Teachers Do NOT Have Favorites!?

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Erin Hunkemoeller
Sarah Ross

Some of my “favorites” choosing their favorite gelato!

 

Every year of my teaching career thus far, the students have taken it upon themselves to choose my “favorites”.  Sometimes it is the student with the highest GPA.  Other times it is the class clown because we exchange constant sarcastic banter.  One year it happened to be on of my theater kids.  The justification is endless for the students.  Whatever the reason, the student population in general is DETERMINED to prove that I (along with many other teachers) have a favorite student.   I myself firmly believed that I was the favorite of a teacher or two during my years of high school.

I would like to formally eradicate the Favorite Student Fable from my life!  Admittedly, at some points I have thought I had favorites.  I know now, this simply isn’t true.  I do not have favorite students, but I certainly do have a lot of amazing memories.  So many, in fact, that it is simply impossible to choose a favorite.  In a recent job interview, the principal asked me to describe my favorite student.  I was stunned.  I could not categorize all of my “babies,” and choose JUST ONE STUDENT. Impossible.  I actually asked him if I had to pick just one?!?!  He insisted on an answer.  What’s a prof to do?

I hastily settled on a memory from my debut of teaching.  I told him about a group of gals that were with me for my  first four years, and that I took to Europe for the first time.  Those lovely ladies made teaching and traveling such a joy.  They loved learning, and they were sponges! They soaked up every morsel of knowledge I passed out.  It was the trip of a lifetime for those ladies, and my heart was full to experience that alongside them.  However, that was many years ago! There have been so many memories since then. ( trust me, they are not always splendid ones!)  How could I possibly choose a favorite? The answer is, I won’t.  And you shouldn’t either.  Keep making amazing memories.

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Teaching: Not so 9 to 5

When you sign up to be a teacher, you get training in how to lesson plan, new teaching strategies, and content knowledge, but no one really tells you how much time all of those things will take to be the best you can possibly be. Sure the school day is anywhere from 7:40-3:35 to 8:45-3:00, but there is no possible way to get all of your instruction, planning, grading, and reflecting in during that time. My goal is to create innovative lessons and to create authentic, memorable experiences for my students (Inspired by my favorite book that is with me at all times in an educational setting: Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. #TLAP I plug this because I believe in it wholeheartedly!) However, the amount of time it takes to prepare to change the classroom setting, or develop an innovative way to spark curiosity with a hook takes enough time on its own, but then you also have to make sure you are not just putting on a show, but that it directly ties to your educational goals. I learned very quickly that there is no way I could get all of this done during a school day, so I have learned to manage my time as best as I can during the day with reality being that I would have to work outside of my school day. Yes that means weekends, holidays, and (gasp) even summer break! I typically look forward to these breaks in the school year, not only to take a little time for myself, but also so that I can have uninterrupted planning time as well as look for new inspiration!

While there is no avoiding working outside of the school day, there are some planning strategies you can use to make sure you aren’t burning yourself out! My go to is the master To Do list. I would not survive without my lists. I keep a running list of everything that needs done. There is actually a wonderful Google App I use to keep all of my lists straight called Google Keep. It lets you click the check box to physically cross an item off of the list or share the list with colleagues, friends, or family if you are working on a project together! Once I have my list, which does seem to grow faster than I can complete items, I always start with the quickest items that I know I can get done in a few minutes. This gives me a sense of accomplishment right away and gets my momentum going to tackle the bigger ones. Also, I always work ahead. Typically, my to do list and deadlines are set a week before they are due. This is my goal, but it doesn’t always happen as I find something else I would rather do instead, which brings me to my next point. I am an early riser, so I tend to get up, not do anything but tackle to do list items for the first few hours of my weekend, but then I save the rest of the time to do whatever I would like to do. It is tough to get into this habit, but when you do, it makes your life much easier. You feel accomplished so you are able to enjoy your free time even more because you do not have any major projects looming over you. However, it is also important to try to leave yourself one day of the week, or one afternoon/evening where you will not do school work unless it is an emergency!

I have found from year to year that it gets easier to do less work day to day outside of school, but every so often I get an idea that will take a lot of work up front, but then I have it for years to come, and it will only need a little tweak here and there. Putting in the work up front also helps to relieve some of this extra time necessary to be a teacher. Even though extra work time will never go away, there are strategies you can use like I mentioned above to help not burn yourself out quickly. I think it also helps to feel the passion in whatever you are reinventing; then it doesn’t feel like work!

Moral of the story: a teacher’s work is never done. As I write this post, I am thinking about what I need and want to do for my new adventure at school next year, but there are some days you just need to take a break. 😉

What are some strategies you use to balance the not so 9 to 5 job of a teacher?

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From Bolts to Broadway

Packing and moving in any situation is stressful, but packing up and moving a classroom is a whole other animal. I taught my first four years in a wonderful district in Ohio, and recently made the terribly difficult decision to take a job in New York City. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for one of the top 13 most creative schools in the WORLD! As if packing up and moving my own home a 10 hour drive away wasn’t enough, it also  means that I have to clear out and move my classroom. The day I went to clear it out my room, I thought to myself, “This shouldn’t be as bad as my house; I haven’t been teaching that long.” Very quickly I realized that was not the case. Between the craft supplies, trinkets from travels, books, papers, files, and the light-up red carpet, it took me 2 full car loads and 3 helpers to get moved out!

Moving schools is a challenging and  emotional experience, but it also allows you to grow and be challenged professionally. Also, going through your classroom with such detail as you pack everything you have collected gives you the opportunity to refine, rethink, and renew your lessons. I found items I had forgotten about that I can use in a new way like my alphabet blocks which have been left untouched for 4 years. As I was cleaning out my room, my head with spinning with new ideas and seeing things in a new light. With my classroom library, I decided I want to try recording myself reading the books out loud in Spanish and attaching the files to QR codes leading to the MP3 file so that students can listen and follow along on their own. These are things I may not have thought of if I left everything in its place.

Consistency is comfortable, but it doesn’t challenge you. I still struggle and will continue to struggle with leaving my students, colleagues, administrators, and community in Ohio, but I have to remember that the ONLY guarantee in education is that in a few years, all of the students will move on and you will have new ones that will be just as inspiring. Colleagues, administrators, and community may or may not come and go, but students will always move on, as they should. Knowing that, it is a little bit easier to move on yourself and take a new position that offers new opportunities and presents new challenges. While I am very sad to be leaving, it is bittersweet, as I am SO EXCITED for this new opportunity in New York City!

Whether you are moving schools or not, I would highly suggest going through and looking, really looking, at what you have in your classroom- rearrange it, and it may just breathe some new life into a lesson. I also challenge you to follow dreams and constantly look for ways to challenge yourself professionally. I am setting out on the biggest adventure and professional challenge of my life. I cannot wait to take my innovative Spanish teaching methods to another state!

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