New Athenian Academy

Gossip, Rumors, those evil little ideas that get passed around… and in schools they are even more treacherous than normal.

About a month ago, I had a student come up to my desk during worktime.

“I have a question to ask you…”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Well, it’s something I heard, and I knew you would give me an honest answer.  But it’s an awkward question.”

“Just ask me, I don’t get embarrassed remember.”

“Okay here goes… are you pregnant?”

(me laughing hysterically)

“Of course not. Where did you hear that?”

“Just students talking…”

This encounter didn’t phase me.  All I wanted to know was where the rumor started.  Was I having a fat day?  Did someone overhear a conversation about babies and assume?  I never did find out the origin of the pregnancy rumor.  Fortunately, the rumor wasn’t hurtful or damaging.  I even found it rather funny.  For the next couple of weeks, students would ask me silly questions about the “baby.”  “When’s it due?” “Do you know the sex?”  “What about a name?”  We made it a game.

Unfortunately most rumors are no where near this harmless.  They are mean and spiteful meant to damage someone’s reputation.  The students at my school are no different.  You can label kids “good” and “Christian” all you want, but they are still going to gossip and spread rumors.  In fact, I believe its human nature.  Part of our desire to seek out social acceptance.  We shift the negative focus to someone else.  We then become the valuable source of information about others, thus making us popular in social circles.  And don’t even try to tell me that you’ve never participated in gossip and rumors.  We all have.

As a teacher, this becomes a sticky subject.  How do we stop student gossip and rumors when we also engage in it? 

The teachers at my school are not strangers to the Rumor weed.  They love to discuss other teachers’ and student lives.  Stories circulate around the lunch table every day.  Most of the time, the information is harmless… this person is having a grand baby or they got a new car.  Nothing you could call malicious… but then every once in a while it takes a turn.

The same is true of the students.  Most of the time they are fine, just socializing with friends.  And then someone says something malicious about another student.  So how do we handle this?

Thankfully students don’t usually engage in this behavior in my classroom, but this year’s seniors were an odd bunch.  Friends but not really friends, more like frenemies.  Often during work times, they would start talking about one topic and move on to how this student is weird or did you see their clothes today?  When I called out students about their talk, they usually responded with “But I was just kidding around… They (the student being talked about) know that.  We kid Ms. B, it’s what we do.”  How do I respond to that?  Do I yell at them for being horrible friends and really horrible human beings?  Do I left them off the hook because it’s just kidding?  Do I throw them out of class for that kind of talk? 

I am really at a loss about what to do with rumors.  The bible teacher had a series of lectures and discussions about the topic.  I know he meant well, but the students just made fun of him behind his back.  Obviously a heart to heart was not the answer to correcting the behavior.  For now, I will just call students out on their talk when it happens. 

Maybe if someone starts a rumor about them, said gossipers would see the error of their ways and stop.  “Hey did you hear about _____?  You didn’t… let me tell you about them. I just heard….”

Anyone who has been reading this will notice the gap in time and blog posts.  A lot has happened in the past two months…

In January, the parents, students, and staff of my school found out that we basically had no money to operate.  After an agonizing meeting, it was decided that we would try and continue til June.  The teachers went a month without pay before it was caught up.  It was a tough battle both for money to operate and for motivation of teachers and students.  Some of the teachers and students decided to leave the school.  And I don’t blame them at all.  Things were not looking good.  Thankfully, we had an outpouring of donations from parents and friends in the community.  We were getting by…

Between January and April the teachers’ pay was usually late, but we got it.  That all changed with the April 30th paycheck.  We received 40% of our paychecks that week.  The remaining amount came in two installments: 31% the next week and the final 29% on May 12th (three days before our next paycheck).  We were told that the board did not know when they could pay us for the May 15th paycheck.  The teachers contacted the Department of Education to discuss student credits and graduation.  We found out that if we closed May 21st, all students would get their credits for the year.  The school would be put on probation for its accreditation for the next year.  The teachers collectively decided that we could not keep working for no money and made the recommendation to the board to close May 21st.

May 17th we held a board/parent meeting to discuss the issue.  After the recommendation was made, the decision was left up to the parents.  They choose to keep the school open with or without the teachers.  The teachers were given the impossible choice between leaving and collecting unemployment or staying and not getting any unemployment.  We didn’t have a choice and so we left that Friday.  For the last three weeks of school, parent volunteers ran everything, taking students on field trips and doing special projects.  We found out later that we could have “volunteered” and still get unemployment, but that came too late. 

The entire process was handled badly (although in the heat of the moment, I don’t know how we would have realistically changed things) and things became problematic for teachers, students, and the parents.  Comments were made and actions taken that created a bad taste in my mouth.  I had the difficult position of being the junior class sponsor (handling graduation reception) and being one of the main senior teachers. 

Graduation has come and gone… but things have not been resolved.  The school most likely won’t open next year (or if it does, it won’t be the same leadership or faculty) so I am officially unemployed.  We still have not been paid for those 3 weeks in May or our summer pay (we work 9 months, but the pay gets spread out over 12 months).  There are many discussions out there about what to do next.  Actions are being looked into…  All in all my connections to my former employer are over.

Throughout this entire epic failure, one thing has kept me going: my students.  When the issue first came out, the parents and students found out about everything from the Saturday newspaper.  Of course there was a lot of anger.  Some of us teachers suggested a time to meet with the students and discuss the issues.  Thankfully we were allowed private meetings with our sponsor classes.  The juniors and I had a great discussion and worked out a lot of issues.  From that point on, things were rough, but my students were always there for me.  They didn’t blame the teachers for anything that happened.  When the teachers made the decision to leave, the students again had meetings.  I was very honest and open with them about my decision.  Many times outsiders look at teens and just see the immature behavior.  When given a chance, they shine.  They are giving, caring, thoughtful adults from time to time.  Actually I think they are more giving, caring, and thoughtful than most adults I know.  The students gave the teachers a good send off.  I got a candlelit breakfast and a huge cake.  Some even helped me carry all those boxes of books to my car.  I love them… they are the ones that have helped me survive the transition.  They have been there for me in their crazy little ways: sending encouraging texts, being my friend on facebook, writing me little notes, or just giving me a hug when I see them out somewhere.

So where do I go from here…

Well for the rest of the summer I am going to spend time with my family and friends, even my students.  We have plans for midnight showings of movies and cookouts (I am  having our second one this Friday). 

In August, I will be moving to Nebraska to begin a new chapter in my life.  I plan on working out there a year, and then attending law school starting in the fall of 2011.  I don’t know my specialty  or area of study yet, but I have a few possibilities.

Never fear, I plan on keeping up with the blog.  Education is still a passion for me.  I love the idea of teaching and guiding students in their path to adulthood.  I don’t want to turn my back completely, but I definitely need a change after this year.

Grades for the third quarter were due today… I must say this, I hate letter grades! No I love them!  No I hate them!  I cannot decide!

I get like this at the end of every quarter.  I have a love/hate relationship with our letter grade system.  At times I think it’s an accurate representation of student work and accomplishments and other times it’s a pain in the neck that doesn’t reflect students at all.  So for all you that feel the same way as me, here’s a list of pros and cons to the letter grade system:

Pros:

• Easy to compare: I can see the entire scope of the course and the relative standing of students within that course.  At least within my class, it seems to be fairly accurate.
• Easy to translate across curriculum: We have a standard system to put on report cards.  I can look at a student’s transcript and just read letter grades, no dissertations from teachers and the like.
• Look pretty on papers: There’s nothing like a pretty A+ on a paper to make a student feel good about their accomplishments.
• Students relate to the system well: I don’t even know of a time when we didn’t use letter grades.  They are familiar, easy to recognize, work across time and space.  There’s something to be said for tradition’s sake.

Cons:

• Not an accurate whole picture: Many things go into a student’s performance and letter grades don’t necessarily give you the whole picture.  Have students truly learned whatever was being taught, or just memorized the information for the test.  In that case, was the assessment process valid and reliable, or not?
• Doesn’t include attitude: I have many a student that I would love to fail on principle.  Their attitude of disrespect toward the class and me make me very angry.  Unfortunately letter grades don’t show those types of activities, only the written/oral work. 
• Doesn’t necessarily show improvement: Not all students come to my class on the same pages.  Some already know my subject, others have taken it before, some are naturally interested.  And then they are others who are deficient in some way.  With an end grade, we cannot tell where the student began and then where the student ended.  Different scales would be a more accurate representation.
• Pain in the butt to finalize: As evidenced by today, I had translating every assignment into a standardized letter grade.  I have to pay attention to categories of assignments, weighting assignments, and the overall picture.  It gets complicated, confusing, and downright tedious. 

So, does anyone have a easier and more accurate depiction of accomplishments of students?  If yes, please tell me.  It would definitely help days like today go better and not give me a headache.

According to my contract, I am a high school social studies teacher responsible for teaching those subjects (World History, U.S. History, Psychology, Sociology, Government, and Economics) and for sponsoring the book club.  Missing from that contract is all the other things I do on a weekly basis.  I am the class of 2011 sponsor, an assistant director of the fall play and spring musical, an assistant teacher of theater arts, the National Honors Society sponsor, and a general counselor of students.

Some days it seems like all those extra responsibilities are beating me down.  Other days everything works together.  Of course, like many other schools, I do not get paid extra for any of these responsibilities.  Yet I do them.  Why do teachers do so much extra without compensation?  I think it’s a flaw of our personalities.

For many of us, teaching is not just a job.  It’s a career, a life calling, a ministry.  We give and give and give without getting many tangible rewards.  For many of us, a smile from a student or a excellent completed project fills us allowing us to continue on the next day. 

I have been known to spend 12 hours a day at school, especially during fall play and spring musical time.  It’s become a joke among  the students that the teachers live in the classrooms.  Being in a modular unit, I joke that I have a trap door under my desk that leads to a compartment with my bed and personal belongings.  Some days it might actually be easier to sleep in my classroom and traverse back home.

What is the acceptable level of commitment for teachers?  Many would argue that the ones who give their all are the best, but I disagree.  We each have our optimum level of performance and commitment.  For example, our chemistry teacher does nothing beyond teach.  He does commitment himself to after school tutoring if the students ask.  He even went to a student’s house while they were recovering from surgery so they could work on the assignment.  That is dedication.  On the other hand, I do almost everything and teach.  I am not saying I am a more amazing teacher than the chemistry teacher, but I am involved on a large scale, and somedays I wonder why.

Some days I really wonder why I give so much.  Some days I want to just go home at 3pm and not do anything or think about anything school related.  And then other days I would gladly stay an extra 4 hours working with students on a project.  I don’t know the optimum level of commitment and extracurriculars.  I will continue will all the crazy things I do around here; some days loving it and other days feeling like I have been beat over the head.  All in a week’s work as a teacher.

Every time we review for tests I hear the title phrase.  Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. 

I am sure other teachers have the same problems with reviewing and tests.   My general philosophy about tests is that they should be an assessment of the high/important points from the chapter.  I try to make my tests hard, but not too hard.  Give them a challenge, but not focus on the nit picky details.  During note time, I tend to tell side stories or trivia facts about the topic.  To me those make the class interesting and for those students really interested in the topic learn a bit more than just the basic facts.  But I hardly ever test on those things.  I want to make sure my students focus on the big ideas, the whys, not necessarily focus on the asides. 

Once we get close to test day, I usually pass out a study guide consisting of the big terms, people, events.  It usually only takes up a half sheet of paper with two columns of words.  the idea is for the student to go home and be able to say something important about each word on the study guide.  I don’t require students to turn in a completed study guide or outline notes.  To me that’s just busy work for juniors and seniors.  Does that help anybody?  I see it as more grading work for me with no benefit for the students. 

The day before the test, we play jeopardy review.  Students play individually but for teams with the winning team earning candy.  I find Jeopardy to be a great way to hit many of the high points for the upcoming test and students like the review, but especially the candy part.  Students usually get to use their study guides for Jeopardy and many jot down answers or questions while we play.  I have had many tell me the process works for them to narrow their focus from the chapter.

Unfortunately at least once a Jeopardy session, I ask someone a questions and they respond with “but that’s not on the study guide.”  I never claimed that everything they needed to know appears on the study guide.  It’s meant as a guide, not an answer key.  What makes some of these students think that I am there to give them the answers?  I am here to facilitate their learning; guide them on the path to their own discoveries.  If they just want the answers, they can look in the textbook.  I an not interested in that type of education.

At some point, students need to wake up and understand the purpose of review sessions.  Until then I will continue to use Jeopardy and those students who understand will continue to benefit.  The rest will say “but that’s not on the study guide” and I will just give them a silent look.  They all tell me I’m good at the look, but I guess I will continue to get practice at perfecting the look.

Yesterday the following summarized conversation took place:

“Name three of the most deviant things you can think of.”

Multiple students: “Murder, incest, profanity..”

One particular student “pooping on flowers, cursing at your grandma, and having sex with a teacher.”

To which I stupidly replied: “Now that’s interesting, are we talking about a teacher and current student, a teacher and a teacher, or a teacher and a former student?   And to clarify, what ages are we discussing: high school or college?”

This led to a very weird conversation about sex and sex laws and what society accepts or does not accept. 

Sociology has to be the one class that we discuss the most random topics but they all fit into the chapters or topics I’m teaching about.  I allow many tangents and discussions that I am sure could get me fired.  We are not discussing sex for the cool factor or the “we are breaking the rules” factor, we discussed it in terms of the chapter “Deviance and Social Control.” 

After discussing the legality of sex with minors, we moved on to sex with teachers once the student graduates.  In society’s eyes that’s socially awkward, but not illegal.  Some may consider it to be deviant and others not so much.  I explained that after the age of 18, the illegal nature disappears, to which that particularstudent replied “Great I still have a chance with you.”

Now I know what you are thinking:  What is going on between those two?  But I swear it’s all innocent.  This student and a few others have made it a mission to try to make me uncomfortable and I have to say they have gotten crazier and crazier as the year had progressed and yet I am notuncomfortable.  They went a whole week calling me this particular student’s mom, but then decided that the Mrs. referred to me being his wife.  A few of my male and even some female students routinely tell me that they love me.  Crazy comments and the like.  And I take it as a sign that they do love me (in a big sister, mentor way) and accept the devotion. 

But this leads to an interesting discussion of sex, romantic relationships, teachers and students.  Where do we draw the line?  To be very clear, I would never even think of having sex with a current student (if nothing else it is illegal). What about former students or people who have graduated that you never taught, but were at your school or had your teacher friends in class?  Is that okay?

Another incident this week illustrated the confusion…  At the homecoming game I was sitting with three other female teachers.  A former student who graduated last year walked by and chatted with us for a minute.  Two of the teachers are new this year and after the student left one mentioned that he was cute ot which myself and the other older teacher replied “Eww No!”  To be fair this former studentis very cute, but he was a student.  I tend to view my students as part of my extended group of children.  I am like their mother or at least a big sister.   I had this particular student for two straight years in class and could not even see him as an eligible male. 

This is something that I am sure or at least hope am sure that elementary teachers never even think about, but for us young high school teachers it becomes an interesting question?  How young  is too young?  Currently I am about 10 years older than the seniors I teach.  If we go 10 years into the future all of a sudden we are still 10 years apart, but that does not seem to be a big deal.   I know many couples that are separated by 8 or 10 years in age.  So conceivably, I could date or even marry someone graduating this year.  Weird I know! 

The other piece to the confusion is the relationships.  I see all my students as my kids.  I have been at this school for three years and have seen students grow from little confused freshmen to fairly confident, dating, and driving juniors.  Every time I look at them I can see a picture of them as freshmen on the first day I met them.  I don’t think I will ever seen than as true sexual adults.  That’s gross!  They are innocent children needing to be protected.  So even if I ran into a student 10 years down the road, I don’t think I could ever see them as anything other that scared confused little freshmen begging me to help them grow and learn, even if they are really cute!

I guess I cannot blame people for falling for their teachers and/or students, but I could never do it.  Sex and the single teacher will stay sex and the single teacher with a partner of comparable age or at least not one that ever had anything to do with my school.  That’s just too weird!  Unfortunately that means I could never marry my one particular studnet and he’s going to be a bit upset.  But I think my age appropriate boyfriend will appreciate my stance on this topic.

We all remember those the monthly fire drills, lectures from firemen about stopping, dropping, and rolling, and family escape plans.  I teach about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (a tragedy of history) and the importance of building codes and fire regulations.    And then sometimes I want to just throw the regulations out the window because everything gets to be pretty ridiculous. 

Last week was Homecoming Week at my school and like many schools we decorate the hallways with a theme.  This year’s theme was the Olympics to which each high school class covered their hallway with depictions of the sports, pictures of athletes, mountains, and general icons of the event.  My sponsor class had the end hallway; the one hallway with an exit that  no one uses for anything.  Another exit is at farthest 20 feet away.  After decorating most of the hallway with flags and various Olympics paraphernalia, two of my guys decided that wanted to make a mountain with skiers coming out the doors.  I knew I couldn’t stop them, they are way to persistent, so I allowed their construction.

Backing up a bit, all day the seniors had been make disparaging comments about my juniors and generally being rude.  We have a pretty strong rivalry better the senior and junior classes at our school.  It seems a bit funny considering that they are 20 seniors and 16 juniors, but whatever they are teenagers and love competitions like this.  Overall I would say that the seniors are a bit more competitive and have been known to exhibit some unsportsmanlike behaviors on more than one occasion.  Or maybe I am just biased toward the juniors (I love those guys!). 

Anyway, after my guys began to construct the mountain, a few seniors came around the corner and yelled “You can’t do that, it’s a fire hazard.”  To which my guys replied “Duh!  We are going to take it down Monday morning.”  For my guys the joy was building the mountain not necessarily the finished project.  Every senior proceeded to make a comment about it as they walked by.  The juniors took it in stride and began to joke around about it.  Everyone that walked by was urged to tell the guys the mountain was a fire hazard.  This went on for about an hour and then a certain senior decided to take it a new level.  She proceeded to yell at the guys and tell them that it was a fire hazard (“really we didn’t know that”) and she was going to get us disqualified from the decorating contest from that.  At that point, I had to step in and basically tell her to shut up, but in a nice teacherly way.

We know about the regulations and the rules.  The guys wanted to have a little fun and I didn’t see the harm in any of it.  I have to say that the mountain was really cool when finished, complete with slalom flags, moguls, and little skiers.  And to their word, the guys took it down after the start of school Monday. 

Beyond the stupidity and crassness of the seniors, I wonder about the fire regulations.  At some point when my guys were told it was fire hazard they replied “You have to be pretty stupid if you could not break through the paper to get of the building.”  To which I silently replied, ”I totally agree, but I guess some peopleare just stupid.”  Sometimes I wonder if we haven’t gone a bit overboard with the rules and regulations.  I am all for have accessable exits from buildings in case of fire, but is it necessary to have two sets of doors 20 feet apart?  Have we become so complacent to the rules and regulations that in the event of a fire, we could not find an exit without the drills and someone directing us?  I seem to recall that after the initial 9/11 attack, those people in the World Trade Center found exits on their own and tried to make their way out of the buildings.  Of course many were blocked and that was a tragedy, but did they have monthly drills at the buildings?  I think not, I think the people understood the severity of things like fire and could think clearly in that disaster.  The fire department was late on the scene and in the meantime, people found their way out and helped others along the way.

So what if my students blocked an unnecessary exit for one night (a night when no one was at school).  Why don’t we stop worrying about all the rules and regulations and start helping people think for themselves?  This doesn’t just apply to this incident or even just to fires.  Why don’t we wake up and think for ourselves?  We might surprise ourselves with our hidden abilities and intellect.  Or maybe I’m wrong and we all need monthly fire drills to remember to exit the building when it’s on fire.

I love my students dearly, but sometimes I have to ask them Really??? 

Our school, like many I have seen or heard about, has a no tolerance policy about electronic devices, specifically IPODs and cell phones.  I love the rule.  Students are here for school not to text to their friends or listen to music.  Oh sure when I was in school I was known to sneak my Discman (yes I am of that generation) and listen to a single CD throughout the day.  I realize that was not the way to approach the situation, but hey I was a teenager.  Taking my personal experience, I can see the lure of cell phones and music, but some days I want to take those devices and stomp on them.  Last week was one of those weeks.  

I have been known to catch my fair share of electronic devices, usually in the hallway.  Students try to be sneaky, but really it’s pretty obvious.  Staring at the floor off to the side of your desk or your arm in a coat or hoodie pocket just screams “Look at me I am doing something against the rules.”  To me all this just points to disrespect to the teachers, the school, other students, and even to themselves.  Intrinsic motivation for learning is not present when students focus on texting or listening to music. 

Having stated my position on the devices, I found myself in a dilemma the other day.  A student came up to me during study hall (do not even get me started on study halls, it was not my choice to supervise) and asked if he could listen to his IPOD.  Of course I said no, to which he asked the eternal question “Why?”  Much to my surprise, I did not have a good answer and so replied “Because.”  “Because”  is a ridiculous answer to any question and the student knew it.  He continued to ask why and I struggled with a good reason.  I had an answer if this occurred during U.S. history or Economics, but this was study hall.  Personally I know I study better with some light music in the background.  I sympathized with the student, but ultimately decided that I had to uphold the rule even if it was problematic. 

Where do we draw the line on these kinds of issues?  Blanket rules seem to cause problems, but so do degrees and uncertanty of rules.  How do we police the use of electronic devices that we know the students (and most of use teachers have) but still uphold the concepts of personal freedom and educational diversity? 

The art room has a open use of IPODs during class periods.  Every art teacher that I have known has discussed with me the benefits of having music on during class to jump start student creativity.  So if the art classes can listen to them, why can’t my study hall student listen to them?   I still cannot come up with a good answer to this conundrum, so for now I will just answer with “It’s a rule and I enforce the rules.”

I have always thought of myself as a geek, a nerd, a dork, and my students routinely confirm this fact.  So what?   I am proud to identify as a history, psychology, sociology, economic, government, philosophy, and theatre geek! And as a directive to all teachers out there: Let out the inner geek!   Education would be better and the culture and society would improve.  Go on a journey of my self discovery of geekiness and see how it can improve education…

Step 1: recognizing your inner geek.  I grew up as an only child with working parents.  I spent much of my free time reading or watching things like nature documentaries.  I was probably destined to become a geek in some respect.  However, you need not have the same background as me to have an inner geek.  What is the one thing you are passionate about?  What makes you get all excited like a child, jumping up and down, doing a happy dance?   For me it is history and really all of the social sciences.  I love trivia and biographies of famous people and wars and social trends.  I like playing Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy.  (I might add that I beat most people, but think I may have met my match for obscure facts with a rediscovered friend)  I get excited about the prospect of a new series about the inner workings of the brain and am giddy with joy at new social documentaries highlighting recent political events.  I know others who are passionate about art and love nothing more than to talk about different techniques and reminisce about their trip to an art museum or a particular workshop attended.  Others love anything to do with cars and could “talk car” all day everyday.  Find what you love… you are a geek.  I just happen to love the social sciences.  Embrace the interest and then move to the next step.

Step 2: showing off your inner geek  Being a teacher, I can easily show off my inner geek everyday.  I do it so much my students know to expect the unusual in my class.  Don’t be afraid to act silly around others.  Acting silly just shows others what you are passionate about.  It gives them an idea of who you are and what you care about.  I have been known to go to the extremes in my geekiness.  I have become a French and Indian War reenactor.  As a friend explains, we camp in funny clothes.  I also have a flapper costume that I wear when I teach about he 1920s.  My students have come to expect and love my crazy geeky ways.  It’s all about showing off what’s in my heart. 

Step 3: getting others to accept your inner geek If you approach your own geekiness without trepidation, people notice.  I could talk about history all day, but if I did it in a monotone voice dressed conservative, no one would be able to see my geeky self.  I choose to be over the top with it.  Others will gradual;ly come to accept that inner geek and eventually even praise it.  I have gotten many compliments about my enthusiasm for the subjects I teach.  It definitely makes a parent feel more secure when the their student’s teacher shows excitement at their subject.  I have even won over some of the staff that doesn’t share my enthusiasm.  They smile when I do something crazy and secretly I think they would love to also be that geeky.

Step 4: encouraging others to let out their inner geek  How to do this?  Fortunately for me, I have a captive audience.  Students have to deal with my inner geek.  Even those students that enter my classroom hearing crazy stories and not knowing if they will like my class, go away at least not bored to death at my class.  I try to keep it fine.  Once you let yours out, it makes other people feel more secure in letting theirs out.  I tell my students all the time, “I stand up in front of people and make a fool of myself all the time.  It’s okay.  If you don’t want to stand up, I will for you.”  But you know what happens, I get kids standing up on their own.  Many of my students have professed their love for geeky things, and it’s not turned into a school jjoke.  Others laugh, but in a laughing with you not at you sense.  We swim in the ocean of geeky things and enjoy ourselves.  Ask questions, find out what others are interested in and then discuss it with them.  Nothing makes a person feel more comfortable than showing interest.  They are bound to open up sometime and maybe they will turn out to be a bigger geek than you are. 

Step 5: hold hands, dance and sing because everyone is letting their inner geek out!

Self disclaimer and cautionary tales:  Just because you love yourself and have gotten others to accept your inner geek, not everyone will join.  I have many people that still give me weird looks or make disparaging comments to myself or my students about my behavior.  Don’t let those get to you.  Be strong and stay the course.    For example, when I first wore my flapper costume, I had at least one parent tell me it was inappropriate for me to dress in costume like that.  I guess they felt that I was disrespecting history or something.  Phooey!! I was celebrating it.  Thankfully my boss disagreed with the parent and loved my idea.  I even made it into the yearbook that year!  Immortalized on the page in all my geekiness.

The world would be a better place if everyone could find their inner geek.  Make it your mission to find yours and spread the joy to others.  I guarantee it will make your life much more interesting.  Have fun and go with boldness!

I find myself dodging the question of political affiliation many times in class and today was no exception.  Students ask me either straight out or by beating around the bush “Are you a Democrat or Republican?”   How do I answer?  or do I?

I think all teachers (at least teachers of high school social studies) run into the question of political openness.   How open should we be as teachers?  I have been in many classes and met many teachers who have no problem discussing their personal politics with students.  I have even been in classes where teachers openly try to sway students to the teacher’s political thinking.  On the other hand, I have also been in classes where teachers avoid discussing politics at all costs.  Where should we stand on the spectrum of openness??

I take a stand in my classes closer to silence than complete transparency.  In teaching government, I often discuss controversial topics in politics, but try to walk a fine line.  Many students ask, but I never openly tell them of my personal politics.  In the same vein, I try to not let my personal politics color the teaching of political issues.  Being human, that is not completely possible, but I try.  My feeling is that even telling them my politics is either seen as a way to sway students to my politics, or a point of contention and division amongst the class.

If the media accurately reflects American society, then we are all divided between red and blue states.  Going further, the two sides are in constant conflict and competition.  But is this really the case?  I recently showed a documentary about the issue in government class.  Titled Split: A Divided America, the documnetarian went on a quest throughout America searching for this supposed divide.  And what did he find?  Lots of contradictions, less anger than the media would lead you to believe, and many reds and blues working together to better the country.  After showing the video, I asked my students for general responses.  The students really seemed to like it and it opened their eyes to many issues in American politics and society.  Many of them came to the conclusion that the red/blue divide was overblown in the media and not at wide of a divide as many people often think. 

Even after an interesting discussion over an interesting documentary, I still do not feel comfortable discussing my personal politics with my students.  Where should I stand on the issue?  

Let me give you another example that complicates the matter.  Last year to celebrate the upcoming Presidential election, students made campaign signs, studied the candidates, and then participated in a mock all school election.  As predicted by me, McCain overwhelmingly won in the mock election, but Obama had a strong showing.  The results did not surprise me, but did notbother me either.  That is how the students voted.  However, I was concerned by issues and events surrounding the election.  My kindergartners came home one day to tell me “Obama is a baby killer.”  “WHAT?!?!?  Who did you hear this from”  I learned that a student on the playground was spreading this around to others.  First of all, I don’t care about the specific political issue, my children should not be learning anything about abortion or any other inappropriate topic for their age.  Second, the statement is flat out wrong.  I don’t ever recall Obama promising to kill babies and the like if elected President. (Regardless of your political affiliation, being pro-choice is not “baby killing.”  That is simplistic and ignorant of the issues involved.)  Third, according to my children and others that I asked, a few teachers overheard this conversation and did nothing to stop it.  This incident made me wonder more about the place of politics in schools.  I don’t care what the personal politics of the teachers are, my children should not be subject to lies and inappropriate speech at school.   Although I have nothing to back up this conclusion, I believe that the teachers who overheard truly believed the statement and therefore did nothing to stop the conversation, even though I would think that most would agree that the topic of conversation was inappropriate for 6 yearolds. 

After being in a school for three years, I think I have come to the conclusion that a teacher’s personal politics have no place in the classroom.  I try to encourage students to think about controversial topics  and make a decision for themselves, but never pressure them one way or another or make them tell me their position.  That is their right as a free American citizen.  As much as I would love my students to think like me politically, that should not be a goal in my teaching.  I need to lead them to their own path, even if it diverges from mine.  That is the key to teaching: leading them not pulling them.  Students, especially seniors, need to start to flush out their own beliefs and values.  I only encourage my students to think and then to get involved in the community.  Whether that is working for a political party or volunteering in the soup kitchen, I think the message helps bring everyone together working for a better society. 

So maybe there is a place for personal politics in the classroom, but for now, I will try to remain as neutral as a can be and encourage participation and thinking in my students.