I remember my first year in middle school education. I truly felt like I was thrown to a pack of starving rabid wolves! I am not negating the fact that I had some wonderful students, and monumental breakthroughs with them, but it was far from easy! I entered the classroom with an undergraduate degree in Biology, a provisional teaching certificate, and a passing score on the Praxis; a teacher certification assessment. To be brutally honest, I passed the assessment by one single point! At my school that year, the classes were arranged on a block schedule which meant that I saw students on alternating days for 85-minute class sessions. I was one of the two science teachers on the grade level and expected to receive wise counsel from the veteran teacher located on the hall running parallel to mine. The reality was that I received a lesson for the first day of school and pretty much was on my own for the remainder of the year!
During my first year, the school was also in a transitional period as a new principal came in mid-year replacing the principal that hired me. Somehow, I slipped through the cracks and was never matched with a mentor teaching, and training for new teachers was not implemented until the following year. I truly for the lack of better words “built the plane as I flew it” that school year. I recall even teaching my content using the textbook chapters in numerical order. I was not aware of an instructional calendar, or the standards that I was supposed to focus on. My rationale was to teach everything that was covered in the book. I was a real rookie in the field.
The expectations and the culture of a brand-new school generally takes a few years to establish because it takes at least one cycle of students to move all the way through. Bear in mind, some students came in during their final year in middle school and were accustomed to the guidelines of their former schools. Discipline was more of issue, even having to deal with the presence of some students that were claiming allegiance to street gangs. My patience, resourcefulness, and creativity were tested quite often. As the year progressed I had the ability to develop a high level of rapport with my students, and once engaged, I began to feel effective as the Teacher. I observed things, like excessive talking on certain days, like Monday, and from that developed what I termed “Monday Intro!” During this time, 4-6 minutes, I passed a makeshift tape-ball that allowed only the student holding it the opportunity to share a highlight from their weekend. It didn’t matter how boring my weekend was, students always looked forward to me sharing mine. I was able to learn little achievements and interesting things from my students which created genuine dialogue and limited chatter during instruction. I remember also starting a club for a group of boys that always liked making beats from tapping on the desk and rapping homemade lyrics. I taught them how to freestyle without profanity, and how to write spoken word poems. I did all that I could to gain their trust and gain their interest in the content.
One student from that year always stood out to me. He was a member of a gang, two school years behind, and a bully. I did gain his respect, and developed the ability to keep him focused, even if it was only for the time frame when he was in my class. As the year concluded, I hate to admit it, but I thought that he would sadly become the product of his environment. To my surprise, one day in walks this same student a few years later. He proclaimed that he denounced his gang membership, no longer sagged his pants, and accelerated all the way to his proper grade due to night school. While he shared his updates, tears began to swell up in the eyes of the teacher next to me. I was able to confirm his statements that afternoon, and felt such a sense of pride, accomplishment, and fulfillment! I made it a point in my career to establish myself as the classroom authority, but with empathy, transparency, and genuine concern. This allowed me to develop rapport at such a stellar level that my effectiveness in the classroom was astonishing…not to “toot my own horn,” but BEEP BEEP!
The Jeremy Anderson Group