CRTs don't get perks.

I've been spending some time in Facebook groups lately while I've been a bit under the weather.  I forget which group it was in but someone was saying that CRTs don't get perks.  Well, having had time to process that with a clear head, I am inclined to disagree.  This harks back to this video which I tend to return to from time to time:

Bill Gates on TED Talks - How do you make a teacher great?

It takes great teachers to make great teachers.  This is something i agree with and why I so passionately pursue making the Wodonga CRT Support Network firmly centered on collegial opportunity.  To provide everyone access to Great teachers.  Now I'm not so black and white about it as Bill because I believe every Teacher has something they do that's great and everyone will benefit if they share.  So while you don't have to be one of the giants of education to be worthy of sharing, I do believe that greatness in one can breed greatness in others.

So, back to the perk thing.  We get paid as graduates, with loading instead of sick pay and holiday pay, we could be working just about anywhere, we sometimes don't know until the last minute and we can go a long time between days.  Where the hell, you might ask, are the perks?  Well, it's in the "we never know where we're working part".

It's only a matter of time before we replace a teacher that's got some absolutely great things that they do or who you could legitimately call "truly great".  It's time to remember that classrooms are not only a reflection of students but also the teachers that work in them.  We get an insider peek at some of the best classroom practice on offer combined into a working whole by some of the most talented Teachers in the profession.

When you step into a classroom, look at it.  Don't just scan the walls looking for what behaviour strategies you're going to be using today or look at work on the walls so you know what level to expect.  At the end of a particularly successful day, look at the walls again.  What's there that has allowed the teacher to set a classroom atmosphere where a stranger, or at least someone far less familiar, can walk in and the students still have a great day?  Take notes from their lesson plan or even photocopy it.  Have a good look and see precisely what's in there that allowed a complete stranger to still give the class a great day.

These days aren't just a stress free day where you also made some money.  They are special and valuable learning experiences that give you a clear view of many things that a lot of others simply never get the opportunity to come into contact with.  Relish the opportunity to see how someone else has linked strategies together into an engaging and effective whole.  Adopt some of those practices as your own and take a firm step towards being "truly great".

Classroom teachers get this on a FAR less frequent basis than we do and it's in a different way.  Getting a job in a good school is not just a big deal because of the programs it offers but who you get to work with and learn from.  Usually schools are a little insular in the way they do things and classroom teachers are pretty much restricted in what they have the opportunity to learn collegially by the fence that separates the school grounds from the rest of the world. 

We aren't restricted by that fence line.  Not only do we get to learn from them, we get to immerse ourselves 100% in their methods because we're expected to be them while we're there.  Other teachers can look in through the window but we're smack dab in the middle of it all, not looking but experiencing.

If that's not a perk?  Then I don't know what is.

Regards,

Mel.