Teacher Shortage: Part 3

Photo by Kat Smith

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It was time to be creative.

After all, that’s what I do best. And I thought my students could benefit.

I began taking my students outside for an extra 15 minutes in the morning. First, we listened to the morning announcements, then I shuffled the students outside for playtime, then I corralled them into desks and read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to them for another 15 minutes.

Research shows Harry Potter encourages literacy in children. In fact, the story is credited with creating an entire generation of readers. Millennials read more than any other generation. (This is a fact.)

I watched my students who struggled the most with attention be captivated by the words on the page. The class laughed out loud when Hagrid gave Dudley a pig’s tail. And “oooooh’d” when Harry had a comeback for Professor Snape.

We talked about the dramatic themes in the book. We talked about character development, plot, setting, etc.

“Have you ever had a teacher or authority figure accuse you of doing something you didn’t do?”

“YES!”

“Who would like to share a story about that with me?”

Every hand shot in the air.

And we’d just talk. I’d help them sort through some of their emotions, asking clarifying questions and encouraging the appropriate response when somebody did something they didn’t like.

We worked heavily on how to have a discussion. One student had a soft voice and I would stop the whole class if someone spoke over them.

“What’s the rule in a discussion?” I crossed my arms and paced through the desks. “Who can tell me?”

Hands shot in the air.

“Yes?” I pointed to a student.

The student said clearly, “Just because someone doesn’t speak as loudly or as quickly as you do, doesn’t mean they don’t have something important to say.”

“That’s right.” I said.

“Ms. Klüg. Why do you say that all the time?” A student piped up.

“Because if more people in our country knew that rule, we’d live in a much better world.”

I didn’t have an issue with class participation. My class was always ready to engage as long as they found the subject matter interesting.

If I was talking about something that came from my heart, the room was quietly listening or hands were in the air begging to be a part of the discussion.

It was when I started passing out the worksheets that all hell broke loose.

“Noooo!!! Ms. Klüg!”

Students would put their heads on their desks. Some would cry.

Others would just try to go to the nurse or the bathroom to get out of there.

It broke my heart.

I knew it wasn’t that these kids didn’t want to learn. They just failed to find the mandated reading material interesting. They failed to see the point in any of it.

“Why do I need to know this?” A student would ask. “Who cares?”

I didn’t mind the questions. I had the same thoughts going through public school.

Why DO they need to know this? Why SHOULD they care?

Even though Harry Potter was in the school library, I was afraid someone would get onto me for reading it. The series was so controversial in my own youth. I sent a letter home to my students’ parents, informing them we would be reading the book in class. No one had an issue.

But I was always paranoid about every decision I made.

Until… I saw the results.

One day, my students had a bad attitude day. They didn’t care about anything I was teaching, they wanted to be extra. And I mean EXTRA.

I was teaching Social Studies. My third graders first read stories about the American flag, the Founding Fathers and the Revolutionary War and then learned about different monuments and important historical locations across the United States. Then, they learned about the process of elections and the different branches of government.

Truthfully, I was in my element when I got to teach Social Studies. I was a Sociology major in college.

But my students weren’t getting it.

“Guys. This is important.”

“Psshhhh.” One student said. “What’s so important about a tiny little flag!” The student pointed to our class flag hanging above our classroom Smart Board.

Some students laughed.

I tried to answer all their questions. But this one felt extra important.

So, I decided to veer off the mandated lesson and teach an off the cuff one.

“Did you know the original flag was bigger than this classroom?”

The class quieted down slightly.

“What?”

“Oh yes. Did you know the original flag only had 13 stars?”

“No! No! That’s not true!” A student spoke up.

“Yes it is!” Another student said. “It was in that story we just read!”

“13 stars for 13 united colonies.” I looked up at the flag. “Unfortunately, the United States does not always live up to its highest ideals. However.” I turned my attention back to the class. “I still believe in the idea of freedom, liberty and justice for all.” I considered what I wanted to say next. “Did you guys know that many children your age do not have a right to an education?”

The class was quiet. One student asked, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, students your age live in nations where an education is only a privilege to people who can afford it. It means if their parents don’t have money to send them to school, they cannot go.” I looked over to the few girls in my class. “Especially girls. Many countries do not allow their girls to be educated.”

“What?!”

“Oh yes.” I turned to my classroom Smart Board and pulled up a Google image.

“Who’s that Ms. Klüg?”

“What’s wrong with her face?”

“This is Malala… she was shot in the face on her school bus because she tried to go to school.”

The class was quiet.

“She was only fifteen.” I walked around the classroom, looking around at the room. “She miraculously survived and is now an advocate for education all around the world.” I flipped off a light switch and flipped it on again. “You all get to sit here in an air conditioned building with fluorescent lighting.” I sighed. “And I know there’s a lot of issues. I know a lot needs to change. But your question was… what’s so important about a tiny little flag?” I directed my attention at the student who asked the question.

The student nodded.

“The flag is merely a symbol of hope. Hope in the American ideal that we all have certain inherent and inalienable rights. The soldiers on the battlefield would look to this flag… while their friends were dead around them; while guns fired off; while they weren’t sure if their friends and family back home were still alive… and the flag gave them hope in an idea. An idea of a free nation.”

And I began to sing—yes sing—the National Anthem.

“O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bomb bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

The class was the quietest I had ever heard.

I pointed at the flag. “Our national anthem is about the hope that flag—that ideal—brings… or it used to. I know the United States has a lot of issues. Some kneel when they see the flag. Some stand at attention. Nevertheless, no matter how people regard it, it is a symbol and reminder of all we can be. I know you all are young and simply do not understand why any of this is so important. But one day, you guys will be able to vote.”

“What?”

“Oh yes. The day you turn 18 you’ll be able to cast your votes. Perhaps some of you will even run for a political office one day. Who knows? But if you don’t like how things are done… if you’re upset with school and you want it to change…” I turned back to my lesson. “I suggest you pay attention. You’ll have the power to transform it one day. One day, you will be the ones making the decisions. How can you make good leaders if you cannot learn?”

I switched the Smart Board back to the Social Studies slides. “For now, be thankful you are here. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the best one we’ve got right now. Change is slow.”

Over the next week, we continued our lesson on how the government functions. I set up a mock class election. We had a Congress and a Senate, a Supreme Court. The class split into “parties” (the tiger or the horse party) and voted for President.

During free time, after the students completed their work, they began to make their own flags… completely unprompted. Some students wrote their own Declaration of Independence and tried recruiting other classmates to be a part of their “country.”

The flags were elaborate. Some worked on them for days. Many drafts were made for their own constitutions.

I was astounded. These students took initiative over their own education.

They lived in these worlds they created. Ideas spouting from their very own mouths on how a good country should run.

“Ms. Klug! Look at my constitution! I have six signatures!”

I caught students hoarding acorns on the playground.

Of course I had to confiscate them.

“Ugh! But Ms. Klüg!” My students sighed. “We’re going to war between our countries!”

“You cannot use acorns as a substitute for bullets!”

“Oh come on!”

We went to the library and my class, unprompted, checked out every copy of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” the library possessed.

I can’t lie, I teared up a little when they ran to show me their selections.

“Ms. Klüg! Now we can read at home!”

The extra 15 minutes of outside time in the mornings seemed to take the edge off for my students with excess energy. My students who were formerly completing no work were now turning at least SOMETHING in.

There were still some interpersonal issues between some of my students. But every day I saw progress. Every day we worked on social skills and getting along with one another.

Then… every teacher’s worst fear happened.

Part 3/5

About Sandi MarLisa

Sandi MarLisa is a professional writer and musician in Panama City, Florida. She is co-founder of the band Jack and Gin, as well as author of three books, including her latest title Fire Flurries: Confessions of a Small Town Rockstar.

Learn more about her at her website: www.sandimarlisa.com.