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| I teach high school on Chicago's South Side. What would you like to know? | I teach high school on Chicago's South Side. What would you like to know? |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| For the last seven years, Dave Stieber has taught history and social studies at public schools in Chicago's South Side. He currently teaches at TEAM in Englewood. Dave will be online today between 12.30pm and 1.30 ET (5.30-6.30 BST) to answer your questions. What would you like to know? Toss your questions in the comments. | For the last seven years, Dave Stieber has taught history and social studies at public schools in Chicago's South Side. He currently teaches at TEAM in Englewood. Dave will be online today between 12.30pm and 1.30 ET (5.30-6.30 BST) to answer your questions. What would you like to know? Toss your questions in the comments. |
| What's your typical day like? | What's your typical day like? |
| My typical work day consists of me waking up at 5am, walking the dog, breakfast, and getting dressed by 5.40. Giving my son and wife a kiss then out the door by 6.10am. I'm on the bus to work and at school by 6.40am. | My typical work day consists of me waking up at 5am, walking the dog, breakfast, and getting dressed by 5.40. Giving my son and wife a kiss then out the door by 6.10am. I'm on the bus to work and at school by 6.40am. |
| I'm a morning person, so I need time before kids arrive to get everything set up and prepared and make sure my plans are ready to be carried out. Students come up at 7.30am and class starts at 7.45am. | I'm a morning person, so I need time before kids arrive to get everything set up and prepared and make sure my plans are ready to be carried out. Students come up at 7.30am and class starts at 7.45am. |
| I have five classes from 7.45am – 3.08pm, with one 48-minute block for meetings, one for preparing my lessons, materials/copies and grading, and another for lunch. Most days I have to stay after school to meet with students or prepare for the next day. Some days I have meetings or a spoken-word club that I along with two other teachers run. | I have five classes from 7.45am – 3.08pm, with one 48-minute block for meetings, one for preparing my lessons, materials/copies and grading, and another for lunch. Most days I have to stay after school to meet with students or prepare for the next day. Some days I have meetings or a spoken-word club that I along with two other teachers run. |
| (I have back-to-back classes from 7.45–9.33. One period off for meetings and planning with other teachers. Another class from 10.33–11.24, then lunch. Another class from 12.25–1.16. One period off for planning, grading, copies etc. Then my last class of the day from 2.17–3.08.) | (I have back-to-back classes from 7.45–9.33. One period off for meetings and planning with other teachers. Another class from 10.33–11.24, then lunch. Another class from 12.25–1.16. One period off for planning, grading, copies etc. Then my last class of the day from 2.17–3.08.) |
| I teach high-school juniors and seniors. I have three world history classes, one AP world history class, and one urban studies class. | I teach high-school juniors and seniors. I have three world history classes, one AP world history class, and one urban studies class. |
| What is your salary? Do you get benefits? | What is your salary? Do you get benefits? |
| According to the salary schedule, I have seven years in the system plus my Master's, so I make $67,000 before taxes. I have health and dental benefits that I partially pay, for my employer covers most of the monthly cost. | According to the salary schedule, I have seven years in the system plus my Master's, so I make $67,000 before taxes. I have health and dental benefits that I partially pay, for my employer covers most of the monthly cost. |
| What's your work-life balance ratio like? | What's your work-life balance ratio like? |
| I am involved in a lot of things professionally, so the balance between work and home life is delicate. I have had to learn to say "no" to taking on more things at work so I can make sure I am home with my 17-month-old son and my wife (she is also a teacher). The balance is tough, but I am working on it and improving as best as I can. I coach poetry at my school, am the union delegate, and I am taking a weekly grad school class so my school days typically end up being longer than I sometimes want them to be. So if I end up staying longer one day I try to make sure I get home as soon as I can the next. Because as much as I love teaching and my students, there is nothing like being home with my son and wife. | I am involved in a lot of things professionally, so the balance between work and home life is delicate. I have had to learn to say "no" to taking on more things at work so I can make sure I am home with my 17-month-old son and my wife (she is also a teacher). The balance is tough, but I am working on it and improving as best as I can. I coach poetry at my school, am the union delegate, and I am taking a weekly grad school class so my school days typically end up being longer than I sometimes want them to be. So if I end up staying longer one day I try to make sure I get home as soon as I can the next. Because as much as I love teaching and my students, there is nothing like being home with my son and wife. |
| What's the most unexpected thing that's ever happened to you while working? | What's the most unexpected thing that's ever happened to you while working? |
| Having to grieve with my students after our first student was killed because of violence outside of school. He was a senior a few months from graduation. He had come from difficult circumstances (like most of our kids) and had turned his life around and gotten accepted to college. I found out early on a Saturday morning and was dreading going to school that Monday. I had written a poem about him that Sunday. I got to school and most of the school was gathered in the auditorium to talk and grieve. I decided to share my poem with the kids and staff: I cried hard and barely made it through the poem. It was a terrible experience that I wish no one ever has to go through. Sadly our school has experienced other deaths from violence since. | Having to grieve with my students after our first student was killed because of violence outside of school. He was a senior a few months from graduation. He had come from difficult circumstances (like most of our kids) and had turned his life around and gotten accepted to college. I found out early on a Saturday morning and was dreading going to school that Monday. I had written a poem about him that Sunday. I got to school and most of the school was gathered in the auditorium to talk and grieve. I decided to share my poem with the kids and staff: I cried hard and barely made it through the poem. It was a terrible experience that I wish no one ever has to go through. Sadly our school has experienced other deaths from violence since. |
| What makes for a really good day at work? | What makes for a really good day at work? |
| A really good day at work is when the lessons that I spent time preparing work how I imagined them to, the kids enjoy the lesson, and I enjoy teaching it. Because a bad day means the lessons that took hours to create were not embraced, the kids didn't understand, were too easy, or I just wasn't able to convey clearly. Or even worse, those lessons were interrupted with announcements, a fire drill, kids coming late to class, or coming up late from lunch. | A really good day at work is when the lessons that I spent time preparing work how I imagined them to, the kids enjoy the lesson, and I enjoy teaching it. Because a bad day means the lessons that took hours to create were not embraced, the kids didn't understand, were too easy, or I just wasn't able to convey clearly. Or even worse, those lessons were interrupted with announcements, a fire drill, kids coming late to class, or coming up late from lunch. |
| What's the biggest mistake you've ever made on the job? | What's the biggest mistake you've ever made on the job? |
| The biggest mistake I have made, and still sometimes make, is taking some things the kids say or do personally. I am respected by the students, but sometimes teenagers have bad days: hormones, their home life, or events of all types outside of school. Kids often bring their sadness and anger into school, and unintentionally may take out their frustrations on others. At times it's easy to remember they are kids who are unable to put their emotions into the proper channels, but other times those emotions stick with me as their teacher. | The biggest mistake I have made, and still sometimes make, is taking some things the kids say or do personally. I am respected by the students, but sometimes teenagers have bad days: hormones, their home life, or events of all types outside of school. Kids often bring their sadness and anger into school, and unintentionally may take out their frustrations on others. At times it's easy to remember they are kids who are unable to put their emotions into the proper channels, but other times those emotions stick with me as their teacher. |
| What are the biggest challenges facing you and your industry right now? | What are the biggest challenges facing you and your industry right now? |
| Public education is under attack in this country. There is a lot of money being pumped in to make it appear that temporary two-year teacher programs are helping students, and that charters supposedly perform better. There are an insane amount of standardized tests. Then there is our mayor [Rahm Emanuel], who doesn't actually listen or care what the community thinks; he has other priorities. | Public education is under attack in this country. There is a lot of money being pumped in to make it appear that temporary two-year teacher programs are helping students, and that charters supposedly perform better. There are an insane amount of standardized tests. Then there is our mayor [Rahm Emanuel], who doesn't actually listen or care what the community thinks; he has other priorities. |
| There is the fact that the mayor appoints the school board rather than having an elected board. Our city claims it has no money for schools, yet gives money hand over fist to beautify an already nice downtown, build new subsidized sports stadiums, river walks and parks, all while closing the biggest number of schools in the history of the United States. | There is the fact that the mayor appoints the school board rather than having an elected board. Our city claims it has no money for schools, yet gives money hand over fist to beautify an already nice downtown, build new subsidized sports stadiums, river walks and parks, all while closing the biggest number of schools in the history of the United States. |
| Highlights from the Q&A | |
| From Birmingham UK: How do you motivate your students to study and how do you and your staff minimise outside distractions? | |
| The great thing about the vast majority of kids no matter their background is they want to learn and come to school. | |
| Minimizing the outside distractions is the tough part since we only have a social worker 2 days a week, a nurse for half a day on Friday and only one counselor. We need more resources and Chicago keeps cutting them | |
| What do you consider your greatest achievement in teaching? | |
| Do you think popular US culture is holding some children back? | |
| Man that is a deep question and tough to answer....... | |
| For my Spoken Word club that I run it is a little easier we had some students join our program who never thought they would make it to college (let alone live to a certain age) and they got accepted into college. | |
| I think our governmental policies and priorities is holding children back | |
| What do you think is the most important thing young people should gain from education? | |
| The ability to think and question at a higher level and realize how much there is to know in the world and to want to keep learning | |
| When did you decide to become a teacher? And we're you raised in the same area and lifestyle as the children you teach. If yes/no how does that affect your relationship with them? | |
| I had bad grades in high school, didn't really like school. I was lazy and not super motivated in some classes. It was later in high school that I worked with little kids at a football camp that I realized teaching was an option. After getting rejected from a few colleges I wanted to attend I got accepted into one and got my grades and motivation up and really got into wanting to be a teacher. | |
| I grew up in a small white rural town and could not wait to get out. I always knew I was going to move to a city and work in an urban environment. I read a lot of books on race and I moved to a very racially diverse part of the city not far from where my school is located. | |
| What more do you think can be done to highlight the shocking plight of the education system in order to attract the attention of a wider audience? It being Chicago, you could aways get some notables on board and have an epic blues jam? | |
| In Chicago these issues are starting to gain a wider audience but slowly. We need an elected school board. Chicago is the only city in our state with a mayorally appointed not elected school board. That has to change. | |
| Do you ever fear for your own safety in the classroom? How engaged with learning are most students? How many students turn their life around due to the school? | |
| I have never been afraid of any of the students I teach. The kids that come to school want to be at school and as long as I treat them respectfully they typically show me the same level of respect. | |
| Most students are engaged in learning they often times lack some of the study and work habits outside of school that their often more affluent peers have. | |
| I don't know the answer to your last question, but enough to keep me going | |
| Are you allowed to teach about evolution? | |
| Do your students know anything about Syria, Egypt, world poverty, or much at all about the rest of the world? | |
| Yes I am allowed to teach about evolution. The AP World History course I teach is based on that. | |
| Unless kids (and kids anywhere) are taught about world wide events they tend not to know. So my students don't have a great background of world events, but I take one day a week to make sure to focus on world current events. | |
| Most Americans on the whole are pretty weak in world events since our "world news" typically covers the U.S. and is very U.S.-centric | |
| Are you allowed to fail students? | |
| Do you find that "social promotion," the lack of tracking and the current philosophy that every student is college material is detrimental to the education of brighter students because you have to teach for the lowest common denominator? | |
| Please elaborate about exactly what type of things students say cause you to make the mistake of taking them too personally. Are students allowed to insult and/or cuss out teachers without consequences? | |
| Do you think that Chicago inner city students generally got better educations 50 years ago than they get today? | |
| Yes I can fail a student. | |
| I don't really know if social promotion exists anywhere. Chicago has a high dropout and low graduation rate as a city. | |
| Our students have consequences for their actions. Not going to give you specific details. | |
| Great question that I don't know but I would hope today. |