Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach

(Nancy Kaufman) #1
as I do when I’m there. We’re all there to help each other. Sometimes the topics are focused on
classroom management, sometimes on how to deal with supervisors or colleagues who do not
share a similar teaching philosophy and sometimes on new lesson or project ideas. No matter
what, we always share our love for being with the kids. Throughout the meetings, I sit and write
down all the new ideas I’m getting, either as suggestions from others or ideas that I thought up
as a natural progression from our discussion. When I leave the meeting I am rejuvenated. I rush
home and begin planning out all these new activities.
The network keeps the pleasure I feel when I teach fresh, and listening to the concerns and
problems of the newer teachers keeps me grounded in reality. I hear that many teachers burn
out in their first five years, but I am going just as strong as I was the day I started. I’m sure it’s be-
cause I have a group of people to talk to, listen to, bounce ideas off of and to give me support.

Yes, teachers need support, too.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION—THE NEW TEACHERS NETWORK

Questions to Consider:


  1. Is “race” such a sharp point of division in your community? Explain.

  2. During the e-mail exchange, people responded to each other harshly. Under the cir-
    cumstances, why do you think people remained involved in the dialogue and in the
    network?
    3.As a new teacher, if you have the opportunity, will you become involved in a group like
    the New Teachers Network? Explain.


REFERENCES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING


The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999).Teen sex and pregnancy.New York: Author.
American Academy of Pediatrics. (1999). Adolescent pregnancy: Current trends and issues: 1998 (RE9828).Pediatrics,
103 (2), 516–520.
Berne, L., & Huberman, B. (1999).European approaches to adolescent sexual behavior and responsibility.Washington,
DC: Advocates for Youth.
Borland, H. (1972).When the legends die.New York: Bantam Doubleday.
Davidson, A. L. (1996).Making and molding identity in schools: Student narratives on race, gender, and academic achieve-
ment.Albany: State University of New York Press.
Donohue, E., Schiraldi, V., & Ziedenberg, J. (1998).School house hype: The school shootings, and the real risks kids face in
America.Washington, DC: The Justice Policy Institute.
Dorris, M. (1988).A yellow raft in blue water.New York: Warner Books.
Fine, M. (1991).Framing dropouts: Notes on the politics of an urban public high school.Albany, NY: State University of New
York Press.
Kesson, K., & Oyler, C. (1999). Integrated curriculum and service learning: Linking school-based knowledge and social
action.English Education, 31(2), 135–149.
Kohl, H. (1994).I won’t learn from you and other thoughts on creative maladjustment.New York: New Press.
Lowry, L. (1993).The giver.Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Monette, P. (1992).Becoming a man: Half a life story.New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Rawlings, M. (1961).The yearling.New York: Scribner.
Richter, C. (1994).The light in the forest.New York: Random House.
Speare, E. (1991).The witch of Blackbird Pond.Bantam Doubleday.
Szekeres, G. (1999). HIV/AIDS in adolescence [Year-end special edition].Bulletin of Experimental Treatment for AIDS.
(http://www.sfaf.org/treatment/beta/b42/b42adolescence.html).
Twain, M. (1983).Adventures of Tom Sawyer.New York: Penguin.


SUPPORT 251

Free download pdf