Week 10

Coming back to school after spring break made me realize that these last couple of months really are the final stretch for these teachers. I've also realized that, out of all the teachers I've worked with over the span of my internship, only two haven't explicitly told me not to get a teaching degree. Today, three of the teachers for the 3-8th graders were talking about quitting their jobs and working at McDonald's as a more profitable source of income. I think teachers would love their jobs so much more if 1. they didn't have to pay for nearly everything in their classroom and 2. they got paid as much as they deserve ($15 every time they have to deal with a difficult student--they'd be rich).

Over the past two weeks, the students have been learning in a less traditional classroom setting, both in the third grade and first grade classes I've been sitting in on. The students use laptops for educational video games. Seeing as I'm awful with technology, it was quite a struggle for me to help my first graders navigate their "rules of talking" lessons. The younger students lacked the patience to sit and listen to the entire lesson, and seeing as they cannot read yet, they had no information with which to answer the questions in the quiz portion of the game. Also, the laptops are horrible. About six out of fourteen of them actually work, which made me realize it's not only teachers who need more money; it's the school itself. I can't wait until I can vote on school funding issues in Arizona.

I conducted an interview with my first non-student this week as well. I will refer to her as Mrs. G, a teacher who works with seventh and eighth graders and helps them transition into high school. I asked her about four questions on how the elementary school culture translates into a high school atmosphere and what her students teach her on a daily basis. Her answers were much more eloquent than many of the students I've interviewed, and I've come to realize that everybody I've interviewed has a pretty positive take on the schooling system. Even though there isn't much funding, some academically-inclined students are stuck in a school that values sports more than anything, and grades are a constant source of stress, students and teachers alike seem to focus on the aspects of school that have benefited them the most which I've found to be very encouraging. If I can ever edit my hours worth of interview footage together, I hope I'll be able to bring this sense of hope to life.