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Being Schooled- What This Teacher Learned In The American School System
Being Schooled- What This Teacher Learned In The American School System
Being Schooled- What This Teacher Learned In The American School System
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Being Schooled- What This Teacher Learned In The American School System

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Being Schooled evolved from a letter Rhonda Leet wrote to the school board in regard to growing concern about her school's climate. Her twelve years of teaching journals will give you a real honest glimpse into the daily challenges that take away the joy of teaching. She had valid concerns including teachers leaving in droves and escalating behavior problems. Upon leaving her school, Leet's passion for educational reform has not waned since removing her nameplate from the classroom door. Educating students went beyond the brick and mortar of school as she welcomed student families to visit her home, gardens and barnyard animals well after the school bell had rung where more lessons could be gathered. This book may have readers looking in the mirror saying to themselves; how do I value a teacher, children, parenting, and marriage? Get ready for a wave of emotions when you read about her teaching experience!
Parents write...
"Your students are a part of your family"
"Mrs. Leet you are a rare jewel in education today."

LanguageEnglish
PublisherRhonda Leet
Release dateJul 7, 2015
ISBN9781311286444
Being Schooled- What This Teacher Learned In The American School System
Author

Rhonda Leet

Rhonda Leet received her bachelor's degree in education from St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin and a master's degree in education from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She taught for twelve years in one of the largest school districts in Wisconsin. Leet resides in a small rural town in Wisconsin with her adoring handyman husband. They have a "farmette" with sheep, chickens, and always a barn cat. She enjoys reading, taking daily walks, riding her bike and gardening, and she continues to teach from her humble farmette to anyone who pays her a visit.

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    Being Schooled- What This Teacher Learned In The American School System - Rhonda Leet

    Introduction

    Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect

    the kind of care they receive.

    —H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

    I am a teacher. I was dedicated, devoted to my students, and committed to making a difference. But when I heard teachers crying and saying, I can’t do this anymore—and it was only the third week in September—I’d think to myself, The status quo is not working—at least not in my school.

    With teachers leaving my school in droves, naughty kids vandalizing our school, and a principal that referred you to page numbers in a book to deal with defiant behavior while you were trying to teach nineteen other students, was it any wonder my school was crumbling? No, the brick and mortar structure wasn’t eroding, but the declining climate from within was disturbing to witness daily. The joy of a profession I had worked so hard to gain was now difficult to watch, decaying around me.

    So one late fall weekend during my last year of teaching, I rang the porch bell letting Steve, my husband, who was out in the barn working, know it was time for lunch. I had long shared my concerns with him about children and how I wanted to take my advocacy for them beyond the classroom and the school where I was teaching. But on this day, as we sat to eat our salads, tears began to roll down my cheeks.

    He knew I was saddened to see my school environment slowly take a turn for the worse and that I was thinking of leaving my profession. I needed to know he supported my choice to leave teaching, as it was a big decision for us. He looked at me and said, Have I ever said no to you? And when are you going to write that book you keep talking about?

    Well, the time has come! Money had been squirreled away for a new barn roof. (I have grand fantasies about a solar roof—a girl can dream, right?—but a metal roof would be just fine too.) My husband and I decided that letting go of one income was worth putting buckets under future barn roof leaks, if needed, to be able to provide an honest inside look at how the state of education—and parenting, for that matter—looks today.

    A word about my husband. Some said I was crazy to marry at twenty. Well, after being married over thirty-two years to Steve, I can’t wait to see what the next thirty-two years bring! He is the kindest man I have ever met.

    Many also thought I was crazy to go back to school at thirty-five, one of the greatest and proudest times of my life—not to mention the example I set for my own children that you are never too old to learn! And now, I continue to hear repeated remarks about how crazy I am to have left a well-paying job with good benefits. An aunt, long ago, called me a go-getter—and she was right. I am not afraid to go out and try new things. And as I move forward, I have no regrets in taking this time to pursue writing.

    The problems in our schools are rampant. I have seen wasted materials, but more importantly, wasted time under our current educational system. Schools are bribing students and parents in all the wrong ways. And sadly, the well-behaved children are robbed, in my opinion, of a quality education due to the constant disruptions of students with behavioral problems and the inability of school leadership to deal with these growing concerns.

    We teachers had to put up with useless meetings, assessments galore, ineffective leadership, helicopter parents (those who struggle letting their kids go out into the world without them), a prize patrol atmosphere (rewarding kids with candy and toys for what I regard as expected behavior), negative student behaviors, and more—and we did it because the tradeoff was adorable young children who cherished us.

    But the problems drove me to leave far sooner than I had anticipated. And in the fall of my final year, I made the decision to try something new. I savored that last year and every hug I received from the children.

    While I would not trade the twelve years I spent in the classroom for anything, this book will outline my journey from the joys of spending time with young children to the frustrations surrounding the politics of the job. The latter is why I left the profession years before I had planned. Imagine being scolded for letting preschoolers use sidewalk chalk outdoors or given a warning for having students and their families visit your farm and formal gardens—a lasting memory for my students and their families as they fed my animals and strolled the floral paths.

    This book contains journal entries from my teaching experience. Some of my accounts are joyous, while others were as tough to write as they will be to read. Here is my very first entry in my teaching journal:

    7/17/02

    My first day setting up my very first classroom! It felt like a dream come true. I worked hard, stopping only to eat my lunch. My daughters picked me up and were excited as well. I am a TEACHER. Wow!

    It’s time to tell my story of teaching—what I learned and what I hope to change.

    What You’ll Find in This Book

    The purpose of this book is to help readers respect the tough job teachers have and to show what they’re up against. In the first chapter, Just One Teacher’s Story, I share the letter I wrote to the superintendent and school board members, in hopes of change. I may have been only one voice, but I know that in this letter, I spoke for many teachers who, like me, were leaving the time-honored profession of teaching. The letter will give you a preview of things to come throughout the rest of the book.

    In chapter 2, The Carrot in Front of the Horse, I describe how schools have resorted to prizes in an attempt to bribe good student behavior. Not only does it fail to teach children that the reward of activities like reading is the joy of that activity itself but it also doesn’t work! And the values being taught our children by some of these so called rewards—well, you’ll see what I mean.

    One of the greatest challenges teachers face is the lack of modeling by parents to their children for appropriate social behavior. It makes teachers’ jobs so much more challenging, and it is often the reason badly behaved children rob well-behaved children of precious learning time. I’ll share some of the parental behaviors I witnessed while teaching, in chapter 3, Parents: What Are They Thinking?

    One of the greatest challenges facing schools today is the pressure put on teachers to meet certain standards and have students perform well on tests. This is causing them to teach with tests in mind, rather than the curriculum designed to educate their students. This is discussed in chapter 4, Teaching to the Test.

    In chapter 5, "’Adult’ Supervision, I will describe stumbling blocks to educating our children, including administration and meetings. We were required to attend endless meetings, which produced very little and mostly took teachers’ time away from the classroom. The waste of time these meetings caused was appalling.

    Chapter 6 is Perks and Priorities. Like the rewards and prizes meant to lure children described in chapter 2, this chapter describes how the school system binds its teachers with what one teacher called golden handcuffs. Many teachers feel they’re forced to stay in their overly stressful positions because they’re trapped by the benefits of the job. Oh, to be able to return to the joy of teaching as reason enough for being a teacher!

    In chapter 7, Out of the Mouths of Babes, I share some of the revealing things my young students told me. Some are humorous, some are sad and moving, but all point to how delicate these little souls were and why I felt they needed and deserved to be nurtured.

    In a day and age when technology rules, many children are left completely disconnected from nature. I tried to remedy this (and still do) by inviting my students and their families to visit our farmette. I will describe some of these visits in chapter 8, Farm School.

    In chapter 9, Leaving School, I will share some of my thoughts and experiences as I prepared to leave my teaching position: what I told parents, and some of the feedback I received from my students and their parents.

    Finally, in chapter 10, I will share my Parting Thoughts—final observations about our educational system and what my life looks like today.

    I hope that those of you considering schools for your children will find this book relevant and valuable. I also hope that those in charge of school districts will gain a better understanding of the reality of the school experience these days and hopefully consider badly needed changes.

    Everyone deserves a good education, and the school environment and process of education should be one that teachers and administrators can embrace daily with the same joy our innocent children are capable of expressing. I was humbled by many of my experiences, and I learned so much from my little students. Teaching was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.

    1

    Just One Teacher’s Story

    On April 3, 2013, I wrote the following letter to our school superintendent and school board members. I wanted to give them a realistic picture of what was going on in our schools—especially those things that were getting in the way of teaching. Here is that letter:

    Dear Superintendent and School Board Members:

    I would like first to give you a bit of background information about myself. The proudest days of my life so far have been: marrying my husband; becoming a mother; and becoming a teacher at age forty, when I looked forward to picking out my school clothes for the week every Sunday evening.

    This is my eleventh year teaching solely for this district, and my students and their families have truly become an extension of my family. In fact, when I’m teaching, my classroom is called a school family, and the students find comfort in that title. While I am proud of how hard I work on my students’ academic success—with data to support that—I take great pride in them knowing I will always be there for them even outside the school day and as they move on in life.

    Here are examples of the beyond-the-curriculum involvement I share with my students and their families. They can call me anytime, whether it is to tell me about a lost tooth or to go apple picking at a local orchard. I also meet my students and their families at one of the two local pools—even though I’m not the greatest swimmer. I go to the edge of the diving board, where I hesitate, turn around, and walk back towards the ladder so my students can encourage me not to be afraid and to jump. They greet me after I have jumped, help me up the ladder, and down again I go!

    On another excursion, three school families called me to go crawfishing at an Environmental Center. While I had never done that before, I readily agreed. Once the park instructor gave simple instructions, the larger group spread out in the stream to begin the adventure. Suddenly, I let out a scream of excitement. My students quickly ran over to look at my net, along with other kids I did not even know. They were beaming with pride that their Mrs. Leet had caught the first crawfish!

    When Steve and I celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary several years back, my whole class was invited to the celebration. A picture with me in my wedding dress with my students around me still adorns my desk today. Another milestone for me was turning fifty last year. I chose a party at Chuck E. Cheese, where my extended family mixed with my school families. On another occasion, I had one father partake in a tea party at my kitchen table because he knew what it meant to his daughter, who was currently in my classroom.

    Even Steve patiently roasts marshmallows at Back to School campfires in our backyard, which several of my school families attend. He also helps them catch fish and frogs from our pond on their visit to our farmette.

    Birthday parties are something I’m involved in a lot too. During my first year teaching, Steve and I were invited to a student birthday party where I knew I needed to be. This little girl starting kindergarten didn’t know any English and cried often. I figured the more involved in her life and the more she trusted me, the less crying she might do while learning to communicate with her classmates and me. It worked! When we showed up at her party, Steve and I were unable to verbally communicate with any of the family members, but she smiled widely when she saw me! In their family culture, the children are expected to have great respect for their teachers. We were treated like a king and queen at that party.

    One summer I received a call from a mom who said, I don’t mean to bother you like this over the summer but . . . Her daughter, when asked what she wanted to do for her golden birthday, replied, I want to spend it with Mrs. Leet. I quickly organized a picnic in my yard and contacted as many students from her class as I could. I hardly slept the night before her party, I was so excited for her. For other birthday parties, I have gone sledding and even jumped on trampolines!

    One of my favorite places to spend time with children and their families is in our gardens. There they have the chance to explore the life cycle from caterpillar to butterflies. They know it’s my favorite thing to watch. We scoop up tadpoles from the pond, looking for more signs of metamorphic transformation with frogs. My students get to feed my sheep, learn to card wool, and watch as I spin the wool and turn it into yarn. This year my students are anticipating the arrival of our new baby chicks, and they can’t wait to come out to play with them.

    One time, as I was walking toward the barn, I noticed something shiny. I looked down, saw a coin, and picked it up. Steve saw this and told me to drop it. When I asked why, he said, Kids love to find money, and I thought your students would like that. His pocket change used to go on our daughters’ dressers, but they’re grown and gone from home now. Never did Steve imagine having to inspect the yard for small objects prior to mowing the lawn after having young children of his own—but he has never complained.

    On a recent Saturday evening, at 6:30 there was a knock at our front door. It was one of my students and his family. I was his teacher many years ago, but we’ve remained close even though he is now in high school. And since Steve and I welcome students anytime, they came in and we visited for over two hours. Steve and I have been a great influence for this boy and his brother. They even have a spare bike in our barn for visits, know where the game cupboard is—and I am never too busy to sit down and play a board game with them. Sometimes they volunteer to help unload some flagstone or mulch first. When this student gets ready to leave our place, I always tell him to do his best in school—only now he stands five feet eleven when I hug him good-bye!

    Along with our game cupboard, my students and neighbor kids also know when I’m running low on Popsicles and remind me to stock up!

    I have been chosen by Al Roker both times I waited out in the freezing rain before daylight at the Today Show to share laminated weather posters my students made. I can only guess that he saw my enthusiastic pride about being a teacher! When we have an award ceremony, I choose to take my shining stars to the Kids From Wisconsin event at my alumni college.

    I recently received an email from one of my parents that was very sweet. They were getting ready for a trip to Disney World, and their daughter said, I wish Mrs. Leet could come with us.

    Recently at our family reading night at school, I heard comments from parents that made the drive home after dark worth having attended. One mother said, Mrs. Leet, you are a rare jewel in education today.

    I wanted you to have a sense of how much my students and their families mean to me. And to share why I felt compelled to write to you now. I can only speak from my own experience, but I hope it will give you a sense of what many other teachers are going through as well. I have seen too many great teachers as of late ready to throw in the towel far sooner than they had planned—sadly, some after only one year of teaching and others who are veterans with over two decades of experience. When a first-year teacher calls me overwhelmed, I try to give her a pep talk, but even I can relate to the challenges she’s facing. I have had five different administrators over the years and I have experienced the trials and tribulations that have me questioning my career choice.

    When I started teaching in my district, a teacher said something to me that I will always remember: when principals come in your classroom to observe and bring a yellow legal pad, they may want to intimidate you but are probably writing out their grocery list! How sad is that, I thought.

    Another time, I was behind a couple of teachers walking in to school on a snow day, when school had been cancelled. As we entered the building, one teacher accidentally set off the alarm system. The principal gathered us all (including my younger daughter, who had come with me that day), and the first words out of her mouth were: Do you know what I am going to look like at the principals’ meeting? Wouldn’t she have been better off saying: Wow, I have staff that want to come in even on their day off!? She chose to intimidate all of us instead. I proceeded back to my room, where my daughter said, She’s mean.

    There were several students with head lice in my classroom at the same time, and one parent feared losing her job by having to pick up her child at school. A note went home informing other parents so they could monitor and treat their child as needed. When the principal learned that I had lice too, she lifted up my long hair, threw it back down, and told me I could have gotten it anywhere. I left the office feeling as though the principal had no sympathy for others.

    I once sought support from administration for a student with behavior concerns—but no help was provided. I taught with my back against the door many, many times because this student was a runner, and I had to try to keep him in the room; I was responsible for his safety as well as the other students’. I documented and shared my concerns, but I still didn’t receive help.

    Another day, I stopped by the principal’s office, where the principal was chatting with the school secretary. I told them about a student who was behaving aggressively toward me and the other students; on that particular day he was being disrespectful by saying, Whatever, you old lady. I was only forty-eight years old at the time—ouch! The principal said, Come down for coffee if you need some. I felt that the principal’s job was to offer concrete strategies for helping this boy!

    As part of the 4-year-old kindergarten program, I worked with two administrators, one who coordinated 4K and one who was a building principal. I called the building principal down to my room because a student had hit me. The first thing he asked was whether the child had hit me with an open hand or a fist. I thought, Does it matter how I was hit? What should have been suggested, in my opinion, was that we create a plan so this wouldn’t happen again. However, when I asked him for strategies to help with the situation, I was referred to a book. Ironically, later at a staff meeting, we were discussing behavior problems when he mentioned, Going through a book can be daunting. I sensed a mixed message.

    In another incident, I was reprimanded for allowing my preschoolers to play on the jungle gym for more than ten minutes, two to three days per week, during free-choice outdoor playtime. Evidence links movement in young children with academic success. Also, much of 4K assessment is done through observation of play. I can assure you that I was implementing the district’s assessment book for 4K and had data to support my students’ academic success.

    As a former 5K teacher, like so many now teaching 4K we moved down [to a lower age group] because we saw the demands of assessment put on such young children. I asked if I would be able to continue playing my guitar and table harp, go out with my students and watch the clouds floating by (comparing them to It Looked Like Spilt Milk), or make snow angels (like Peter in The Snowy Day).

    Teachers today are exhausted due to dealing with behavior problems in their classrooms. I have been hit, kicked, scratched, spit at in the face, had chairs and other furniture thrown at me, been called names, and sworn at teaching four- and five-year-olds!

    So after hearing just one teacher’s story, do teachers really need mean principals, as my daughter called them? Why can’t the principal’s office be a place where students and teachers celebrate good things? I also mentioned to my principal that teachers predict a negative outcome when the principal is seen with clipboard in hand. Why not give out individual praise once in a while—it would be an unexpected pick-me-up for teachers.

    It takes courage to tap on a car window in the school parking lot to tell a parent to buckle up their child. It takes courage to tell parents that violent video games and movies are not appropriate for four-year-olds. It takes courage to question administration when they are not prepared or are treating staff members unfairly. But I am optimistic that together we can strive for a better tomorrow for the teachers in my district.

    Recently one of my students looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, Can I come and live with you? To which I said, No, your family would miss you. But you can come to visit! For a four-year-old to find comfort in her teacher like that is as important as the growth in her academic success!

    When I no longer look forward to picking out my school clothes for the week on Sunday night and simply grab what’s on the closet floor, I will know it is time to pursue a new passion. My goal list includes dance lessons, karate classes, learning to play a stand-up harp, visiting the redwoods in California, and becoming an author. Who knows—maybe I just wrote the first chapter!

    Recently, another 4K teacher whom I have known for years said to me, You are brave and will make positive changes in our world!

    As I said earlier in this letter, many teachers are ready to throw in the towel. We have great teachers in our district; are we supporting them as we should? Could we have round-table discussions with all branches of education seated at the table, including teachers, to discuss what’s best? After all, don’t we all care about children and their future success?

    I once wrote in a college paper: I believe that the teacher is a critic of historical and current educational practices and pursues reform to maximize the educational environment for all students. In order for teachers to be successful change agents, they must have the confidence that they can make a difference in reshaping our schools.

    Thank you for your time!

    Sincerely,

    Mrs.Rhonda Leet Elementary School Teacher

    Questioning My Chosen Path

    This letter was the beginning of the end of my teaching career, one I had entered with great hope and idealism. When I decided to go back to school, I took my educational experience very seriously as a non-traditional student attending college for the first time at thirty-five

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