, and fear. How was I going to hide this?
I found out two factors that allowed me to teach what I don't know. Student surveys during my student teaching, and from my first years told me that the students believed I was an expert at what I taught. Students always believe you are an expert unless proven wrong. How else could you be a teacher? I realized all I needed to do was carry the same air of confidence with my weaknesses as my strengths. Confidence can take you far in the classroom.
The second factor I found out was that I did not have to be an expert. So long as I had a unit plan, with a clear objective, and I stayed one step ahead of the students, everything would be ok. I could still go into depth and do involved, fun lessons. So long as I was confident, prepared, and one step ahead, the students would have no idea that I resented the subject or had a serious lack of knowledge.
With teaching, knowledge is not everything anyway. Sure, most teachers are smart, but whats most important is that they know how to structure lessons to help people learn and retain knowledge and skills. Kids don't care about minute details and serious intellectual controversy within a field. Yes, I had some flops, and some great successes, but what's most important is that you don't let it faze you, and that you keep coming back day after day. Teaching those courses taught me that you really don't have to be a college professor to teach. In reality, all you do need is organization, diverse strategies, passion, and most of all, confidence.
Let me tell you about dark matter...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Costanza
Privacy is a constant concern and battle for teachers. Keeping public and private life separate is a constant battle. I believe that it is professional to keep those two worlds apart. To be successful in the classroom, your private life should not be on display. To have an enjoyable private life, you shouldn't bring work home with you. I think most people feel similar about their own jobs. Not living near school gives me some of that privacy, being about to go out without having to worry about running into students. I really don't want to see them when I'm out to eat, at a movie, or coming out of a bar.
I often say that teachers have a mask or classroom persona. My classroom persona is very different than how I am in reality. Students are extraordinarily curious. They keep pushing for more information, trying to find new ways to connect the seemingly random dots of information that they've already figured out. My classroom persona is a defense mechanism to protect my privacy while at the same time giving the students enough that they believe they know me.
I use facebook to share pictures and keep up with distant friends. I used to have my profile on total lockdown, but facebook recently changed the privacy settings so that anybody can see your profile picture. This opened myself, and I'm sure all other teachers to a barrage of facebook friend invites from students.
This week as students were pouring into class I hear, "Hey Mister, I saw you on facebook!" Uh,oh. Not again. I readied my typical answer that I cannot accept their friend invite for this and that reason, but no offense intended. "Yeah, they started a fan page!" A fan page is what you join if you like the Pittsburg Steelers, Peter's Chinese Restaurant, or Barack Obama. It's somewhere you show support for whatever you're a fan of, and talk to others who feel the same. Wow, I thought, how flattering. I looked at the page and found it acceptable. No real information, just classroom tid bits that the kids enjoyed. I was feeling really good. Who else has their own fan page? None of the other teachers do. They have fan pages about how much they are hated, not how they are "boss," meaning awesome. So on facebook I put on my profile that the kids had made a fan page of me. A friend told me "Wow, you must be doing something right."
There is a Seinfeld episode that comes to mind. George tries to keep his life with his fiance Susan, separate from his life with Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine. In one episode his worlds collide, leading him to claim it's "killing independent George." Unfortunately my worlds collided. Some of my friends thought it would be fun to join my fan page. They said these kids need to know the real thing. They didn't understand. I spent days convincing people that it was for the kids only.
As George said about himself, "A George divided against itself cannot stand!"I was used to my students trying to intrude into my private life, and I never thought that people would try to pry into my professional life. In a strange reversal I found myself battling to keep my private life from infiltrating my public life. The worlds are not a ven diagram. They must remain separate and unequal.
I often say that teachers have a mask or classroom persona. My classroom persona is very different than how I am in reality. Students are extraordinarily curious. They keep pushing for more information, trying to find new ways to connect the seemingly random dots of information that they've already figured out. My classroom persona is a defense mechanism to protect my privacy while at the same time giving the students enough that they believe they know me.
I use facebook to share pictures and keep up with distant friends. I used to have my profile on total lockdown, but facebook recently changed the privacy settings so that anybody can see your profile picture. This opened myself, and I'm sure all other teachers to a barrage of facebook friend invites from students.
This week as students were pouring into class I hear, "Hey Mister, I saw you on facebook!" Uh,oh. Not again. I readied my typical answer that I cannot accept their friend invite for this and that reason, but no offense intended. "Yeah, they started a fan page!" A fan page is what you join if you like the Pittsburg Steelers, Peter's Chinese Restaurant, or Barack Obama. It's somewhere you show support for whatever you're a fan of, and talk to others who feel the same. Wow, I thought, how flattering. I looked at the page and found it acceptable. No real information, just classroom tid bits that the kids enjoyed. I was feeling really good. Who else has their own fan page? None of the other teachers do. They have fan pages about how much they are hated, not how they are "boss," meaning awesome. So on facebook I put on my profile that the kids had made a fan page of me. A friend told me "Wow, you must be doing something right."
There is a Seinfeld episode that comes to mind. George tries to keep his life with his fiance Susan, separate from his life with Jerry, Kramer, and Elaine. In one episode his worlds collide, leading him to claim it's "killing independent George." Unfortunately my worlds collided. Some of my friends thought it would be fun to join my fan page. They said these kids need to know the real thing. They didn't understand. I spent days convincing people that it was for the kids only.
As George said about himself, "A George divided against itself cannot stand!"I was used to my students trying to intrude into my private life, and I never thought that people would try to pry into my professional life. In a strange reversal I found myself battling to keep my private life from infiltrating my public life. The worlds are not a ven diagram. They must remain separate and unequal.
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