Olivia Boykin Blog Post #6 Routman Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time

    “How do we do it all and not work sunrise to sunset every day of the week?  Teachers are burning out and retiring as quickly as they can in our district.”  (A group of K-5 teachers in Colorado p. 201) 

    This quote sums up my feelings almost perfectly.  I don’t feel that there is enough time in the day to do everything I need to do and I’m becoming more and more exhausted, getting less and less completed, and many of my students are still not showing they are retaining and applying the knowledge I thought they had obtained this year.  This book was published in 2003 and, even 13 years ago, Routman stated, “…more keeps getting added – curriculum, standards, mandates, new students, programs, in-service, materials, testing requirements – and that doesn’t include the demands of our own personal lives.”  (p. 202)  When she talks about a teacher declining an evening out because she had papers to grade I thought to myself, “That’s me, and I don’t want to be that person.”  An administrator once said to me, “Maybe you just need to find another career.  Maybe teaching just isn’t for you.”  That cut me to the bone because teaching is all I’ve ever wanted to do.  I know I just need to find a balance and find my happy place again. 

Routman says there are many things we can do during the school day to make our teaching lives easier and more efficient so the students aren’t having to do so much paperwork and we, as teachers, aren’t having to grade so many papers.  That sounds great!  Let’s see, I let my students “turn and talk” in math and science.  During small group time I call on students who don’t volunteer and guide and support their responses.  I make notes on each student’s struggles and comprehension.  I use a timer throughout the day to help keep us on track and to make sure we don’t spend too long on one thing.  I do utilize “student-led groups” (though this is a work in progress and is quite a bit of prep work in itself).  I don’t use my transition times as effectively as I used to, especially for my review in the hallways.  The disrespect and lack of caring has gotten to me and the review isn’t as effective when several people are using that time to giggle, talk, etc.  I suppose I can start the day by letting my students read science texts instead of working on a math review paper, but I just don’t feel I can allow them to have time to read a book of their choice, write a letter to someone, or talk about their reading with someone each morning.  As lovely as that sounds, those minutes count toward math and science in my room and I have no minutes to spare. 

Now, my question is this:  If we just talk about our learning, read about science and social studies, discover new things on our own, practice our math facts and skills, and read, read, read for learning and pleasure (my favorite thing to do, by the way) all the while making notes and talking to the students, where am I going to get grades for the students?  If I based my grades on oral answers to my questions in group discussions and/or on an individual basis I’d have at least double the current number of honor roll students every 9 weeks.  Most of my students can add and subtract if someone is there beside them to encourage them and/or walk them through the steps.  Most of my students will connect the dots when asked orally how landforms and earth changes are related and connected.  Put those same students in front of a piece of paper and ask those same questions and 7 times out of 10 they’ll answer incorrectly.  I’ve been in the situation where a child was graded based on what he could do and that child suffered for it because he couldn’t get extra help because his grades didn’t show he was struggling.  I’ve heard (too many times to count) parents say their children have never had a problem in school before because they’ve always been on the honor roll.  If I grade students based on observations and participation will it save me time grading papers?  Absolutely!  Will it show what they truly know when nobody is there to prompt them?  I truly can’t say it will.  Don’t we, as educators, have to show a range of data in order to have students considered for certain types of help if we see them struggling?  If I don’t have the students complete worksheets that I have to grade, how do I get the data?  Yes, I can start uploading everything to the computer and have the computer grade it for me.  Yes, that will save me time.  Should I spend part of my summer uploading items into itslearning for future years?  What happens when itslearning is no longer utilized?  People say it’s going to take our current students into high school, but so many programs have come and gone just in the 17 years I’ve been teaching that I can’t 100% believe that is true.  Do I feel comfortable putting a subtraction or addition math test on the computer?  Not really.  What about those students who followed the steps but made an error in calculation?  What about those students who wrote a number wrong when they copied the problem from the computer to their paper to work it out to get the answer?  Can the answer chosen tell me why they are struggling with this certain skill?  No, it can’t, so doesn’t that still mean I will have to look at and analyze the papers?  I’m not trying to be Negative Nancy, either!  I really want someone who: is a really good teacher, gets everything done during the school day, and leaves at a decent hour without taking work home to tell me – no, show me – how to do that, too.  I miss my family.  I miss reading books.  I miss sleep.  I miss my friends.  I miss having a life outside of school.