Teachers, Share Your Profession!

I've been working in my home office for the last two weeks preparing for my new assignment in second grade this coming school year. In between, I've taken breaks to check out social media. This week several topics have hit my nerves and it's come down to one thing...

Teachers, share your profession!

What I mean by this is that we not only need to educate the students that come to our classrooms and spend 9 months with us, but we need to educate the public about what it means to be an educator. 

We need to advocate for ourselves, inform ourselves and educate non-educators about our profession.

I have felt like a lone duck on many threads about education this week as I attempt to share the issues and realities of educators. I can't do it alone and neither can you, but together, we can make a difference in our communities and change the stereotypes and misunderstandings that exist about what it means to be an educator.

Here's how you can make a difference:

We currently have a taxation issue in our district area property taxes and a state wide policy change about licensing people to be educators without education training. 

 Add positive and informed thoughts to social media threads about education issues that affect you, whether in your own local community or nationally.

For goodness sake, I still talk to people who think they are getting a free private education for their children by sending them to a public state funded charter school instead of their neighborhood school. 

Parents and community members don't realize that your classroom library wasn't funded by taxpayers, it came out of your pocket. A gentleman telling me I didn't have to spend money on my classroom was surprised to find out his children wouldn't have a classroom library, center activities, birthday gifts from me, class parties and so on without the money I spend from my income. 

Complaining to your colleagues about the state of education doesn't make change. Write letters to your local and state school boards, participate in social media conversations, set neighborhood gossip straight.  Be a voice for your profession. 

The public is basically our employer and from my perspective, its important for them to be informed about the job they have as employers. Being a teacher means being a public figure. In 2014, there was estimated to be 3.5 million public and private k-12 educators with a total population of 319 million people in the United States, that means K-12 educators make up about 1% of the population.*  That's a lot of people who need to know about what it means to be an educator.  Instead of hiding in our classrooms, we need to share our profession and help the rest of the world.

What are your ideas about how we can stand together to help our communities better understand education so they can be better informed voters, policy makers and education supporters?

*Statements based on data from: 
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=28
http://www.census.gov/popclock/

My Point of View: Cut Teachers Some Forgiveness and Gratitude

I wrote and posted the following on a facebook thread conversation and have increasingly felt more strongly about it.  I thought I'd also post it here on my blog. These are my raw feelings at the moment regarding my position as an educator.  Being a teacher isn't only a job for me, it's a passion and hobby.  I love being a teacher.  I view myself as a capable, bright and educated women who could pursue any career I wanted.  In fact, I started my college career with the desire to be a veterinarian, but soon realized a teacher was more my style.  I haven't looked back since.  

The increasing amount of shared FB posts regarding negative examples of education got me a bit fired up this week and here's my response.

We need to remember to work with teachers and not against them. Teachers are people trying to do the best they can with what they have. I spent nearly $1,000 of my personal money to supplement the holes that we're missing in curriculum and to supplement our very tight supply budget, this school year. (That's a conservative estimate) I have 1/2 hour per day to plan for a six hour day in which I'm supposed to bring high energy and engaging lessons. I have 30 min to eat lunch and 15 min. 4 days a week during recess to pee. I spend hours at night and on the weekends planning, making copies and otherwise preparing. I'm held responsible for the learning of 33 students of which every one has unique needs; with or without parent help. Whether they make adequate progress on a single test is a determining factor as to whether I'm a good teacher or not and will soon determine my pay. I am constantly told by everyone without a teaching degree how and what I should teach. I'm so happy to work with parents who come to me with an attitude of "how can we do this together?" vs. an approach of "my kid needs .... and I expect you and this school to make it happen!" It's time as the U.S. we start to say thank you and how can we help rather than blame and find fault. Sorry, it's a bit of a soapbox. I LOVE being a teacher, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to stay positive and do what's right for kids with the barrage of complaints and blame. We must all keep in mind what is right for kids. I believe that to be a common standard of expected learning supported by the funds to expose students to the technology tools and information they will need to become innovators and creators. We have to challenge our students and give them opportunity to struggle and triumph. Lawmakers should respect and value the knowledge and opinions of the teachers for whom they make laws. Parents should become supportive partners rather than distant observers and blamers. As humans in general, I think we forget to take a moment to see the others point of view. We rarely question our doctor when he/she prescribes or diagnoses, yet a professional teacher with training and years of experience is questioned by everyone. As a society, we need to say "help me understand" rather than "you're wrong" I have no doubt that there are educators who make choices that I wouldn't agree with, however instead of plastering FB and media with all the wrong, maybe we could focus on all the good that is happening in classrooms around the U.S.

I love what my friend Bob added to my post.  He's a former band teacher and currently a representative for an educational technology company.  I decided to include his comment as well: 

1. This is the exception not the rule (Good one Melissa, can I steal that?)
2. Teachers are HUMAN, they make mistakes too. 
3. Most teachers use what resources are available, and sometimes it turns out to be a bad resource. Teachers do not have enough time or get paid enough to create all their own resources, or even make sure every single thing is perfect before it goes out. We all make mistakes. 
4. Would you appreciate this level of scrutiny on your job, especially if you got paid the same (btw, when I was teaching, I was consistently below poverty level, according to the Government)?
5.  If you know best, then homeschool your kid and quit complaining.
6. If you are already homeschooling your kid, quit complaining!

I am a wife, mother of 3, and an educator.  I have a B.A. in Elementary Education, an M.A. in Educational Leadership and several endorsements.  In any other occupation, I'd be considered an expert in my field.  I LOVE teaching and pray that we will keep in mind what is best for students; remembering Bob's point, we are all human and need to give each other a little credit and forgiveness.

I'd love to hear your response and opinions in the comments.  
(I'm happy to receive disagreeing points of view that are expressed in a respectful manner.)