MenTeach - Letters

[Editor: We wanted to share this letter with everyone. Some of these challenges are faced by all first year teachers AND some are unique challenges for male teachers.]

I did not realize how political the public school game is! I just want to learn how to be a great teacher. I have people here that I feel are not really out for my best interest.

I have an old scatter brain assistant that won't stay on task with my lesson plan. Every opportunity she gets she tries to do her own thing, and it is making me look like a fool or at least that's how I feel anyway.

The resource teacher says that I need to take over my class room because the kids are like wild animals, and she says that she is going to come into the classroom and model teach so that I will have an example of how the daily routine should go, but then I don't see her for like three or four days due to the fact that she is the resource teacher for five or six other sites.

When I try to enforce structure in my classroom, and raise the level of my voice to get the children's attenion. I am criticized for yelling at the children, and I am not even yelling at the children I am just trying to talk over the children to get my point across.

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7

Wow, what a two weeks! The past two weeks were utterly crazy and very challenging.

Thursday, after school I had a nice long talk with the lead Kindergarten teacher. She’s helped me out a lot this year, but she basically told me that I need to get my butt in gear when it comes to teaching the letters. She told me that I’d probably get in ‘deep trouble’ for this. I went home and made a curriculum map as a means of being ready for when my principal questioned me about this.

At my school, I guess the expectation is that us kindergarten teachers will be done teaching the alphabet by Christmas (which is a 2 letter a week pace). Well, up until this point, I have taught one letter a week because I was really concerned about how well my kids would retain it. A few weeks ago, my principal suggested that I pick up the pace, but we had a couple weird weeks which made it difficult for me to pick up the pace.

Ironically enough, the next morning my principal called me into her office (shocker eh?!?) and she voiced her displeasure over the fact that I’m not moving quickly enough with the letters. She was also upset that I veered out of order that we’re supposed to teach the alphabet a couple times. I had a good reason (at least in my mind) about why I did it, but she didn’t buy them. She accused me of ‘altering the curriculum’, which is a very bad thing. She also didn’t like how vague my lesson plans were (which I admit weren’t the greatest). We are required to turn in our lesson plans (in the form of our weekly plan book, which has very little room to write) at the end of the week.

I usually go over them Thursday nites to code them with the benchmarks that I hit on. I’m a very creative teacher who will think of things on the fly, so my lesson plans for the week change quite a bit as the week evolves.

My lesson plans were garbage, I’ll admit.

My students have learned quite a bit and my documentation of it (my lesson plans) didn’t do a very good job of proving this. Also, my principal complained that I was not giving one of my students (who is at a first grade level in most subjects) instruction that is meeting her individual needs. I told my principal that she was getting sent to the first grade room for math, but that I would devise an instructional program plan for her. Obviously, this meeting rattled me big time. I was so scared. I barely said anything in the meeting, I just kinda sat there and took it, thinking ‘I hope that she isn’t building a case to fire me.’

I went home and instead of sitting around and relaxing like I typically do on a Friday nite, I worked and I worked and I worked. I didn’t stop until around midnight. I got up the next morning and made a huge list of everything that I needed to get done. I wrote everything that I could possibly think of. There were things that I was thinking about starting for awhile, but I hadn’t yet, such as putting up a word wall (what a concept), starting the day with a poem or two, and other little things like that.

I was determined to do it all.

I went up to school at around 9 am. When I got there, there was an e-mail from my boss, which was CC’d to the human resources person at our main office. This scared the crap out of me even more. The e-mail documented what we talked about. There was one sentence in the e-mail that really made me upset/lit a fire underneath me. It basically said that based on what she’s seeing, she believes that there is little in the way of actual learning taking place in my classroom.

This totally set me off. There’s a lot of bad things that you can say about me, but to say that my students aren’t learning anything offends me more than anything that anyone could possibly say. I cannot remember a time where I was more offended than I was at that point.

This hurt really badly. I WAS FURIOUS! It also made me that much more motivated to ‘do a better job’ in her mind. I seriously don’t think that I have ever been as motivated as I am, since I read this.

In my mind, this is her doubting me and my ability. I’m a very determined person, whenever someone’s told me that I can’t do something in my life, I do whatever I can to prove them wrong. Not only was I worried about my job, but I also felt challenged to show this lady that my students are learning a lot and that her negative impression of me is totally wrong.

This may sound bad, but I told myself “I want to do such a good job that this lady will be crying, the day that I walk into her office and tell her that I’ve taken a job at another school.” (whether it’s at the end of this school year, five years from now, or 20 years from now).

I spent a good five or six hours at school that day. I went home and did more school stuff. I was up until midnight on Saturday getting stuff done. I went to sleep angry and upset. I didn’t sleep much at all Saturday night. I got up Sunday morning and went to school again for another five or six hours. I went home and did school stuff and watched the football game. I walked into school on Monday a lot more confident in what I was doing.

I still had a chip on my shoulder the size of the state of Texas. I got up at 5 and arrived at school at 6, a full hour before the other teachers got there. I did this everyday last week. I crafted the instructional program plan for my ultra-smart student, I fixed my lesson plans, I made rough drafts of curriculum maps for every subject (which I should have done all along), I added the daily poem and a few other things to my calendar routine, I put up the word wall (although it’s still a work in progress), and I completed the myriad of other tasks that I put on my list Friday nite.

I also realized that sitting behind my desk on e-mail while my kids work at their centers isn’t the greatest thing, so I’ve decided to stop hiding and get out. I realized that I’m doing my students very little good sitting behind that desk while they work. Even if they don’t need my help, I should be surveying the class, doing some informal assessment and whatnot. I can e-mail and do that other stuff on my own time.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was utterly exhausted, mentally and physically. I was supposed to have a follow up meeting with my principal Thursday and then Friday, but both days she was busy so it didn’t happen. I spoke with the head Kindergarten teacher on Monday and asked her point blank that if she thought that I was doing a really bad job/about to get fired, if she’d be on my butt a lot more than she currently is/was. She said that yes, if I was doing a bad job that she’d be on my butt big time. This relieved me. She said that being a rookie teacher is very difficult and that I am taking my lumps (NO KIDDIN’).

I made it a point this past weekend to not go to school at all. I did everything at home, then I got to school by 6:30 on Monday and gathered all of my materials for the week. I like this a lot better than going to school on a Saturday and/or Sunday. I went out on Sunday and had an amazing time. I went to bed way too late Sunday night, but I went to bed in a really good mood thanks to a certain someone.

Despite only being on 6 hours of sleep, Monday was awesome. My kids fed off my good mood…. I might have to go out with a certain someone more often, if my kids are going to be this productive/behave this well the nite after I spend time with that person.

LOL…. I suppose only if she’s lucky.

I really feel like I’ve improved my teaching considerably over the last two weeks. My class runs more efficiently, I am better serving my students, and just in general, things are getting better.

It’s funny how in life you have to be totally knocked down before you can continue to build further. I suppose this is the essence of being a rookie teacher. You do some really great things and then they fall apart or blow up on you or you discover a cool new way to do things, you then pick yourself up and re-build with your new found knowledge knowing full well that it’s just a matter of time before you get knocked down again and are forced to re-build.

Once you start to get good, I’m thinking that you don’t have to re-build nearly as much, you can get away with altering a few things here and there. I was tore up and feeling like I was a terrible teacher just a week ago and now I picked myself up, improved what I needed to improve and am a lot better off than I was prior to ‘when I got in trouble’.

‘Re-building’ sucks, but I suppose that it is a necessary part of the process that I am currently in, as I work towards becoming the amazing teacher that I know that I am certainly capable of becoming.

The Kid Teacher

I didn't get a lawyer but if I had it to do over again, at first hint of an allegation, I would have gotten the best lawyer in the city to hunt down the two mothers who had personal vendettas against me and decided to concoct this (almost) career shattering allegation.

I am a young (29) male teacher with a wife and three daughters. My wife stays at home with our children so I really don't need to lose my job. I'll never forget what my profs at college told me:

"Daniel, you got to realize that the world out there doesn't think highly of male elementary teachers, they are going to doubt first, always suspect there is something wrong with you because you are in a woman's world, and always, always believe the child over you."

Well, there you have it. I am doing my Masters right now and have chosen to do a qualitative study (micro-research, 30-40 pgs.) on male teachers/classroom behavior management skills, specifically with social perceptions being my focus.

Though it may not be politically correct, the truth is that people out there (our U.S. headlines and 7 o'clock news-naive society) are as biased as the day is long. They expect male teachers to be more efficient at managing classroom behavior, especially with the "rowdy" boys and subsequently (though it is sexism in the least) administrators are funneling these students into the male teacher's classrooms.

Parents have these higher standards for male teachers and don't understand why that is wrong, unfair, unjust, sexist.

By the way, I spent seven days on paid administrative leave w/ the School District and then the local police had a five day investigation into it and everyone found out the truth, I was allowed to return to school, but was given some pretty difficult guidelines to follow for the remainder of this school year.

I teach 2nd grade and was the most hugged teacher, probably in the nation, by students. They hug me because they want to. They hug me because they know I care about them. They hug me because I ask about the uncle's step-sister's friend's rabbit that got a cold - I know this stuff because I REALLY listen to them and keep tabs on their lives. They hug me because they go home and don't feel loved by anyone. They hug me because I am a huggable person and I'm that way because I go home everyday and hug my girls and wife.

I know the hugging rules, I've been in this game and seen the sue-happy nuts that are looking for a reason to burn my butt, my family's only source of income, and my life passion/teaching out of me.

I hate the stereotypes that male elementary teachers are perverts, child molesters, whatever they want to call us and I have fought daily since returning whether to become a statistic-drop-out-male-teacher.

I definitely need some male counterparts like the ones provided in this organization. I also would love to be pointed in any direction that may provide me some research in the area of my research.

Anonymous by request.

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6

So, the last two weeks have been full of ups and downs… Shocker eh? Two weeks ago seems like such a long time ago to me. Monday was a rough one. My principal called me in and went over some of the things that are going wrong and what some parents are 'concerned about'. We had a discussion. She was nice and professional about it, but direct too. I knew it was serious when she sent me a big e-mail documenting what we talked about. This was the first that I'd heard of any of these concerns. It bothered me that a parent would go directly to the principal without talking to me first. I suppose that I should just get used to it. I'm a very direct person. If I have a problem with someone, I go to them and politely and professionally address my concern. I wish that my students parents' were like this.

Oh well, part of the job I suppose.

My principal basically said that my classroom management skills are not very good and that I need to improve them (in simpleton terms). She suggested many things that I already know how to do and am currently doing (with varying degrees of success). I just kind of sat there and took it from her. I stood up for myself a few times, saying that I'm doing X or I'm doing Y. I suppose that the biggest thing that I got out of it is that even if I have no friggin' clue what I'm doing, I can't show it to my students' parents. This is hard for me, since I wear my heart of my sleeve 110%. If I'm confused or nervous or scared, I'm going to show it. I'm working on concealing it a little better, but it's hard. There's that delicate balance that a rookie teacher needs to find in which they are providing the parents with the correct answers to their concerns without sounding like a bumbling idiot. I feel so stupid sometimes when a parent asks me about something and I'm not 110% sure, so I say that I'll consult with my assistant and get back with them. This makes me look like I'm the assistant and my assistant is the lead teacher. I don't want to tell them one thing and then have to go back to them later in the day or the next day telling them something different because it makes me look like I don't know what I'm doing. This whole idea of not knowing what I'm doing happens quite a bit, I'm getting used to it, however I still don't like it and the uncertainty that comes with it.

It sucks how a principal will hear one thing from one parent and/or see your room on a couple of small occasions and make a judgment about your classroom based on those small snippets of time. I know that I am doing a solid job (not a great job, not the kind of job that I know I am capable of, but not a terrible job either). I have a lot of room for improvement, but frankly I think that even someone who's been teaching for 30 years can improve. It's all about growing and evolving. After my talk with my principal, I did some self-reflection and I realized that the raising my voice has to end. I'm going to teach my class in a calm and professional way, whether they like it or not. I shouldn't have to compete with them, with noise or excitement.

Yeah, I need to adapt my personal style to their individual interests and needs, however ultimately, they are the ones who need to adapt to ME. I believe that what I'm doing is good. I just need to be a little more consistent and a lot more sure of myself when I am doing it.

Maybe I'll get lucky and my principal will happen to walk by when I'm doing one of my many amazing things. It's funny how she's a nice lady who is professional, yet I'm still terrified of her. I wish that she'd call me down to her office just to say that I'm doing a great job, a good job, or maybe even a semi-decent/not crappy job… any sort of validation would be awesome. I'm thinking that I'm always going to be scared of her. The position is completely at will because I am not protected by a union, so I get nervous as heck whenever I'm around her, even though I know that it would take a lot for her to fire me. She would be an absolute fool if she even thought of it, I'll tell ya that much. I'm thinking that there are many other rookie teachers out there who are feeling the same way. At our school, we have a mentoring program. I wish that we had a rookie mentor program. Since I have to eat lunch in my room (which sucks big time), I almost never get to talk to the other rookie teachers and see if they're feeling the same way as I am.

I do have to admit that the Tigers World Series run has definitely affected how good of a job I've been doing. Teaching kindergarten on six hours of sleep is just plain stupid. I'm a HUGE Tigers fan, so it was impossible to turn off the television when a playoff game was still on. I taught what I wanted to teach and I survived, but I was not doing as good of a job the past couple of weeks as I'm capable of. I'll chalk it up as a lesson learned. I'm going to try to work on being in bed by 10:00, that way I can get a solid 8 hours every nite… we'll see how long it lasts :P.

I suppose I should enjoy being able to stay up late and still do a decent job teaching, while I'm young…. I was lucky enough to land World Series tickets… Easily the best nite of my life. Someday when I get married, I don't know if my wedding nite could top my nite at the World Series. A friend of mine and I hung out in Detroit all day, prior to the game. We stood on the lower level behind the left field foul pole, and had an AMAZING time. We got on a ton of tv stations and had a blast. I didn't get to bed until 2 am. Luckily I was smart and got a personal day the following Monday. Let me tell ya, personal days are my new best friend. I slept until noon, and just relaxed. I didn't think much about school and I felt re-charged going into school on Tuesday.

Tuesday was our first field trip. We went to the Apple Orchard. I did the majority of the prep work prior to my absence on Monday, so when I got to school on Tuesday, I didn't have to do a whole lot. I was pretty darn nervous because I knew that many of the parents would be attending the field trip and my principal was coming as well (she goes on all of the field trips).

Can you keep a secret?

We'll soon see. As the parent volunteers filed in, I looked for the permission slips. As I looked for the slips (of which I had no clue where they were at), I kept telling myself 'keep it cool, relax, smile, act like nothings' wrong'. The children were completing an activity and I had the parents signing paperwork, so I was able to semi-frantically search for the slips. I kept thinking 'holy crap, my principal is going to kill me, what am I going to do.' I pulled my assistant aside and asked her if she thought that the emergency cards would work in place of the permission slips.

She calmly said, 'Sure, it'll be allright.'

I promptly grabbed the emergency cards and tossed them into our backpack and went on with the day. During the field trip, it was very apparent that we practiced walking with our groups. The past few days, we practiced holding hands with our group members and not walking ahead of myself. My kids held each other's hands as if they were going to get shot if they let go… it was a beautiful thing… they stayed safe and I looked good ☺

We had a blast and by the time we got back to the school (about an hour before school got out) all my students wanted to was sleep. So, we napped, had snack, and went home. Wednesday was pretty easy because the kids (and adults) were still pretty tired from the field trip and there was no school on Thursday and Friday. I wasn't prepared, so I took in a cake knife to cut open a pumpkin… not a good idea. There's a reason why pumpkin knives are made they way they are. It was rather amusing trying to cut this big pumpkin up with my cake knife. The kids had no clue ☺ I ended up chopping up the pumpkin into huge pieces. I put the seeds at one center for them to count and the pumpkin chunks at another center for them to play with… pretty darn cool.

We were at a conference Thursday and Friday, which was nice because:

A) It was two days without kids, and,

B) I didn't get to bed until 11:45 Wednesday nite and 1:30 on Thursday nite. Thursday's Tigers game made me really mad so I had troubles getting to sleep. I didn't really learn a whole lot, but I enjoyed spending some quality time with my co-workers… Plus, I looked really cool walking around this convention center with six or seven attractive women surrounding me.

There was a lot of free good food which made me happy. I got some small toys to play with from some of the companies that were trying to sell junk. This also made me happy. I also enjoyed the fact that 75% of the people there were women. The scenery was quite good, even in my not sufficiently rested and pissed off about the Tigers-state. Free food + free toys + lots of women made me a very happy guy… It helped soften the sting that accompanied the Tigers throwing away the World Series (no pun intended).

When it came up that I was a male kindergarten teacher in a few of the sessions, I got a few funny looks, but for the most part it was all positive. I went to the store today to drop off some film and as I was chatting with the photo lady, it came up that I teach kindergarten…. The look that I got was priceless. Yeah, I like working with kids, but probably the best thing about being a male kindergarten teacher is telling other people and seeing their reaction (especially women). I'll practically go out of my way to drop that I'm a kindergarten teacher, the way that those annoying people who's mother's brother's cousin's best friends' secretary's uncles' second wife's child is a celebrity, go out of their way in a general conversation to let you know that they are connected to a celebrity… I love it!

On another positive note, I adopted a partially blind Pug this weekend from a rescue. I firmly believe that he will help me keep my sanity/avoid getting too stressed out this year. I don't feel stressed out right now and I'm quickly developing thick skin, however I think that by having Hunter here when I get home from work, I'll be able to do a better job of relaxing and forgetting about school while at home. I took him to school with me this morning, since I usually spend about four hours every Sunday morning preparing for the upcoming week.

He definitely liked my classroom… He used his doggy words to claim it as his own about two or three times. While at school, I was basically able to get my lesson plans and my materials together for the three weeks in November leading up to Thanksgiving week.

This feels AMAZING, I've never been this far ahead. Now, it's up to me to not get lazy so that being ahead will allow me to do the things that I used to wish that I had time for. Well, I should have the time to do them (at least in theory). If it is to be, it is up to ME…..

The Kid Teacher

My name is Chuck West. I live in Michigan City, IN, and have worked in, managed, and now own, a business that--among other things--provides consultative mental health services to the Chicago Head Start Program.

My company, Worthington, Hurst and Associates, Ltd. (WHA), was the first such business in Chicago, beginning in 1967 when Head Start was just a pilot program here. As an outgrowth of our consultation, we developed a treatment arm that grew into a private, not-for-profit, clinical and training organization called The Theraplay Institute. Theraplay(R) has become an international entity and I still serve on its board of directors as a founding member, but I am no longer (at least presently) a practicing Theraplay Therapist, although I make myself available for cases that interest me and I assist, when asked, with our training efforts.

I began with WHA in 1974 and was hired initially to be trained and then serve as a paraprofessional "mental health aide," providing on-site treatment to children in the Chicago Public Schools' Head Start Program who had "behavior problems" that made it difficult for them to participate appropriately in the program. I was also expected, after only a few months' training (and no background in mental health, no degree, and no clear idea what was expected of me), to be the supervising paraprofessional, temporarily taking over for the woman who was to train me while she took a maternity leave. Now, more than 32 years later, this temporary job has turned into a lifetime commitment.

I've been trying to assemble a small group of individuals in the Chicago area to discuss and possibly write about our experiences as (still RARE) men in preschool programs, but my efforts have fallen flat. Hence, when Gil told me of this group, I was more than eager to join.

Thank you for allowing me to join you.

Chuck West in Indiana

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Wow! Is time ever flying by or what?!? I’m already to the middle of October. Things are starting to get better (at least for now). The past two weeks were rather rough, but I finished off Friday on a HUGE positive note. Let’s venture back two weeks…. (it feels like a long, long time ago).

The day after I penned my last entry, I started off the day by fielding a complaint about a parent of a child who had a jump rope tied around his neck the previous day at recess…

You talk about scary!?! Holy crap.

I almost passed out when she confronted me about it. Luckily, the parents were very calm and civilized. I hadn’t a clue about what happened. I was the only one out on the playground when the incident occurred and I distinctly remember it being a day where there were skinned knees a-plenty. As the parents stood there waiting, my assistant (who is pregnant), was running incredibly late. This did not help things at all. Luckily, we had a special at 8:15 that day.

As the parents stood there, waiting, I carried on with my usual group time, prior to music class. We talked about the day and we role played what to do when someone’s hurting you. I walked the students down to music, then ran back to talk further with the parents. My principal arrived shortly thereafter. Luckily, she was very understanding. I was petrified. The parents explained that they were very upset about the situation and that they did not want it to happen to anyone else again. While this was happening, the crier and the wanderer were down in music class driving the music teacher up the WALL.

After talking with the parents and agreeing to have both myself and my assistant outside on recess (Prior to the incident, one would go out and one would stay in and prepare snack or the next activity). As the parents left, I ran down to music class to explain why one of us was not with the music teacher. He understood completely. I swear I felt like a firefighter that morning. I then talked to the wanderer and the crier about why they got kicked out of class.

NOTE: I only got 6 hours of sleep due to watching the Tiger playoff game the previous night.

The rest of the morning, I was off and the students could sense it. Every few minutes, something else was happening. X kid hit Y kid, Z kid didn’t want to do their center, L kid was crying because the D kid accidentally bumped into them.

IT WAS CRAAAAAAAAAAAZY!

That morning, the crier tore up one of the books that I checked out from the library as well. That afternoon, I called his mother and demanded that either herself or the criers’ sister come in and help us out until we can brainstorm some strategies. The crier’s sister came in and helped out the next day and his mom came in after school for a conference. I really wasn’t that nervous considering that it was my first parent-teacher conference. I printed the log that I created regarding his behavior and we brainstormed.

No sweat.

We brainstormed strategies and agreed that I need to be tougher on him and that mom would attach consequences at home to his behavior in school. The next day, the behavior continued. He continued to blatantly ignore me. He tried pulling me down by grabbing my ankles, and was very difficult. The following week (last week), his behavior continued. By the end of Tuesday, I came very close to telling my principal that he could not stay in my classroom.

To cut a long story short, my principal pretty much told another Kindergarten teacher that she either has to take the crier or the wanderer. After the crier spent Thursday and Friday in her room, she decided to take him. So, today was the first day that he was in there. I could not be any happier.

In other news, I’m continuing to settle into this whole teaching thing. Each week, I get a little bit further ahead and continue to do things a little more efficiently. This is a good feeling.

My lessons may not always go perfectly, however I’m definitely getting the hang of this thing. There’s certainly days where I think ‘why in the hell did you choose Kindergarten of all grades, to teach your first year’ and I’ve had thoughts of getting my masters’ in either physical education or Kinesiology.

I like teaching, but I don’t like the other things like bulletin boards, keeping track of all sorts of stuff, and having such a large space to keep organized. I suppose that it is natural not to like every aspect of your job. I’ll gladly admit that I do not do a ton of lesson planning because I don’t really like to sit around for 2 hours when football’s on, planning, nor do I like to sit around for 2 hours after a long day of teaching, writing plans. I always have a basic idea in my mind about what I want to teach, but I’ll typically grab a book or utilize whatever is surrounding me to help me teach. I love being in front of the kids, but I dislike the other stuff…

I’m loving the fact that the Tigers are doing so well in the playoffs… I’m not getting enough sleep, but my Tigers are winning, so no matter what happens at school, I’m happy.

Speaking of which, I was fortunate enough to get game 3 tickets to see the Tigers and the A’s, second row this past Friday. You talk about a nice reward for a tough couple of weeks, holy crap! Add to that the fact that they won game 4 and are in the World Series and I’m very happy.

In fact, today, as my children were at their learning centers, I was able to procure 2 game 2 tickets to the World Series. I’m pumped. I just have to figure out who I’m going with or if I’m going to take to the game or if I’m going to sell the second ticket and make a good chunk of change.

I don’t care how challenging this week is, I’M GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The K Teacher

I found menteach.org while looking online for some basic information about my paper and ran into the studies that you had done.

I'm a graduate student. I received a B.S. in Recreation Administration and wanted to switch before but I only needed an internship to receive my degree, so I finished that.

I changed fields into special education last year and am getting a teaching certificate within a year.

I got into teaching through my parents and other teachers. I realized I could make more of a difference in children's lives teaching than by being a recreation major (which was my first degree and why I switched).

Thanks for your help.

Mike Leonard

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1 #2 #3 #4

Wow, I’d like to apologize for going so long without writing. It’s not that things have been crazy, I’ve just fallen into this habit of not doing anything school related when I do not have to. The past two weeks have been pretty good for the most part. I really feel like I am settling into a groove.

Teaching Kindergarten is nice because we typically study one letter a week. This allows me to use the same learning centers every week, just with a different letter. I actually made up a template on Microsoft word so that I do not have to write out the same things each week in my planning book. I think that this is the general theme of the past two weeks… learning to be efficient. The quicker I get things done, the more time I have to relax (which is paramount as a rookie teacher). Every few days, I’ll try something a little bit different in an attempt to improve my efficiency. Last week, I pre-counted out cups and paper towels for a weeks’ worth of morning and afternoon snack. At first it seemed like a decent idea, however when I thought about it a little more, I realized that it didn’t really save all that much time. I am starting to settle into the habit of pre-writing my newsletters, when I do my planning on the weekends. I’ve noticed that this comes in handy when Wednesday rolls around and I’m exhausted and not feeling like doing anything at home. I just look over the newsletter, make a few changes, copy it, and send it home… speaking of which, I forgot to do this weekend, so I’ll be writing the newsletter tomorrow night or perhaps during my prep period tomorrow.

In the classroom
I’ve organized my students into groups based on their ability level, with the goal being to do guided reading groups (hopefully soon). This has also allowed me to differentiate some assignments. The two high groups are able to practice writing BOTH the upper case and the lower case letter that we are studying, at once, while the two lower groups have quite a bit of difficulty, so I only ask them to practice the upper case letters or the lower case letters. My assistant alerted me to the fact that she thinks that the two high groups might be capable of learning to add. I hadn’t thought of this. So, I asked her to start assessing the children of the two high groups’ readiness for addition. She’s still testing, however I’m thinking that for next week, I’ll create math center for the mornings, where the two high groups will work out of an addition workbook with my assistant, while my two low groups continue to work on writing their numbers. I think that as I become more comfortable in my role as a teacher, I will look to differentiate my centers/instruction even further. I’m excited that, a month into the school year, and I’m already comfortable enough to try to do it. The other kindergarten teacher isn’t even doing learning centers yet (which makes me feel good!).

Starting Math
Over the past two weeks, I also started using these math workbooks that my principal gave to me the day before school started. Each page has a mini-lesson on it. I really like them. Our school does not use prescribed ‘math program’, so it is up to us to teach math however we see fit (which sounds cool, but as a beginning teacher is kinda intimidating). These pages are easy to teach, yet educationally stimulating, and they help to make planning a little easier (which is always good).

I feel like things are going well, however I feel like I’m definitely in a survival mode. I may not be moving as quickly as the other teachers are, however I’m doing activity and centers that teach and re-teach what I’m trying to teach. I told another teacher today that at the end of the year, I may look back and say that I could have taught my children more, however what I am teaching them, I will be confident that the knowledge will be retained. Two or three times a week, the children are practicing writing their numbers, on my laminated number sheets. Two or three times a week, they are practicing writing their names. Three or four times a week, they are practicing writing the letter that we are studying. I’m really hammering away at what I’m teaching. I will be able to say that I know that all 22 of those children know and understand what I taught.

Taking care of personal needs
Over the past two weeks, I got contacts and got a short haircut. I look quite different than I did at the start of the year. I feel better too. I feel like I look like a teacher, not a college kid trying to become a teacher. My kids first told me that my contacts made me look like ‘Bob the Builder’, which was rather amusing. My new look combined with my increasing level of comfort gives me confidence not only in the classroom, but outside of school.

Outside of school, I am trying to deal with a very painful breakup. School has been a nice distraction, however I was with this girl for a year and a half and I was pretty sure that I was eventually going to marry her. We totally broke up right around when I posted my last entry. I know that what happened was for the overall good, however when a relationship like that ends, it’s never easy (even if you realize that you’re better off w/out that person).

If anyone knows any nice looking women in their mid-20s, looking for a nice, male kindergarten teacher, drop me an e-mail. (I’m partially kidding!) At the very least, my friends joke with me that I have the greatest pick up line known to man kind. They say that if I tell a single woman that I’m a kindergarten teacher, I’m in… We might just have to put that to the test over the coming days and weeks :P.

Since I graduated in April, everything else in my life has changed, so it’s only fitting that her and I broke up. Between breaking up and settling into my classroom, I am feeling like I have finally finished growing up. I no longer feel like a kid, in awe of the fact that I am now the teacher. I am that confident man that I’ve always wanted to become…. It’s about time?!?

For the most part, I’ve been having fun teaching. We made slime last Friday, and my students are enjoying hearing my crazy voices and corny jokes throughout the day. I like to get my kids moving around (especially during calendar time) and I’d like to think that everyone enjoys themselves for the most part.

However there is one student that is absolutely driving me up the wall. Today, I honestly had no idea what to do with him. Let me preface this by saying that I have a special needs child of whom I allow to wander and roam the classroom throughout the day because he has difficulities focusing at group time and center time. I’ve dubbed this child ‘the wanderer’ when talking to my friends about school.

I have another child of whom I’ve dubbed ‘the crier’ when talking to my friends. The crier cries whenever he does not get what he wants (it could be a toy or not wanting to go to a particular center, or not wanting to sit at grouptime) Lately, the crier has been wanting to imitate the wanderer and play with him all day. The Crier has started to tune me out and then cry whenever I try to make him do what he’s supposed to do.

I made a deal with him last week where for every hour that he behaves well, he gets a little certificate. He’s earned a few of them, but in his mind, if he doesn’t earn one, he views it as a negative thing. I’ve been trying to frame it as a positive, however he cries if he doesn’t get one. This obviously means that it’s not serving it’s intended purpose. The Crier says that he does not know how to control his body and that it’s my job to teach him to. I don’t know how to teach him how to control his body. The crier has been getting progressively worse. I finally got sick of it yesterday and called home requesting a conference with mom.

Today, the behavior continued. This afternoon, he was utterly out of control. I tried being positive, I tried being mean and getting in his face and raising my voice (even though I was taught not to do that), I feel like I’ve tried many different things and I’m just not getting through. I’m frustrated. I’m very frustrated. (especially after today).

The Crier was gone one day last week and it was amazing how much easier my job was. I was actually able to circulate the classroom and talk to some of the children that I normally don’t get to talk to because I’m busy dealing with the Crier. I’m facing this dilemma of putting the Crier on lockdown and basically working with him one on one the entire day for the next week or so, in an attempt to stop his bad behavior, however at the same time I have an obligation to the 20 students who do what they’re supposed to do on a regular basis.

I am torn. It’s not fair to the kids that always behave well that I’m giving so much of my attention to this one child, however this one child is literally driving me nuts. I’m so tempted to just say ‘alright, Crier I’m going to ignore you completely until you see/learn how to do what you’re supposed to do and if it takes you the entire year, then you’ll just have to repeat Kindergarten'. It’s tough. I believe that I can help every child, however at what cost? Is it worth neglecting the other children so that I can help this one child or do I help my 20 other children and reward them for doing what they’re supposed to and continue to deal with… It’s the classic dilemma. I’m doing my best and teaching my rear end off and trying my best not to let the Crier get to me too much….

I suppose that’s all I can do. I go to school everyday ready to give it my all, determined to give my kindergarteners the best kindergarten education I possibly can….

The K Teacher

My name is Kevin and I am an Early Childhood Educator in Chicago, Illinois. I have been teaching since 1996 and I love it.

There is nothing better to me than teaching the children and listening, observing and helping each child grow, learn, and make choices. And to hear them say, "Teacher Kevin is my teacher." My dear friend that's what it's all about!

But I have had difficult times too.

I am sending you an email not only to introduce myself and to try to meet other men in the field of Early Childhood, but to thank you and to tell you how much I appreciate the MenTeach website. Many times I check it out and enjoy.

I am so excited!

At the end of September here in the Chicagoland area at a very large Early Childhood Conference, I will have the opportunity to share by giving a presentation about how it feels to be a male in the field of Early Childhood and the barriers that myself and other men who are in the field have faced, will face, or are currently facing. I will also be talking about ways of recruiting men etc.

As I continue to look at my outline and look at what needs to be addressed it just rekindles the fire that is inside me about why I am in this wonderful field and the importance of men in Early Childhood.

Well, thanks so much for taking the time to read my email, thanks for the great website, and have a beautiful day.

Your friend,
Kevin

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1 #2 #3
As I write this, I am currently laying down in a nice bed, at a resort in the northern part of Michigan. I have spent the past two days up here with the rest of the staff at my school, bonding and doing professional development. Needless to say, the last couple of days have been a lot of fun. A lot has happened the past week, so let’s journey back to Monday.

So, as I walked into my classroom on Monday, I realized just how much work still needed to be done to get it ready. Next Wednesday (August 30th), a mere 9 days away, is ‘Meet the Teacher Nite,’ which frankly scares the crap out of me. Knowing that Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were going to be spent up north, knowing that next week, we’re in meetings all day, made me realize that I really needed to get my butt in gear. On Monday, I pulled everything off of the shelves and out of the closet as I started a massive cleaning job. There were dead rolly pollies everywhere! The closet was rather dusty, and there was a lot of stuff that I had no clue what to do with! Holy crap!

By the end of the day on Monday, all of the materials that the previous teacher left me were strewn about the floor and tables; all the closets and shelves were clean and smelling good - still I realized that I had a long ways to go. Tuesday was a big day. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that my Charter school utilizes the American Montessori philosophy (to a certain extent) at the lower elementary level. (I am not certified in American Montessori, however I am supposed to undergo some online training related to it).

Montessori relies on a lot of blocks and beads and other junk that I am pretty clueless about at this point. The previous teacher, who had my classroom came from a predominantly Montessori background, so she had tons of stuff. As I started to go through the learning materials in the room, I struggled to figure out what much of the materials were for and I noticed that they were rather old and disorganized. As most teachers would, I spent quite a bit of time looking at the various materials, thinking about how I could utilize them in my teaching.

Finally, I had an epiphany and said to myself ‘To heck with this crap, I’m going to teach how I know how to teach and not based on what the other teacher left me. I know how to teach well and I’m going to teach well, using what I know works well!” It was one of those really cool moments when everything just hits ya. From that point on, I totally took ownership of MY room because this is MY ROOM! Needless to say, if I didn’t know what it was or how I could use it, I threw it out. Once I learn more about Montessori, I may have to re-purchase some of the materials, but at this point, I wanted to go through all of this junk and get it organized… pressure’s on! By the time I left school on Tuesday, my room was clean, the materials were organized, and the shelves were set up into centers…. There wasn’t much on the shelves, however I felt happy knowing that my classroom was really starting to come together.

Going to a school retreat
On Wednesday a few of us met up at school at 6 am and drove up here to this beautiful resort. The only other person in the car that I knew was the other kindergarten teacher. The car ride gave me a chance to get to know the two other teachers a little better. After a 4-hour ride up there, I was pleasantly surprised that we were staying in really nice houses. Since I was the first one to check in, from my house, I grabbed the awesome bedroom upstairs. This room has a hot tub right next to the bed, a huge shower, and a tv with a dvd player. It’s friggin’ awesome.

All five schools that were here for the retreat met up for our first meeting at noon. This is the first time that our schools’ entire staff was together. It was like a family reunion. I was amazed at how spirited our group is. The returnees had a chant that they liked to do…. It was really cool. A little while later, we had our first staff meeting of the year.

Introductions
The principal had everyone introduce themselves. When I introduced myself, proudly saying that I’m teaching kindergarten, I heard quite a few hoots and hollers. No one before me heard any kind of response like that. I couldn’t help but smile and blush a little bit. As the day rolled on, I tried hard to talk to as many different teachers as possible. I got the sense that it was rather a big thing having a male come to teach kindergarten (especially from the returnees). I guess throughout the summer, word spread amongst the staff that they hired a male to teach kindergarten, so I kind of feel like a big deal.

Everyone’s been great. At dinner yesterday, I felt a little out of place primarily because the returnees (there are about 17 new folks and 30-40 returnees) were talking about different things and people of whom I hadn’t a clue about, but I suppose that’s a natural part of joining an already close-knit group. At this point, I still felt like a kid, not yet apart of the group. Everyone in the group is married and/or engaged (of which I’m neither) and they’re all at least a couple years older than me. (I’m the youngest person on staff by a full year!) After the meetings, the staff competitions, we had some free time. The majority of us hung out at a few of the houses, playing cards, watching movies, and just bonding. I felt like I was back in college…. It was quite enjoyable. After a while, I went back to my room, jumped in the hot tub, and enjoyed some me-time. What a long day.

The next day
Today was loads of fun (despite having to listen to a speaker for 3 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon). As the day moved on, I felt more and more apart of the group. I’m starting to remember names, crack jokes with others, and enjoy my new friends and colleagues. The speaker was great. He talked about lots of good things, although I do admit sitting and listening to anything for 5 hours isn’t cool. Luckily, I was able to scratch out a daily schedule for my class, while paying attention to the speaker. After the day’s festivities, we all met up at my principal’s house at the resort for a get together. At this point, I really felt apart of the group and felt comfortable. It’s so great because there’s only a few people on staff that are older than 30. My principal is in her late twenties and about 90% of us have less than five years of teaching experience. The majority of the teachers that were at the school when it opened, five years ago (with 150 kids), are still on staff. One of the female staff members asked me what I thought about being the only guy in the elementary wing, I just smiled and said that I’m definitely not complaining about it. She jokingly warned me that I might not enjoy it when they’re all PMSing… LOL!

The past two nights, I’ve felt like I was back in college. I love this group! This group reminds me of when I was in college on housing staff. We all have loads of fun around each other, we all are very dedicated to succeeding as a team overall, and we’re very close knit. Needless to say, this is not how I imagined my teaching career starting off. There aren’t any ‘moldy oldy teachers’ on staff that have been there for 30 years, like I figured there’d be. Everyone is young, we’re all full of energy, and we’re all about doing the best that we can for our students. At first, I wasn’t sure how cool I was with the idea of teaching at a charter school, for a variety of reasons. However, after the past couple of days, I am proud to say that I teach at my school!

I still do not totally agree with the concept of a charter school, however I love how we do things at my school. Yeah, I’m not making as much money as I would at a public school, however I can see myself being pretty darn happy teaching where I currently am. We’ve got more meetings tomorrow. I’ll get my class list and find out who my mentor is, then we’ll drive back to Metro Detroit. This weekend, I need to go garage sale’ing to find some stuff for my classroom, so that it isn’t so bare for ‘Meet the Teacher Night.’ I’m relatively broke, so I’m really going to have to spend wisely. It should be interesting!

I also would like to finish my welcome packet for Meet the Teacher Night, and rest up for a full week of meetings, 8 hours a day, as I continue to prepare for the upcoming school year. Meet the Teacher Night is Wednesday, so Wednesday will be long day, with meetings from 8-3 and then meeting my students and their parents from 6-8. I’m going to miss this place, however I’m looking forward to finishing my classroom, meeting my students’ parents, and getting the ball rolling.

Lots of exciting things to write about!

The Kid Teacher

Here's a link to a math teacher. You can read about his first year.

How will his second year go?

Find out by reading his blog.

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1 #2

This has been an exciting week to say the least. On Tuesday, I had new teacher orientation. This two hour long meeting basically covered our insurance benefits, 401K and a TON of paperwork. I had no clue what a 401K was until Tuesday. I’ve heard the term used here and there, but I didn’t know what it meant. At the orientation meeting, I met most of the other new teachers from my school. I was the only guy at the table. As we were sitting around, waiting for the meeting to start, someone asked what everyone was teaching. When I proudly announced to the group that I’m teaching Kindergarten, all I could hear was ‘Awwwwwwww…..’ from my fellow co-workers. I could hear a couple of them mutter ‘whoa’ to themselves. I’m not going to lie, anytime I get a response like that from a group of women, whether they’re co-workers or random women, I really enjoy it. (The awwww… factor is defiantly one of the hidden perks about being a male kindergarten teacher!) I just smiled and said that I’m looking forward to having a lot of fun teaching Kindergarten. I was kind of surprised to hear that there was only one other teacher at the table of whom this is going to be their first year teaching. The other teachers seemed rather surprised that I found a job right out of college. While I do have a lot of great things on my resume, I do think that my gender gave me a big advantage when I was looking for a job. At the very least a few schools brought me in out of curiosity, because as you could imagine, myself being a male certified in early childhood is about as rare as a lake in the desert. Most of the other teachers at the table previously taught at a private school. I’m quickly realizing that there is a hierarchy when it comes to schools. Private schools are typically on the bottom, charter schools are in the middle, and public schools are on top. I think this is in part related to salary as well. Most private schools in Michigan pay somewhere in the middle $20k range. Charter schools start out in the low $30K range, while public schools start out around $38-$40k a year for a new teacher with their bachelors’ degree. I’m just happy to have a classroom, regardless of how much I’m making.

Speaking of my classroom
I spent 3 mornings working in my classrroom this week. In fact, I quit my food service job a few days early so that I could spend the time in my classroom. I was joking with a friend of mine that I officially became a teacher when I spent $100 on supplies the other day at Office Depot. My classroom is quite bare. My principal told me that the teacher who previously had the room took lots of school bought items that she shouldn’t have. I do not have a desk, and I have 14 shelving units with very little on them. My principal assured me that she’s ordered a desk and various items for my classroom. She’s really nice. I feel like I’ve asked her about a hundred questions the past week. She keeps encouraging me to ask all the questions I want. She seems like she really wants to make sure that her teachers are happy. I think that besides being a great person, she also realizes that because this is a charter school, we teachers are not under contract. We are completely ‘at will,’ so we can quit at anytime, if we get a more appealing offer.

As I spend more time in my classroom, I am realizing that however long I estimate a task taking, I should multiply it by two or three. If I think that it’s going to take a half hour, then it’s really going to take an hour or and hour and a half. As I was putting up my first bulletin board, I stopped quite a few times and thought to myself ‘wait a sec, you should do it this way.’ I like how casual the atmosphere is at the school. The teachers that are there are nice and relaxed. We’re not as productive as we maybe should be, however we’re definitely enjoying ourselves. It’s so neat to see how close the other teachers are to each other. The first time that a teacher sees another teacher they haven’t seen all summer, they usually greet them with a hug and treat them like family. A few times, as I sat in my room, I heard a couple teachers walking down the hallway saying ‘(My real name) is here? How cool’. They typically come up to me and say ‘so you’re (my real name), I’ve heard a lot about you, welcome!’ This obviously makes me feel really good. I feel very welcomed. There was only one time when I got a comment about my gender. One teacher said, ‘So, you’re the only guy down here?’ I just smiled and said, ‘Yeah, I’m used to it. There weren’t too many guys in the early childhood program, when I was at the university, so it’s not that big of a deal. I kind of enjoy it in fact.’ I’m looking forward to getting to know the other teachers; this seems like a great group to be apart of!

Paying for a classroom
I put up all three of my bulletin boards on Friday, so I’m feeling good, going into the weekend. I’m still very envious of the veteran teachers. They have so much stuff in their rooms and I have basically nothing at this point. I wish that I had all of the cool things that they have in their rooms. One veteran teacher told me that she spent $5,000 on things for her room her first year of teaching. I don’t imagine spending $5,000 on my room this year. Shoot, $5,000 is a years’ rent at my apartment complex! School doesn’t start for another three weeks, so I’ve still got plenty of time to prepare, however I’m starting to feel a bit stressed already. There are so many things that I want to do. I suppose that’s just part of being a rookie. I’m just trying to take everything in stride.

I spent Thursday evening working on various things. I have a feeling that before too long, I’ll be living the adage ‘Eat, Sleep, Teach’. I heard that we’re supposed to get keys to the school and our classrooms next week sometime. One of the other teachers said that once we get our keys, we can stay as long as we want and we can come in on the weekends. I was thinking of investing in a small televison that way I can spend my Sundays working on stuff in my classroom, while watching football (I’m partially kidding!).

Wednesday is the first day that all of the staff have to report to work, so I’ll get to meet the rest of the staff then. As a staff, we are all going on a retreat from Wednesday through Friday, at a nice resort. From what I’ve heard, the retreat is loads of fun and is a good way for the new staff to get acclimated with the returning staff. I’m sure that I’ll have some good stories to tell, when I write my next entry!

A wise teacher once told me that great teachers are excellent at kicking back and relaxing, so I suppose it’s time to practice doing just that…

The Kid Teacher

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]

Read Post #1

People wanted to know:
Did you get the classroom finished?
I actually just got back from my classroom. It was the second time that I visited it. It's pretty empty. I've got about three pages of notes regarding things that I want to do. So, it's definitely a work in progress at this point.

How are you managing both your fulltime job AND starting a new one?
Thankfully, my summer job ends Saturday. My first 'report date' for my teaching job is Wednesday. We're heading to a retreat for a couple days, starting Wednesday. I typically work 5:15 am until 2:00 pm, then come back to my apartment and relax/sleep and then do a few teacher things in the evening, prior to bed.

Is there an orientation to the new job?
I actually went to new teacher orientation yesterday. I was going to write about it in this week's entry. We mainly learned about our benefits package and filled out forms. I learned what a 401K is, which was kinda cool.

Nothing too exciting...

Have you met all the other teachers/staff? What are your first impressions?
I met the other new teachers at orientation. There's only one other teacher
on staff that is fresh out of college, like me. Everyone else on staff are veteran teachers, just new to my school. I've met a few of the other teachers. Everyone seems pretty friendly and willing to help. We're having a meeting about the retreat on Monday, so I'm assuming that I'll meet everyone else then.

What about parents? Met any yet?
I haven't met any parents. I'm looking forward to it though.

Are there other male staff?
I think that there are other men on staff, however I think that they are all in the upper elementary and at the middle school level.

I'll write a paragraph or two this weekend about orientation and starting to set up my room.

Kid Teacher

[Editors Note: We've asked a man who just finished his teaching program to write about his teaching job. We'll post each of his journal entries during the year. Post your comments here for him to read - and of course, wish him luck!]


Friday, August 11, 2006

This is the beginning of a journal chronicling the first year of a rookie kindergarten teacher. Before I go any further, let me set the stage a little: I’m a 22 year old male, fresh out of college, teaching kindergarten at a charter school in the metro Detroit area. I am writing this journal as a means of personal reflection and as a way to share with others what it is like being a young male teaching at the historically female domainated lower elementary level, along with showing others what it is like to be a ‘rookie’ teacher.

Going into this year, I have heard so many things about what your first year of teaching is supposed to be like. For the most part, I’ve heard that it is a very challenging, very taxing year. One person described it to me as being ‘pure hell’. While I don’t anticipate it being ‘pure hell’, I am cognizant of the fact that I will probably struggle more than I have ever struggled up until this point in my life. I realize that I am not going to know everything, nor am I going to do everything right (I’ll be happy if I just do something right!).

Just like during student teaching, I’m sure that I am going to hit low points where I will seriously doubt my abilities and/or my desire to teach. With all that being said, I am looking forward to my first year as a teacher. I have been studying and working towards this for the past five years. This is what I want out of life and nothing is going to stop me.

I can’t wait to meet my students, their parents, and the other teachers on staff. I have many great ideas that I’m looking forward to testing ‘in the real world’ (many of which you will probably read about, if you continue to read my journals). I’m excited, but I’m also kind of scared. I know that I just completed a rigorous program of study at the best teacher prep school in the country, Eastern Michigan University.

I’ve subbed, I’ve worked as a teacher’s assistant, I’ve tutored, I’ve umpired t-ball, I’ve taught tennis lessons, I’ve worked in every capacity related to children other than in the capacity of classroom teacher.

I’m still scared though.

I’m especially anxious to see how the other teachers and how the parents react to me. I was reading somewhere the other day that only 2 percent of all kindergarten teachers are men. I absolutely love telling others that I’m a kindergarten teacher (if anything, I say it too much!). I am proud to say that I am one of them, but I also realize that, like it or not, that I’ll probably be looked at a little differently than the female teachers.

Our society ‘Men aren’t supposed to teach young children.’ Men aren’t supposed to be nurturing. I say that’s a load of hogwash. I realize though that I will probably have to work a little bit harder than my female counterparts to prove that I, too am capable of being a great teacher, regardless of gender. I’m also anxious about seeing how others react to how young I look.


When I subbed, as I called the class to order, the middle school kids often thought that I was a new kid trying to be funny. Most people say that I look anywhere between 16 and 18 years old, when in fact I am 22, going on 23 years old. As with my gender and my lack of formal teaching experience, I will just have to work extra hard to prove that I am capable of being a great teacher!

The Job Offer
Alright, now that the stage is set, I’ll talk about what’s happened over the past couple of months. I was offered the job somewhere around the end of June. The day after I was offered the job, the muffler on my car broke.

Talk about a sign….

As soon as I accepted the job, I went about finding a new car and symbolically starting a new chapter in my life. Within a week of getting the job, I found a new car….Offer letters are a great thing, let me tell ya!

I spent the next couple of weeks resting and relaxing. After two semesters of student teaching and five years of taking classes year ‘round, I needed a little break. During this time, my mind couldn’t get too far from the classroom. After a couple of weeks of doing very little, I realized that I needed to make some quick cash, since that first teacher paycheck wasn’t going to come until early September, so I went back to my old job on campus, working 30-40 hours a week.

Around middle of July, I decided to look for a new place to live… again, offer letters are a wonderful thing! I was able to find a nice apartment in a nice area near a golf course. Between working 30-40 hours a week, looking for a new apartment, and packing, I couldn’t believe how busy I was. I had to keep reminding myself that it was only July and that it’s okay to not be doing teacher stuff. The other kindergarten teacher called me a few times, encouraging me to come in to the school to work on my classroom, however I typically worked during the hours when the school was open.

The teachers at my school seem very nice and welcoming to new folks such as myself. So, the beginning of August is here and I’m still slacking when it comes to teacher stuff. There’s so much to do! Packing and moving is a lot bigger job than I remember it was, when I moved into my old apartment. My boss only added to my workload by giving me 40 hours a week, which was nice because I really needed the money, however starting work at 5:15 am just sucks all of the energy out of you and makes the day a lot shorter. In my little bit of spare time, I decided to start reading a few books about being a rookie teacher and teaching kindergarten.

I learned a lot… I’ll be sure to share tidbits of info as the year rolls on. I felt good because I was actually doing something school related, instead of spending all of my time packing and cleaning and at work. After moving into my new apartment on Saturday, after working 19 hours on Monday and Tuesday combined, I finally had the opportunity to go check out my classroom for the first time….

A New School, A New Job
Boy was I nervous. Part of me was kinda scared, since I heard that all of the other teachers had been in there quite a bit. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out what to wear. Typically, I’m the guy who grabs shorts and a t-shirt and I’m good to go, so this was odd….

When I walked into my classroom, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked around. Is it odd that I had a tear in my eye, as I thought ‘this is MY classroom’. Being the big dork that I am, I immediately called my best friend and my grandparents to tell them that I was in my classroom (primarily so that I could hear myself saying ‘I’m in my classroom!’).

It took me about 5-10 minutes to get my bearings about me. Finally, I started to picture what I wanted to do with the room. It was a lot smaller than I had hoped. There were quite a few storage shelves, but not much on them….I saw a portfolio of a child who was in the classroom last year and saw a spelling test…I almost puked (seriously). I hope that there was a first grade class in here last year because I don’t think that giving a spelling test to a kindergartener is developmentally appropriate.

It was odd being in there without a cooperating teacher or supervising teacher hovering over me, yet it was surprisingly refreshing. I started to wonder about what I’d have to buy and what the school would provide. I peeked into a few of the other classrooms and they were all ready for the first day of school (mind you, the first day of school isn’t until the Wednesday after Labor Day). Of course, this didn’t intimidate me in the least bit (I hope that you sense the sarcasm there!)….

I’ll be ready though…. I can’t wait! I stayed for about an hour, then went about with the rest of my day. I wish that I wasn’t working 40 hours next week. I’d like to spend the time in my classroom, working on things, however rent needs to be paid, car payments need to be made, and cool stuff needs to be bought for my classroom.


So, this ends my first journal entry of the year. I am going to try to write one journal entry a week. They will not be two pages long, like this one was. I was laying around the apartment before bed and just started typing. I can’t believe that I wrote this much. If you’re still reading at this point, I commend you!

I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences as a male, rookie kindergarten teacher with the world.

The Kid Teacher

Hey,

I just wanted to tell you that i really enjoy your website.

I just graduated from Eastern Michigan University and I found my first job teaching kindergarten for the fall. I cannot wait!

Jason Thomas

I have thoroughly enjoyed perusing your site. I am an aspiring teacher in my junior year at Arizona State University. I am currently enrolled in an adolescent development class which requires a research paper. Being a 36 y/o male, I chose the topic of the role of men in early childhood education.

I have found many stats on your site as well as some of the common reasons why men may not choose this profession (pay, stereotypes, nurturing aspects, etc.). However, I was wondering if it was possible to get more personal input on questions like:

- What is the single biggest reason you stay in teaching (or left)?

- What are things you do to feel included in a female dominated career? Do you have a voice at staff meetings?

- Is it assumed you have to do all the "male" duties around campus (discipline, heavy lifting, etc.)? If so, do you mind?

- Is it easier to get fathers involved in the classroom?

Any other comments from elementary male teachers would be welcome.

Is it possible to post these questions and subsequent responses somewhere. Or, could you yourselves give me feedback? Thank you.

When I told my father I was going into teaching he said "You're going to be a middle or high school teacher, right?" I told him I didn't think so and I could see his disdain. I look forward to the challenges and hope to make a difference as you have done. Thanks for a great website and organization.

Jeff Neilsen
Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus
neilsen3@yahoo.com

Dear MenTeach:
I'm proud of you for all that you're are doing!

We need more groups to support men in the field of teaching preschool and caregiving of young kids. I have learned for a guy to be a caregiver to infants/toddlers and teacher to preschool aged kids, that it takes time and passion to convience people that I'm a compassionate, loving person to the kids; just like a female teacher/caregiver.



Right now I work at a YMCA as a swim intructor to preschoolers and infants and I also babysit. I used to work in the daycare there and loved it because it was always a blessing to come into work everyday and see all the little ones smile and make them laugh and meet their essential needs. And I learned alot.

That all changed one day after I had been working their for over a year. A male daycaregiver at a different YMCA location was arrested for molesting 3 four year old boys and after that happend they wouldn't let me take care of the infants anymore or play with them and stuck me with the older kids.

I felt horrible for those kids to have to go through something like that. But what hurt me is the fact that I wasn't allowed to take care of the little ones anymore that I had come to know and have fun taking care of due to someone else's actions.

I am trying my luck at baby-sitting instead of daycare sinse it's not the same and I have had luck with it so far. Some of my co-workers from swim lessons use me when they need someone to watch their kids in the morning. I'm enjoying baby-sitting alot and I'm thinking of trying to really expand so I can get alot of job opportunities.

I'm in the process of getting my background check complete so that I can show it to people. I'm CPR certified and getting First Aid and a letter of recomendation and I have references.

I'm majoring in Early Childhood Education and Care to become a caregiver to infants and toddlers in a daycare setting.

I was wundering if you had any ideas on how I could get more baby-sitting jobs or if I sound like I'm on the right track.

My name is Travis by the way and I'm 21 years old. Thank you again and looking forward to hearing from you.



God bless!

Sincerely,

Travis

I would like to start by saying that I am a male first grade teacher. I am in my fourth year of teaching and all of my time has been in the first grade. I really enjoy working with the kids in first grade and I find that my job is more rewarding than anything I have ever done in my life. It would be hard for me to imagine myself doing anything else.

I started my college education when I was 29 and completed my degree when I turned 33. I had always thought of becoming a teacher, but making it a reality was not something that I thought I could do. My wife and I struggled as I went back to college. I am still trying to recover financially, but I wouldn't change a thing. Here I am at 37 years old working in a career where I have the opportunity to change lives in a positive manner. If you had told me back in 1987 when I graduated from high school that I was going to be a teacher, I would have laughed for a day. I graduated high school and joined the U.S. Marine Corps instead of going to college. As I look back, I am so thankful that my life has turned out the way it has.

I work in a school that houses K-4. I am not the only male teacher in the building. In fact, there is another male first grade teacher and a third grade teacher too. Working with other male teachers has helped me, but I have found that most of my peers are respectful and help me in many ways. My school is Wyman Elementary in Rolla, Missouri. Many have suggested changing the name to WyMEN.

The idea of promoting more male elementary teachers is important to me. I would be more than willing to work with your organization as you work towards this goal. Please let me know what I can do to help in your pursuit of this goal.

Sincerely,

Matt Fridley

This article is a narrative of how things went for me during my recent deployment to the Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and the Red Cross Center in Pensacola. A second report will comment on matters only of concern to Disaster Child Care.

I arrived in Pensacola on Monday, September 11, and drove on to Fort Walton Beach with June Slick, our Project Manager, on Tuesday, September 12. Already before arrival I was informed that our Fort Walton team was to be reduced from 4 to 3. I was asked to lead the reduced team, consisting of Jan and Dick Millhouse and me. Pat Bub, who was to have been our leader, was transferred to permit the Pensacola team to be split into two, so that the Red Cross Center could be covered as well as the Pensacola FEMA One-Stop Center.

Our Fort Walton FEMA Center, Disaster Recovery Center No. 8, was in a former CVS drug store, with the linoleum floor and the shelves removed, and office room dividers, portable tables and chairs moved in. Our child care center was in the center of this arrangement, which was unusual for DCC, as the children were exposed to the public along two sides of the center. In this case it worked well for the children, because so many of the parents and children were anxious about being separated from each other. Many if not most of the children had been continuously with their parents since Katrina, ten days or more previously. So this was the first time the children could really play in a neutral but safe setting. Looking over the tables they could see their parents, and their parents could see them, with mutual reassurance. Only a few of the children in our care tried to leave the center to visit their parents.

Another feature of our location was that the main air conditioning vent for the large room was in the ceiling directly over the back of the DCC center, so that there was a chilly wind blowing there in the back most of the time. We played almost exclusively in the other parts of the DCC center, and Jan wore a sweater to compensate. Many of the children, however, came to us barefoot and with skimpy summer clothes on, it being in the 90's outside. The floor was incredibly dirty, and the kids' bare feet showed it. We had a thin rug, fortunately.

The children's part of the DRC had been dedicated to that use since well before DCC appeared on the scene, and there was a large if spotty number of toys and games there for the children when the DCC team first arrived. We left these toys, plus some of ours, for the children when we departed. Project Hope, a FEMA contractor working on social service issues, had taken the establishment of a place for children to play as one of their first tasks, and they were very helpful to us during our stay. Their supervisor arranged with them to help us out if they had a person to spare and we had more children who wanted to be with us than the 3 of us felt that we could handle. That situation occurred only a few times during our stay. One of the FEMA receptionists also was very helpful to us, as was Anthony, our Florida State host. The church across the street supplied free ham & cheese or PBJ sandwiches for everyone in the building most of the days we were there, supplemented through FEMA by chips, cookies, and the ever present bottled water, as well as occasional pizza.

On weekdays we served from 16 to 23 children a day, with most coming after 9:30 and leaving by 4. We worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., though we would leave an hour early if we had no children and the DRC was emptying out. The children's time with us ranged from 10 minutes to 4 hours, with an average of about 1-2 hours. Their ages ranged from 6 months to 13 years, with one adult with Mongolism added. In addition, we helped to set up the diaper changing table (with free diapers and wipes) back by the bathroom, and we would offer donated coloring books and crayons to the children who chose to stay with their parents while there. We recruited actively but not imposingly, emphasizing that free child care was available but not mandatory. Saturdays attendance was much lighter, and we did not work on Sundays, when very few children came to the DRC. Many of the families came to our DRC because the lines in the centers in Alabama and Mississippi were so long, or because they had evacuated to towns in the local area, so we cared for more children from Louisiana and Mississippi than from Alabama and Florida. All economic classes and ethnicities were represented. One mother told us in detail about her husband's multi-million dollar losses in New Orleans, while others were anxious to find new entry-level jobs in safer locations. Many families had lost everything but the clothes on their backs and a few other possessions. Others just needed a roof repaired. Ours was the soft edge of the disaster: None of our children had dead, missing or injured members of their family.

I was very impressed with the generally positive outlook that the families coming to us expressed, even when their whole lives had been disrupted. Most of the locals wanted to help them and the workers serving them, and the County had assembled a large book of where evacuees could go to meet specific needs. Even so, the victims often expressed considerable frustration about the public agency and insurance company red tape involved in getting back on their feet. The atmosphere among the workers in the Fort Walton Beach FEMA Center seemed very positive, much in contrast with what we found later at the Pensacola Red Cross Center. One FEMA worker told us that this was the honeymoon period, after the victims had been given their debit cards but had not yet received their benefit denial letters.

Practically all of the children behaved very well, especially considering what they had been through. Many were on their best behavior, probably induced by their families' anxiety about the future. Very easily most merged easily into the play opportunities in the DCC Center, and into sharing with each other. The rice bin, the play dough, the tempra paints, the toy car ramp and the toddler music and movement apparatus (the latter two both supplied by local donors) were the most popular activities. Bowling with rice-based former water bottles also was popular, but it could get noisy. The older ones liked Uno, but we lacked a Jenga to play with. Puzzles got some attention, though we were short on puzzles suitable for preschoolers. As in other centers, the stuffed animals and the books got very little interest, with some notable exceptions. We made up for some shortages in toys and supplies with local purchases.

We had mostly one-on-one or small group interactions with the children. Jan was very good at calming young babies and tired toddlers. Often siblings would play with, or care for, one another; however, a few of them carried their rivalries into their play in a disruptive way, and had to be reminded that they and others needed for the center to be a safe place where nobody got their feelings or their bodies hurt. Some of the older boys brought their Game Boys, and one even shared his. The art work was varied. We ran out of black tempra paint early, from all of the storm depictions. But there also were a fair number of rainbows, flowers, and trees/sun, typical of the age of the artist. The younger children particularly liked the sense of the color coming off the brush onto the paper, however it came. Only one or two of the children were obviously disturbed and hostile toward us and others. I particularly enjoyed watching young imaginations getting back to work, making up stories to fit the toys they were playing with. The FEMA people created a visual barrier of shelf paper between their receptionists and the rest of the center, which our children were invited to decorate. And decorate it they did, with many flourishes and signs of individuality. In addition, the leftover art was put on the FEMA Center's wall next to the entry door, and it extended about 30 feet along the wall when we left.

The Red Cross Center in Pensacola was very different, handling over 1,000 people a day in a very regimented context. Our center, where I worked on September 23 and 24, was completely divided off from the other activities by room dividers and curtains, and we were instructed to avoid recruiting, letting the Red Cross nurses bring families to us (which they did, in clumps). Families waited there much longer, for what seemed like less significant results than at the FEMA center. The victims had to use port-a-potties, and the staff had access to a bathroom. I got into trouble with a gate keeper when I escorted one of our 3 year old boys and his dad to the staff bathroom when the boy had an urgent call of nature, because the victims "mess up the bathrooms".

Some of the memorable events involved children like 15-month old Isabella, who had me wrapped around her little finger as she led me around the almost empty DRC at the end of the day; "Missy", a 12 year old autistic child, who had the 3 of us dancing and laughing with her to the tinny music of the toddler's play stand early one morning; several young ones who actually enjoyed my animal sound imitations as we read a book about animal sounds together; an older boy from Algiers, LA, across from New Orleans, who had lost everything but his dad and calmly played Uno with us; and a 3 year old boy in the Red Cross Center who got a free toy or animal crackers from Red Cross workers both times I had to take him to his mother in the auditorium. His anxious eyes eventually calmed down.

Quite a few of the children didn't want to leave when the parents came back to pick them up. It was clear to us that our play opportunity had helped them to resume a sense of normalcy. Thanks were abundant from both parents and FEMA staff, (as well as hugs from the children), and that was nice. We listened sympathetically to the stories of both children and parents, and that also helped. Many of the stories were told matter-of-factly, but were harrowing, such as staying inside a hall while the house is falling apart of the water was rising. Most of the children we saw, however, had evacuated before the storm did its worst.

As you know, our accommodations ranged from extreme luxury while assigned to Fort Walton Beach, to very basic when in Pensacola. The luxury included a Sunday morning ride at 70 mph on our host's speedboat, and king-sized beds in separate rooms for the Millhouses and me. The basic services at the First Presbyterian Church in Pensacola involved a large room, divided by a curtain, for all of us volunteers, with squeaky, saggy cots and foam mattresses. I had thought that I wouldn't be staying there, so I didn't bring sheets, blanket, pillow or towel. I managed, including using paper towels after my showers until I discovered that the church did indeed have towels for its guests. I guess that's the flexibility that we're trained for. The Angel Flights to and from Pensacola on corporate planes were luxurious when they happened, and it was fun to just walk out to the plane with your luggage, with no ticket counter or Homeland Security. The uncertain and much-delayed timing of the flights left much to be desired.

All in all, it was a very fulfilling experience. I felt I was doing what I'm supposed to be doing, even though it interrupted a busy life at home. Thank you for providing this opportunity, and I look forward to a similar opportunity to serve again. As we Quakers say, I'm continuing to hold you, the volunteers, and the children we serve in the Light.

John Surr
surr@his.com

Dear Mr. Nelson,

I have just received my AA transfer degree from Edmonds Community College in the state of Washington (3.56 GPA) and on the 19th of this month I'll be starting on a degree in elementary education at Western Washington University's Woodring College of Education.

I read the CNN article that described your organization "Menteach" and thought I'd write you to find out if there is some help available by way of financial assistance to help me pay for this course. I'll be receiving some financial aid through the normal channels, but not enough.

Also, I'd like to invite you to read my student profiles [Editor: that was posted to the community college website - SEE BELOW].

Very truly yours,

Mordecai Goldstein

"I do not want my children to be better educated than I am,” he jokes. In truth, Goldstein’s life has provided a great deal of education. He has lived in four countries and speaks three languages in addition to his native Hebrew. He studied court reporting and made a career as a legal secretary. He ran businesses in medical -transcription and advertising.

His experience includes editing screenplays and working as a scribe restoring ancient Hebrew parchment scrolls. A college degree, however, was part of Goldstein’s original plan. Thirty-seven years earlier, his plans to attend Brown University on a soccer scholarship were derailed when he broke his foot in a work-related injury. Then he attended another college, but did not complete a degree. He was not yet competent in English and, at the time, frankly, was occupied by some less academic pursuits. “I was more interested in girls,” he admits.

At age 52 though, Goldstein was ready and he felt there was more he could contribute by earning a college degree. He found the opportunity he was looking for at Edmonds Community College and now thrived in the academic environment.

“I really appreciated that the college provided a total experience and did a good job of meeting the needs of the individual,” he said. “I used the tutorial, advising, career and counseling centers.”

Goldstein also received a scholarship from the Edmonds Community College Foundation and published an illustration and a short story in the college’s award-winning art and literary magazine, Between the Lines 2004.

Now he will go to Western Washington University for his bachelor’s degree and to earn his teaching certification.

Dear MenTeach,

I have just visited your website and I totally support your idea to recruit more men into teaching. I work in public health in elementary schools and see kindergarden teachers in action. It was strange to see at first but the male teachers I've seen have a different teaching style. They seem to have a calm style and a well-behaved classroom. They are supportive of the children without being overly nurturant. The children seem to respect the teacher and he treats them with respect and in a more straight-foreward manner.

On a different note, my husband has become a teacher as a second career. He is a microbiologist by training and has a Master's Degree in Biology. After working in the corporate world for 25 years, he found himself doing less and less science and more and more paperwork. He decided at age 50 to get his teaching credential and is now teaching high school biology. In California, where we live, there are a shortage of Math, Science and Special Education teachers so we recruit them from around the nation and beyond.

My husband was hired on an "emergency credential" the first year as he hadn't done any student teaching yet. He did a great job, worked into the nights getting lessons made and was some student's favorite teacher. He was re-hired this year with his preliminary credential and a $4,000.00 raise!

My concern is this. If we have such a shortage of male teachers and especially math and science teachers, why after being lured into teaching, would they have to make a choice between their teacher pensions and Social Security when they retire?

After working for 25 years and fully funding their Social Security, why make them choose? They should be entitled to BOTH! Servicemen and women don't have to choose. Isn't teaching as noble a profession as military service? There are a lot of comparisons between the two professions!

Is there anything being done to remedy this inequity? Do all professionals who, later in life become teachers, have to give up their Social Security? It is bad enough that teachers' salaries are as low as they are. There should be some added incentive to recruit teachers into the field instead of punishing them when they reitre.

Don't you agree? Please let me know if there are any movements to reverse this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Good luck in your efforts with MenTeach.

Sincerely,

Robin Shaffer, RDHAP

I am a male Director of a long day care centre. It is being built at the moment and will be operating in 8 weeks. I'll be looking to employ one or two male workers as part of a team of ten. In the Australian context, this will be fairly innovative to have a few male workers together. I've worked in early childhood services for 14 years, never working or studying with another male.

I started up the only Males in Early Childhood Network Group in Australia about two years ago. Part of what the group does is promote men as prospective employees in services. We also have a mentoring system with experienced male workers linked with less experienced guys. My approach is based on a strengths perspective, where we promote by only talking about the great things that a man can bring to a team. Of course there are barriers, they are well documented, but we have found by looking at the glass being half full is by far the most productive way to get men in to services. It takes away the 'blame' factor i.e. women are discriminatory towards men, or women like to keep a hold on the power in early childhood. That gets us nowhere.

Another part of our approach is to only work with people who are ready. If a service shows some interest in having a male worker, then we do everything we can to support them to make it happen. Working with people who are ready, rather then trying to convince the whole early childhood field at once, will help ensure that the guys who are employed will be successul and will be retained. Those services with men are then recognised as being providers of hiqh quality care and education, not because they have a male worker but because they are inclusive. Every service (or most) then want to be a part of that push.

Some important strategies for Directors to consider when employing a male -

* Develop policies for the service, highlighting the service's belief that men are important.

* Male workers require their own male support mechanisms to stay in the job. He needs to talk and meet with other men regularly.

* Talk to the dads at the service about their perspectives on male workers. Research shows that father involvement increases with a male worker present.

* Research the postives that men bring to working with young children.

Craig D'Arcy

I have read your website with great interest, having written a book [The Man Who Became a School, (2004)] about the career of a man who devoted his entire career to being a teacher and principal at a small, rural school in Southern Illinois.

Children in rural schools are as at-risk as those in the inner city, suffering from poverty, neglect and the lack of strong male models to emulate. I was a teacher educator at nearby McKendree College, and shadowed Charles Kamm’s career for 20 of the nearly 40 years he spent as the inspirational leader and educator at Summerfield Grade School. This small anecdotal book chronicles his approach to teaching and includes, in his own words, the rewards he found in his career. The book also lists questions at the end of each chapter that encourage men to reflect on how they might use their own particular skills and talents to serve children at the elementary level.

I have worked cooperatively with male colleagues throughout my professional career, first as an elementary teacher and later as a college and university professor. I am also a textbook writer [Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms, 2^nd Edition (1996, 2005)]; Learning Journals in the K-9 Classroom (1997)] and co-author of a book of interviews with retired Olympians [American Men of Olympic Track and Field: Interviews with Athletes and Coaches (2004)], many of whom became teachers, following their Olympic careers. In both textbooks, I purposely included narratives of the fine men with whom I taught, and whose work I found to be exemplary.

At McKendree, I taught and supervised young men who were training to become teachers, and encouraged them to consider early childhood careers, as I strongly believe that the nurturing and intellectual stimulation that men provide their classes is more important to today’s children than ever before.

Congratulations on the work you are doing to encourage more men to consider teaching careers, and best wishes on your efforts.

Most sincerely,

Dr. Marcia S. Popp, Professor of Education, Director of Teacher Education, retired
1809 Monticello Place
Edwardsville, IL 62025

The Man Who Became a School is available from Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Just fill in the name of the book on the main web page and it should come up. There is a place to read reviews of the book, which include an endorsement from the Jesse Stuart Foundation and one from Education weekly.

Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms: A Resource Book for Professional Development , 2nd Edition, is published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Although it was written as a textbook, it may be of interest to young men considering teaching at the kindergarten and elementary levels.

I have followed the teaching career of Dick Koblitz, who is a featured teacher in the text, for nearly 30 years. He has been a primary teacher for all that time, and is currently pioneering a teaching format in the Clayton, Missouri schools, that involves having teachers stay with their students through the first three grades. Prominent in international reading associations, he has always been on the cutting edge of educational reform and innovation. Other men in the book are involved at the kindergarten level, are observed as student teachers, or their work is described in detail as they conduct classes at the primary or intermediate levels. It was my hope that these classroom narratives would demonstrate the particular strengths and talents of men as they work with young children.

My father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all teachers and their approach to students was one I have tried to emulate during my own teaching career. This influence, plus the experience of working with conscientious and talented men teachers at all levels of instruction, has given me great respect for the dedication in these persons and the positive effect they have in the classroom. Many of my male students from McKendree are now school principals, after having worked in the classroom successfully for many years. You will discover that the man featured in The Man Who Became a School refused to be, or continue as a principal, unless he could still be a teacher. It is, to many of us, the most sacred of callings.

I disagree with all the articles I have read and the State of Texas' Education Board when they say school districts do not have enough men applying for elementary school positions.

I think there are plenty of male applicants. Men generally wait till their later years before deciding to teach.

My older brother is a graduate of Texas A&M University and has accumulated over 400+ college credits from A&M, Alvin Community College and Stephen F. Austin University. Almost two years ago he obtained his 4-8 grade teching certificate and has substituted at numerous elementary schools in the Pearland/Alvin area for more than 5 years. He also has experience tutoring elementary, high school and college students in Math, English and Science.

He is continuously called for sub positions daily but as soon as he obtained his certificate and began applying for full time teaching positions the schools in this area ignored him, yet they have continued to call him yearly for sub positions.

I tend to agree with him that if you are not a young female, schools will not have anything to do with you. So much that for 2 years now (since he obtained his cert.) no school has even called him for an interview, which is really frustraiting since the principles at these schools know he has applied for numerous teaching opportunities and have personally told him they would see what they could do.

I have two very young children and he is very patient with them and explains everything they ask about in great detail. So much they run out of asking "why, why, why". He and I both agree that the schools in this area are blackballing him because of his age (mid 40's).

I always wanted to say something to an organization about this misconception surrounding grade schools acting like they were looking for male teachers in Texas.

Thanks,
Gregory S. Hay
Alvin, TX.

What does Michael Jackson have to do with Early Child Education and Childcare? One would hope nothing! Unfortunately there is a darker side to this comparison. Michael Jackson is another man accused of molesting children. There seems to be an underlying fear by many members of our society that any man in ECE is potentially a threat to their child’s health and safety. These beliefs seem to persist to some degree in all cultures and ethnic groups.

As an active member of the CAEYC Men in Education Committee, I am committed to changing these misguided concerns. When was the last time our local media has featured a male educator in a positive manner? There has been plenty of coverage in our local media about male counselors and educators being accused of abuse, so where’s the other side of the story?

As a man in ECE, I have always been aware of the extra scrutiny I receive from my supervisors and parents. Through the years in the classroom, I have grown to expect and welcome this extra attention. Not only do my supervisors seem to visit my class more often than others, I usually have a larger number of parents volunteering during the first two or three months of the year. Once I have earned their confidence, the number of volunteers goes way down.

I have had the opportunity to talk with a wide variety of men, young and old, who are working with children across the state. The number one concern seems to be the “Michael Jackson” stigma. One has to be careful about too many hugs, letting children sit in your lap and in the Los Angeles area, even tickling a child on the arm with your beard can lead to write ups. In an attempt to protect themselves, many directors are now hesitant to hire a male, and if they do, their job descriptions are modified to exclude diaper changing etc.

So whats the answer? I would like to see exceptional men in the field recognized locally. We want to hear from you. If you know of an exceptional male in the ECE or child care field, please take the time to nominate him for our first annual “Down to Earth Good Guy Award.”

For more information or to nominate someone, please contact me at (650) 790 0609 or chucka@syix.com

Chuck Allen, President
Twin Cities AEYC

I am embarked on a new, second (really first) career as a teacher of children in grades K - 3 in suburban Chicago (northern), after 25 years in business. I have a new MAT and a new Early Childhood certificate (chosen instead of Illinois' K - 8 certificate because I want to teach only the youngest children) and looking for a new teaching position. I am 50 and also have an MSJ from Northwestern U. and a BA from Carleton.

I have in the last two months written personal letters to all 252 elementary schools in northern Illinois and filled out the 80 or so applications from the districts encompassing those schools.

As a man, and a highly educated person with no personal ambition but only a desire to serve children as their teacher, I have for the two years it took me to obtain the MAT and in the three months since then deeply considered my MANY visits to a great number of elementary schools typical in culture of any elementary school with rare exception.

I have no less desire to be hired immediately to teach than I had two years ago, but the people (dozens and dozens I have met) who are in these teaching positions in K - 3 are foreign to me and my life experiences in many ways which to this moment make me very uncomfortable about what it will feel like (if I'm ever hired) to be lodged in a school culture that is undiversified, limited and somewhat shallow, not to mention paranoid and condescending toward males (these attributes I have personally witnessed).

I wll have to come up with some questions. That's the background. I have read all the theoretical stuff about men needed in teaching as role models, for the male approach to thinking and acting as a balance in the school, as a pleasing support in parents' eyes instead of just a bunch of young white girls as teachers (that's northern Illlinois) but I think the thinking inside the schools' teacher cultures is really insular, paranoid and isolating.

So I want to contribute as a teacher soooo keenly but feel depressed thinking about the limited culture I'll be entering.

I'm totally conflicted.

Thoughts, perspective, etc. would be welcomed.

Steve

My name is Gregory Alexander. I am a doctoral student at the University of Laverne in southern california. I am doing my dissertation on recruitment & retention strategies of men in special education, and its long term effects on special education.

I am a special education high school teacher and an adjunct professor at California State University San Bernardino and National University in the Special Education department.

If there is any information you can give me in regard to my study it will greatly be appreciated. I plan to do a Delphi Study or Interviews to obtain answers to my questions. I believe if we can find strategies to combat sexual accusations, low pay, low prestige, and recruit more men in education in particularly in the elementary level and special education, American education may not be in the predicament it is in today.

Male students make up approximately 70% of the two largest categories in special ed. Specific
Learning disability & Emotional Disturbance, when there are little male role models in special education classrooms. California has 28,000 special ed teachers of which maybe 4,000 are men which is significantly low. I am still searching for a more accurate figure on men in special ed. the state sites don't give that information directly.

I believe if there were a more proportionate balance of men teachers at the elementary level there would be less referrals of males into special education. Particular with poor white males, latinos, and specifically african american males where there is a known problem of overrepresentation in special education. Looking at this I find that primarily middle class white women are referring these elementary male students to special ed. at an alarming rate.

By the time they get to me in high school they have been labeled and "hobbled", therefore behind academically in almost all areas.

By the 10th or 11th grade the drop out rate shoots up tremendously in which we know contributes positively to crime.

In Southern california the recidivism rate of men with disabilities is at approximately 70%.

Studies have shown since 1976 that teachers primarily female teachers are more likely to refer males to special ed. than females.

This is a problem that has not been dealt with and Special ed. is going OUT OF CONTROL!!

No one knows exactly what to do.

Greg Alexander
951-712-8511

Perhaps all you mid-West retreat attendees and planners will have more experience or a different spin, but I have some impressions to share from our first Hawaii AEYC Men in Education Network retreat back in October. We followed the suggestions outlined in the NAEYC bulletin on the topic by our very own Bryan Nelson.

http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200211/MenGather.pdf.

This brief includes a page entitled "How to Organize a Retreat for Men" that helped us a lot. We had a lot of activities planned just in case we needed them, but we were very glad we built a lot of relaxing networking time in.

We stuck to a one day event this first time out (as suggested in the NAEYC bulletin), but there seemed to be a solid consensus in the retreat evaluations that the next time out should include an overnight stay so we can have time to really dig in on some of the more meaty topics and issues.

Following the interests of our participants is what really seemed to make it all work. The evaluations said the guys really appreciated that. We did a lot of icebreaker and sharing activities so the guys could share stories and get to know one another.

The most popular presentation-type activities were those by our teachers related to curriculum and the classroom. Some of our older attendees are administrators now, but I don’t think any of them will ever stop identifying with being a teacher.

More than several of our guys commented that they appreciated having a nice retreat facility. Our event took place at a retreat facility overlooking Aloha Tower and the Honolulu Harbor.

I personally believe that the quality of the food can make or break an event. Good food and plenty of it guarentees good times. So many of us get by on just a shoe-string (or other recycled materials) in our daily lives, that the guys said it was really nice to be treated as worthy professionals and even to be indulged just a bit.

Attendee evaluations were filled with descriptive words like " amazing," "rejuvenating," and "healing," and most importantly “We have got to do this again and soon!”

Donald E. Piburn, M.S.Ed
macdon@aloha.net