Bless me blogger for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last blog post.
I began this post seven weeks ago when I wanted to blog about something (I don’t even remember the topic now), and I couldn’t find time to write. It’s hard to stay afloat as an elementary school teacher. It’s hard to stay afloat as any kind of teacher. There is just too much paperwork, lesson planning, and meetings. How in the world am I supposed to find time to blog? No, seriously. How?
I know we are supposed to collaborate. I know we are supposed to share ideas. I just don’t know when. For the past three years, I taught elementary music. I had time during the school day (without students) to work. I could write lessons, write blog posts, or write music. It was amazing, and it was a rare teaching assignment that allowed this luxury. And not I no longer have this time.
Instead, I am required to partake in my district’s biennial “Teacher Goals,” where I spend hours working on a document that is sent only to my principal. I am just not motivated to write for an audience of one.
I work hard to remember how this feels (colossal wasting of time writing something I don’t want to write), so that I don’t do that to my students. I strive to find authentic writing opportunities for my students. We write songs together.
We share our writing in Google Docs. We’re collaborating with Scott Bedley‘s class–my students write and his students give feedback. Whatever the situation is, I make an effort to create an authentic writing environment (hey, I like the sound of that) where there’s an authentic audience. I’m beginning to believe that authenticity is an essential part of assignments if you want student buy-in.
So, I don’t know what the solution looks like for educators. I don’t think schools will build time into the school day for teacher reflection, and I don’t think I’m going to wake up at 4:30 am for quiet blogging time. If you have a suggestion, I’d love to hear it.
