How is a teacher like a CEO? There are plenty of ways teachers and CEOs are different, but the strong management skills that good CEOs possess are without a doubt a crucial skill that every good teacher must have.
Dan Brown, like thousands of other new teachers in the public school system, had some sense of this before he stepped into the classroom. But it’s one thing to know it in an abstract way and quite another to put it into practice. Let me point you to this excerpt from The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungles:
I knew that establishing the “team” classroom culture had to happen right off the bat. I needed to be firmest when I was the least experienced, the paradoxical curse of new teachers. I hoped my “make our own class rules” activity was the right kind of opener.
In this excerpt he recounts his initial attempt at “establishing the ‘team’ classroom culture” – and then talks about the result:
When I reflected on the first hour of my first day, I realized everything I did in that brief honeymoon period would come back to haunt me. My “Team” spiel and my desire to offer everyone an even-handed shake and social contract of respect was a disaster of nuclear proportions. With my good faith gesture, I put myself in a position to be defied by one charismatic rebel, which of course happened immediately, opening the floodgates. Before I had won the respect and command of the class, I allowed myself to be drawn into a graceless power struggle with the attention-seeking subverter.
Counter to my hopes, my lack of stern watchfulness during the first lineup enabled them to loudly goof off during future hall-walking time, since I had sent an initial impression that I was not fatally serious about our line. This resulted in a constant public fracas of shouting and shepherding the non-compliers during those formative first weeks. The disorder in the hall spilled wildly into the classroom, turning each morning, each return from lunch, gym, and computers, and each dismissal into an unwieldy and dangerous mess.
I had been too nice.
Mr. Brown loses his confidence when he realizes that his class includes too many behaviorally troubled students. There are so few ways to deal with these students within the DOE system that a new teacher can very quickly burn out. Schools do have detentions and suspensions. But some students are clearly in need of highly professional help, something a new teacher is unequipped to give.
Eventually, the stress becomes to much. His health collapses, he loses his girlfriend, and one day becomes so angry he puts his fist right through the blackboard.
I’ve never put my fist through a blackboard, but I have felt that level of stress. We all have. My management skills are what saw me through. But what do you think? What are your sources of classroom stress and how do you deal with them?
6 Comments:
1 Steve Perez
· Nov 16, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Before you can comment you need to log in. It only take a minute to register for a login account. After you register, a password will be emailed to you and you can log in to comment.
2 vertical-chaos
· Nov 17, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Listening to Dan talk last night, I knew we shared some similar experiences, but having read almost half of the book overnight, I’m realizing just HOW similar they are. The big difference is I stayed for a second year…but it’s rougher than the first. I just have to survive my AP. Bulletin boards…management…etc. I recognize so much of my experience in his words.
I’ve told my family and friends if they REALLY want to know what it is that I’ve been going through, get their hands on the book and read it.
3 Dan Brown
· Nov 18, 2007 at 9:43 am
Hello everyone, this is Dan Brown, the author of The Great Expectations School. I REALLY appreciate the UFT’s support for my rookie teacher memoir, and I’d be happy to respond to any questions/comments that Edwize bloggers might have for me. I hope this can be another forum in the New Teacher Diaries to vent, discuss, and band together as educators.
There’s also a great review of the book in today’s (Sunday 11/18) Newsday.
4 jenniferstillman
· Nov 18, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Dan’s experience speaks to the isolation, alienation, and humiliation all rookies experience when trying to tackle the challenging urban classroom. I’ve been there, and survived, and eventually did some good work, as did my husband (a marriage born out of the rookie bond). We’ve created a curriculum collaboration website in an attempt to break down some of the walls of isolation, and give pedagogues a place to come together with like minded teachers to learn from one another, not just figure everything out alone. http://www.openplanner.org is the site. We’re also hosting an “unconference” called EduCamp on December 1st at Teachers College. Teachers set the agenda on the day of the conference, based on their own needs and interests, and spend time hashing things out with like-minded folk. We hope some new teachers who are struggling to figure things out will attend and maybe tap into a community that helps them get through the hazing phase. Visit http://www.educampnyc.org for more info.
5 sadsack
· Nov 18, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Which do you worry about more…the students or the administration?
What do you think of yourself as…a teacher who wants to make a difference or a tool of the system?
What do you want from this profession…self fulfillment or a paycheck with retirement benefits?
Don’t be surprised if this system opens up one way and closes the other!
6 MichaelB
· Nov 19, 2007 at 9:07 pm
The open planning website seems like a great idea. I’m wondering if specific results of the planning process are posted for all to see. I’ve long wished for website where I could find social studies courses broken down by topic and where for each topic, teachers post what they believe are good unit objectives, aims, discussion questions,writing prompts, activities, documents, etc.
It always seems silly to rack my brain for ideas when I’m certain someone out there has already come up with something as good or better than whatever I’ll come up with. Not to mention the time and stress involved in doing so.