Monday, August 12, 2013

School Year Start: Year 5 @ A New District

A Super Start

I had a coworker say to me today, "So, you would have been tenured when you walked in this year at your old school." It is a scary thought but so true. I would have had job security. I wouldn't have had to be evaluated this year. I wanted to write a little blog as I start the school year and meetings before the students come on Wednesday. So here goes.

Job security can be trumped by happiness and long-term goals. It was a risk. But I am extremely happy I made the move. As much as I have always wanted to be the person who was a lifer at a job, my life's journey has not led me down that path, at least not yet. I remember my days at Jam Productions and was awed by the length of time so many of the employees had been there. In fact, it felt like the people who were there for short periods of time or came and went quickly were not counted among the fit to be in the industry and work within those purple-hued walls (yes, every wall on the three floors is a shade of purple and all are lined with record industry status and photos of celebrities).

Yet I look back these eight years later since I left the music biz full time and realized one important thing that would never have let me stay in that job - there was no growth. There was no promotion. I was already a marketing director for my department. I suppose I could have had the chance to switch to another department or job responsibility but in no way did any job give you a chance to grow and adapt and learn (life-long learner here!!) about the changes happening around me in the business.

Since I started teaching, I often reflect about the ways I would be doing marketing now. Radio would be minimal. Direct mail would die out. Print, except for things like the Red Eye would be mostly gone. Big promo on websites, fan lists and facebook and other social media would be huge! I mean, twitter is free. Facebook posts from your company are free. Apps like BandsInTown actually tell others about your events. Email lists may be even better since those are people who sign up who WANT to get announcements. Somehow I don't think marketing budgets for shows have shrunk but the means to how those dollars are used are probably drastically different then ten years ago.

Then I go back to my teaching experiences. Getting to collaborate with staff is huge. It has been a central focus the last three days in new teacher meetings and today in our all staff meetings. Being a life-long learner is something that students and teachers need to reach for. I heard yesterday that being a life-long learner is also an admission that you don't know everything. Because no one does. But at least it means you are making strides to be smarter or deeper about the world, society or self.

Urbana was a fantastic place to grow as a second-career teacher. Even though I didn't really have anyone to collaborate with about my classes since I was a singleton teacher, I reached out to others and made an attempt to collaborate. The school was a sold rock of people who were friendly, fun and supported their kids.

I see all of these same qualities in my new Mundelein coworkers. The administration is supportive and are faces in the hallway, just like the ones in Urbana. Department Chairs are leaders and supporters. I left today with my Applied Arts chair telling me he hopes I can be in Business full time next year. I want nothing more than to be a part of this school for the next sequence of years and to know he is already looking forward for that to happen was precious sound. The Applied Arts/Business folks have been overly welcoming and we all did lunch today. The Social Studies crew I am sure is the same but I haven't had as much interaction with them much. I did meet with my fellow Econ teacher and he seems brilliant and has the content written into his teacher DNA. It will take time to for me to be more than a few days ahead of the kids, I think, as I adapt to the 90-minute block and new curriculum, even if the content is not very new.

I've seen lots of new videos that are encouraging towards teaching and funny because they ring with truth. The initiatives at Mundelein are all about rigor and making our students learners and masters of the content they study, no matter if their are moving low to medium or medium to high level of achievement. All over the hallways are motivational slogans and pictures of former students who serve in the military, made honor roll or are involved in the school. I particularly like their hallway pass system and I think it will make keeping students accountable so much easier.

My goals this year include being involved, supporting students and striving to make curriculum that is as much student-driven as it is project-driven. Powerpoints will be minimal. Student discovery maximum. And hopefully, I can develop some more life-long friendships and find people to attend football games and do game nights with me. Because I miss game nights!

 I'll write again soon as I wrap up the week. I can't wait to meet my new kids (mostly freshmen/sophomore this year) and start helping them learn. Here we go!

KB

2 comments:

  1. Loved this blog. It was very insightful to your past and what the future will hold. It is all exciting. So proud of what you have accomplished and what you will accomplish. Your students will love you!

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  2. Enjoyed this very much. Great to have you home again. Mundelein made the right choice . . . they got a great teacher and even greater individual. Keep writing!

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