Lean In and Thank You

This post is dedicated to Lee Kolbert and Lean In:Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg.

This past week I had parent/teacher/student conferences.  For those of you new to my blog, I teach fifth grade and my students come to parent conferences.  The focus is on them.  They do the talking, the adults do the listening.  By the time the conference is over, there is a plan for improvement and a general warm, fuzzy feeling of joy about the progress that has already been made.  

My last conference was with a student who is bright, hard working, caring.  All the things we want in a student. The only area of improvement I suggested was that I want to hear her voice more.  The boys in my room tend to take over the conversations and she is too "good" to call out her ideas along with the boys.  I know I could make it a rule that you have to raise your hand and wait to be called on before speaking but I really have difficulty running a class like that.  I like the give and take throughout the day.  But quiet children tend to get lost if I don't force the issue, which I do often.

Since her conference, I have been thinking a great deal about the "good" girls.  And it is mostly girls. The boys who are quiet are still more vocal than the girls who are quiet.  I need to find a way to inspire these girls to speak up, "Lean In", and be a part of the running of the class.  So I started to think about myself.

I know many of you will find this hard to believe, but, when I was in middle and high school, I was shy.  I never talked, unless I was called on.  I let others make all the decisions, tell me what I needed to do.  In fact, I was so quiet, kids thought I was a bitch.  That's what they told me once they got to know me.  They thought I felt superior since I didn't talk to them at all.  The reality is far from their beliefs.  I was so insecure and so shy I was sure that, if I did contribute, I would be laughed at.  So I just kept quiet.

Now, at age 50, I have no problems "Leaning In."  How did this come to be?  It really started with the creation of my online PLN.  I started to know amazing women.  Women who spoke out, who reached out, who were successful and vocal.  Women like Lee Kolbert, who always had so much to offer when I was stuck on some idea.  Like Vicki Davis, who was so successful and so sought after, but still so kind to little ole me.  Like Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, who is able to run a successful organization, while still maintaining herself.  Like Refranz Davis, who breaks new ground each year and still laughs about her "faults."  Like Angela Maiers, who is a well sought after speaker who still wears amazing shoes. Like...like...like.

There are so many to name.  Stephanie and Karen and Julie and Donna and Toni and Lisa and Liz.  Women who are strong enough to speak up and down to earth enough to laugh at themselves and each other.  Where would I be without you all?  Probably still the bitch I was known to be.  I had no trouble standing up for my students but could never stand up for myself.  

So the advice I give to my girls now is to read about amazing women.  Even in fiction.  Sarah from Sarah, Plain and Tall, is a fiesty woman from the 1800s who tells her husband what she wants and gets it.  And he still loves her.  They need to hear that.

But to all the women still leaning back....it is time.  Lean in, speak up, move forward.  This world is so screwed up.  We need compassionate, strong women to start taking over.  And men to support them when they do. 
 

Thank you to all my women friends...those who Lean In and those who are waiting still to learn.  I would not be where I am today without you!

                                              

"Just a Teacher"

In the last two weeks, I have spent a great deal of time learning. I have ventured into Operator 11 a few times, joined 110+ teachers in Elluminate with David Warlick for his Fireside Chat, played with Vicki Davis and friends skipping from channel to channel in UStream (planning to broadcast Teacher Talk with this tool) and continued to Skype and Twitter with friends about new, exciting happenings in the ed. tech world.

And through all this learning, among all the people I have connected, there seems to be an underlying theme. There is a separation among the technology people and those of us that are "just teachers." In fact, I have heard this term quite a few times in the last few weeks. I have had conversations with techies asking why more teachers aren't participating in all the learning. I have heard teachers explain their shortcomings with the "just a teacher" line. And I am beginning to find the whole thing rather offensive.

My whole life, I have had to justify being a teacher. I was raised in a family where education was the means to achieving higher goals: doctoring, lawyering, journalism, politics, etc. Teaching ws regarded as the thing anyone could do. You know that old saying, "Those who can - do, those who can't - teach." That was drilled into me. But I was always drawn to children and teaching. I was the neighborhood babysitter, the peer tutor, the sibling who did homework for the other sib. It was then, and is still, in my blood. I was destined to become "just a teacher."

Now, 23 years into my teaching career, I am still just a teacher. But let me tell you what that means in this newly developing ed. tech world. I now seem to work two full time jobs.

One is the "just a teacher" job. I plan for lessons and units, work to integrate test prep so I don't torture my students, strive to keep up with new curriculum requirements, new NCLB laws, new state expectations, and new district demands. I stay connected with parents, calling and e-mailing on demand, meet with other teachers to plan field trips, in-school programs, and budgetary issues. I sit on committees for staff development, science, health, technology integration, site-based, social events, policy board, foreign policy...whew. I attend monthly faculty meetings (sometimes running them) and monthly grade level meetings (which I run as grade level chair). I write report cards and meet with parents three times a year, although I usually have at least one parent a week stopping in to check up on their child. And that's just my first job.

My second job is the technology portion. I strive to keep up with all the learning. I check e-mail before I leave for work, answering student, parent, and administrative mail. I also check Twitter in the morning, feeling lost over the learning that took place since I turned off the night before. Then I head to work, listening to podcasts along the way, trying to keep audio records of sites I need to check out when I have the chance. Once I arrive at work, I have an hour before kids come in to check e-mail, Twitter, and Skype chats again, help teachers whose equipment is not working, and give advice to colleagues who need new app. ideas. (Remember, all of this is happening while I am trying to set things up for the children.

During the day, I log on once during prep and once during lunch, always feeling like I am falling further and further behind. After work, I arrive home to participate in the Webcast Academy classes, Robin Ellis and Darryl Draper's PD class, online conferences, impromptu learning opportunities (these always seem to be happening), and chatting with friends. I am also spending this time trying to master applications I wish to use in class, and planning for my own teacher technology classes. And, of course, I have a husband and daughter who would like to spend time with me.

So the next time someone says to me that I am "just a teacher", the next time someone insinuates that a teacher isn't as qualified, the next time someone tells me I MUST be able to use a particular application in order to be a good educator, I'm going to tell them to spend one day...one day...as "just a teacher." Try it and let me know how you manage to keep up.