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• Elona Hartjes, Ontario Certified Teacher

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“Significant work related stress may take 2 months leave of absence” the letter said. I never would’ve thought this type of letter would apply to me, but its my letter from my doctor to give to my school.

I’ve been teaching high school students almost thirty years and still love teaching. I’ve chosen to teach high school students who are at-risk academically for most of my career because I felt I could make the most difference teaching academically at-risk students. When my students ask me from time to time, why I teach high school instead of university, I always tell them I teach high school because I love teaching teenagers. So what happened? Why did I crash and burn that Tuesday after school?

Why did I crash and burn? I think the following contributed to my burnout:

• students’ disruptive behaviour in class;
• students’ verbal abuse and threats of cyberbullying;
• students’ considerable, constant emotional demands;
• students’ special  needs and the expectation  to differentiate teaching and assessing and evaluating students’ work;
• heterogeneity in abilities of my students;
• conflicting demands made by my students, parents, and administration;
• ever increasing  paper work, reports, and report card comments ;
• new discipline policy for students regarding lates, incomplete or unsubmitted assignments that some students think the new policies absolve  them of the responsibility they have for their own learning.

 

Now, of course I know I also contributed to my burnout.  I’m just a teeny weeny bit type A personality.  I worked hard to do my best and  try to motivate my students to do their best, but despite my best efforts I couldn’t motivate many of my students to take more responsibility for their own learning. In desperation, I tried to ignore these troublesome, troubles and troubling students, but I couldn’t.  I felt it my job to get them to do their best, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I ignored them. When I called home for support,  many of the parents were not surprised by their  kid’s behaviours and tried to be supportive but most said they didn’t know what to do. Sometimes when I called parents, some parents  didn’t return  any of my phone calls. I learned to call cellphones and not leave a message at home because the kids would just erase my message  before their parents got a chance to hear the message.

Anthony (not his real name) , one of my students,  skipped almost a third of my classes, repeatedly came late to class, and didn’t submit most of his work.  When I talked to Anthony about all this, he asked  “What is your problem?”. My problem I thought?

Another one of my students, Darren (not his real name) told me repeatedly he hated my classes and that I wasn’t any fun. I was giving the class too much work. I should be more like his teacher last year and let the class  watch movies on Fridays- in a math class?

Tom (not his real name) another student in my class had a hair trigger temper and would throw things around class.  Students were afraid of him; I was afraid of him. You just never knew what would set him off. He asked me one day as he came into  the classroom, what I would do if he refused to go to the office when I asked him to go to the office.   I told him I wasn’t even going to consider that question because I didn’t expect to have ask him to go  to the office.  I really try hard to start each day with a fresh slate. So, what happened yesterday does not affect today. I don’t usually send students to the office.  I try to deal with any issues myself in class. But on rare occasions, I feel I have to send students to the office. Later in class that day, Tom  chose to behave inappropriately, and  I asked him to go to the office. He refused. Two behaviour support teaching assistants came to escort him to the office , he wouldn’t go either. He refused despite everything. Then five minutes before class was over, he announced, “Now I am going”.  The learning environment was totally destroyed in that class and in future classes.   Students were either waiting to see what Tom was going to do and couldn’t focus on their  work, or after an incident  they were afraid and couldn’t focus on their work  or  they talked about the incident after it happened and couldn’t focus on school work.  I admit, I had a difficult time myself focusing.

Another student, I’ll call her Jenny, would skip classes, come late to class or sneak out of class when I was helping another student. One day I noticed Jenny was out of class and went into the hall to see if she was there.  I saw her and told her to come back to class.  Jenny just laughed and ran down the hall laughing more loudly as she opened the door and ran down stairs. I called home and left a message on her parent’s cell phone , but never heard back from the parent.

Other students have come to class high on some substance or another and have destroyed the learning environment as I dealt with the situation.

These are just some of the things that happened this semester in class. I don’t want to discuss any more hings that happened in class  because I find it too upsetting.

I’m just thinking  how much teaching has changed over the  years. I’m surprised I still like teaching, but right now I can’t even think about teaching.  That’s so sad.  I’ve been teaching for so many years and have loved it.  I’m a life long learner myself and keep on top of things by doing my own research on how to improve my teaching practice. I’ve had students who were at-risk academically and have graduated from high school come back and tell me how much  I  helped them while they were in school. I’ve even had students who didn’t graduate from high school tell me how much they appreciated what I tried to do for them.  And, now all I can do is cry when I think about it all.

Teacher cyberbullying is a hot topic. I recently had the pleasure (?) of being able to talk about teacher cyberbully on Metro morning, Radio 1, our local Toronto CBC radio station. I talked about why and how kids and parents bully teachers using the Internet and how teachers can protect themselves from cyberbullying.

Just today I got an email from Kevin Phang who is a media associate at on-line schools. He thought I might be interested in sharing the info graphic about cyberbullying with my readers. The info graphic was created using data gathered by Professor Andy Phippen of the University of Plymouth.  I’ve shared it below. Thanks Kevin.

What do you think administrators need to do to protect teachers from cyberbullying?

Courtesy of: OnlineSchools.com

Yes, school starts in a little more than two weeks and just like so many other teachers I’m starting to think (reluctantly ) about preparing for the new school year. Usually I go into school the week before school starts and ready the classroom, organize the supplies I’ll need and photocopy the handouts for the first few days. I’m going to do that but this year I’m also making a conscious effort to protect myself from teacher cyberbullying. I’ve seen and heard all kinds of horror stories about teacher cyberbullying. You probably have too.

Teacher cyberbullying is the deliberate use of information and communication technologies by students, parents, teachers, administrators etc. with the intention of insulting a teacher or teachers, harming reputations, spreading hate or discrimination based on race, colour, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, or disability.

How am I going to protect myself from cyberbullying? I’m going to know the law, the code of professional ethics, my school board’s policies, and I’m going to follow them.

I know that teacher cyberbullying is against the law and can have serious consequences for the bully.

Much of my class takes place in cyberspace. I use information and communication technologies as teaching tools for myself and learning tools for my students. I don’t want my students to misuse these tools and demonstrate a lack of respect for anyone, me included. The new technology is really cool but it is a double edged sword. The cameras in cell phones for example can be  used to complete assignments or it can be used for teacher cyberbullying.

Last semester I overheard students  laughing and reminiscing about how a couple of grades ago they’ve deliberately provoked their teacher Mr. Johnston (not his real name)  and then filmed Mr. Johnstones’ reaction. Students know how to push teachers buttons, and since teachers are only human  just like everyone else, they can  loose it at times.  The students shared the video with other students and poor Mr. Johnston was not even aware of it, but here it is two years later and the students are still laughing about provoking Mr. Johnston and filming his reaction, the reaction they were hoping to get. Sometimes these videos end up on YouTube .  There’s even a term for that kind of bullying: you’ve been YouTubed.

Last year, cell phones were banned in school.  This year,  allowing cell phones in the classroom is at the discretion of the teacher.   I’m of mixed minds.  I’m going to  discuss a cell phone policy in my class with my students .  The discussion will be centred around respect for the learning environment and respect for people in the class, including me. Have you had a discussion like this. I’d love to hear how it wen,t and what the outcome was.

Cameras in cell phones are a concern but so are emails. I correspond with parents and students by email. I don’t want to say something in an email in a mindless moment that could cause me grief down the road. I don’t want to be inappropriate even if it is unintentional. So I intend to always

• maintain exemplary professional standards whenever I send a work related email to anyone,
• use a professional voice when communicating with anyone,
• keep a copy of all my emails,
• use a signature that includes my name, my work assignment, and my school,

I will not

• share any passwords with students or colleagues,
• leave my computer on when I’m not at it,
• use my home computer to send any work related emails to parents or students,
• use any cyberspeak ( lol, u, btw),
• post criticism of students, parents, colleagues, administrators,
• allow pictures to be taken and posted without knowing that appropriate safeguards are in place.

 

I realize despite my best efforts I could still be a victim of teacher cyberbullying.  The thought of it makes me shudder. Sometimes there’s not much I can do about it because teacher cyberbullying has moved out of the classroom and school environment.  Students can use a site called Rate Your Teacher to say vicious things anonymously about teachers.  Teachers don’t even know who is bullying them.  Kids are protected by their anonymity. I’ve talked  with  teachers who were victims of teacher cyberbullying on Rate Your Teacher.  Believe me, they were extremely upset and stressed about the situation because Rate Your Teacher wasn’t willing to remove the comments.  I’m told that sometimes Rate Your Teacher does remove the comments, but I personally don’t know of this happening.

What can I do if I’m a victim of teacher cyberbullying?  I can defend myself  by

• making copies of all messages/web postings or other related data including the URL,
• telling the sender to stop the behaviour and tell the sender such conduct is inappropriate and unacceptable,
• not  discussing the situation beyond tell the sender to stop becasue the conduct is inappropriate and unacceptable,
• seeking  support from my employer and local teachers’ federation,
• advising  My Occupational Health and Safety Committee if my safety is threatened,
• get in touch with my federation if things aren’t resolved effectively or if I need more information

 

It seems that a teacher’s life is getting more and more complicated.  It’s not just about the 3 “R’s” anymore.

Do you have any things to share about teacher cyberbullying?  I’d love to hear how you plan to protect yourself or deal with it if you are a victim.  Have you been a victim of cyberbullying?

 

Resource:

Cybersafety- important information for OSSTF/FEESO members

 

Sometimes we can get the wrong idea about what it takes to successfully teach kids who are academically at-risk.  You don’t have to be a superhero like Erin Gruwell in Freedom Writers. You just have to be “good enough”. I’ll explain what I mean by “good enough” in a minute.

For those of you who have seen the movie Freedom Writers, you’ll know what I mean when I say Erin, the teacher in the movie, is a superhero.   For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, I’ve embedded a trailer here so you can have a better idea of what I’m talking about.

I mean no disrespect to Erin Gruwell, the teacher Freedom Writers is based on. What she did with her students was truly extraordinary. I’m in awe of her. But I think because she’s a superhero, teachers who watch the movie might get the mistaken notion you have to have super-teacher powers to teach students who are academically at-risk. You don’t. You don’t have to be a super-teacher. You only have to be “good enough”.

When I say teachers of students who are academically at-risk don’t have to be superheros they only have to be “good enough”, I don’t mean they can be mediocre. Far from it.  Let me explain what  I  mean by “good enough” teachers.  ”Good enough” teachers

• • have good  emotional intelligence
  • establish inviting student centered classrooms;
  • have excellent listening skills;
  • willingly treat their students with respect and demand the same from their students ;
  • have expertise in the teaching subject;
  • can differentiate teaching, assessment and evaluation strategies to suit students;
  • help students be successful using the students’ strengths;
  • are firm but fair;
  • are creative;
  • are life-long learners;
  • are flexible;
  • are skilled at teaching and assessment;
  • realize and accept they’re not perfect;
  • realize tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to get it right.

 

“Good enough” teachers realize it’s not their job to “fix” students who are academically at-risk; it’s their  job to help students realize better choices will lead to better outcomes and help them develop their critical thinking skills so they can make better choices.

Erin Gruwell did all this and more. She is a superhero who teaches, but we can be just “good enough” and still be successful at teaching students who are academically at-risk. We don’t need to be superheros ; we can just be humans who teach. I want teachers to realize that.

If you’ve been teaching academically at-risk students, what do you think it takes. How would you define “good enough”?

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