Year #23 starts this week for me. Year #23! As I was leaving work today, my supervisor and I were discussing our longevity in the Freehold Regional HS District (he has one extra year on me). We were discussing how much the job of "teacher" has changed in the last 20+ years--it is almost a completely different job than from when we started. We had smaller classes, didn't write lesson plans, and had no state or federal standards to abide by. We typed or even hand wrote a lot of our materials. We had gradebooks that we wrote each students' name into carefully and then at the end of the marking period, carefully used a ruler across the page as we added up their grades with a calculator. Parents didn't know their students' grade until we finished "bubbling" the report cards. We made up our own midterms and finals and the only standardized test that most students took in school was the one to graduate that tested "Minimum Basic Skills". I still used a filmstrip in my first year! (As a side note to any parents reading this--remember film strips? Remember how you wanted to be the student to turn the dial to make the image change when the "ding" of "beep" went off on the tape recorder.) There was no email or internet. When we wanted to watch something in class, I had to send a student down to go and get the TV on the rolling cart (and then hope that they did not run anyone over in the hallway!).
So, yes, the bottom line is that teaching has changed A LOT. Most of it has made me a better teacher. I am still evolving and experimenting, and hopefully, improving I will not sugarcoat it though; it is also a lot harder now--the expectations on us as teachers and on the students themselves has grown exponentially. I am responsible for teaching much more than just US History II. You as students need be "College and Career Ready" in many different ways. Just know this--we are on this path this year together. Welcome to my class.
