In high school I participated in many internships to narrow down what field to focus on in college. A veterinarian, a teacher or an occupational therapist were a few of my thoughts. After hours of experience, I decided on occupational therapy. I’m way too emotional to be a vet and I loved the physical act of being an O.T. After a year of college O.T. was no longer a possibility due to finances. I transferred to a state university, commuted, worked full time and changed my major to special education. I worked very hard and went on to get my masters in learning disabilities.
Control to chaos to control to chaos to controlled chaos is the way I look at the education system. It’s broken and no one seems to know how to fix it. Over the past 28 years I have seen a system based on increasing the social and emotional well being and education of a little person to a business based around numbers. Over time, the class parties, fun activities, and seasonal and holiday themes have been weaned out because they are not academically questioned on a test or assessment.
Food has become another focus of schools which shouldn’t be. Coming to school and celebrating each other is what we do on a human platform. Enjoying a treat 20-28 times a year is not going to increase obesity in our little people and may just increase their friendships with others. Imagine that???? The child who is lost, angry, happy, sad, depressed and struggling may find a best friend through a human celebration that everyone experiences.
Children have a very short span to become their individual beings without having so many pressures placed on them and having their childhood sped up to accommodate the needs of adults. The needs of humans I am referring to are not what you would expect. Rigid teacher timelines, class scores, individual student scores and increase of scores, possible retentions, overly concerned and under concerned parents, colleagues, lack of time, district money received from the state, district prestige and the list goes on and on. Educating your young child is no longer having a very caring teacher support your child emotionally, socially, and academically while increasing their independence. Education is now a race to the finish line. Who can accomplish the most and the quickest is the goal of districts and states. Children are individuals and learn at their own pace. Children with more obstacles learn differently. After 28 years and experiencing many different trends, I’m not convinced there is one way that works best for all students.
I include the following words in my job description :
Special Education is: frustrating, heartwarming, accomplished, focused, determined, happy, exciting, motivating, a blessing, exhausting, stressed, pressured, never ending, productive, bound by laws, protective, alienating, limiting, surprising and incredibly rewarding. As a special education teacher I must be a team player, organized, managerial, a clock watcher, time management, scheduler, emailer, repeating work to prove I was where, hs of the day, work on weekends, set goals, social, independence, learn curriculum, implement modifications, know exceptionalities vs learning needs.
Young and Veteran teaching in the past was a union among teachers young and older working together to learn from each other.
A Leader vs being experienced, I was recently told, do not always go together. It doesn’t matter if you are highly experienced. If people don’t naturally flock to you, you are not a leader.
New teachers vs Experienced teachers of today are a new breed. New teachers are very outspoken, run to administration when they don’t get their way, ask for advice, but complain after receiving it. They want to do very little and expect students to grasp their individualized instruction immediately. They say they are frustrated or the student is older and knows what needs to be done.
Experienced teachers of today are patient, creative, endlessly trying new things, always positive, understand their students very well and celebrate the baby steps.
What to do when your type “A” personality can’t keep up in a below “C” education world.
EDUCATION