TEACHING IS A CALLING, NOT A JOB

"Your job is easy,  you get Summers off?"


I don't know about you but the one thing that frustrates me as an educator is when people say,"your job is easy,  you get Summers off."  I beg to differ.

Have you ever driven by a school after hours or during the Summer? Teachers are always on the job.  We are constantly, planning, preparing and doing professional development to get better at being better at the job in which we have been assigned.

Teaching is the second hardest thing I have done, besides parenthood.  I work sometimes until 5 or 6 at the school house and still bring things home.    I am constantly,  reading material to prepare for lessons, checking papers, and analyzing data.  

I remember one day when my ten year old ask me,  "Do you ever stop working on school stuff?"  The answer was no.  However, at that moment I put away all of my work and my daughter and I played board games, watched movies and talked.  I had to remember that balance I talked about in a previous blog.


As teachers,  we often neglect our own families to take care of our students. So goes the balance I spoke of in my last blog.  So until you have walked a mile in my shoes,  don't tell me teaching is just a job. Trust me you couldn't do what I do.  Then we have the outsiders who are making decisions for the school system. They have no idea what is truly needed or going on in our schools. Yet, they seem to have a quick fix or a program they think we should try. All kids don't learn the same. I wish that all these policy makers or non educators would spend a month, no a week in the classroom then tell me my job is easy.

In my 17 years of teach I have anywhere from 16 to 28 students.  Within that number is a varying degree of levels, and learning styles.  As a teacher, we have to know our students, know the curriculum and know the data.  You are constantly studying and learning. Hence the term teachers live by:  "Modify and adjust."   I had to come up with creative ways to do my lesson plans.  As the years go by I got better at planning.  I started using colors, different tags, and multiple books such as the one below. I started this year.  However, with me, nothing is constant.  I am quick to grab a journal of any sort and plan. My point is that planning and organization is important to be effective and efficient when your working with multiple levels of students.

Teachers are always modifying and adjusting.  As a teacher, it is possible to have students who perform from first grade to sixth grade in one class.  So I have to plan accordingly.  I have to differentiate my curriculum, my teaching style, and the resources and materials that I use. So that is why I blog about the necessity of using small groups to teach and move students academically.


I am constantly doing book studies, going to professional development, and collaborating with other teachers to ensure that I am meeting the needs of all my students.  Using my weekends, holidays and Summers to prepare has become a norm.   


I have the daunting task of educating children.  It is an exhausting and stressful job. Think about it.  You have to prepare minds to be able to read, write, and problem solve in order to be able to be a productive members of society. 

Every time I think about this, my heart skips a beat.  I stand in front of a group of students with different personalities within one class that often clash with one another and sometimes with you the teacher, expected to have them performing at grade level by the end of the year.  Easy you say, It is not so easy when you are teaching multiple grade levels within one grade.  I often pull materials from levels below and above me to make sure that I meet the needs of every students.   

As a teacher, you have to know your material in order to be able to stand in front of a group of kids and instruct them on how to use said material on task and transfer to everyday life.  The thought of this never occurred to me until I got to the three year itch.  I was ready to call it quits.  It was  another teacher, my mentor teacher that told me, "college is the pedagogy, you have to use what you learn and create the learning environment you want to take place in your class." So, I learned how to manage my class, assess my students, set goals, make observations, modify and adjust my teaching to meet the needs of every students through professional development, staying after hours, going to seminars and conference, because college didn't prepare me for the reality of being in the classroom. 


There is more to teaching than anyone not in the field will ever know or understand.  It is daunting to know that I am responsible to educating the future doctors, lawyers, teachers, mechanics, etc.  I have to be constantly learning myself, so to say I get summers off and have a cushy 7 to 4 job is an insult.  I do more than teach.  I prepare the next leaders, the mover and shakers of our society. Think about it, some teacher gave you the tools to be able to do the job your are doing now, at the sacrifice of their own families on most days.

Don't get me wrong,  this is the best job ever, but the hardest.   So when people belittle what I do it is insulting and unfair. Therefore,  when I look at what is happening with Education in the government now.  I get sick to my stomach.  What will happen to our kids who can't pick schools because they are not wealthy, or to educators who could lose jobs because of the so call changes that policy makers are trying to implement because they think they know what is best?   How about you come spend a month,  no a week in my class and tell me again what is and isn't needed for myself or other educators to do their jobs.

As I stated above, college didn't prepare me for the realities of the job.  I had to start studying and reading on my own.  I had to invest in conferences,and  professional development during the Summer months that  people think we have off.  I also  don't think people realize that a lot of teachers have other jobs just to make ends meet.  So teaching is not about the money,  it's about the reward of being able to help build productive citizens, who can read, write, and problem solve to be able to be your banker, your accountant, your doctor, your lawyer, your government official.  I learned more from being in the classroom then I learned  preparing for certification as a teacher.  They provided the Pedagogy, not the application.

Through book studies, conferences, seminars, and collaboration  I learned to study data in order to know my students strengths and weakness, to study the curriculum to align my instruction to meet the needs of my students strengths and weaknesses, to modify and adjust because teaching is not cut and dry.  Some things you can do whole class, but most things need to be done using small groups because in order to move students you have to meet them where they are and no classroom has kids on the same level or that possess the same learning style.  

I say all this to say, " Teaching is a calling not a job."  So don't tell me  you can do my job, because if you could you would .

I teach because I love kids, I love to see the light bulb come on when they finally understand things, I love to expose them to things they ordinarily wouldn't have the opportunity to see or do.  I teach because I have been called to teach not because I will get rich teaching.

What is your Superhero calling?

Small group instruction

What do I do during small group instruction?  How do I pick what I will focus on in small groups?

Small group instruction is important  if you want to truly move students.  The first thing I do is pull Data.  At the beginning of the year,  this data comes from previous reading levels and STAAR results from Reading.  I look at it and sort kids by strands they were weak in or failed.  These students are the first groups I pull at the beginning of the year to fill in gaps.  These groups last the first three weeks of school, while I establish routines and procedures for our community of learners for the year.  This allows me to pre assess, confer and get to know students and set goals.  I use their reading levels to establish a Reading life at the beginning of the year.  Students are reading the first three weeks and I am observing and taking anecdotal notes.  These notes become part of my data collection.  I group kids accordingly.  We soon will administer Reading assessments  for the beginning of the year  for the current grade year. 

Once the Running records are done,  using Fountas and Pinell Running records.  I take them and re group them by Reading levels first, then by MSV error, strategy or comprehension error. I also may have a group for word work occasionally when there is a needed.  Depending on  which one you group by  then determine the resources and number of people in the group.  Another tool I use is our on line MAP testing results.  Our kids take this online assessment 3 times a year in Reading, Science, and Math.  The results break down students by category, strands and numerical ranking.  It can be overwhelming.  However, provides valuable information for small group teaching.  

Another tool that I use is a computerized program called I station.  Students are given periodic 

benchmarks, and then assigned lessons based on there scores.  I have access to data that places the students in tiers and shows areas of concern. I love this program because it also provides access to resources you can use to teach small groups according to the reports you print.

So as you see I just gave you lots of resources I have at my disposal.  What Data do you have at your disposal?  

Here are examples of each of the things I  mentioned above.

Fountas and Pinnell's Level R NF sample:

Are you not sure how to do a Running Record and how to code them?  I learned using Marie Clay's work.  It is an awesome tool.  She also has one for Concepts of print for primary grades.

Here is a sample of the Map Report that I am able to print off after each assessment.

If I want to convene small groups for word work or fluency I use Poems and Word Matters.  As well as  magnetic letters, dry erase boards, markers, ABC and Blend charts, highlighters, sticky notes, paper to make journals, paper, pencils, buckets of books, personal word walls,

       

If I am doing strategy or skills  groups I use a lot of different book marks to model and practice.

I talked about these in previous post as well go check them out  My next post will walk you through a lesson that i have done with one of my reading groups.

So You want to Be a teacher, Make sure you find a balance

Balance is the key to everything.

Balance means to not let one thing over power the next to the point where you don't know whether your coming or going.

So what do you do  for balance?

I listen to music.  I listen specifically to blues or religious music when I want to be in a zen mode, relax or just need comfort. However,  I listen to R and B and a little bit of the oldies from the 80's when I want to dance and have fun.  I got away from both of these when I moved  to Texas.  I found that I didn't have time or rather I didn't make time.  I was working 12 hour days and on the weekends.

Who can relate?

I had to find the balance again. It took me years believe it or not.  Don't get me wrong, I would take breaks and relax.  I just didn't know how.  I was getting burned out and overwhelmed year after year.
So one day, I took a personal day and worked on prioritizing to find  a balance..I got a notebook and just started writing down things I love to  do to relax. I realized that I hadn't done any of those things since I started teaching here.  Why was that I asked?  Teaching fourth grade is so demanding It is jammed packed with curriculum and STAAR  testing.  I was constantly modifying and adjusting, studying to be informed and preparing. I was too tired to do anything else.

I went to the doctor and he told me if I didn't slow down and take a breath on my own,  my body would force me to take a break. That day came two weeks after the appointment.  I just couldn't function.  I sent my daughter to school with a friend and cried for hours and realized I needed to cry as much as I needed to find a balance.


How did I find that balance?

 I took out my note book and wrote questions and answers.  Why am I not taking a break?  What is keeping me from breaks?  What did I use to do for breaks?  What do I like to do for fun?  I began to answer them.  I realized that I was keeping from all of these things.  I was the cause of my state of mind and health so I thought about what I needed to do.  What did I use to do for fun?   I loved listening to music,  Reading for pleasure,  going for walks and working with children.  So on that day  I turned back on my radio and danced around the house as I cleaned.  I could feel my shoulders dip, my head stop hurting, I felt good, I was smiling,  I was relaxing  I didn't feel  obligated to focus on work for once.  I also didn't feel guilty like I used to do.  I love to read  also.  I had to decide what to read.  I had been reading  for work,  so I was determined to read for me,


I asked for book recommendations and searched my book shelves and found several books that I hadn't read but wanted to read. So I chose a few. I read for enjoyment, spiritual empowerment and to relax.

This is the book that started me on a path of balance.  I suggest it if you haven't read it.

Tony Robbins was another author that begin to inspire me and show me how to find a balance.  Highly recommend it.

Other Author's that inspired me to go move toward balance and pursue other ventures.  In other words go after my dreams were Joel Olsteen and  Joyce Meyer. 

I then begin to read adult novels, instead of children's books for preparation of a lesson.  I re read the Harry Potter series.  It made me laugh and dream again.  I read books by Neta Jackson and Kimberly Lawson that intrigued me.   I took walks and took in the fresh air.  That one day help me to find myself again and find a balance.  I began to reevaluate and prioritize things.  I realize I couldn't continue to do 12 hour days and bring things home everyday.  So the weekends, became mine.  I spent time reading, listening to music walking, spending time with my girls and working toward making my dreams and aspirations come true.

I started this blog to help share my experiences and my knowledge.  I wanted to focus in on the one subject that drives me.  I wanted to use my love of Reading and build another stream of income and business.  I revamped my TPT account and I am starting to add products to my store, slowly.  I started a pinterest page to share resources and materials related to reading,  I created a professional Instagram page where I share information related to Reading and Writing Resources.


Here are the links and sites,  feel free to check them out, read, share, follow and comment.:

Pinterest:  www. pinterest/Educ8te
Iinstagram:  MrsEduc8te
TpT:  Lawson's Ready Readers


I shared all this to say, that when your in a right frame of mind, rested and happy then you tend to do a better job.  Once I relaxed and took time for myself.  I was able to rejuvenate and get better and doing better in my job performance.  I was able to recall things that I had inadvertently filed away and ignored for so long.  Like the fact,  that I know that small group instruction is the best way to move students,  I know that data should drive instruction,  I know my groups need to be flexible,  I know that I needed to confer and analyze student behavior and actions.  I realized that I needed to get back to my Reflective  journal  in order to keep myself balanced as well as productive.


So if you want to be a teacher, don't forget to find the balance.  If you are as passionate about the job of teaching as I am, you know how important it is to take care of yourself.  We all forget, we all get off track, we all get sidetracked.  We just have to make sure to step back and look at all the roads and figure out which one leads to efficiency, effectiveness and balance.

I created a bulletin board that I shared with  my students this year.  It's shows a road that has bumps, turns, u turns, road blocks, detours, stops and holes that you will encounter along your journey.  The goal is to to never give up until you reach your final destination.  My final destination is to have multiple sources of income utilizing my passion for Reading and to open up my own Tutoring facility  with in five years.


So I do want to be a teacher?  Yes,  A teacher in control of my own fate as a Educator.  A teacher who uses her abilities for more than the classroom.


Stay tuned, I pan to explore each type of small group instruction you could possibly do w

Read, share, and follow!!

So, You Still want to be a Teacher?

 Let me start by saying,  "technology sucks."  I had crafted my best blog ever and some how I deleted my completed blog post, as I tried to widen the screen.  I wanted to throw my computer out the door.  I was so out done.  I tried everything.  Nothing worked. I was just sitting staring at this screen.  All of the sudden,  My daughter goes, "You can use that as a jump of to how to integrate technology into the classroom."  I believe she thought she was solving my problem,  Not. After taking a break,  I decided to buckle down and start over.  So here we go.

Do  I still want to be a teacher?

I ask myself this daily.  Trust me, you will have those days when you ask this very question.  I ask it every now and then.  It has been days that I have been overwhelmed  and ready to quit.   How about you?  I am  self contained teaching 6 subject areas.  Being self contained,  is  a lot of work.  You have to plan, prep and grade for 6 subjects.  I became very overwhelmed.  When I first started teaching, I used a journal that I would reflect in daily.


 I decided in the last couple of years to begin the reflection journal I mentioned in earlier blogs again. In this journal, I reflected on my day.  I looked back at what went well, what didn't go well, what adjustments I needed to make and what reteaching I would need to do.  I also just vented about how I felt about my performance, and the students. This helped me to not bring home my frustrations.  I would write in the journal, lay it to the side for an hour and go back to it to analyze my thoughts, problem solve and make plans.

This is the hardest job in the world besides being a parent.  People who aren't in this field have no idea of the stress teaching puts on a person.  Despite this, I grew up with a family of teachers, and I remember as a child pretending to be a teacher in my bedroom.  I knew at the age of  7 that I wanted to be a teacher. I never though of any thing else. So when I became burnt out and frustrated, I had to recall those memories.


 Yet, I still started questioning whether this field was for me.  I remember talking to people and them telling me to make sure I have a balance. I knew I wasn't doing that. When I first started teaching, I was coming home and still working on school work.  I was bringing my stress from work home and stressing everyone else out.  I was so determined to study, analyze and plan how to be more efficient and effective in my planning and implementation of lessons. I forgot to have fun teaching,  I loved teaching and had to find the love again.  How did I do that?


I had to stop, breath and reflect. It was at my worst point that I knew it was  at this point that I started using my Reflective journal again.  My journal kept me balanced and focused. It allowed me to decelerate and not bring the work home as much as I had been.  I thought after I got past my first five years, I wouldn't need my journal.  I was so wrong.  My journal is my life line.  I also make more time for me and find a balance.  So make sure you do this.  My journal also helped me to be more productive, and efficient with my planning. This was not the only think that helped me to find a balance and determine if I really wanted to keep teaching. I started getting signs I couldn't ignore.  I asked the question and it was answered.


It was like clock work.  After one of my hard days, a former student would show up and remind me why I started teaching. For example,  a former students left a letter  in my mailbox expressing her gratitude for helping her to learn how to read and comprehend higher level text, because now she loved reading and was able to.   take honor classes.  On another day,  a different former students came through  the car rider line and stopped traffic.  He was one of my most challenging students.  So I figured he was coming to be his usual playful self.  So when he tells me he was accepted into UNT and it was because of me, tears began to flow.   He said every time things got rough he would remember me and how I never would let him give up or get away with slacking.

So why did I go into teaching?  We all know it isn't for the money.  It is for the love of the kids, reaching the unreachable kid, seeing the light bulb go off as your working with the struggling kid, and last but not least to make a difference.

So, do I still want to be a teacher?

Yes,  a teacher that knows how and when to modify and adjust as well as find a balance.

I learned to use student  Data to drive my instruction and  to plan for small groups.  When I started,  I didn't know just how important using Data was to my field.  I take my Data and I look for my lowest areas for the whole class and plan lessons accordingly.  I than list all the Teks for whatever subject area I am analyzing at the time and placed students in groups according to the Teks that they additional support is needed.  I then  would work on creating a  schedule for when I would meet with each group.  Scheduling is another battle. More to come on scheduling in a future blog post.

One thing to make sure to consider when you do small group teaching,  is the size of the group. Some people say that it doesn't need to be more than 4 kids to be effective.  But with a class of 26 one year, I had groups of 6.  I was able to meet with each group at least once in a week and sometimes two in a week.  I had to find a way to make sure to address every ones need so, I began to incorporate games and technology into my instructional plan.When create the games I made sure they represented the skills needed as with any technology activity or program that I utilized.

Along with data, I would also use the Continuum of Literacy Learning.  It is broken into sections based on Reading levels and gives you suggested teaching points for each level.  It provides progress monitoring chart and other additional information.  Here is a picture of the one I use.  I since found out that the text has been updated,  It is the second book below.

The last tool I use is the Reading Band levels.  It further breaks down what students should be able to do at each Reading level in order to move to the next level or what  are missing in order to be independent at a level.  I usually use the level below, on and above to make plans and form small groups.

See link below:

https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/blogs/genia-connell/migrated-files/text_level_indicators.pdf

The Bands give you the characteristics of the Reading level and what students should be able to do at that level.  Once I started working towards using small groups more,  things got better.  However, with everything you run into obstacles.  I often had to modify and adjust my schedule. As a self contained teacher, time management was important.  I had to deal with changes and become flexible. So I became  flexible with my grouping.  The great thing about small groups is that you can mix different levels of students in one group.  You don't have to just group by levels, you can group by strategies, by skill, and by Teks.

I also worked hard and trying to make the most of my time, by integrating my subject areas.  I chose Read Alouds that allowed me to teach multiple subjects Teks.  The students were exposed to more books and more time to read independently.  Which in turn allowed me to be able to pull students in small groups through out the day.  That for me was the best benefit of being self contained.

So do I still want to be teacher?

Yes,  I do.  I couldn't image myself doing anything else.  I learned how to modify and adjust and to plan more effectively to be more efficient.  I am back to keeping a reflective journal and working toward making sure to take more time for myself to avoid burn out.  I want to work more toward my goal of being a Reading/Language Arts teacher.  I love to read and want to spread the love of reading and focusing on 2 or three subjects allows me to be more targeted with my planning than 6 subjects.  

I wrote this blog to show you that even the most seasoned teachers have their bad day and their good days.  However, as in any job if you are passionate about what you do you must figure out the why and let it guide you to move forward. 

I am continuing to work on creating Reading Comprehension packets that I plan to upload to my TPT account that I will link to my blog and my Pinterest board.

What are you struggling with as an educator?  What makes you keep going?  Let's inspire one another.

Small groups are in full affect but my energy is low.

As the school year winds down,  So does  my energy.  It is so much going on!  As a veteran teacher, you never get use to all the demands that come when it comes to state testing. I am so ready for Spring Break.   How about you?  One week to go.    I get to spend time with my daughters.  I have a 10 year old that keeps me on my toes and a soon to be 21 year old.  Hard to believe.  These two are my reason to get up in the morning and keep moving.

My 21 year old,  Brittany is my ride or die partner.  She inspires me and helps me keep focused on going after my dreams and passions.   How can I use my love of Reading to build a brand?   I knew that I always wanted to own my own tutoring business, but was nervous about taking that leap.  So Brittany, inspired me to start tutoring during the Summer.   I created flyers, made and purchased business cards and started there. This was okay but I wanted to go deeper.  I found out about TPT online store.  I wanted to created products to sell on my Teacher Pay Teachers account.  I started with 3 products but didn't follow through, so I said okay I need a smaller step and that is when she encouraged me to start blogging about being a reading teacher and sharing what I experienced and the knowledge I have.   So here I am sharing my love and passion for Reading in the hopes of taking it to another level.  My  hope is that the information that I am sharing helps other educators find resources and the energy to move forward in their careers.


  I also created a Pinterest page where I share my blog, and pin content that is helpful to beginning teachers as well as veteran teachers.  I follow other bloggers and educators that may have things your interested in as well.  So, check out my account and follow me. http://www.pinterest/Educ8te .  Do you have a Pinterist page?


My goal is to narrow in, define and create a brand that i can market.   I plan to continue building a following with my blog and pinterest, accounts, and the same time continue to work on developing Reading Comprehension Packets based around a book to sale through my TPT account.  I hope to get them posted during spring break when I have more time to devote to them.   Stay tuned for an update and a link to  my store.

  However, this week my goal is to get my grades done, get through my schools open house and to celebrate my daughters 21st birthday with her.  What are your goals for this week?

 I am looking forward to a week off.  I plan to relax work on building my business and spending quality time with my girls doing something besides staying at home.  This is the first time that my Spring break falls during Brittany's Spring Break.  I would like to do something different this Spring Break. What are your plans for Spring Break?


As educators we have to remember to take care of ourselves, to take time out to just smell the roses so to speak.  So today I did just that.  I read a book for pleasure,  I went for a walk, I listened to music and I played games with my 10 year old.  By the way she is a sore loser!

After taking some time for myself:  I set down and prioritized  things.  I made a list of everything I needed to get accomplished and things I wanted to get accomplished.  I numbered them and came up with a game plan.  As teachers this is something we need to do as well.  Make list, prioritize the list by importance then by which one can get accomplished with minimal or no preparation, and than start checking them off one by one.


How can I relate this to small groups:  Make a list of  skills you want to teach this week, prioritize them by importance, ease of preparation or length of time needed to teach them.

The time is now,  make a  list, prioritize your list and check the items off as you complete them.  As a mom, teacher, friend, aunt, daughter, sister and cousin  I make list everyday.   As a teacher,  making list help me to find a balance. Do I still get tired?  yes,  Do I feel burned out?  yes  So what do I do?  I modify and adjust.

Stay tuned for my next blog and information regarding my other endeavors.