I had an English teacher who used to scream at us every once in a while, just to shock us into being quiet essentially and as soon as he got our attention he basically whisper to us the following instructions or whatever…it worked well and I don’t think anyone ever took it personally, I think the drastic change in demeanor showed that it was a good way to keep order and not him blowing his top
Every teacher has to shout once in awhile. Keep those kids on their toes! 
Teacher for 5 years, I’ve been a Special Education teacher for the past 3 years.
Autism & MR mostly. Love it. Don’t think I’ll go back to Gen Ed.
Camp counselor for higher functioning kids during the summer too.
I remember talking to you about teaching at my house during the UIC run a few years ago Drew.
Nice work!
You’re gonna deal with so much BS from Administration, just focus on the kids.
The rest will take care of itself.
^ I remember that too! Thanks for hosting us. Great run.
Now I’m an observer/apprentice in an ESL classroom every Thursday and some of these kids are refugees or just have incredible stories. Every time I go there and I learn a little bit more about their lives I’m unable to complain about anything the rest of the day.
Two boys have a story identical to this documentary
imdb.com/title/tt0489342/
just astounds me.
^It’s insane to read about stories like that doc. Just a whole different world. Kinda reminds us of how good we have it.
Started my new job yesterday!
Moved on up to High School SPED. Moved up in title & money too. 
Is it summer yet? 
^Congratulations!
(As per the universal law of message board posting, after I posted this with the ^, I wound up on the top of the second page! Had to edit with the quote, so everyone could share in Gamecat’s good news).
The other day, I had a very sucessful session with the spazzy middle schooler group I mentioned before. I had to do their testing recently and one test involves subtests in which they have to recall a series of numbers or words, or a sentence, and repeat it back. All three did poorly at best. So, for the most recent session, I taught them the strategy of chunking to help remember strings of numbers (instead of trying to remember 6 numbers, 145832, you chunk it into 3 groups of 2, 14-58-32). All three of them did great! They all participated better than they usually do, made an effort, and remembered strings 7 numbers long, even after a few minutes! They couldn’t even do like 4-5 numbers during testing, so I was very impressed with them. Such a simple thing, but it made my day. I felt like a real teacher!
Congrats, Brian, you deserve it!
I posted a little of my disdain about this trend in the GMOKP thread, but I wanted to elaborate as I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem. I used to think I was just a slow worker and couldn’t manage to finish my work within the parameters of the workday because of my high distractability and tendency to to be too thorough or perfectionistic. In my new job, with less distractions, I am still working late hours and struggling to feel like I’m on top of what needs to be done.
As a therapist in a school environment, you generally have a half hour at the beginning of the day and a half hour at the end, that you’re not seeing kids, to do work that can take several hours. I would love if that was all I needed to do, but the actual therapy is just a portion of my job. Daily notes, progress reports, consulting with teachers/coworkers, email, contacting parents, planning and prepping for therapy, among other things are what take up a lot of time. There is no overtime or accounting for the time it takes to do all the extraneous work, you just have to get it done no matter where or when. I imagine it’s a problem across the board for other school professionals. I see many teachers who are there late most nights as well. I get about 3.5 hours a month for “contractual planning time,” which I could use every week. I don’t see it getting any better, either. School funding keeps getting cut, with increasing regulations, which places higher demands on the people working. I feel for the teachers, who are in the precarious position of losing their jobs if test scores are not up to par and more highly scrutinized in general.
mlive.com/news/detroit/index … _brea.html
I’m sure this story did not escape your OKP teacher radar, but I wanna discuss it a little cause some kids were fighting at a school I was working at today. I just called the security in the office but I was wondering what kinds of fights y’all have witnessed or maybe had to intervene in. Also, do you think that Detroit teacher was in the right?
^There must be proper protocols when this happens, and it seems like using a broom isn’t one of them. Not to say that it may not have seemed like an adequate solution to stopping the fight. But a school that might typically have these kinds of incidents may have some recommended procedures to follow. Maybe this teacher just got too engaged in the conflict to recall them.
Tough to really say without having been there.
^^The only fights I’m really involved with lately are students kicking and punching me. 
Special Ed students are not really doing it on purpose though. Not all the time that is.
I can put my students in a quiet/dark room after that happens though. We are also trained in CPI, which helps when students come after you. Although some school/parents don’t like CPI training and it is getting phased out.
That teacher did the only thing she could. No way a lady can get in the middle of two boys like that.
If she was represented by a union she would have had a much better chance of keeping her job.
Stinks that that turnaround school doesn’t have representation.
As the article said she could have gone about it differently, but she is also responsible for defusing the situation.
It’s not like she was just hitting the student for no reason, or with the wood part for that matter.
Catch 22 for sure.
Hope she can get another gig.
Since it’s local, there was some discussion on the teacher with the broom. She was obviously scared but felt she had to do something. So she was kinda screwed either way…I don’t know too many women who will throw themselves between two fighting dudes…and yet she’d be punished for doing nothing.
One of many reasons why I swear that teachers are the most underpaid and underappreciated profession out there…and it’s not even close. These folks have to be SO much more than teachers and no one sees it. Though maybe sewer workers would have a beef with that but even then you’re just dealing with shit and not teenagers.
QFT. I appreciate teachers for putting so much of themselves out there, for very little in return.
I personally would not have been the same person today, without the efforts of teachers that went out of their way to improve my education.
School is out for Summer!
I’m still in the THICK of things… 
^Me too. And it turns out I am working full time this summer which I’m not too keen on. I am obligated to the old job and the new one. I think it will be good to get a little jump start in the Utica schools before the school year starts in September. Maybe it will be a tad less overwhelming.
I found out what school I will be working at my new job in the fall. The school district was kind enough to make me a video to get an idea of the atmosphere and what my first day might look like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpGbzYlnz7c
(Sorry I couldn’t embed)
^ Congrats on the new job Katie.
I start student teaching on Tuesday. I’m excited, but also nervous. Don’t wanna mess up these kids for life, ya know?I have to report at 6:50am which is 40 minutes earlier than the earliest job I’ve ever had. It’s not that I’m bad at waking up for work…I’m bad at getting to bed. Sucks not getting paid for it either.
What time do you all get to school?
Thanks, Drew.
I don’t know what time I am supposed to be there. The contract states something like 30 min before the students arrive, but I’m not sure what time that is yet. I presume I’ll go in around 8-8:30.
6:50 is a pretty disgusting time to have to be at school. It is high school, correct? They do tend to start earlier, but you should be out pretty early in the afternoon I would guess.
You definitely will not mess them up for life. I think just having that worry almost guarantees you won’t. Plus, you’ll have a supervisor to ensure no trauma takes place. Also, if it’s older kids, they are already messed up by the time they get to you.
I am also excited and nervous. As anyone should be embarking on a new job/career. Good luck! You are going to be great.
To all the OKP Teachers headed back for the School Year,
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and putting in the energy and effort to help your students. It’s never easy, but it’s teachers like you who enlighten and help those who are eager to grow and learn.
Each new school year begets another crop of kids, and potential opportunities to broaden their horizons.
You guys are such a rare and special group of people! Keep on keepin’ on!
^Thanks Pei-Yi. 
I have to be at school by 7:15, Drew.