A Prepared Teacher

Teachers…

I am thankful that I had so many good teachers. This is not to say that all my teachers were exceptional. Some struggled, and I hate to admit that I was not always the best to them. By the time I reached junior high school I had developed a reputation as a serious student. However, I certainly had my moments with teachers who were ineffective.

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When a teacher lacked discipline or was typically poorly prepared for a lesson,

my classmates and I learned to take advantage of the situation.

When a teacher lacked discipline or was typically poorly prepared for a lesson, my classmates and I learned to take advantage of the situation. I recall a biology teacher in 7th grade who frequently spouted conspiracy theories straight from the National Inquirer. I had an elderly eighth grade social studies teacher we all called “Bubbles” and an Algebra II class in high school that was more about social life than algorithms.

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Teachers who lack the wherewithal to adjust and keep students on task

become their own worst enemy.

When students sense a weakness in a teacher, they exploit it ferociously for days on end. Teachers who lack the wherewithal to adjust and keep students on task become their own worst enemy. Some tend to be emotional or say things that provide fodder for student abuse. It wasn’t just classes full of disciplinary problems that abused teachers, but even honors classes that showed out when teachers were deemed incompetent.

The Other Foot

I was all of 23 years old when I began teaching. I looked about eighteen. I was confident in my content knowledge and naively assumed that would be adequate to keep my class in order with junior high schoolers. What I didn’t know was that having students ready to go at the bell and understanding how to exploit their interests was critical to maintaining an effective classroom.

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By my fourth week teaching, discipline problems, specifically talking, were a prominent challenge.

By my fourth week teaching, discipline problems, specifically talking, were a prominent challenge. The eighth and ninth grade students knew how to get me off topic and while one student had my attention others would act out knowing I had no real adequate tools to get them in line.

That One Kid

I recall one specific young man who came into the class loud and off task. This was a daily occurrence and if I sent him to the office, he would simply come back the next day ready to pick up where he left off.

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What I didn’t understand was that he was challenging me to prove that I was worth his time.

What I didn’t understand was that he was challenging me to prove that I was worth his time. I worked hard that semester to be prepared, grade fairly, and respond to challenges with consistent consequences. No matter how hard I tried, I consistently became flustered or raised my voice. This was a weakness that gave students the incentive to continue the abuse.

Importance of Experience

In the second semester that year I began to understand that yelling across the room was ineffective and lessons that kept students engaged kept them out of trouble. I improved with experience.

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I had a veteran teacher tell me that meant the young man liked me.

Ironically, the young man that gave me fits the first semester kept coming by every morning to say hello in the spring. I had a veteran teacher tell me that meant the young man liked me. I must have done something right.

How to help Young, and veteran, Teachers

Once I became a school administrator, I would often have first year teachers observe effective veterans. This was a helpful practice especially when I began having conversations about what they observed. However, in the context of a normal school day, this allowed little time for reflection and preparation.

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This would help develop meaningful relationships among staff, but the mentors had their

own classes to deal with and had little time to model instruction for the mentee.

In both districts I served, it was common practice to assign mentors to new teachers. This would help develop meaningful relationships among staff, but the mentors had their own classes to deal with and had little time to model instruction for the mentee.

Creating the Better School Day

What we haven’t done well in public schools is establish a school day that provides adequate time for preparation and collaboration. If I was in a school fortunate enough to provide substitutes allowing a new teacher to observe good teaching, I was rarely able to provide additional time for the newbie to sit down with the veteran teacher to share observations and provide next steps.

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A teacher day is typically about 6 hours of instruction per day, and if

they are lucky, they have an hour for planning.

Teachers need significant material support to serve their students, but what they really need is time. A teacher day is typically about 6 hours of instruction per day, and if they are lucky, they have an hour for planning. One trend that tried to deal with this challenge was the use of block schedules that would provide ninety minutes for planning, but that was limited to secondary schools.

What a Good Teacher Does

Any time I observed a very effective teacher they served all their students’ material, personal, and instructional needs. We didn’t provide the time in the day necessary to prepare, so the teacher typically did that on their personal time.

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It would mean less time teaching in the day and more time planning and preparing.

Improving time for teacher preparation would require a commitment of money and additional staff coming from district, state, and federal coffers. It would mean less time teaching in the day and more time planning and preparing. Good teaching does not materialize out of thin air. We require a sacrifice in time and money of good teachers while not providing the same for them to do their jobs.

A Veteran on Day One

When I began to teach, I was expected to do the same job a proven veteran could do. I eventually mastered my craft but the students I had in the beginning had to suffer through my growing pains with me.

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Time, money, and resources are critical to good instruction.

Struggling teachers would be much more effective if they had time to collaborate with masters of the craft. Time, money, and resources are critical to good instruction.

©Paul A Bonner