I ended up teaching by accident--I did Americorps as a stop-gap between college and graduate school. I ran a peer conflict management program and an after school tutorial program. This experience taught me a ton, but I walked out with two major insights that prompted me to sign up for a credential program. I became really interested in the process of reading, and what made kids become readers or avoid reading like the plague. I also realized that I loved working with middle schoolers. (I don't know what this says about my general state of sanity, but we'll overlook that...)
I then spent the next seven years working at a middle school in San Rafael, teaching Core (language arts/history), French and AVID- a college-bound program for students would would be first in their family to go to college. For the last three years I taught there, I also mentored beginning teachers. While I loved working with my students, the more I mentored beginning teachers, the more frustrated I became with credential programs. Teaching is an extremely difficult job and yet I did not feel like the credential programs I had seen (including my own) were doing what was really necessary to help create the kind of teachers Page talked about above. When the opportunity to join Reach's Design team presented itself, I jumped at it.
I loved what we did on the Design Team and I am extremely proud to be a part of Reach. It matters to me that we create opportunities for teachers to become great so they in turn help students reach their full potential. I learned a lot last year about helping teachers become the teachers and leaders they want to be--and I think I became a better teacher and leader myself in the process. I am looking forward to this year and seeing what kind of amazing teaching and learning moments we will create together...
I will leave you with a favorite quote of mine that sums up what I loved about teaching and what I have loved this year about coaching: "Each contact with a human being is so rare, so precious, one ought to preserve it." (Anais Nin)
6 comments:
This blog brought back high school memories of when I was in AVID. Though I learned how to take notes and study, I can’t help but remember the terrible experiences. When my friends and I would express how we didn’t want to stay in the program, our teacher would tell us that if we leave we’ll most likely end up pregnant with no future. And though the tutors were a great help, they were terrible at supporting me with my career choices. At first, I wanted to be an interior designer, and one tutor told me that it was not a good idea because it didn’t guarantee a good income. Another tutor was studying to become an architect. I looked up to him and thought that would be a great career. However, when I expressed my interest to him, he told me that since I was fearful of math it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. So I took his advice and let that dream go.
Now that I graduated from college with a math degree, I would love to give him a piece of my mind. With all this being said I can’t help but remember one of my ideologies: You can learn and major in anything you want as long as you have the desire and persistence.
I'm sorry your AVID teacher was such a negative force (to say nothing of the tutors). What your comment made me think of though, was what we were talking about yesterday-- how powerful the words we use with students are, and how paying attention to the things we say to students (well, I could make the argument for people in general) is absolutely imperative. Your experience points out that even if you got the notetaking skills, etc., what you remember the most from that experience were the negative, discouraging comments. It also made me think of something a teacher I was working with said-- that it supposedly takes 5 positive comments to outweigh one negative comment, and that people are much more likely to gravitate toward and remember the negative-- so again, what do students hear from us in the classroom and how do we make sure our language is building on the positive for each student? I enjoyed our conversation yesterday and I'm looking forward to seeing how your dedication and, as you said, persistence, show up in the classroom this year.
Hi Victoria! It's cool to get some background information on your experiences in teaching; I feel like I know you a little better now than I did when I was talking to you the other day. I have no doubt that your first-hand experience with what works and DOESN'T work in teacher internship programs will be a huge asset to us in the coming year. I look forward to meeting you in person. :)
Cheers,
Chris L. (too many Chrises around here!) ;-)
I started to think about my own experience going into a teacher credential program at a local university in the South Bay. I was working in San Jose Unified then, and trying to get credentialed quickly brought me to this particular program that a lot of my collegues were also attending. I took two summer classes, and I swore I would not go back. The program was horrific. The instructor handed me some video tapes and told me to watch them all and write papers on what I watched. That was the course design. I was not going to stay in a program that was poor in teacher preparation and training. What is horrifying is that I think of all my collegues when went through that program; those teachers are in the classroom now. They are teaching someone's children. Teacher credentialing programs are a key part in training good, solid teachers. To train them to take the quickest route out is unacceptable. I got out, and I am glad I did. Hundereds of children are going to pass through my classroom, and they deserve a quality teacher.
Wow. That's an interesting teaching practice. I am very glad you are going to be working with us this year-- your commitment to your students (and to your own development as a teacher) is already apparent with this comment.
I enjoyed reading about your experiences, Victoria. I related particularly to your remarks about coming into teaching by accident. Attending a charter Essential school during my middle and high school years taught me some of the language, triumphs and difficulties of an “alternative education”. As a younger student, I was blind to these differences, accepting them as a norm because they were all I knew, but as I’ve grown older, and attended a college that fostered rather traditional – at times archaic – classroom practices, the meaning, intention and (in my opinion) value of my early education has become clear. I graduated from college without conscious awareness of what my next step should be, but found myself drawn to job postings about schools - alternative public or charter schools in particular. I have come to believe that the passion for meaningful education demonstrated by my best teachers sunk in deeper than I realized. Now that I am approaching education from the perspective of a classroom teacher, my experiences from being a student in the classroom feel more important. Projects that I took for granted as run of the mill schoolwork that happened to be fun or engaging are now inspiration and maybe a little bit of insight into how great teachers make lessons accessible and exciting. So I suppose it is not so much an accident that I’ve come to teaching than a pleasant and appropriate surprise that celebrates the meaningful elements of my own education. That’s my hope, anyway, to cultivate methods of instruction and relation to students that pay homage to the great teachers who I have been lucky enough to meet.
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