After 18 years as a teacher I am starting a movement to
Stop Teaching!
Aren't you just a little curious as to why?
Lemme break it down for you...
I thought I was beginning this school year as a dance teacher at a Charter high school in Brooklyn, New York. It was my 18th year as a high school educator, having taught everything from English to the Arts, from California to New York. My Performing Arts department decided the theme of our year would be Aren't You Curious...little did I know that would become the theme of my life.
Within moments of the new school year, my title had shifted. I was now the first official Instructional Coach for our school, an exciting title with a heavy responsibility...
Coach the first year teachers.
I knew this was where I wanted my career to go; after all I had been coaching teachers for years just not with the fancy title. However, now it was official, and I quickly realized what I had known all along: no one is ever really prepared for teaching.
So I have made it my mission to prepare new teachers for the inevitable before it smacks you in the face (and believe me, it will). I want to create a space that is raw, real, and far from the sugar-coated fantasy of our favorite "savior" movies like Stand and Deliver or Dangerous Minds. Blatant, unadulterated, truth that is unfiltered (or should I say #nofilter), because I know you don't get that in teacher prep classes. It is not meant to scare you away from the profession. Lord knows we need you! Rather, I want to prepare you for what your first year will become. With nearly half of our new teachers gone within the first five years, something needs to change.
There is so much available for new elementary school teachers, but most information for high school is about content and tests. Although these are very important, there is so much more to teaching high school than the content and tests. If you go in there "content-blazing" you will have a rude awakening.
So, my goal is to wake you up and prep you down before you get there! And the first lesson is:
STOP TEACHING!
If you know someone who is thinking about, wondering, questioning, entering, or contemplating being a high school teacher let me help! Even if it is someone who has gone through their first year of teaching and is thinking "what the he!! am I doing?" This is the place!
Aren't you Curious as to why would I tell someone to Stop Teaching, especially if they just started? Come on over, I'll tell you all about it on the inside...