Bronwyn Harris, Author

It is difficult to sit still.  Very difficult.  I can do it if I have my knitting with me, although it's debatable if that actually counts as sitting still.  I was volunteering in a classroom the other day and a 7-year old who has a VERY hard time sitting still and he was doing a great job.  Just a little leg wiggle here and there, but he was really doing a great job.  He twisted just a little in his seat and his teacher yelled, "It's not that hard to sit still!"  Then this teacher went on to berate him, talking about how he never does well enough. I didn't know what to do.  It's not my classroom and I wouldn't appreciate people walking in and critiquing me without knowing my relationship with the student.  However.  It is hard to sit still.  It is very hard to sit still and this child is 7.  And showing remarkable improvement. Sitting still is an achievement for a lot of kids, even with a little leg wiggle. Five yea...

When we go into teaching, we all know that we're not going to be working in shiny state-of-the art facilities.  We know that we're working with children and that things will get broken and dirty.  I was, however, under the impression that the custodians cleaned up and that basic supplies were provided.  Silly of me, I know. The kids' bathrooms didn't have hot or even warm water.  They usually didn't have soap or paper towels.  Every year or so someone medical would come and do a big presentation for the kids about how to stay healthy by washing your hands in hot water with soap and drying them with paper towels.  The kids wouldn't listen, and it was hard to blame them - they had none of those supplies.  It's a little crazy-making to be told what to do and not be able to do it.  These same people had mandatory trainings for the adults, to tell us how to avoid bloodborne pathogens.  Of course, it involved some of the same tips, but here was...

It never gets easier to hear about the students and their difficult lives.  When I first started teaching, I had never lived or worked in an area where kids had to sleep in the bathtub or the closet because the "gangs was shooting."  I never knew kids who had seen their cousin shot and killed or their dad stabbed to death.  There were a couple of kids who i forced to memorize my phone number and promise to call me if they were in situations that were physically dangerous. I've been extremely fortunate to reconnect with some of my old students recently and some, like this kid, have been incredibly encouraging.  But others worry me, just like they did when they were in third grade. One of them has dropped out of school at 15 and has gotten into drugs.  No surprise, really, seeing that his mom has had a drug problem for decades.  One of them messaged me on facebook and sounded incredibly depressed and discouraged "I don't think there's any way for you to ...

I've had a fairly frustrating situation with one of my tutoring clients recently.  However, I came across this old post and had to be glad that I'm not dealing with THIS anymore: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 Suspension Form I suspended a kid today - let's call her "Alexis" - and these are the reasons I gave on her suspension form: Erasing the lesson on the board Ripping up the list of who hadn't done their homework Giving another kid a wet willy Taking pencils away from kids and taunting them as the kids tried to get them back Taking things off my desk Putting Purell on kids' heads Taking stickers off my desk, sticking them on her crotch, and dancing around thrusting her pelvis out Screaming Refusing to go to the office Threatening to "slap the f--- out of" another kid A lot of other threats that ended with "with your ugly old self" I think there might have been more.  She wouldn't leave when the assistant principa...

... I remember things like this. Monday, February 19, 2007 My evaluator is afraid of the gecko. I realize that this shouldn't bring me pleasure, but it does. (Especially because his teeth are probably the size of an ant's brain. They're teensy.) Jesus wouldn't feel happy and superior because His evaluator was afraid of the gecko. But I do. It's not entirely fair to take out all my frustration on my evaluator. Some of it is actually just way too many years (sad when 8 years is way too many) in the district, which is entrenched in negativity, dysfunction, failure, and hopelessness. Does that sound dramatic? Probably. But I think it's true. (Lindsay, you were there, what do you think?) But she is doing her part to earn my defensiveness and ire. Apart from the things I have already talked about, with my not-so-good evaluation and such... last week she was trying to schedule an observation with me. Note that word, schedule . Because it is a ...

I wrote this four years ago, but if anything has changed, it's been to add more hoops. Hoops to Jump Through It's gotten worse since I was getting my credential. Now, in addition to doing your coursework, you have to: take the CBEST test ($41, not hard) take the CSET test ($222, really hard, many people retake it and pay again) take the RICA test ($140, don't remember how hard) take a CPR class ($) BTSA (two year long mentorship program) CLAD certification (extra classes and $$) Student teaching (unpaid and virtually or completely full-time) Tasks 1-4 (see below) Clear credential (extra classes and $$) Fingerprints ($) Certain number of hours of classes or professional development (I forget how many) each 5 years to renew your credential. ($) Oh, by the way, the prospective teacher has to pay for all of this. According to this website, the median salary for an elementary school teacher is $38,175, so we don't exactly make it back in a hu...

A re-run from a few years back: I was remembering today about a day from last year when the lights went out. I was remembering this because it illustrates - so beautifully - the lack of logic among the administration. The lights went out - and stayed out for four hours - and it was totally dark outside from the rain. We couldn't see anything at all, but had to keep the kids the whole time. Afterward, they canceled our staff meeting in order to give us time to work on report cards. Unfortunately, it was so dark, I couldn't really SEE said report cards. When I went to talk to the principal and tell her I was throwing in the towel for the last 45 minutes of the report card period and going home to do it, she told me that I would have to fill out an absence form and take an hour of sick time for it. So I sat in the dark for 45 minutes, mulling over the question of why there is no logic at all in my district.   One year ago: Hamlet, Revisited Two years ago: R...

It's always been interesting to me how conditions in an educational setting can be so much worse than in any other sort of work environment, and it is accepted.  Everything from asbestos to temperature to total incompetence at the upper levels is accepted.  Here's a very simple example of something that wouldn't be tolerated in any other setting. Classrooms are cold because the heat isn't working in many of the Oakland schools.  I have only rarely had that happen, but I've had the opposite happen.  I subbed for a friend in November a few years ago and t was literally ninety degrees in the classroom because the thermostat was broken.  It was miserable. Read the comments  I especially like the commenter who says it's California, what are you complaining about?  I'd love to see his business environment lack heat - yes, even in California - and him put up with it because we're not in New England. Why should the teachers (and the kids) have to expect...

In honor of today being the school day that most elementary schools had Halloween parties, I'd like to state for the record: Halloween is the worst day of the year for elementary school teachers.  I'm sure there are some highly energetic, dedicated, fun-loving teachers who love this day best but I was never one of them.  It's a day full of sugar, anticipation of sugar, secret candy being snuck  into school, costume malfunctions, kids who don't get the memo that costumes are not to be worn until AFTER lunch, over-involved parents showing up way too early, uninvolved parents forgetting to come, religious parents pulling their kids out of school, teachers who dress in wildly inappropriate outfits*, and general chaos. The next worst days (in order) in the elementary school calendar, from the teacher's perspective, are: 2. Valentine's Day (sugar, sugar, and exclusion) 3. St. Patrick's Day (pinching?  Really?) 4. the day before Christmas vacation. My f...

You'd think that a list of good things about someone would make them happy.  Not so for the two students that I helped make these lists.  One was this child , who really truly hated himself.  The other was the student at the end of this post who says he's going to kill his father if he ever gets out of jail.  This child, "Fred," was something special. Fred was so angry that it almost gave him superhuman strength.  He was a small second grader when he was terrorizing fifth graders.  I had him in first and third grades and apparently I did something right because he would seek me out when he was angry.  He would clench his fists, turn bright red, breath hard, and say "You've got to calm me down.  You're the only one who can calm me down."  He would lose control of his body and flail around.  He usually didn't care who got in his way, but there was one instance that scared him.  He was flailing his body like usual and he knocked me ...

Today, I have a sad story to share.  I've been meaning to share this story for four years but at the same time, I haven't wanted to think about it.  This is the story of a child who is considered by many to be unreachable.  I really don't believe it is too late - I don't believe it's ever too late - but many people do. "TJ" was a child with many, many problems.  I got to know his mom pretty well.  She was a single mom and I never heard a word about his dad.  I'm not sure if he was just out of the picture or if TJ even knew who his dad was.  (I've had plenty of kids where the blank for "father" on their birth certificate just says "unknown."  Others just have a first name because the last name is unknown.) TJ's mom often alluded to a former drug problem.  She was in her mid-20s and had two kids at home and was also taking care of a sick mother and a bipolar developmentally delayed brother.  She was understandably overwhel...

A few times a month, I find that I can't sleep because I am worried about foster kids.  This might seem strange, because I don't currently know any kids in foster care.  I used to when I was teaching third grade - and I knew a great many more who maybe should have been in foster care - but I don't currently know any.  I don't think it's strange though - in fact, I think we might be better off if we all worried about kids in foster care, and not just a couple of times a month.  Not because worrying really helps anything, but because it would show that we really do value all kids. We don't, you know.  Of course, everyone will say that they believe that all kids are worth the same but it's not true.  It's natural to value your own kids above everyone else's - I'm not saying that it's not.  But I think we also value kids that are like our kids above others.  I'm probably making a few people angry by saying all this but it wasn't some...

The things I like better about part-time teaching (over full-time) By the time I start to get frustrated with the kids, my time with them is over. I can put up with a lot more for 103 minutes than for 6 1/2 hours. I have less planning to do. I have less work to take home. I don't have to go to staff meetings. This way, I can stay out of school politics. Since I'm not at staff meetings, I can claim ignorance when convenient.   I spend less money on copies and supplies. I am less tired (although still tired). I am less stressed out. I am a better teacher because I am less tired and less stressed out. The things I do not like better about part-time teaching. I get paid less.  Yeah, that's pretty much it.

I stumbled across this blog just when the author was talking about her frustrations with her son's teacher.  She has written some very thought-provoking posts, and I would strongly, STRONGLY recommend reading this one.  Please.  It is thoughtful and she has the unique perspective of being a parent of a public school student as well as a former public school teacher in the inner city. Let me preface this quote that I am going to share with saying that I have worked with many fantastic teachers.  I know teachers who are extremely gifted, dedicated, respectful, and just all-around wonderful.  One of my eight principals was incredible (and continues to be incredible, just in another district).  Most of the teachers I know spend lots of their own money, bring the children food when they need it, spend hours and hours and hours of unpaid time on preparation in order to do the best for their kids.  And, to these teachers, the students ARE "their kids." ...

...three steps back. For the last 5-7 years, this district has had a major focus on "new small schools."  These small schools were going to totally transform the district (and may have done that if they had been given a chance) by offering smaller classes and schools with more parent-teacher-child interactions, less room to fall through the cracks, more ability and special programs to meet students' needs, etc.  Sometimes it felt like small schools were being pushed and rewarded at the expense of us larger, more traditional schools.  It was hard to hear the district administrators say that they didn't have money for whatever particular program/supplies we needed when I knew they were spending a lot more to start these new small schools.  Many larger schools were divided up into small schools since that was considered to be the best model. Now the district has decided that small schools cost too much money . According to staff’s calculations, the minimum n...

I tore a muscle (coughing) in my side so this won't be long. But it reminded me of trying to teach on crutches. I sprained my ankle in my 5th year teaching and had to be put on crutches for a few weeks. I didn't get workers' comp even though it happened at school because it was my own dumb fault. I tried my best to teach on crutches (almost impossible to teach 3rd grade on crutches). I took as few days off as possible. However, one should never underestimate the guilt trip potential of educational administrators. If you're sick and you take a day off, you are sometimes told to get better but more often than not asked if you're really sick and if you really need that time off. (people in other districts have experience with that or no?) So, I tried to schedule all my doctor's appointments for after school but of course we had meetings. So sometimes I had to choose between missing school and missing a meeting (always miss the meeting if possible). Which ...

Actually, it was "He ain't posta be in my class," but that looks a little confusing until you read it aloud. The segregation stories of today are about tracking. If you aren't in the education field, you may be unfamiliar with tracking. It can either refer to tracking kids by ability: the college prep track, for example, or by some other means, often language. The laws now on who can have their children educated in which language in California are very complicated and I don't pretend to understand them. Although I don't believe that Ron Unz, who started the instruction in English-only thing resulting in Prop 227 knows anything about elementary education or bilingual education. But I digress. The school I worked at used to be severely overcrowded, resulting in roving teachers, and students without assigned classrooms. Only 3/4 of the school was in session at any one time, and 1/4 of the kids didn't have an assigned classroom, but used whichever class...

This is the third year I'm not going back to school. I thought about trying to find a part-time teaching job for this school year but nothing came up and I got a lot more copy editing work, so I'm putting it off another year. I'm finding myself in that stage where I remember only the good things so I get really nostalgic about teaching. Until I remember how tired I was. How very, very tired. Things I miss about the beginning of school: The excitement of getting my class list Thinking about and praying for my new students Buying school supplies Labeling school supplies (I don't know why that's fun, but it is) Laying out school supplies in their desks Things I don't miss at all: Getting up early Having more kids in my classroom than I am legally allowed to have. Having the class list change 17 times in the first two days Not having all my supplies Being told that I should be using x book even though I never got x book Being treated like it is my fault I never g...

I had a lovely birthday dinner/dessert celebration tonight (birthday's on Monday) and was about ready to go to bed when I got a call. The 14 year old kid of the family I've been working with has been arrested. For drinking and driving. At age 14. (Barely). His mom is, understandably, freaking out. She's been working as hard as she can to keep the family together. They have nowhere to live after August 31 and no money to find somewhere. She doesn't have a bank account or credit history so most places wouldn't rent to her even if she did have the money. She's a recovering addict trying to stay clean through both of her boys watching their friend be murdered, be in danger themselves, have to relocate, and deal with the anger/fear/guilt that comes from seeing a friend be killed. Now her oldest one is in bigger trouble. I'm so angry at him, because he knows better. He took the car keys when she was sleeping and went with his cousin who was staying with ...

It's been interesting to see how everyone is grieving Joshua . Well, actually, it's been horribly heartbreaking, but also interesting, in a way. In the family I've been helping out with, we have very mixed reactions: "Rosa," the mother, is being extremely strong for her kids. She hasn't had an easy life and hasn't been around for a lot of the raising of the kids, so they are - understandably - rebelling against her. She's doing a pretty good job staying consistent and enforcing rules, which is hard to do when you have a son who's bigger than you screaming in your face. My friend and I have been trying to help however we can - encouraging her to keep her authority, mostly, because she is the adult in the house and the kids will eventually learn that. Rosa likes the new place a lot but is worried about money (there's probably funds through August 31, then she's back to trying to find a place on just a few hundred a month - not easy). ...