The Missing Teacher

Has the pandemic made teachers out of all of us?

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Wed, 05 May 2021 06:36:00 +0000

Maybe.

Besides parents becoming teachers at home, we've all been called upon to be good citizens (wear a mask, get vaccinated, social distance) -- in other words, to teach through our actions how we want others to behave.

Social media allows us to share our pictures of doing the right thing, or doing the things we want everyone else to do. Our values and identity have never been more on display. It's made monsters and martyrs, but the frightening thing is over a year later, the pandemic is still eluding governments.

So perhaps the pandemic has made us poor students, but better teachers.

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A friend of mine recently purchased my book, but found horrible formatting issues with the paperback. So I decided to make the best of it and revamp the cover, something I was never happy with.

But instead of fussing with it, I gave my husband the reins, and as much as I previously balked at a 'school' theme, it works.

But I didn't stop there, I updated my Gumroad acct so that when anyone purchases the audiobook, they receive a free PDF copy of the book as well.

So if you know anyone who is interested in participating in this year's Asian Readathon or taking another look at Waldorf education and the dynamics of small schools, I hope you will point them to my story.

Thank you Frank and Amy.

The Missing Teacher on Amazon.

My teaching evolution from the classroom to online

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 06:21:00 +0000

When I started off teaching abroad, I never imagined that I would be anywhere but the classroom. Fast forward ten years, I'm out of work due to a worldwide pandemic and waiting for my school to reopen. It's been three months and I'm still waiting.

Like many folks, I've had to transfer my skills online. Unfortunately, I work for a school that lacked a unified effort to move online so I've been watching my bank account and wringing my hands. But it's not like me to wait especially when I know that education has changed forever.

My partner likes to say that he can usually turn a disadvantage into an advantage, and I'd like to think that's exactly what I'm doing.

Even though other schools started online classes (and I felt sidelined), my ex-colleagues complained about the workload. They were grateful, yes, when so many have lost their jobs, but teaching online took much more planning and effort. Now, you might be confused by that but often our classes are interactive, there's a lot of movement, activities, mingling, speaking, etc. After all, that has to be the advantage of learning in a classroom.

I was able to pick up some tutoring online so I could relate to them through my imagination. However, I was able to assess the failings of moving the curriculum as it went online. I knew that if I wanted to go electronic that I'd have to figure out another way.

This coincided with working on a book report with a student. I realized how easy the lesson planning was because I was spending my time doing something I enjoyed. Teaching IELTS online also wasn't the usual hard work because I had a great student, it's a higher level of learning, and I have plenty of resources.

Around this time, my partner was also getting into these award-winning short films. Suddenly, I put it all together. I could teach students through short films, short stories, and even fairy tales like I did with Waldorf. There is so much material right in front of me. There are many advantages to learning holistically, and there's a low commitment to watching short films (15 mins each on average), but all the benefits are still there. We simply get rid of the textbooks.

I wouldn't compete with the EFL world too. It was different yet familiar - but I need students. So, I started a Teacher Lani FB page and a website. Oh, and a video that explains things a little more. I'm excited and nervous. Although I think I just need to connect to the right audience because many people naturally learn another language through movies and stories. Here's to the next level.

Wish me luck! Thanks.

Think Again Before Blaming Teachers for Discipline Problems

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 01:43:00 +0000

This article has validated what I've already known about the problems regarding teaching children today. When I was a Waldorf teacher and now as an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher I've experienced how teachers are to blame for what goes wrong in the classroom. It's no wonder that teachers are leaving the profession faster than ever before.

Consider this from (April 2019) The Guardian:

Around one in five teachers (18%) expect to leave the classroom in less than two years while two-fifths of teachers, school leaders and support staff want to quit in the next five years – blaming “out of control” workload pressures and “excessive” accountability, according to a poll by the country’s biggest teaching union.

If you're looking for American statistics, here's one from (2018) Insider:

More than 40% of teachers leave the profession within five years, according to the National Education Association, leaving teacher shortages across the country.

Yes, I was asked to leave Waldorf, but one of the big reasons why was because I was considered too young (yup) and because it was perceived that my class was 'out of control'.

At a language school, where I taught, the manager pretended that discipline problems didn't exist, so teachers stopped talking to him about the issues. This created, as you might imagine, more stress. Teachers felt their opinions, and observations from the classroom didn't matter. And unbeknownst to the manager, there was resentment towards him which could have easily been alleviated had he listened and believed his teachers.

Discipline problems rarely have to do with the teacher or her teaching methods. Sure, there are things we can do, a tweak here or there. Sometimes we are unknowingly exacerbating a situation. But overall, misbehaving students will be the same students with different teachers.

Now, this isn't the case if we put a naughty student with different students. A bad seed in a good group can be counteracted or suppressed. I'm always amazed when I see peer pressure work in positive ways. Of course, a bad student can corrupt the rest or take a few down with them, too.

It's been my experience that after I've wrestled with the 'why is this student acting like this' that I treat the student with more compassion. But it's hard, especially in the teaching moment, to take a step back and try to figure out why a student is so desperate for attention. We have a tendency to believe that only the adults are walking around with baggage, but our students have issues as well.

So it's crazy to believe that the teacher is to blame for something bothering the student. And it doesn't even have to be a serious issue, sometimes diet is the problem, or lack of exercise, or someone just wanting to be the class clown. Sometimes someone isn't having only a bad day, but a bad month or year. Teachers are expected to wear many hats, and some of them are psychologist, doctor, and detective.

If we continue to blame teachers for society's problems, for individual growing pains and struggles, then we will continue to hemorrhage teachers. It's far better for the teacher and the student to work together as a team over any discipline issues that might arise in the classroom.

And if I've learned anything, what's good for the teacher is good for everybody, including the students and the school.

What's been your experience in the classroom?

Your career is not your self-worth

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 08:24:00 +0000

“There’s the inability in this country to disentangle self-worth from career” – Christina Shideler

When I first started to share that I had written a book, it was hard to explain what it was about in that compelling ‘stuck in an elevator, you only have 2 minutes’ kind of way that everyone tells you to do.
I wish I had written what Christina succulently said because that’s the crux of it. I was a Waldorf teacher, believed in Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy, and when they told me, ‘hit the road, kid’, I was blindsided (but not really), and devastated (I’m better now).

Despite the book being published ten years after the event, I still did not have the distance or perspective to clearly see the book’s strengths. Or to understand that the cliche ‘getting fired and getting back up’ was a perfectly fine selling point. I wanted to be more literary or something, but really it comes back to recognizing that who we are is not necessarily what we do.

I think about this a lot. I contemplate mothers and fathers, and what would happen if their children died young. Not because I like to entertain dark thoughts, but because being a parent is an unbreakable connection and role that many feel completes them.

I contemplate my own role as a teacher (and I never thought I’d return to the profession), and how I constantly tell myself that I’m not really a teacher, or that my influence in this capacity is a minor one. Life changes, demands of us to move, and a career today can be gone tomorrow.

Getting fired from a job that trained me to possess it body and soul, was not supposed to happen. And while I can’t wholeheartedly stomach, “I’m glad it did”, I can say, I learned a great deal about myself, which for a person who values self-development, is mighty important.

Thanks for being part of the conversation.

P.S. I decided that I'm worth than the bare minimum price that I put on Amazon (and the 23 cents in return), so I bumped up the cost of my Kindle and print book. And then, I finally put my ebook on Gumroad, and stopped giving my audiobook away for free. Must be all this talk about worth...

My addendum to the 'Measles for the One Percent' Waldorf article

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 11:17:00 +0000

On the first of May, I was contacted by Lisa Miller who told me she was writing an article for New York Magazine on Waldorf education and did I have time to answer a few questions? We spoke for about 45 minutes. She was pleasant, articulate, and open-minded. Despite my bad experiences as a Waldorf teacher, I try to be fair, but when the fact-checker contacted me a few weeks later, I knew by the conversation that the article was going to throw a few punches.

It’s a very long article, but well-researched and well-written. I was flattered to be contacted and it was nice to have made the final edits, but I think for the sake of brevity, my words were put together in a way that came off as a little different than I intended. So, I'd like to clarify a couple of things. I also think it's important that the wacky stuff not be the main takeaway from the article out of respect for the people who teach at Waldorf and attend the schools.

I'm quoted about 17 paragraphs in, and I want to thank the reader who emailed me to say that the article was out. But here are the points that I felt were a tad blurry:

When the fact-checker, Jane connected with me, she specifically had a few things that she wanted to clarify, and these were them. I sort of hate the fact that the quote looks like I said 'we don't wear shoes in Hawaii'. I mean, my god, I'd be the laughing stock of the islands if anyone pointed that out. We wear shoes, we just don't wear shoes indoors. Hawaii is primarily an Asian population and normally Asians don't wear shoes indoors, because at least traditionally in SE Asia, people eat and sleep on the floor.

Secondly, I did say that there were kids with zipper coolers and lunchboxes. They were in the minority, but we had them. And while I was snarky during the conversation over the more absurd points, (like the black crayon, c' mon, right?) I tried to give fair answers as I don't hold ill feelings towards the people who were involved in my firing or towards Waldorf education in general. Anyway...enough about me. What about the rest of it?

When I read the article, I was reminded of a bigger phenomenon that is going on in the US. There seems to be not only a witch hunt regarding celebrities who say the 'wrong' things but also one that entails digging through dead men's graves. I understand why Lisa was taking a hard look at Rudolf Steiner. She was doing her research and trying to get her head around some pretty far out literature. Nonetheless, I wanted to add my thoughts.

The tough thing about Waldorf education is there are some very polarizing views. There are those who love it, swear by it, and firmly believe in Rudolf Steiner's vision. And within that spectrum of believers, there are gradients. Then there are those who hate it and had horrible experiences - with degrees of distrust within that camp, too.

I find myself sympathetic to both sides.

If we looked back at when Rudolf Steiner lived (around World War I and II), I think you'd find many other intelligent people who held what we consider racist and sexist views. I'm not saying this is excusable or okay. I just think CONTEXT is something to consider. As a former student of anthropology, I've read about how races were 'categorized' by early anthro pioneers, my own 'race', for example, was classified as 'barbarians'. However, at the time, this was one of the ways in which scientists tried to make sense of the world and the people in it. We know better now.

There will be a time when future generations look at how we behave and what we consider moral and normal and question our sanity, much like how we look back at slavery and denying women the right to vote. In fact, there was a time not so long ago in which many people believed gay marriage to be abominable. And yes, I realize there are cultures around the world that still have 'slaves' and treat gays as criminals.

So what will future folks say about us? I can't believe they used gasoline, and drove automobiles knowing how damaging it was to our environment! Anyone who used a car should be eradicated from our historic records no matter what they did. Can you believe they used to let their children use smartphones! Who knows how future societies will judge on what we are doing today? It's an interesting thought and one that I think of when we look back at famous figures.

I think we forget this and keep throwing babies out with the bathwater. To be sure, Steiner said some wacky shit. As someone who studied anthroposophy during my training years, it was very difficult to understand. I often felt like I was getting somewhere, only to feel utterly confused about it the next day. So while the article couldn't possibly do justice to this esoteric body of work, it's important to consider that the sensational bits were the ones mentioned.

It's also worth noting that Steiner's words have been translated from German to English. And while he was born in what is now considered Austria, it's all Germany, and German culture and American culture does have its differences.

And that karma quote? Ugh. Steiner was probably trying to make sense of the world and why bad things happen to good people. He certainly wasn't the first nor will he be the last. More excuses? No, more CONTEXT. Was he clairvoyant? Who knows, who cares! Why can't we take the good parts, the art-based education, the storytelling, the focus on beauty, music, dance, non-technological play, and run with that?

As far as the vaccination or lack thereof with some Waldorf parents, this phenomenon definitely reflects the times we live in. Folks are wary of big pharmaceuticals, they distrust governments, and things that are 'taken for granted'. Parents want to control the chemicals going into their children's bodies. To me, it sounds like these parents are simply hyper-conscious about raising healthy kids. On the surface, these are understandable qualities.

They have good intentions, but their beliefs are having unforeseeable consequences. If it wasn't we wouldn't be having this conversation.

What’s been your experience with Waldorf education? Did you read the article?

the missing teacher: three years later

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 08:57:00 +0000

It's been three years since I published the missing teacher. It was a lot of work, but I had no idea how much more work would be required after the writing was finished.

Funnily, if I were to print the book today, I wonder in which ways it would be different because I feel I have grown and changed since I first decided to write about my experiences as a "failed" Waldorf teacher.

After all, I'm no longer a thirty-something woman; I'm a forty-something woman (!!!) with years of teaching now under my school belt. But I still appreciate the lessons, the people who impacted my life, and the fact that I've moved on. Yes! Most importantly, I've moved on.

These days I've been focusing on my second memoir, and I'm determined to do things differently. In other words, I want to be fearless in marketing and promoting my book. I was terrified to give this book the attention it deserved, but I still was thrilled by the reception it received. But I know for my latest endeavor, I can do better.

In the meantime, your support and interest still means a great deal. My book is available in print or on Kindle on Amazon.

You may also listen along on Gumroad. You can chose to download it for free, or you can purchase it for a low as $5 and up. You name your price.

Thanks. Your humble missing teacher,

Lani

25 Ideas for the EFL classroom

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sun, 19 Feb 2017 06:39:00 +0000

I’ve been teaching English as a Foreign Language since 2010 and prior to that I was a Waldorf teacher (and I even did graduate work in Montessori education). When I was getting my teaching certificate (TESOL) for teaching English in 2009, I knew that my Waldorf background would be beneficial.

Here’s how. Both types of education emphasize different learning types or styles: kinesthetic, tactile, auditory, visual and the importance of play. So, in the classroom, I try to remember all this and have used some ideas that I’ve adopted from all the schools I have taught at, as well. I hope this is useful, if not at least inspires you do try something new. Enjoy!

1. A beanbag or a small ball is a quick and easy way to make the classroom a little more interesting. I use it primarily for asking questions (toss it to a student) and then they have to ask another question to a different student. You can also use this for checking homework.

2. If you have access to more balls or beanbags, you could have the students toss them between a partner and spell words, count, or come up with all the words they can think of that start with ‘S’ and so forth.

3. In Waldorf we had to be conscious of how long the children were sitting in their seats, and in EFL it’s pretty much the same, especially with the younger ones. Something as simple as changing partners, changing seats, creating groups gets the blood flowing again.

4. One of my Waldorf trainers told us to make the students laugh at least one time a day. I never forgot that. Don’t be too serious.

5. Some students like background music and others don’t, but they generally, they all like it when you play something softly while they are up and mingling and asking questions. It helps them to not feel so self-conscious while talking.

6. Which reminds me, give your students many opportunities to talk, this will help reduce ‘teacher talk time’ as well. You can start the class by putting a question on the whiteboard that ties into the lesson and allowing them to mingle (see #4). It’s a simple warmer, but effective in so many ways.

7. I was also told, never do anything that your students can do instead, so what this means to me is I let them read the directions in the textbook. I let them read almost everything out loud. And if there are questions to create, and they can do it, I let them create their own questions. I don’t have to come up with everything and the students benefit.

8. You’ll learn a lot of games, but one of the ways to spice it up is to add a time limit to them. Gazzawazza takes too long, in my opinion, so when I give them only a minute to come up with a list of words for the category, it adds so much more urgency, which makes it more fun.

9. Sometimes you don’t have to check homework. It can take up too much time and trying to make it into a game can be even more annoying. Just take a look around the room to see who did it, have the answers ready on the WB, ask if there are any questions, and move on.

10. Probably another big Waldorf takeaway was realizing how important it is to observe your students. Pay attention to them. Give each one a chance to talk individually (when possible). You can avoid misunderstandings sometimes if you notice they are not feeling well, having a bad day, whatever.

11. Write up a list of all the games you know. I often refer to my list when I’m feeling blank and uninspired.

12. At the beginning of the term, roughly plan out the entire 10 weeks or whatever you have. It’s a good idea to see where you are going, will you have time, do you have too much free time, etc.

13. Learn the language of where you are at. You don’t have to master it, but you’ll gain a much better idea of what kind of mistakes your students will make. And hopefully, an appreciation for how tricky learning another language can be.

14. If there is an opportunity for the students to get out of their seats with their books and ask questions, read a dialogue or even a short reading, then consider doing it (but don’t overdo it).

15. There are many ways to pair up the students so they are not just sitting next to their friends. Sitting in alphabetical order, by favorites, give them questions and answers and the Q&As sit together, heck draw straws, but get them mixed up.

16. Walking in a circle when practicing the alphabet or reciting whatever you’re trying to get your students to remember. And then have them walk backwards while reciting the alphabet backwards, too! You can put it on the WB and when they need to cheat, they can look at the board.

17. Getting your students to pair up and test each other on spelling, months, or vocabulary is a simple, but effective way to get them engaged and practicing.

18. One of the activities I use regularly is ‘shouting dictation’. It requires you to find a dialogue (from the book or the web that is relevant to your grammar or lesson) and split the conversation. Have your students facing each other and make sure they don’t copy.

Student (Ss) A reads their part while Ss B writes it down, then they switch until they have written the entire conversation. So good for so many reasons. It’s worth the prep.

19. Pictures can be great learning tools. I use laminated photos of famous places from around the world to elicit, not only countries, cities, languages, but also adjectives and questions like, “Do you want to travel here? Why or why not?”

When the picture is a physical object that the Ss hold, not something they see on the computer, there’s a whole new world of possibilities that can open up. Discussing the photo in pairs, groups, exchanging photos, they love holding them. Celebrities pics are good for beginner levels, getting Ss to ask, “What’s her name? Where is she from?” and so on.

20. I also found animal and job cards in a local bookstore. They were obviously made for younger kids, but older children can enjoy them as well if you make it more challenging. Writing a story about one of the animals, and asking harder questions regarding an occupation like, “Where does he work? What does he do?”

21. Board games like Toggle, Chutes and Ladders, and Game Shows like Jeopardy can be modified for the classroom.

22. There’s a silly game called Password you might want to try if you don’t have a lot of students. It’s a category game. For example, if you say or write down ‘something in the room’, all the students have to line up and the last person to give you the correct answer has to sing or dance or maybe say a tongue twister. It’s fun. And yes, you can send someone to the end of the line if they give an answer that has already been given!

23. When I taught vocabulary related to clothing, I’d have the Ss write down what they were wearing. Then, everyone is out of their seats mingling, asking, “What are you wearing?” Next, I choose a Ss to come to the front of the room and turn his back to his classmates. I then ask him, “What is ____ wearing?” It’s a nice memory game, a bit unexpected and you can help them work on the vocab.

24. My students love a good ‘ol fashioned battle of: rock, paper, and scissors. You can incorporate this in a variety of ways in the classroom. I generally use it as a tie breaker between teams like when two Ss both gave the right answer and I’m not sure which team should get the point-kind of thing.

25. For my IELTS test preparation class, I typed up a 'game plan' which was basically an outline with suggestions of the areas they needed to study and asked them to come up with a regular time commitment. It's an experiment, that is we'll see if they try it, but that's what it's all about, right? Try something new and different.

Happy planning!

How can we keep our teachers?

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 12:03:00 +0000

Retaining teachers can be a challenge even in developed countries with plenty of resources. New teachers without proper training and experience are more likely to burn out faster than their more seasoned peers. Working conditions also play a part in how teachers perform and how long they stay across all countries. However, there are things educators, schools and faculty can do to help teachers succeed in today’s teaching environments.

As a teacher who has taught in the United States, Ecuador, Thailand and Cambodia with a total of 8 years’ experience and who has worked at different schools, I understand how teachers feel. I know what it is like to be the new teacher in country so different than her own, at a new school with its own ways of doing things, with various curriculum, working with teachers from around the world, and with students from all ages and backgrounds. It can be extremely stressful for a new teacher, especially teachers in their non-passport countries, to integrate into a new school.

I’ve been working at this particular language school for about a year and a half, and I still remember the teachers who smiled at me on my overwhelming first day; the ones who took the time to get to know me, and there is something to be said about that. Schools with a strong mentoring program are known to have a higher success rate of teacher retention than those who don’t. Peer assistance and review programs are important in helping all teachers feel as if they are growing professionally and working in a productive and rewarding environment.

It’s vital, however, that peer reviews are constructive and encouraging. Teachers need to feel confident when entering the classroom, particularly new ones fresh out of training. Giving teachers the tools and support they need to succeed also fosters a positive workplace. This leads into giving teachers opportunities to feel as though their voices are heard, which can be done through meetings, focus groups, school wide reviews, and professional development meetings and conferences.

Schools can also encourage teachers to stay longer through medical benefits, overtime and holiday pay, access to generous resources, and, of course, salary raises. This helps teachers become more financially stable and lets them know that their longtime commitment is valued. Schools can, in addition, create non-financial incentives with team building activities, fun staff events that take place outside of school and volunteer work for the community. Schools might also consider teaming up with a similar school so that they might exchange ideas, like a sister school program.

*I wrote this a few months ago for a 'contest' at our school. I didn't win the prize, to travel to South Korea for their TESOL conference, but writing the essay helped me realize a few things: how passionate I am about teaching and creating the best possible environment for us, and that so much can be done to help teachers, especially when schools (particularly in the US) appear to be hemorrhaging them.

You know even though I work abroad, the same problems plague schools all over the world. I hope this post reaches the right managers, teachers and principals.

What do you think? Do you work at a school that values you?

What we can learn from teaching memoirs

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 07:27:00 +0000

Sometimes when I write, it feels like no one is listening. This also holds true when I feel trapped, depressed or deeply frustrated. Of course, I know I am not truly alone even when I’m physically by myself and sinking into dark thoughts. I’m not sure why I forget this.

Teaching feels very much the same way. When I’m in the classroom, I wouldn’t say it’s me against them, but I will recognize, I’m outnumbered. (And the smarter ones know it and capitalize on this.) We feel alone in our struggles for control. We can even feel alone when talking with our colleagues. Sometimes they can offer strong advice and other times nothing more than a sympathetic shrug or pat on the back.

I was surprised when I saw NPR’s review titled, Yet another teaching memoir? because I didn’t realize there were that many teaching memoirs. While I haven’t read Boland’s The Battle for Room 314, I can already relate to his struggles as a new teacher and his lofty idea to do good, not as a public school teacher per se, but as a private school one. On the surface there appears to be a wide variance between lower class/working class kids and privileged children, but I assure you, both groups have their challenges.

There is a reason why I quoted and resonated with Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers chapter on Langan and Oppenheimer. I recognized how much I misunderstood my well-to-do parents and how my own upbringing by an immigrant mom and working class family caused avoidable problems within my class and throughout the school.

You know, as much as the world these days is interested in race warfare, the true battle, in my opinion lies in class differences.

Yet hopefully, Boland’s book brings to light the (sometimes impossible) struggle teachers’ face in lieu of circumstances that have nothing to do with the job that we were originally asked to do – teach.

Recently, I wrote “write your memoir (even if only 10 people read it)” because very often we feel alone in our daily lives. It’s easy to feel like no one cares, but I believe our everyday stories are important. So, I wanted to write something encouraging. I’ve also been lucky enough to receive emails from folks who felt compelled enough to do so. Here are some examples:

When my blog was not yet a book...so encouraging!

I had no idea nursing school (or other disciplines) could be this negative, too.

Relating to others, having others relate to you, I feel like this is what it's about! Connections :)

A former public school teacher...

Wow. Thank you. I helped someone!

Teaching memoirs are fascinating because, like the topic of education, everyone has an opinion of them. We’ve all gone through school, so we’re all “experts” on the topic. Of course, that’s part of the problem, too.

There’s also a huge fight for public education going on in the U.S. that I’m not even sure if the American public is aware of. (*update: now that Trump has been elected, they are)

Stories from teachers all over the world give us insight into what is going on behind closed classroom doors. Educating our children is everybody’s business and yet, there seems to be less schooling going on and a lot more politics. And that’s scary – it feels so sci-fi to live in a world where free education is disappearing, where profits triumph over people, where the arts and creativity are being tossed aside for classes + majors that push us towards "work that makes money".

Teaching memoirs matter because it’s one of the rare times teachers have a chance to be heard. Hear me. Hear us. Yes, my story is about my experience about Waldorf education and getting fired, but it’s also about economics, how we treat one another – and the very real truth, we are all teachers.

The hardest part about teaching

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 08:12:00 +0000

The hardest thing about teaching has nothing to do with teaching at all and yet it has everything to do with it. Can you guess? It’s the politics.

The politics of education get in the way of teaching much like how arguing about money leaches into personal relationships. You realize it’s the circumstances nipping and snipping into your love life, your family and your home, but because they are circumstances, you have to learn how to deal with it – and that’s not easy.

I certainly wish we were warned about politics when I was in teacher training, but the focus, interestingly enough was mainly on the Waldorf pedagogy. Now, I realize this seems natural and understandable, but I think there should be room made for classroom management and dealing with school politics.

We had one session dedicated to classroom management questions and questions in general about the Waldorf way. And while this was beneficial, I watched our seminar teacher quickly deteriorate into great annoyance by the questions so that by the end of the class things felt a little awkward as if we had bothered him like irritating children asking too many questions.

I remember being told not to teach faculty children. I ended up with three of them in my first grade classroom, not including an office staff parent’s child as well. These parents were instrumental in meddling into my affairs. How could they not? They worked at the same school and were critical because they wanted the best for their child. I understand that, especially now. But what I wished I had asked my teacher trainers is, “How can I refuse to teach faculty children? And what if the school doesn’t support me?”

It’s important to say that I enjoyed my Waldorf teacher training experience, but it is only in hindsight do I see its shortcomings in preparing me for what was to come. I don’t blame them though. It is just my small hope that other teachers-in-training or teacher trainers will find what I say useful. Feedback is essential and unpleasant truths are deeply frustrating because none of us has all the answers and everyone simply wants to get on with it.

Yet, for all soon-to-be teachers and teachers like me with years under my proverbial belt, the politics involved in educating our children is a dreadful landmine. On the one side, it’s blissful to not know what is going on behind closed administrators’ doors and on the other side, it seems morally wrong not to care or do something about it.

Here’s a list of real scenarios:

// What do you do when you know other teachers are not getting paid nearly as much as you are? Think about the climate that creates within yourself and within the teachers room.

// What do you do when you are being privately bullied by your superior for criticizing curriculum changes? Do we then learn to not say anything? Yes, we do.

// Why are the good teachers left unrewarded and the bad ones given praise? (Interestingly, after my Waldorf experience I told myself that I would never speak poorly about another teacher having been the sweet target of my former colleagues. And let me tell you, it’s sometimes a hard silence to swallow.)

// What do you do when you know "management" is lying?

// What if a parent threatens you? Or insinuates that you’ve done something very wrong?

// What if you have classroom management issues? Do you ask for help or keep quiet (because behavior issues make you look bad)?

// What if you are asked to ignore certain problems so that “enrollment continues to grow”?

// Or what if you tell a principal about something you have been witnessing and she chooses to ignore you?

Many teachers I know learn to keep their head down and watch where they step. It’s a matter of survival and “playing the game”. I’ve certainly kept a low profile, but I’ve also stuck my short neck out on several occasions when I felt something needed to be said. Experience has taught me that nobody wants to be the bad guy so blame gets passed around like a baby that won’t stop crying.

And here we come to the reason why education, everywhere, mostly everywhere, is dysfunctional and drowning under problems. I believe we do our children a great disservice when we are not able to address issues with an open mind, when we are not able to mediate, and stand together for what we believe is ethically unjust.

What do you think is the hardest part of teaching?

the missing teacher's new book cover and 1 year anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 09:15:00 +0000

It’s been one year since I published my first book. And interestingly enough it coincided with me redoing the book cover. Do you like it? I hope so.

While I still like the old book cover, I was never completely satisfied by it. Here's why:

// I underestimated how long it would take to design one. I felt rushed by the imaginary deadline I had given myself.

// Also, I didn’t realize how difficult it is to have a vision of what you want and then try to create it.

// Working with my b/f on this presented another learning curve as he has his own aesthetics and I have mine. Plus, neither of us knew what we were doing. Creating a book cover is truly its own art.

// Something else that bothered me was digitally the cover worked better than in print. When I received a copy of my book (when I flew back home to Hawaii), months after I had published it, the cover was significantly darker than the digital copy. I blame Createspace, if there is anyone to be blamed, because there is nothing wrong with the digital file. It’s vibrant and detailed, but I realize that a mass produced print service isn’t too concerned with this. That’s what your proof copy is for and since I don’t live in the US, this wasn’t really an option - it is what it is.

An early reader, however, was instrumental in catching a formatting issue inside the book. Thank you, Lani M!

For now, I’m keeping my audio book under the old cover. What do you think? Should I change it to be consistent? I think the audio book cover still looks good because it’s a square shape and shows the artwork better.

The new cover happened rather by accident. I was playing in Canva and noticed their book cover templates and went from there. I liked the soft almost transparent quality of the new cover so I asked the b/f if he could recreate it in Photoshop.

For the next book, I have a photograph in mind. The b/f told me to give it to him and let him play around with design ideas. I’m glad he’s getting into it because what a pain the rear end! Book covers are so important, but I’m not a designer (nor is he!). And I don’t want to go through a professional because I think it’s hard to find someone you can work with. I don’t know how web or logo designers do it.

One last thing. For one day only, January 14th the Kindle version of the book will be free in honor of the new cover + the 1 year anniversary. The audio book is always free (for now) or you can pay what you want, which works surprisingly well. Thanks everyone!

Have you got a book? Or are you planning one? What was your book cover process?

Write your memoir (even if only 10 people read it)

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 03:30:00 +0000

Sometimes it feels like the only memoirs that matter are the ones celebrities write. But this is not true and never will be as long as everyday people are around. Stories are people and people are stories. And there is so much transformative magic in the simple telling of a tale.

When I decided to write my Waldorf story I knew I had to get it out of me. I knew that it was going to be therapeutic in the way journaling and paying attention to your feelings are, but beyond that I didn’t really know how the book would affect me or any future readers.

One year later after I officially published it, I can say it feels good to have done it.

Not because I made a ton of money and became wildly famous beyond my biggest dreams, or even because I was recognized for my writing, in fact, I hardly did any marketing so it barely sold. I’m not even sure my friends really read it or liked it. Although, I got good feedback on Amazon. It’s okay though. I'm fine.

First of all, I knew my story wasn’t for everyone and not everyone was going to relate to the story of getting fired from a job that I thought I loved and wanted. But I wanted to write it anyway, for myself and for anyone else who could relate to it or was curious enough about Waldorf education.

Secondly, this isn’t the end. I feel like I’m just starting to figure out what I need to do for my next book and experiment with this book in terms of marketing. I feel braver, more confident and I learned a great deal from simply going through the process of writing, editing, creating a book cover and uploading it on Createspace + putting it on Amazon. Not to mention all the work that went into creating an audio version of {the missing teacher}. Yeah, it’s a lot of work.

The formation of a book is its own journey and if you decide to go the self-publishing route you will not be alone. You have to ask for help. And you have to learn a bunch of shit you probably didn’t sign up for, but hey, that’s life. I rather like the idea of failing and succeeding on my own terms, as well, no pressure to make sales and have the kind of social media reach that traditional publishers need.

Of course, it would be lovely to be “successful”, really really lovely, but I think for memoirists especially, writing down the bones (as Natalie Goldberg puts it) is about the process, the rite of passage, the personal story arc. There is such a sweet satisfaction in knowing you laid out your skeletons, slayed them or whatever and decided to move on. And then you fucking wrote about it! You helped yourself. You published it. You didn’t ask for permission. Or if you did, you still found another way. You’re finding another way, right?

You know, on the other blog, I wrote a post and was initially disappointed by the lack of comments. But then I thought about the one guy which the post resonated with. He shared a documentary that I hadn’t heard of and I stopped fussing over not hitting a homerun every damn time. One connection is better than none.

And when I started to blog {the missing teacher} the connections surprisingly started to roll in. Then when I published it, more surprises. Now, I don’t have a lot of connections (yet), but there is something to be said about starting small. It doesn’t make you small. It simply means you have room to grow, if that’s what you desire. It also means you have time for your connections and you appreciate them more deeply. These are good things, things we have a tendency to forget to appreciate.

So, write your memoir (even if only 10 people read it). Sink into the process, swim, play, hold your breath, blow bubbles, float and luxuriate in the flow. As far as I know, we only have one life, leave those regrets behind.

Have you written your memoir?

Hey-ya, my audiobook is available for free (or pay what you want) here. Or if you are interested in purchasing it on Amazon and sharing your thoughts, that would be wonderful, too! Thank you for reading.

What are your rules of life?

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 04:42:00 +0000

Taking a page out of Tolstoy’s “Rules of Life,” I’ve decided to come up with my own personal commandments. Let’s see what I come up with…

// Don’t take yourself too seriously. (Wish I could remember this one more often.)

// Breathe deep.

// When you’re feeling sad or sick, watch a funny video or get absorbed in a good book. (Laughter does wonderful things for the immune system, and usually when we are feeling out of sorts we need a healthy distraction.)

// Before you agree or disagree with something, think about why you believe it to be true or not true. (Often, we follow along with the beliefs that our family and friends think that don’t necessarily reflect our ideas. It’s worth taking the time to research and contemplate how you feel on a matter.)

// Take good care of yourself. (Easier said than done and it’s the easiest thing to regret.)

// Surround yourself with beauty and kindness. Be kind to yourself and others.

// Read every day for pleasure and enjoyment.

// Challenge yourself. (I know that life is challenging enough sometimes, but most of us have the luxury to expand our mental and/or physical boundaries from time to time.)

What are your rules of life?

Becoming a teacher

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 11:06:00 +0000

Becoming a teacher is like becoming a new person. You have no idea what you are in for. You think you know what to expect, but I assure you, you do not. It’s hard work. It’s pretty much thankless. It’s constant and it changes. Teachers are scapegoats to society’s ills, but society really needs us, too. There’s a lot of bloodletting. Not literally, of course, but you are a giver, you have to give, your job is to give.

Sorry, I hope you weren’t expecting a pep talk.

When I decided to be a Waldorf teacher, I remember the exact moment, the out loud declaration at the wheel of my Nissan Sentra. And do you know what I did? I cried. Sitting in traffic, I sobbed, wiped my eyes, looked around and plodded home wondering why I cried. I suppose it was my future-self crying and that’s why my self-at-the-moment was so surprised. Little did I know what becoming a Waldorf teacher was going to really be like for me, but after I completed two years of teacher training, I did.

Waldorf education is based on the esoteric philosophies of Rudolf Steiner and claims to be the fastest growing private school in the world. It’s also very controversial. Its critics claim it’s a cult, that Steiner was a racist and that the schools do more harm than good. Its advocates believe Steiner was a genius and the school’s focus is on the imagination and working together. My experience involved me writing a whole book over it.

Currently, I’m teaching English overseas. I’ve been an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher for about 5 years. Most of my teaching has been in Thailand, although for 6 months I was in Ecuador. In many ways, teaching abroad is different than teaching in your passport country. At the same time, teaching is teaching anywhere in the world. Respect for the profession is dwindling and it seems all the students want to do is play on their phones.

Of course, there are wonderful students, too. Unfortuantely, they are not enough to balance out the bureaucracy and politics and negativity that have unhappily made its way into the classrooms. So, why do I still do it? Well, you could say, I feel a little stuck. That is, I don’t feel I have much of a choice, but I still like it, despite its problems. I don’t suppose that makes much sense to you, does it?

A colleague told me the other day that he feels like he’s acting in front of the classroom. I disagreed with him. I said I never felt like I was acting. But I do perform. Acting feels less authentic. Performing, on the other hand, is what teachers have to do to keep the students engaged. In many ways, teachers must weave spells and create magic.

When I first started teaching, I was attracted to the idea of working with children because I had such an fun experience working with them at a summer camp. This doesn’t mean that I was a natural though. I was surprised that I even liked them. Originally, I was hired to be the office manager, but I found myself wanting to spend more time with the campers and so I did.

There are natural teachers, but they are rare. Most of us have to really sweat and toil if we want to be any good at it. I’m rather matter-of-fact which can be a good or bad thing depending on how you like your teachers. Trust me, the profession is filled with the kind of criticism that cuts down to the marrow in the bone and you have to decide what to discard and what you can use. Not an easy task when you are fresh out of training and wide-eyed and dewy, but as the dewiness wears off and the eyes become tired, you learn to survive.

Becoming a teacher should make you a better person. But being a teacher can make you an angrier person.

I remember in high school I had a science teacher who wore sensible sandals with the panty hose toes cut off. And even though I was an extremely average student, I felt bad for her because the class was insane. The boys sat on the chair desks surrounding Debbie, the resident tart who wore spandex tight dresses to accentuate every bit of her Playboy bunny body. Someone threw a cherry bomb in our class so we didn’t have to attend. There was a lot of talking for talking’s sake and our teacher would sometimes slam her books on the table and scream, “Shut up!”

Now that I’ve been teaching for years, I get it. I would have loved to have done that, many, many times over. These days though a lot of the disrespect comes in the form of students endlessly playing on their phones. I’m an entertaining teacher, too. But perhaps all teachers think that way about themselves. You learn to care, less. You have to. You accept that you cannot control every moment. You learn that you have no real authority over the students. After all, learning is a relationship.

Bad teaching days and good teaching days, ideally, need to be swallowed with equanimity. If you end the week on a bad teaching day, my colleague believes that you won’t recover until you’ve had a good teaching day. There is a lot of truth in that, but it’s also one hellva way to live. Good teaching days help you remember why you got into this damn profession in the first place. Bad days make you feel like the stupidest person and an utter failure.

Teachers, by default, try their best and use up way too much personal time to get their job done. So, it is incredibly crushing to be blamed for not doing more. Yes, yes. There are lazy and bad teachers and they are the ones that make headline news, but I can assure you the better ones have great big hearts for your children.

I can’t tell you if becoming a teacher has made me a better person. Sometimes I feel like it’s making me bitter and crazy. Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can do this. Other times, I love making my students laugh and helping them along the way. If I could do it all over again, I don’t think I would have run down this road. It’s a thankless task with many problems with one too many 1%-ers telling us how to do our jobs. Although, if I hadn’t, perhaps I would have never realized that we’re all teachers.

Ultimately, becoming a teacher, getting fired, and becoming a teacher again made me understand that the task of teaching was something I always had within me. Because we are all teachers. Teaching through our words and actions. Teaching every day. Teaching is more than a profession: it’s our life’s journey, our heart’s work, and a job that everyone carries from the inside out.

{the missing teacher} is an audiobook, too!

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 11:08:00 +0000

When I realized I was writing a book, I knew I was going to have to create an audio as well. I fell in love with audiobooks when I was in college around the time I started driving long distances.

For {the missing teacher} I used a friend's recorder and a free editing program called Audacity. Originally I wanted to upload it to ACX, part of the Amazon empire, but it was rejected due to the extraneous noises such as birds chirping and crickets in the background. These noises are actually in only a handful of chapters, but I didn't want to re-record and deal with another unforseen roadblock.

While I appreciate and understand ACX's need for quality control, I felt what I delivered was clear and sounded above par many popular podcasts, frankly. I didn't have access to a studio nor did I have the pocketbook for such an undertaking. I did this on the cheap, learning as I went and throwing in a lot of time to make it work.

I also read about another author's headache with constantly having to re-upload all of her files/chapters individually and waiting to see if they were accepted. This was not what I wanted to be doing with my time.

In addition, I was not happy about the high prices that ACX charges for its audiobooks. The pricing depends on how long your book is and mine is about 11 and a half hours. It would have been around $25 USD, if not more. I decided to find another way. After all, I self-published my memoir. Surely I could run a little longer to find a home for my audiobook.

I'm glad I did. Gumroad offers exactly what I wanted and I'm fairly certain I haven't even tapped into all that they can offer. I uploaded my chapters, was able to move them around (because I forgot Chapter 23) with no problem. Then I later decided to attach an opening letter to go with the purchase which I did and I'm pleased with Gumroad's flexibility with my own product. Makes sense.

And just as good, I can name my own price. This took some figuring out since I wanted to offer it for free to a few people who expressed interest in the audio version when I made my big annoucement that my book was now available in print and on Kindle. You simply enter "0" zero when it asks you to give and viola, you can have it for free.

Now if folks want to they can donate or purchase it for however much they can afford. It can be a "pay what you feel" product and I really love that. So, right now, I'm offering {the missing teacher} for free or pay what you want.

Also, I have my book on Gumroad as a zip file or as individual files depending on what works best for you.

If you are interested you can sample the audiobook on YouTube and let me know what you think.

Lastly, my book reviews on Amazon. A big thank you to those who took the time to read and write a thoughtful comment.

Interviewing for a Waldorf teaching position

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 05:11:00 +0000

My first-grade classroom.

When I interviewed for my Waldorf teaching position, I desperately wanted to stay in Oregon. And I really, really had my sights on Portland. So, I interviewed with a big strike against me. I knew what I wanted and I was blind to the warnings.

About a month ago, I was contacted by a lovely young woman (who I’ll call Nancy) about how to interview for Waldorf. Her inquiry made me wonder if there was much help out there as it appeared the school she was interviewing for didn’t give her much to go on. Her email also gave me this idea to write about it.

Specifically, Nancy wanted to know what the warning signs were. I think this can be difficult if you are anything like the younger/former me, full of enthusiasm, hope, and naiveté. So, the best advice I can give is to ask questions.

The funny thing about interviews is we are usually so anxious to be appealing that we forget that the school (or employer) is also on interview. And while I was proud of my questions like, “What’s this school’s biggest challenge?” I should have slowed down and written out a list of what I liked and didn’t like and shopped around much longer.

But let’s get back to those questions because I think it’s worth reading what the critics say. After all, if you are truly going to enter the World of Waldorf, I say take those blinders off and visit the argumentative territory. In training, we were not encouraged to do this. In fact, when I brought a list of challenging questions from one of my practicum teachers, most of the answers given were shaky and unsatisfactory.

Questions like: Is Waldorf a cult? One of the parents thinks lighting the candle is cultish and is concerned. How do you deal with faculty parents? How do you deal with bullies? and so on. He gave me quite a long list. Please don’t think that there aren’t Waldorf teachers who are aware of the problems and shortcomings of the educational philosophy.

In the end, since teacher training brushed off the questions, so did I.

Another interesting aspect of individual schools is: how much are they into Anthroposophy? When Nancy was sharing her experiences with a couple of schools, we both got the feeling that one school seemed very Anthroposphic and the other not so much. Now, I can’t tell you which is better or worst. Trembling Trees (where I worked) was confused by Steiner’s visions and beliefs - and it showed.

At the end of the day though, I think it comes down to taking a risk. As with any job, you just won’t know until you try. Of course, Waldorf is unlike any job out there…but that’s another story.

---
Interviewing for a teaching position help: http://waldorfinspirations.com/index.php/grades/6th-grade/16-how-tos

Job board: http://www.waldorftoday.com/

Critics' concerns: http://www.waldorfcritics.org/concerns.html

---

Have you ever interviewed for a Waldorf teaching position? What was your experience like?

the missing teacher is published!

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 07:40:00 +0000

I'm proud to announce that my first book {the missing teacher} is published and available for print through Amazon and as an e-book through Kindle. And for a limited time, I'm offering my audiobook for free (just put in "0") or you can pay what you want. Download here at Gumroad.

To be honest, it's been such a long journey that I'm just relieved that it is finished. I hope, however, that you will find it useful, entertaining and interesting. Thank you to my long-time readers and those who have contacted me over the years. You probably have no idea how much your taking the time to reach out and share your story has helped me to realize that what I have to say matters, too. Much love from Thailand...

What makes Waldorf education, Waldorf education?

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sun, 24 Aug 2014 07:29:00 +0000

BBC’s Chris Cook asks a good question, “Is Waldorf education worth public money?” I can’t speak for England, but I can say for the US, there is a fair amount of Waldorf charter schools receiving public funding. After all, there is an Alliance for Public Waldorf Education.

I remember asking one of my teacher trainers about a Waldorf charter school that was starting up around the time I was graduating. She said she didn’t consider it to be a “real” Waldorf school since charters cannot teach or bring Anthroposophy into the classroom. Essentially, Waldorf-inspired or charters can only focus on the methods, but not the meaning behind them.

So, what makes Waldorf education, Waldorf education?

Is Waldorf a religious school? If it is then they cannot and should not receive public funding. That would be like having a Catholic-inspired or Catholic charter school. Another way to look at this is, if we talk about, say, Shaolin Kung Fu. If you take away the Buddhist aspect to the discipline, is it still Shaolin Kung Fu? I would wager a lot of kung fu that is practiced today in the US lacks any spiritual training or element, but it still looks like kung fu, more or less.

I think if Waldorf-inspired or Waldorf charter schools are completely devoid of Waldorf trained teachers, then I think we can safely say the religious aspect to these schools are absent. But once you start getting teachers or administrators who have studied Steiner and have been through the training, the influence of Anthroposophy can become a real issue - and in the case of public funding, a conflict of interest.

Even for a teacher who is well-aware of the dated, controversial and eccentric material that Steiner presents, I think it would be hard for that teacher to not carry that knowledge into the classroom because we were trained to do so. We were trained to see the children as choleric or phlegmatic. We talked about fairies and gnomes as very real elemental creatures that influence our world. Karma was a complicated topic with lectures on reincarnation and the effects of past lives.

To the everyday person these subject matters seem loony. And this is why so many parents are concerned about Waldorf, and why many are call it a “cult”. Trained teachers are not told to teach the children Anthroposophy, but it inevitably comes in – otherwise, why would they teach us Steiner’s spiritual science at all?

At the time of training, all of this seemed mind-boggling and rather like you are getting a glimpse into the cosmic profound. Now, I think how impressionable and open-minded I was. I wanted to believe in something, and I found it. This is not a bad thing, but ultimately it became a bad thing – for me. I didn’t fit whatever mold they thought I should be. And that shook the foundation of what I was previously taught, and I’ve never been the same since.

If, however, we took away the occult in Waldorf education, we do have a really compelling education. Back to the basics. Creative. Fun. Light. Imaginative. I think Steiner did give us something wonderful in using stories as the framework to the curriculum.

What do you think? Should Waldorf charter schools receive public funds?

Why Public Education Matters

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 11:23:00 +0000

Public education is the new endangered species of America. The reasons are many: there is the myth of failing public education, the teacher blame game review, the over-testing Common Core regime, and the romance some have with the “take public money but privately run run run” charter/voucher schools.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140711/NEWS06/307110021/charter-schools-accountability-michigan-richardville

What struck home (literally) for me about this charter school debate was the fact that low-income, and families with limited English don’t apply for charter schools. Most likely, the poor are dealing with the stresses of paying the bills and providing food and shelter, and those with low English ability simply don’t understand what’s available to them.

I came from such a family. My mother immigrated to these United States from Thailand in the early 70s (legally, thank you), and even though she took English courses, her English has plateaued and is not very good. When I was in grade school, I hated when teachers told me to ask my parents for homework help. My father died unexpectedly when I was 6, and my mother would often ask ME to interpret bank statements and other letters that were way over my head.

Later, when I applied for financial aid for college, I learned how to do it all on my own. I went to the public library and borrowed a book. I worked at Little Caesars Pizza while attending community college. And even though we had a friend help my mom fill out her jury duty form, she was still called in, and it wasn’t until she addressed the judge as “your highness” that she was finally excused.

I love my mom. I wish she had received more education than the equivalent of a 5th grade in rural Thailand. She values education greatly and drove my younger brother and I crazy over telling us how much it was important. But she was right. (There I said it, mom!)

Despite how much money families have, despite their connections or lack thereof, despite any obstacles, all children deserve to have a solid education. I bristle upon bristle when people act like the educating of their child has greater value than any other kid. Okay, I kind of get the competitive aspect of my child is better than yours at football, art, academics, whatever, but seriously, folks? Seriously?!

Isn’t an educated society preferable to an educated few??? Do we really need or want our educational system to be built on competitiveness? Do we want losers and winners? This isn’t about all of us skipping to ring-around-the-rosy, this is about cultivating a community of critical thinkers to help foster greater understanding and compassion for each another so we can thrive.

We are faced with incredible problems that need all of us to grab a mental shovel and dig in to – I believe we all carry unique and special gifts that we can bring to our societies. I don’t want to live in a world where substandard education is the norm for the greater population because we thought competitive learning was a great idea.

Why do we have to race to the top? Because I can tell you already, children are going to be left behind. You might not care because it’s not your child, but I assure you, one day you will.

The Myth of Super Teacher!

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 06:41:00 +0000

There was a time in my life when I thought I wasn’t a good teacher, and I would never be good enough. I was taught that if you thought you were good then it meant you were bad. Now, of course, I don’t feel that way. In fact, I can look back on my Waldorf years and see that I was a good teacher because I was trying and caring. I was invested in the job: mind, body and soul - and, yes, it took a toll.

I feel the idea of being “good enough” is something that we teachers have to struggle with on an constant basis. The reason why we are struggling with being “good enough” is because teachers are often seen as NOT being “good enough”. In other words, when there is a problem, regardless of origin, teachers are expected to “fix it” and if we are unable to, then we are considered part of the problem.

I’ll be the one to take full responsibility for my actions and like most of my peers, I know we are the first ones to think about how we can make any situation we come across - work. We are also the ones who will most likely be hard on ourselves for not figuring out a student or curriculum dilemma. Most teachers are damn hard workers, so I resent it when we are seen as “not good enough”.

Enter: The Myth of the Super Teacher. When I watched Roxanna Elden’s humorous speech, I was excited that she really nabbed what I feel to be an important issue facing teachers today. But I wanted to elaborate on this idea because her speech was mostly targeted to new teachers.

To watch, go here: http://vimeo.com/43565010

Teaching and learning is a relationship. We seem to forget this when we hammer teachers with clever ideas on how to make students behave. Relationship advice, as we know, varies greatly, depends on the situation and the other person. If a student refuses to cooperate or learn, then what are we supposed to do? Students have to be willing to learn and engage. I get frustrated when teachers are asked to do MORE when the students can get away with doing LESS.

What’s worst is we look like bad teachers because we are seen as “unable to handle it”. We’re not good enough. This was how I was perceived at Trembling Trees. And it's crushing to give it your all and be told you're not doing enough or your best.

Obviously, most students can be worked with, but what I want to break is, this myth that the teacher is “not doing enough” (aka automatically at fault) and can work mind-blowing miracles on a student-by-class basis.

I mean, Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Education, has announced his brilliant new plan to put “good” teachers into low-performing schools! Here is the myth of the super teacher in pressure-cooker action. He’s kidding, right? Instead of looking at the reasons behind why certain schools are "low-performing" (aka low-income), he's assuming SUPER teacher can swoop on in and save the day.

Teachers need support. The expectation that we can always be better (this is really put on us), use our free time to do more work (which we already do) and give, give, give (we do, we do, we do) has got to stop. These days our most experienced teachers have 1-2 years when 20 years ago it was about 15 years. This is not a good sign. Enter the great exodus of teachers in these United States.

We can be superheroes because, frankly, that is why many of us got into the profession. We wanted to do good. We wanted to help students. We are already naturally martyrs and saints. Stop telling us “the skies the limit,” because most of us are already reaching as high as we can and with meager pay. The teaching profession is in a dysfunctional relationship with society and society keeps saying, “You’re not good enough.” I resent teachers being the scapegoat for society’s ills.

There is a great economical divide not only in the US, but throughout the world. In other words, we have big problems we need to solve. The issue of education is extremely related to haves and have nots. It’s time to think about how we can raise each other up rather than putting one another down. I think we will find it more effective for the education of our children, and our human kind.

The Three Ingredients to Successful Learning

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Tue, 17 Jun 2014 06:52:00 +0000

Jon McClelland, Harvard Psychologist, has stated that the three ingredients to successful learning are: wanting to learn, knowing how to learn, and having a chance to learn.

Sometimes you don’t even realize that you want to learn something until you have stumbled upon it. I was visiting my old college roommate Nadya when I saw her and her friend Sheree crocheting together.

“Oh,” I gushed. “I’d love to learn.”

“Sheree taught me,” Nadya said.

“Could you teach me too?” I asked Sheree.

“Sure.”

I think Jon McClelland summation of the three successful components of learning is accurate and concise. If I had walked into Nadya’s room and never asked, I would not have learned to crochet. The desire or will to learn has to be present in the individual.

Secondly, I needed a teacher to teach me the basics, someone who possessed the knowledge and the ability to communicate. In this case, it was Sheree who was perfect because she adapted to my left-handedness which presented a tricky situation.

And lastly, the opportunity needed to be there. Luckily, there was an extra crochet hook and plenty of yarn to help get me started. Having the chance to learn means having the tools (or the imagination) to get the job done.

When I was six or seven, my mother made me play the piano. I had no desire to learn, but she said it would be good for me and invested in one. Next, she found a teacher who taught me how to sit, place my fingers on the keyboard and how to read music. It took a long time for me to appreciate what I was learning, but since I had to practice, I eventually became proficient at playing the piano. I dare say I even started to enjoy it. I remember on Christmas morning I snuck downstairs while everyone was asleep, opened the keyboard lid and started to play Christmas carols. It seemed rude, but I giggled as it got the job done - everyone woke up!

Unfortunately, we moved from Hawaii during the middle of my sixth grade year to the middle of nowhere, Barstow California or let’s just call it what it really was - the Mojave Desert. Here I had the piano and the desire, but no one to teach me and advance my work. So as a consequence, I stopped playing. If I was meant to be a pianist perhaps I would have pestered my mom relentlessly or taught myself, but as a child I needed the discipline and push that a teacher provides.

What is interesting is how I didn’t have the desire, but at a young age desire can still be taught. “Knowing how” and “having the chance” on the other hand, derive from outside the person. Having a chance to learn means you have to have the materials and in this case, a piano, but I didn’t have the knowledge which as McClelland states is one of the three components to successful learning. The learner is dependent on external factors. And given the fact that we learn by doing and watching (or reading) this makes sense. Learning is a relationship.

* I originally wrote this as part of my entrance essay for SIT's TESOL or teaching English as a Foreign Language program in Bangkok. Thank you Steve, Bella, and Lyn for being fantastic instructors.

Is privatizing public education the solution to the problems public schools face?

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 05:08:00 +0000

Some believe the backbone of the US was founded on public education, but that democratic ideal is now being threatened. As the US public educational system struggles to stay relevant, corporations like Pearson and billionaires such as Bill Gates push for the privatization of public schools.

But are they right? Is privatizing public education the solution to the problems public schools face? What are the problems? Many educators, including myself, recognize that public schools are worth saving, and the problems are not what they first seem to be.

In the simplest terms, public or state education is free, and private education, think parochial schools, are not. Most public schools are funded by property taxes. Yet, as we know, some neighborhoods, states, and counties are wealthier than others - creating inequality of funds and monies.

Another interesting problem 'free education' faces is no one wants to pay more property taxes. Yet costs of materials, like the cost of living, have risen, and government programs that were implemented in the past to help alleviate student inequality have been eliminated.

There has also been a sharp increase in charter schools in America as part of the “solution” to “failing” public schools. Unfortunately, these independent schools have also diverted much of the funds that would have otherwise gone into public schools.

As a result of less funding, public classrooms, class size, curriculum, students and teachers have been, and continue to be, deeply affected. In fact, public schools are closing. Meanwhile, wealthy and privileged children are enjoying a higher quality education that does not include reduced spending on building maintenance, equipment, or program cuts in music, art, and geography that public school peers are experiencing.

School vouchers were introduced as a remedy to this public school problem, and it’s a highly controversial system that essentially allows parents to choose any school, public or private with government monies.

The biggest proponents of school vouchers believe in the “free market of education” and trust competition between schools will force failing schools to work harder or die out completely, and reward good schools. Pro-voucher advocates, in addition, feel private schools will become more diverse places, and strengthen educational quality. In essence, vouchers are all about promoting school choice.

But a problem to consider is private schools can reject students. By their distinctiveness, they are selective. What made public school a great equalizer was, children with disabilities, learning challenges or those from poor economic conditions were still able to go to a school. But even with a voucher, there can still be a financial deficit for lower-income families to overcome. Vouchers are not free tickets; they are coupons for a specific amount of money to be applied to their school of choice.

Another concern is what competition will foster for our children and our schools. What privatization of public education truly creates is a “survival of the fittest” climate, and a “race to the top” as Obama called it. Consequently, free and public education for all becomes education for the privilege, few and select who can play the game and who can compete. As Diane Ravitch, an education historian, astutely points out, there will be winners and losers in the competitive market of education.

For me, this analogy comes to mind. Let’s pretend we’ve really trashed and ruined a city, so we decide to move to somewhere else. Vouchers and privatization are in theory, moving to another city, and leaving the mess behind. Instead of figuring out a way to save public education, we're hoping a corporate model will be our savior. Unfortunately, though, corporations can be corrupt and with no one to answer to.

In the world of learning, I don’t want winners and losers, I want the guarantee that every child can go to school and receive a quality education. Vouchers and privatization feel like a good answer, but there are too many families and children who will pay the consequences for our inability to keep education free.

References and Further Reading:

http://www.aaup.org/article/when-billionaires-become-educational-experts#.UwIc7IXbdkD

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/04/06/the_death_of_public_education/

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may02/vol59/num08/Unequal-School-Funding-in-the-United-States.aspx

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/School_Vouchers/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/towards-the-privatization-of-public-education-in-america/5364567

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/education-uprising/the-myth-behind-public-school-failure

To Compliment or Criticize Students?

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 06:33:00 +0000

Did you know that teachers are inadequately trained to praise their students? Yes, in this Atlantic article, schools are failing to teach teachers how to classroom manage and praise students.

I was lucky. I had an excellent mentor who watched me and told me to “soften up,” as I was unbelievably stressed out during my first few months as a Waldorf teacher. In fact, I received so much criticism that I was crumbling before my very eyes. Although the collapsing did continue, I learned to give praise and to be more “motherly.” This is something that helped me immensely in connecting with my first graders, and still is how I teach to this day.

But what I found interesting is schools themselves are not trained to give praise to teachers, so why would they teach teachers to do something they don’t even do? That is to say, I don’t think the current US teacher-evaluation system that is being pushed into place has anything to do with praise. Instead, I’m fairly certain it has to do with accountability and teachers’ abilities to get their students to pass standardized tests.

Back when I taught in the US, I thought it was biting that we told the kids they had to “play nice,” or “don’t say bad things about someone” when the adults were having a gossip bashing fest behind closed car doors and cell phone calls. But irony and contractions fill our educational beliefs and systems (and so many other disciplines if truth be told).

Now consider the article, Tough Teachers Get Good Results. But I thought we were supposed to give our students more praise? Which is it? Are we playing softball or hardball with our students? I suppose it depends on who you talk to. Personally, I was never the kind of student who responded to “tough talk,” or being called an “idiot” as the article mentions. I would have cried, become bitter, and shut down, as I did when I was yelled at for my handwriting not being legible enough.

The author’s argument for “tough teachers” might be better served in an after school sports program or ROTC. I participated in high school theatre and had a teacher who arguably was considered “tough as rusty nails,” and I definitely feel like we all performed better because of her. But at the end of the school day, I don’t believe in a “one size fits all” philosophy in education.

Instead, I believe in common sense. I believe teachers should know their students. A perceptive teacher will know when to push, when to pull back, and who needs a gentle pat. A good teacher will know her students, and I don’t think creating a fearful and stressful atmosphere is helpful in the long run.

In fact, I think there are a lot of scarred students and adults out there who think their “tough talk” teachers were just “assholes” and jerks. I think a lot of people have been turned off by education, book learnin’ and schools because of a teacher who felt they needed to be hard to get proper results.

This idea reminds me of the old schoolmarm who screamed and threatened her students to get them to do their work the way she wanted it to be done- or the classic Catholic school model of strict nuns in starchier habits keeping students in line with their God-fearing ways and hellfire punishment. You might think I’m being extreme, but then again, there are countless stories like these that have given teachers a very bad name.

Look, I know this is the kind of story (the tough teachers article) is the kind Hollywood movies are made of, a tough music teacher who made everyone work harder and how they became amazing, but to make the leaping jump to now we know that “tough love teaching works” seems poorly conceived – especially in light of the high stakes testing that is robbing the educational system of any integrity and well, education.

And for every study and experiment that can be made FOR tough teaching, there are equal amounts of studies and research AGAINST this kind of teaching. Malcolm Gladwell commonly cites examples in his books of schools that work, and I don’t remember once reading about how stress and fear created something other than stress and fear.

Seth Godin has written a manifesto called Stop Stealing Dreams: What is school for? and I know you will be less likely to read it, (hell, I’m still in the middle of it) so I’ve included a zinger of a TEDx talk he did on his book.

And for the record, if I haven't made myself clear enough, I'm siding with the revolution, and the ones who want to change education for the better, not go back and make it “tougher,” “meaner” and “grittier” to “show how much we care.”

Why you may (or may not) like Waldorf education

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 14:52:00 +0000

Part of the controversy of Waldorf education stems from Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual beliefs - Anthroposophy. In other words, there is some underlying spiritual heebee geebee going on. And as a former student of Anthroposophy I can tell you this – it’s damn confusing.

So, if you ask someone in the Waldorf world to explain this spiritual reality, you are going to be looking back at a person who is struggling to come up with the words to explain said reality. If they aren't struggling, they have rehearsed their words. Read Steiner’s words for yourself, if you really want to try.

As far as I can tell, it’s harmless. Okay, what are the components of a religion? There is an idea of how the world came into being, the story of humanity, and where we are going and where we have been. There are rules or beliefs, and ideals on how we should live - and this background story, these ideas and stories, this “spiritual science” effects Waldorf education.

Waldorf teachers are not trying to indoctrinate your child into some cult. At least, that is not what I did. I just bought into a clever and creative educational model that I still find fascinating to this day.

I can’t speak for other teachers, but let’s use the analogy of theatre. Anthroposophy is the stage. The teacher is the director and the children are the actors. The play is the curriculum, and the props and costumes are the teaching materials. I’m going to argue that you won’t see the stage after a while; you’ll be too busy watching the performance.

But if the stage bothers you, chances are, you won’t enjoy the play.

There is also evidence that Rudolf Steiner was possibly a racist. Look, this argument will probably go on until the end of time, or until we can bring back Steiner from the dead and ask him some questions. We only have his words to go on, which if the Bible is any indication, simply means words can be interpreted nilly willy. Steiner advocates, I feel, just need to admit, they don’t know. He could have been racist, and you have to be okay with that.

On the other side, I rather liked that Waldorf education does not have any standardized, formal, bullshit testing. As a horrendous test taker myself, I have always questioned a test’s ability to reflect what I’ve learned or my intelligence.

But many schools, if not the gross majority, believe in testing. Although a cautionary tale regarding our culture’s zealous love affair with tests can be found here.

What Waldorf teachers do instead of testing is give each student a written evaluation. These provide more meat than the barebones ABC grading system which doesn’t really tell you about how your child is behaving, excelling at or enjoying in the classroom. You gain a better sense of how other people see your child and how your child is in a school setting.

Another positive thing to consider is the artistic aspect of Waldorf education, particularly the story telling or story-focused curriculum. I was intuitively drawn to the Greek myths (when I was a child, I can’t believe I stole a library book on this), and later Norse mythologies (my favorite tarot cards). But I consider myself a natural born writer, with a constant love for all things creative. So this kind of work, movement and play was truly nourishing.

But I think it’s important to keep in mind what you like might be different than what your child likes. After all, it seems our children are here to challenge us and teach us in ways we cannot imagine. You may or may not be right, but that's life. I wish I would have trusted my gut more often, but I was swayed by what I thought was the right thing to do.

Lastly, check out TIME magazine’s 7 Tips for Choosing the Best School for your Child and remember Waldorf schools around the world vary a lot. I hope this helps, and good luck!

Why your child might not like Waldorf education

noreply@blogger.com (lanivcox) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 07:16:00 +0000

As a former Waldorf teacher (and yes I was trained too), who has had a lot of distance and time from being in the Waldorf classroom, I can see why some children do not like Waldorf education.

First, I should state that Waldorf schools vary a great deal. Some of them are well-established while other schools are mere fledglings working their way through the curriculum. Some Waldorf schools are great at executing Steiner’s beliefs, and others are stripped-down versions of purer Waldorf pedagogy.

That being said, I feel the strength of Waldorf starts in early childhood or kindergarten. That is to say, your child might enjoy the Waldorf kindergarten program, but not necessarily the elementary school program.

Why?

For some reason, having an airy-fairy curriculum where the students are NOT behind desks, playing make-believe, enjoying cooking or crafts seems much more kindergarten than elementary grade school. Therefore, Waldorf kindergarten seems to fit most parents’ ideal of what their children need.

However, once we move into the grade school world, your child may or may not take to this kind of learning.

What do you mean?

Well, if your child doesn’t enjoy drawing, creating, knitting, singing, dancing, and basically doing artistic tasks, then you might have a problem child in a Waldorf classroom.

I remember watching a 5^th grade boy stand quietly while the rest of his classmates sang a song. I wasn’t his teacher. I was there to observe, but when I asked him why he didn’t sing the songs, he said, “I don’t like to sing.” Some teachers might have forced him. His teacher did not. This is, after all, a BIG part of Waldorf. There is A LOT of singing.

Now, you might argue, kids have to do things they don’t like. Absolutely. I agree. But a different child might act out. He just happened to be the kind of kid who tolerated it.

When I had my own class, I had a 1^st grade student who – how can I put this – went ape shit ballistic when his work wasn’t just right. You see, the students create their own books by copying what the teacher writes on the chalkboard. Most of the work by the children is quite lovely. But when this child wasn’t satisfied, he threw his book across the room, tried to rip up his work, cried, screamed, and even threw his book in the trash.

I tried everything, but his parents, nor I, could never figure out why he acted this way. I’m going to assume now, looking back that he was not happy in a Waldorf environment, because as far as I could tell after he was put in public school, he was fine.

Another unique aspect of Waldorf education is the same teacher ideally stays with the same class from 1^st to 8^th grade. What’s funny to me is how adults react upon hearing that. What if the child doesn’t like the teacher? is always asked. This fear rarely if ever had to do with the child, instead, this fear more likely had to do with the parents.

So if you don’t like your child’s teacher, don’t expect your child to like him either. I think the younger the child is, the more likely they will rely upon your judgment whether you voice it or not. Children sense these things, and maybe even hear when you are talking things over with your spouse or friend.

Your child might also be going through something that happens in any school – bullying, teasing, and feeling unaccepted or not liked. Sometimes, these things have nothing to do with Waldorf, but more with how the school and administration handles these societal ills and discipline problems.

One of the blind spots of Waldorf education is everyone’s inability to recognize that just because the curriculum is art-based and looks sweet and gentle, that it will not have problems. Waldorf is not perfect despite beautiful appearances. If you are thinking of Waldorf education for your child, or currently enjoying a school, remember this, because this is the reality.

If you are the kind of parent who does all this research before putting your child in a school, imagine your child in a Waldorf setting. Waldorf is different. Will your child be okay with different? Waldorf is artistic, soft, team-work-based, and dance/movement oriented as well. Will your child enjoy this?

Lastly, one of the things that makes Waldorf education unique is that the children work together on many different activities and tasks, such as morning circle, music, and performances. Doesn't that sound wonderful? It is, but if your child enjoys being an individual (think Montessori) and, let's face it, doesn't play well with others, then you might have a problem. It's about knowing your child and if there is one thing I learned, children can act differently at home and at school.

An "alternative" education, like Waldorf sounds great, but is the school equipped to handle alternative children? Because what I've learned is many students that are "different" end up in Waldorf schools, but not all schools are equipped to handle the special needs of their students.