Moving On – Shedding the teacher I was
I’m moving. It’s the first time in nine years, but the third time since I started teaching. I used to keep a lot of stuff in file cabinets, first in my classrooms, then in my shed when I started at the early college.
I dug up some of my Raisin in the Sun folders a couple of years ago for Film & Lit, but otherwise, the “just in case” I was saving everything for has not come in five years.
So I thought for this, my 500th post, I’d document some of what I was before I throw it all out.
First of all, I used to be an English teacher. I mean, I still am, but I was only an English teacher when I started. Not only that, but I had long blond hair that I refused to wear down lest I look under 25 (which I was). And my name was Huertero for a while there.
Also, I used South Park avatar generators to make posters before memes were a thing–I got this printed super huge and in color at Office Depot and made copies for kids’ notebooks. #SoCool
I was also an early adopter of the class web page, starting with Geocities and Localendar before the rest of the school got on board. I also printed a lot of things, either for posterity or the CYA file or for general hoarding purposes, including some Localendar pages from that first year:
I was much better about birthdays back then. I spent hours making quote bookmarks with contact paper and posterboard and tiny post-its stapled on. And yet somehow I feel like I’m better with relationships now. Maybe because my school culture makes me a big fat cheater, or maybe because I’m better at presence than presents now.
Although I was techy from an early age (well, early 20s), I still tried to do things the traditional way. I had an honest-to-god teacher store teacher gradebook for years, with honest-to-god teacher grades.
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| PS SSR was not target language FVR. It was school-mandated weekly English reading, in theory to boost literacy and scores. As a nascent Spanglish teacher, I was mostly OK with that. |
I named the assignments on the bottom so I could keep every date of the semester at the top (yes, each class took a few pages). And speaking of names, check out the Spanish names students picked in quotation marks.
And while we’re on the subject of grades, I still had some progress reports from that first school, from my first Spanish class in ye olde CMS Gradebook.
I’d like to say the blurry photos are to protect the innocent, but honestly it was kinda dark in the shed. And in theory, I was really there to clean up.
Anyway, take a look at some of the things I graded back then:
- Alfabeto Memorizado
- “p18 1-15”
- Cognates: accidente-aparecer, area-blusa, brillante-cerámica (basically vocab list “bellringers”)
- Objetos y Personas Crucigrama
- Prueba 3: Articles, “De,” Object-Numbers
How I started getting better was examples, models, and connecting with others in the field. It didn’t all happen at my first FLANC (where I had no idea I’d eventually present with the then-president!)
To tell the truth, I was a bit mystified at the suggestion that I would teach in the target language when I presented on Sandra Cisneros stories then. It was honestly a little scary when I got that question, even with one of my favorite professors right beside me.
Now I did throw all of the scantron folders out after documentation, but allow me to illustrate the depths of my packrat problem.
Yes, that is a journal entry about my feelings on math from 1992. Yes, I kept it. It lives in my new attic now. Also, can I tell you how weird it is to realize how much my son–who’s now the same age I was then–writes like me? I kind of love it, truth be told.
6 Comments
Sarah Briggs · December 21, 2017 at 4:41 pm
I love this so much, Laura! As I riffled through my files last week for a brand new AP teacher, I had to edit a great deal out… and was honestly embarrassed to admit that I created most of it. My rote memorization final exam and over-prescriptive writing assignments made me cringe! But it was a part of my journey as a teacher and educator and helped to shape my current practice through reflection and, let's be honest, utter failure through implosion. Thank you for speaking to the nature of growing in this profession and validating the struggle to let go.
Sarah Briggs · December 21, 2017 at 12:41 pm
I love this so much, Laura! As I riffled through my files last week for a brand new AP teacher, I had to edit a great deal out… and was honestly embarrassed to admit that I created most of it. My rote memorization final exam and over-prescriptive writing assignments made me cringe! But it was a part of my journey as a teacher and educator and helped to shape my current practice through reflection and, let's be honest, utter failure through implosion. Thank you for speaking to the nature of growing in this profession and validating the struggle to let go.
Emily Serafa Manschot · December 22, 2017 at 3:07 pm
I don't think you should belittle yourself or anyone who did “traditional” assignments. When my best friend died (she taught across the hall from me) I came across her checklist where she graded the students on saying the alphabet. This document is now treasured by her daughters and by me. I never let go of a traditional grade book. (the computer system would go down from time to time.) I would use it on a clipboard as I went around the room assessing progress. I also kept classroom management notes in it (great for assessing participation–now, some teachers are not allowed to count participation in the grade). It also contained notes from conversations with parents and anytime I had to send a student out into the hall. My lesson plans were also housed in the front section of the same book. I also graded certain drills and practices, homework. It is wonderful that things are changing with technology, but don't throw out the baby with the bath water–I still remember memorized sayings from seventh grade Spanish and tenth grade French 1.
Emily Serafa Manschot · December 22, 2017 at 11:07 am
I don't think you should belittle yourself or anyone who did "traditional" assignments. When my best friend died (she taught across the hall from me) I came across her checklist where she graded the students on saying the alphabet. This document is now treasured by her daughters and by me. I never let go of a traditional grade book. (the computer system would go down from time to time.) I would use it on a clipboard as I went around the room assessing progress. I also kept classroom management notes in it (great for assessing participation–now, some teachers are not allowed to count participation in the grade). It also contained notes from conversations with parents and anytime I had to send a student out into the hall. My lesson plans were also housed in the front section of the same book. I also graded certain drills and practices, homework. It is wonderful that things are changing with technology, but don't throw out the baby with the bath water–I still remember memorized sayings from seventh grade Spanish and tenth grade French 1.
Sra. Sexton · December 24, 2017 at 1:25 pm
What special memories and markers of our journey! I hope that the message that we need both baby and bath water comes across. Belittling was not my intent, though on some level I did feel..embarrassed? But I did hold onto things I felt I could adapt and refresh on! How cool that you have your resources to draw from too!
Sra. Sexton · December 24, 2017 at 9:25 am
What special memories and markers of our journey! I hope that the message that we need both baby and bath water comes across. Belittling was not my intent, though on some level I did feel..embarrassed? But I did hold onto things I felt I could adapt and refresh on! How cool that you have your resources to draw from too!
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