Searching for a support group- Undercover Un-School Teachers in Public Schools

I need a support group- 'Undercover Un-School Teachers in Public Schools'. Seriously. I really need the support of others because every day it gets more difficult to meld my personal ideology regarding how children thrive and grow within the classroom. Ugh. Teaching in a public school insists upon strict classroom management, limited opportunities for creativity in exchange for catering lessons to the state-directed learning goals, formal high-stakes assessments and tons of stress. Again ugh. So now Im in my emotions because I realize I am slowly becoming a servant of the machine. (If you are unsure of what machine Im referring to, or puzzled about my angle- refer to earlier posts to better understand the philosophy of Guiding Genius.)

In a perfect world, I would have the choice of creating my own curriculum, daily schedule and management techniques. My student numbers would be low. My children's parents and I would form alliances to work together in supporting our young geniuses towards achieving their individual excellences. Alas, this world is far from perfect. I am not in the position to leave the workforce and the monthly payments in exchange for my labor. Therefore the trade-off is I teach for the machine. And the machine has its own agenda and methodology for how it prepares its product. Consequently I find myself syphoning minutes from the daily schedule to lead group mediations in attempts to find my Zin when my 20 students develop a mean case of cabin fever but it's not my designated 'outside time' yet. We close the door and turn up the stereo then dance and wiggle away the boredom when the curriculum calls for activities that seem good in theory but are not relevant nor engaging (nor developmentally appropriate) to the demographic of my students. And lots of journaling and daydreaming about creating a/n (un)school that identifies the student's strengths and talents and focuses on those, rather than the general survey method Im currently employed to sell.

I wonder if such a support group exists on Meet-Up.com? I can't possibly be the only one dealing with this buyer's remise.

*Check this link out: http://creeksidelearning.com/homeschool-kindergarten/. This was suggested while on pintrest.com searching for clever ways to enhance my lesson plans. As you might be able to derive from my lament above, the post reminded me of the importance of 'old school'/'true school'. And now Im questioning my existence. (Dramatic much?)

#craycray

Teaching is tough. Those folks thinking this profession is easy are ignorantly wrong. Unfortunate for us, too many don't understand the challenges teachers creatively maneuver daily. Those same too many vote against teacher raises and therefore not only are we over-worked, we are also grossly underpaid. We teach anyways. Are we crazy? Yes. From my field research I can positively say really good teachers are a sliding scale of coo-coo. It is a necessary personality trait to be successful in the classroom... I wear my crazy proudly.

The crazy Im suggesting looks a lot like this:

 Students are teaming up and testing their limits by refusing to settle themselves down for instructions. Teacher repeatedly asks, "Put your notebooks away and join me on the carpet." Request ignored. Limit testing continues with chatter and wandering around the room. The teacher is quickly losing control of the classroom. In steps Crazy... Teacher walks to the Word Wall where the alphabets and vocabulary words are colorfully displayed and begins to whisper to the letter 'H'. She then places her ear near the letter and nods her head. She laughs hysterically then shrugs her shoulders while looking at the students beginning to notice her acting oddly. She continues to listen to the wall and giggle. The she whispers each student's names while pointing at them; as if she is telling the wall some secret about each one named. A hush begins to fall over the classroom as children are taking notice. One by one they place their journals on the shelf as they come to sit on the carpet. Their eyes are locked, watching their crazy teacher talk to the Wall. She then spontaneously belts out the sing-along, "Happy Birthday!" The children laugh and some sing-along. The teacher shares with her little people that the letter 'H' had a birthday and wanted everyone to participate. Again they sing, this time as a class with shared purpose. She now has their attention and is able to introduce her planned lesson.

#Skills. It takes unconventional thinking to reach students of 2016. We can no longer smack their knuckles with rulers when they are 'disobedient'. Nor can we shame them into submission. It's common practice to help build their self-concepts by refraining from intimidation tactics such as dunce caps, setting them outside the classroom in 'time-out' and low-brow, clenched teeth threats. Thus leaving the antiquated, tried-and-trusted disciplinary tools of our youth back in the same dusty resource rooms with the overhead projectors.

So what's left? Bribing and Crazy. Majority of us don't get paid enough to splurge on Spiderman and Frozen paraphernalia so........ #craycray. Everyday I leave my 'cool' in the truck and put on the whole armor of wacky. And my creative, rambunctious, autonomous, growing geniuses expect nothing less from me. Im crazy and they only push so hard... we have an understanding. Crazy love.

Guiding Genius ES Meets 2016

Its been over a year since I last updated this blog. Not that I haven't thought about writing and posting. Not that I don't have plenty to share. Just, time. And energy. Awesome teachers give it all we got. And then Ive used my reserves to raise my daughter and have a small portion of social life... I think those are my best excuses. Now that's out of the way....