The many fascinating things teachers do outside of school

The general perception of a teacher might be that they just stand in front of a class and teach. Or, if you’re an elementary school student, it might be that your teacher lives at school and there’s a Murphy bed in the closet that they pull down to go to sleep on. However, teachers don’t just teach, and they definitely don’t have a Murphy bed in the closet. Teachers are students. Teachers are leaders. Teachers are creative. Teachers are more than teachers.

In a way, teachers are sort of like hitmen. They’re given a target to complete and then given a timeframe to complete it. The term “teacher on special assignment” is broad and for a good reason. These “special assignments” can vary from working with substitutes to working on curriculum development and selection. Ingrid Bodtker, a former South English teacher, was a teacher on special assignment, or TOSA, last year. Her job was to help “substitutes who have not been through teacher training” across the district. One of Bodtker’s favorite parts of her job was providing “support to people who want to be substitutes [but] who haven’t ever learned about how school works.”

Last school year, following the pandemic and lockdown, substitute teachers didn’t need to have a teaching degree in order to be a sub: all they needed was a college degree. Due to this, the school district saw a need for someone to instruct these substitutes, essentially, on how to be a teacher. Bodtker and one other teacher were hired for this job, and together, they would drive around to all the different schools in the district and check in with substitutes. Bodtker said, during an interview, that she drove around so much that “I now know where all the grade schools are!” Her job last year helped substitute teachers across the district become more confident in themselves and their job. As much as Bodtker enjoyed this, she was looking forward to working with students again.

This year, Bodtker is the English teacher at the 4J Design Studio, a new CTE immersive program intended for students who want to pursue a career in the design industry. As part of the program, “students are all working at their own computer bays and learning things about camera setups,” Bodtker said. Her job as the English teacher is to encourage students to read, asking “What do you think about this [book]? How does this fit into your future and what do you want to do with it?” This program is intended to prepare students for the future. “Run by students working for the district and non-profits in the community,” students provide and produce “all the graphics and PR and web presence and videos” for the businesses, Bodtker described during an interview. She’s “learning so much” and is excited that 4J is providing this opportunity for students to explore possible interests. 

Two science teachers, Dani and Asher Tubman, shocked the South community last spring, when they announced that they would be moving to Wales for a year. The reason behind the sudden move was that Asher was accepted into a physics program at Cardiff University. For the next year, Asher will be studying and researching gravitational waves in Wales, and Dani will be teaching science at a secondary school. The Tubmans are already finding their place in Wales, having adopted a new puppy (because Dani needs more than one animal with her at all times) and running a half-marathon, with Asher setting a personal best time (only because this was his first ever half-marathon, but a PB is a PB). Asher was very eager to talk about all the cool things in Wales, including how old all of the castles are, driving on the “wrong side of the road”, and how the currency is different (there, a pound is a monetary value, not a unit of mass). 

“Nothing is as far apart here as it is in the U.S.” Asher said, referring to how small the United Kingdom is, sizewise. 

Dani was also very eager to talk all about how different teaching in Wales is. “I have to switch rooms every week,” Dani said during an interview, and “it’s very militaristic. The students line up on the pitch [the British term for field]… and they have to be in uniform.” 

Asher is “sad to miss all of the students,” but not sad to miss the experiment of the new schedule here at South. He hopes that the “wisdom the school gains after a year on the new schedule” will help ease him back into teaching when he gets back. 

As much as Dani is enjoying Wales, she is already looking forward to returning to South, where “I can actually teach science instead of just standing there and being like, ‘Shut up everybody.’” One thing was made very clear about Dani’s teaching experience while talking to her: The behavior of the students is much worse in Wales than here in the U.S. “I feel like when I get back to South,” she said,“I’m going to be kissing the ground.”

At the end of the day, teachers are just like everyone else – explorers, seekers for something new, and learners. There’s so much more teachers do beyond the whiteboard.

Article by Elliott Hunt