Teaching is a passion not a job

A month ago I accepted a teaching job in Fort Wayne IN at South Side high school. I had been preparing to teach throughout college and now I was lucky enough to get a job right out of high school. I moved away from home and now was all alone in Fort Wayne getting ready to teach. I started a week after the students had started. That was really rough and have still been trying to control the students. I learned quickly that the students were at a low level and that they were not interested in learning. This discouraged me and has made me hate my job throughout the month I've been there. While the staff has been extraordinary I still have felt helpless.

The students:
The students were mostly at a low level and not ready for what they were learning. While  this can be true at many schools this was compounded by the fact they would not behave. I learned strategies and all sorts of ideas of how to manage a classroom. While these can be helpful its totally different in the classroom. I was unable to control them and felt that the students who were behaving and wanted to learn were in an environment where they couldn't. I know they are high school students but the school is just not a place for a first time teacher to learn how to manage a classroom.

What I learned:
I learned more than anything that teaching is only for those who are extremely passionate. While I may have been able to teach and get better over the years I just didn't have the passion. There was no fire in me to get better and find the positives in the students. I know they all can learn but I was not able to give them that opportunity. I love kids and want them to learn and want to help but I was not prepared at all. This has lead me to considering quitting because I know another teacher would do better then me and could plan and grade and be able to be a teacher. I am not at a point where I feel confident enough to teach. I hope I can rediscover the passion but for now my journey as a teacher needs to end until I find it again. This is the toughest decision of my life but have prayed and know that I can honor God in another situation much more than in the one I am currently in.

Words of Advice:
If you are a future educator: DON'T LOSE THE PASSION! It is necessary to have passion to be able to be a good teacher. Every student can learn but know it takes time to get them to trust you. Set up an environment of learning in your classroom so that students know they have to behave.

Summer

Summer, it always seems to fly by. That is because for students it is our time to forget about schoolwork and do what we love. Now the saying is time fly's when you're having fun. and that is too true. The summer is where we are planning all of the fun that we want to have. We always see the end of summer as sad and that it is a bad thing. Really though it should be a joyous occasion for everyone. We have had a break and get to go back to work where we can continue to have our fun and use our talents in the classroom and work. We sometimes forget that summer is not the only time we can have fun and go on our adventures. We also get to be with our classmates and spend time with them. I loved my summer this year and all the adventures it held. I can only hope that everyone else had an even better summer than I did. I also hope that as the school year starts we can all find time to have some fun and go on some adventures. I for one am excited to be back at school and see my friends almost everyday, especially one in particular. It is now a joyous time of the year for reunions and catching up with friends, take advantage of it and see it for the joy it really is!.

Summer Schoolin

Many (if not all) kids want to turn their brains off during summer. They have worked hard all year learning and doing work and they want their 2 month break from it. While that is understandable(especially as they get older), completely turning their brains off means the beginning of the next year is just review. Review throughout summer is one of the responsibilities parents have during the summer. It doesn't have to be a lot but making sure they get some in is important. This makes it much easier for teachers to do their jobs and help their students learn right off the bat. There isn't much class time and if teachers have to waste it reviewing things students should already know they just get farther behind. Kids might think it is easy and stupid to do but it will be the best for them in the end. I know this first hand by teaching at a summer camp that does this exact thing. It has been simple for the students but with each review they get slightly better and maintain their level which is so important over the summer. Also this helps establish a good habit for kids to do work in the summer when they are older. This will help when summer projects come in high and getting ahead helps them in college. Without summer work it is close to impossible to maintain and improve in harder courses. This is why the responsibility of parents when their children are young is so important! Summer is still for fun but also learning so go out and have a great summer!

Past, Present, Future

All of us have heard different sayings about focusing on the resent or preparing for the future. Yeah I've heard them too. Well a lot of them have a good point so here's another little article on where to put your focus. I think many times people don't realize that they will not get the very moment they are in back. ever. period. It may be a great moment, and if so enjoy it. Many times it is a mundane or dull moment in our minds. That is fine but be present there in that moment and more can come from it then you expect. And then there are the moments that suck in life oh they will come if they haven't already and if they have come they'll come again. These are the moments we most like to forget and look past because they suck, but I say in those moments grieve, be angry, or just allow yourself to be sad. Without the moments of sadness or anger what is the point of happiness and excitement? Realizing that knowing sadness makes happiness and excitement all the better is important. This makes those moments that much better. I think this is one of the main reason that regretting anything is not worth it. No matter if it is a good or bad thing that you regret it has shaped your current experiences. All of your past has shaped who you are and what your current experiences so there is no need to regret any decision you have made. This also makes you unique and shapes your future and prepares you for your unique future. While this is all good it is why we must focus on the present and make our decisions consciously everyday. It does not matter how big the decision is either, just making the right decision for everyone is what we must strive for. This will help us enjoy our presents and shape better futures for us no matter what our past has been.

Coming Home

People have varying views of excitement about coming home. In college they may look forward to or dread the idea of going home over different breaks. The one thing that is usually nice about going home is that its home and you have a place that you can call home. It may not be the best but at least it is home. See it is a place you know what to expect and that you are used to. College or just moving away can be a difficult and challenging time. You don't have any routine to begin with and its all new to you. I always looked forward to breaks freshman and even sophomore year of college. It felt right going home and having a group of people to accept and get back together with. It felt right and I knew I belonged there. Now as I return from my spring break of junior year I noticed how it has changed. Through being at college for so long now that is more of my home than where I live is. It has come to the point where I have been here long enough that my routine and everything is more set in place at college than when I am at home. While this may seem alarming I'm quite OK with it all. I love the people I'm with at college feel like it has really helped me grow into the person I am today. While I may not feel as comfortable at home anymore, I do feel like I am growing more independent. Maybe and just maybe that's part of the reason I don't feel as comfortable at home anymore. I've changed and grown into my own person while at college and well home hasn't changed all that much. That's fine with me though and it makes going home a time to reflect and see how I've grown and what has changed about me. It is also a good time to see if I like how college is changing me and do something about it if I want to. So, while home may not truly be home anymore after moving away, it still is a good place to go back to every once and while and appreciate it and see how much you've grown up. 

Conclusion

In conclusion to all three categories of reading strategies they all help students develop reading skills. Many times it is impossible to apply each of these strategies every time a reading is assigned. With that said I believe you could at least apply a shorten version of one of these strategies every time students have to read. This will help them get more out of their daily reading. There is no reason that teachers cannot apply some strategies to every reading. Varying which one you use will be important for students as well. Students will get bored if you use the same one too much. That is why using strategies wisely is important while teaching. It can have an immediate and huge impact on the reading students do if used right. I would love to see more reading strategies in classrooms and have our students become life long readers and learners.

Works cited

                  Beers, G. Kylene. When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers, 6-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003. Print.

After Reading Strategies

Many students will finish reading and then move on to the next task in their life. They do not take time to analyze and process what they have just read. They believe they have finished the reading process and are done with it. This is a thought that desperately needs to be changed. Students must know that reading the text is not the end because of all of the possible learning that comes afterward. We need students to understand that "just closing a book doesn't close off the thinking that shapes our understanding of a text."(Beers 139). The closing of the book is just an opening for more discussion and comprehension of what just been read. What students do after they read can determine how much they comprehend and get out of the reading that just took place. Many times as teachers we just ask basic questions and that is how we determine if the students read and understand. These questions intend well but do not get to the point of finding meaning in the text. Students just find the answers and write them down instead of thinking about them and discovering meaning from them. That is why we as teachers need to engage students in after reading strategies as well. We also need these to be meaningful and creative for it to grab students attention.
Some of the things these strategies need to do is "comment on the text or their understanding of the text, connect what they are reading to other texts or personal experiences, [...] compare one part of the text to another, summarize the text, [...] and distinguish between fact and opinion"(Beers 139). These are just some of the things but  they show the importance and impact after reading strategies have. After reading strategies can change a students view of the book and make them find new meaning after reading. Some Strategies that could be implemented are now going to be shown.
Semantic Differential Scales:
Semantic different scales are a way to get students thinking and coming up with their own opinions. These scales let students "decide how much of the trait a character possesses"(Beers 141). This lets them decide on what the character really is like after reading. It can make them think deeply about attributes that we all have. Some books can dive into deeper discussions than others so it is open for how deep you want them to go. These also affect their lives since most of your students want to develop good characteristics in life. Filling out the charts will make them question their own traits and get down to the root of what each trait really means in life. This also allows for students from different backgrounds to discuss why they think differently about different traits. That is a great way to have students voices heard and considered in the classroom. A simple Semantic scale would look like this:

You can create your own scale based upon the questions the text brings up. It is very accessible and easy to change and use for varying texts. This will lead to good discussion and thought from a text and create an open environment in the classroom.
Somebody Wanted But So (SWBS):
This strategy looks at specific characters in a book and evaluates what happened to them throughout the book. Many times teachers will look for a class to just summarize a book after reading it. This becomes boring and repetitive for students. They know exactly who will answer and who won't and that won't change. That is why a SWBS is a good change up for students to see. A SWBS "offers a framework as [the students] create their summaries"(Beers 145). This helps student get over the daunting feeling of summarizing the book where they likely will say everything or nothing. Setting it up in a SWBS lets student focus on a character and summarize the story from that characters perspective. This gets students more involved and more likely to participating in the discussion of summarizing a story. The set up is simple but making the categories and putting them up on the board. It will look something like this:

This makes it easy to write down what students are thinking and have everyone see it. Also writing it on the board and having the class discuss it can provide some varying opinions on what the characters really wanted. This leads to a wide variety of possible answers and great discussion. This strategy also makes it possible to summarize the story from multiple viewpoints. This is good for students because it helps them see things from varying angles. This will help them in life in general when they are making decisions. They can see that their decisions effect other people by seeing how different a SWBS looks like for two separate characters. This will help students get more out of what they have read and be able to apply it to their daily lives.