As the third Covid-impacted school year draws to a close, we sat down with two experienced teachers to get their take on this school year and the importance of cultivating positive relationships with parents and students.It's a heartwarming discussion that highlights the passion and dedication of Florida's teachers and shines a light on the value of experience. 

Episode 18 Show Notes:

Guests

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Transcript

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GuestsMorgan Mousley, English teacher, Creekside High School, St. Augustine Megan Young, English teacher, Tocio Creek High School, St. AugustineResourcesJoin your local union Future Educators of AmericaFEA's 2022 Legislative Session Report 

TranscriptAndrew Spar, FEA President: Hi, this is FEA President, Andrew Spar. To stay on top of all the latest news and issues impacting our public schools, be sure to follow FEA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information on this podcast, visit FEAweb.org/podcast.Sharon Nesvig: You're listening to Educating from the Heart. Thank you for joining our lively conversations with support professionals, parents and students as they share issues that matter most in our public schools. Here are your hosts, Tina Dunbar and Luke Flynt.Tina Dunbar, Host: Hello, and welcome back to Educating from the Heart. I'm Tina here with my co-host, Luke.Luke Flynt, Host: Hey, Tina.  Tina: Well, Luke, you know, May is a very special month for teachers, and I'm not referring to the end of the school year or summer vacation. I'm talking about a special event that encourages us to pause for a moment and reflect on the people who work in our schools and contribute so much to our children's lives.And while that moment is only a week showing teachers and all educators that we appreciate their work is an act that needs to occur throughout the school year. Of course, Luke, we all know that showing a little gratitude and appreciation really goes a long way.Luke: It really does. And showing that appreciation is important, perhaps now more than ever because when you talk with teachers, you will hear that so many of them, especially experienced educators, feel that this year has been the most difficult of their careers. Between the stress of teaching during a global pandemic, the seemingly endless attacks from certain politicians, outrageous testing policies that negatively impact teaching and outside groups trying to form a wedge between parents and teachers, I can certainly understand why this year has been so hard.Tina: And to complicate the situation, some parents who homeschooled their children during the pandemic now believe they know the teaching experience and understand the pressure points and frustrations that classroom teachers face.  Yet during many of our podcasts, Luke, you know our listeners heard from teachers who shared their feelings of being misunderstood, unheard and above all disrespected. Teachers have told us one of the main reasons they walk away is poor working conditions, unreasonable demands, and an unrealistic expectation that they face each and every day. You know, if we really care about our educators, then we ought to recognize working under these conditions could make the job unbearable for even the best teachers.Luke: Oh, absolutely. It is important to remember though, despite all of the loud voices screaming at school board meetings, the rhetoric coming from the governor's office, parents still rate their public schools very highly, and they have respect and admiration for their children's teachers.Tina: And that is so true. As we move through the waning weeks of the school year, we figured this would be the perfect time for our listeners to meet a couple of exceptional educators from St. John’s County. And they are on a mission to help their students and parents. Morgan Mousley and Megan Young share their recipe for building positive relationships with parents and the impact that's having on their classrooms.Morgan Mousley, St. Johns English Teacher: I'm Morgan Mousley. I work at Creekside High School. I am on the bargaining team, and I teach ninth and twelfth grade English.Luke: All right. How many years you've been teaching?Morgan: I have been teaching for 12 years.Tina: What inspires you to continue teaching?Morgan: I think it's like that moment that you get to that the light bulb comes for the kid. Right? And they've learned something new, and you know, you don't get it every day, but when it does come, you're like, okay, this is it.In addition, the connection that you make with certain kids, right? Like, and you can always tell it's the kid that maybe doesn't have a connection outside of school that like that connection has, you know, made their year. Again, it's not every kid and it's not every day and it's not every year, but like when it does happen, it's enough to like make up for all of the other stuff that we have to deal with as a teacher.Megan Young, St. Johns English Teacher: My name is Megan Young. I teach English at, Tocoi Creek High School in St. Augustine, Florida. And I've also been teaching for 12 years. I would say that the reason I became a teacher is because when I was growing up I definitely felt like I benefited from the consistency, the love and the support of all my educators when I was growing up, and I wanted to give back to that system that supported me so much.Luke: So, you had mentioned what keeps you going is those light bulb moments, share one or two examples, specific examples of when either that light bulb has gone off and you were like really proud of a student or a connection that you've made that's meaningful.Morgan: This year I've had one. I have a 12th grade girl who an IEP [Individualized Education Program], and it's for a really like extreme anxiety. And so, at the very beginning of the year, I read her IEP and I was like, “Oh God, this girl sounds like she's going to be a nightmare in class,” because it was like, “she may, you know, have like complete meltdowns in class. You may need to like, leave the classroom. You just need to let her go.” And I'm like, “oh God,” like, I dunno, like I'm just preparing myself mentally. She was the most delightful, like sweet young lady that I could just tell, you know, suffered from extreme anxiety.And one of the first, it was like the first couple of weeks of school, I had an ESL [English as a Second Language] girl in that class who barely spoke any English, like, and I could tell every time she's very good at reading and, you know, she can process and it takes her a while, but like conversational English, she doesn't know what's going on in class, and I always feel so bad. So, you know, after I'm giving directions, I'll always try and go over and explain, but the girl with extreme anxiety sat next to the girl with ESL. And so, she would notice like when I didn't, you know, I was going to another student and didn't have time to explain, she would take the ESL girl and like very slowly explain to her and make sure she knew what was going on.I was like, “wow this girl, I just love her.” And then the next day, another girl had a complete meltdown in class, something, I don't know, some sort of drama. So, I let her go to the bathroom and take care of her stuff. And I was walking around, passing by the girl with anxiety, and she had left a note on the girl who had to leave’s desk and was just like, “I hope you have a better day. I'm so sad that these things are going on.”And at Creekside we have a character counts program where like, we're supposed to give them little notes that say “Character Counts” and they get to turn it in for a piece of candy. And then there's like a drawing at the end of the month for like a bigger prize. Sometimes it's like tickets to the football game or, you know, some sort of gift card places around town have donated. And so, I just knelt down by her desk and I was like, “I've just noticed that your character is amazing,” you know? And I told her about the ESL girl, and then I noticed her note.  And she went home that day, and apparently she was having the worst day ever, and I made her day. And her mom sent me this really long email that was like, you know, “Teachers so often don't understand my daughter, and you seem to understand her and I appreciate it. And like, you're amazing. And I just love your teaching style. And she talks about you all the time.”And I was like, well, this is why I do it. Right? And to me that was like not a big thing, but to that girl, it was, you know, it just made her year, and we've had a great year together this year because of it. So. Yeah, that's what, that's what keeps me going.Luke:  I taught middle school for 12 years, and sometimes I wondered like how different are my kids from high schoolers? And it sounds like not at all, very similar issues.Morgan: Yes. There's still the drama in high school. There's still all of that. I think they handled it a little bit better than they did in junior high, but yeah, it's still very much.And yeah, it's weird. I'm like that “Character Counts” sounds so ridiculous for these seniors in high school. They love it. I gave another girl “Character Counts” because she was telling me about this drama she was having with her friends, and she was telling me how she was sticking up for her friend and telling her to like stick up for herself and in these wonderful ways. And I was like, “I just think that that's so mature of you. I'm giving you this “Character Counts” card. And she was like, oh, and then like months later she opens her folder and her “Character Counts” card is still in her folder. And I was like, “you were supposed to turn that in for candy.