This year has been an unprecedented year. COVID has eliminated so many resources for teachers and our students – even in the non-classroom-based schools. Teacher stress has increased as we try to meet the changing educational environment. In order to be there for our students, we needed to have a way to mitigate the stress. The school administrators in the charter school arena have not been able to help much. The government has introduced bills repeatedly that make it harder to operate and their attention has had to be focused on doing what they can to meet these increasing demands. Unfortunately, this has included quite a bit more paperwork, more testing, and new systems being introduced for teachers. For this reason, I chose to focus on facilitating teacher collaboration this year.
I started this year on a team of ten teachers. Several of us corresponded and expressed an interest in meeting online each week to help each other. A few other teachers from another team asked to be included as well. For most of the year nine of us have met each Monday to support each other. I have used my personal zoom account to facilitate these.
These weekly meetings provided a place for teachers to express their frustrations and support each other without a fear of being reprimanded by administrators who may not understand. We were also able to help each other with all the new systems that have been put in place. It has really helped to have teachers from different teams because we are able to compare the information different team administrators share.
Parent-Teacher Development
Another group of educators that I needed to support this year was the parents of my students. I work with homeschool families and the parents do most of the in-person teaching. Many of them relied on vendors to help them with their children’s education and in-person classes were not allowed this year. After 17 years of working within the charter school system, at least half of that working for a charter school, I found this year to be the hardest for the parents and students, especially teens.
This year I had several of my students have serious mental health issues. I had more students than I’ve ever had get onto IEPs or 504 plans. And the parents needed additional support.
The parents whose children were not having serious issues were still being challenged. They were burnt out. They were trying to do their best to educate their kids but they never had a break. I recognized around November that the homeschooling community really needed some inspiration.
Years ago, before I started my current position, I held small local homeschool conferences. I decided that it was time to do it again.
In February I held a free online conference for homeschool parents and educators. Over 400 people registered for it.
I had speakers talk about discipline, education, relationships, and much more. I got a very positive response to it.
I wasn’t expecting to get back into conferences. I really surprised myself on that one but I’m glad I acted on that impulse. Many people seemed to really get a lot out of it.
My Future
My February conference really opened up new ways for me to support educators and homeschooling families. In fact, it has changed the direction of my life.
With the changes that have been made in the homeschool charters, traditional homeschoolers’ needs are no longer being met. Families and students are being pushed into online, independent study programs rather than supported in their quest for individualized education. I started this job with the intention of helping bring to light the importance and opportunities of individualized education to an even broader audience. My hope was to work with those students who started out working with online, independent study programs, and help them grow to a more individualized, robust learning plan. With the changes that have been made, I need to find a different way to do that.
I have decided to leave my current school and start my own organization where I can support the homeschooling community through conferences, classes, workshops, and mentoring. I will be able to connect parents and students with teachers and speakers who will inspire their imagination and help them be more innovative in their education.
My next conference will be at the end of June. I have 14 speakers lined up to talk about everything from music and art to vision casting and family culture.
Several speakers from the conference will be joining me to offer online classes for students next year. I will be teaching a project-based learning class on Entrepreneurship for middle and high schoolers.
My teaching credential will help me in many ways through this journey. First of all, many if not most of the families I work with want to give their children an education that is even better than one outlined by the state standards. The fact that I am now so familiar with them will help me mentor parents through this process.
My goal is to build my business to the point that it replaces my current salary within the next 18 months.
One of the ways I will continue to stay connected to the community I serve is to not only hold conferences but also attend and speak at others. This will help me sustain the energy and excitement I have to support my community.
You can find out more about what I’m doing at www.RealizingGenius.com.
Advice for New Teachers
I have a specialized niche and it works for me. It isn’t for everyone. My advice for new teachers is to think about the future that you want to have and then create it. When you feel boxed in or uninspired, find someone who will breathe life into you so you don’t settle for the path of mediocrity. You have chosen to become a teacher because you want to change the world one student at a time. You don’t have to lose yourself in the process. If you do lose yourself, you won’t have what you need to give of yourself to your students. Take care of yourself so you can share your genius with the world.
CSTP
While this year has been very challenging, it has also been a time of growth. I feel that I have grown the most in the area of working with my SPED and 504 Plan students.
I have been working very closely with the Students in Crisis and SPED departments at my school. I’ve also been trying to find outside resources for students and their families when the resources we are able to provide aren’t enough. It has been a very humbling and discouraging experience in certain circumstances and joyous and exciting in others. I want to be able to help all of my students but I’ve come to realize that if they don’t want help after I’ve done everything I can to inspire and motivate them, it is their life and I can’t MAKE them learn.
One thing that I’ve had a harder time on this year is standardized assessments. I fully realize how schools need them but especially this year I don’t see how they benefit students. I embrace the idea of formative assessments for students. The goal is to help and inspire them to learn. Our school added additional requirements for standardized testing for students this year and I have seen how it has hurt student progress. Not only did it take away time that could be spent on learning, it took a year when student motivation was at its lowest and it made it worse.
Last year I noted that I was frustrated with the bureaucracy. I still am but this year I’m doing something about it. I’m excited to be going forward and to be making positive changes that will help my students and community.