Education Week - November 23, 2022 - 7

IN THEIR OWN WORDS
From Hospice Work to 1st Grade:
One Teacher's Career-Changing Journey
Teacher apprenticeship models have been touted by experts in the field and the federal government as a promising solution to teacher shortages. With these
types of programs, prospective teachers work in the classroom and earn a paycheck while completing their preparation to become a licensed teacher.
Tennessee became the first state to be approved by the U.S. Department of Labor to establish a registered apprenticeship program for teachers. The
state now has approved seven teacher-preparation providers to run apprenticeship programs, including Lipscomb University, a private college that runs
a master's degree program targeted toward career-changers in partnership with the Clarksville-Montgomery County district.
Rhonda Davis is one of the teachers trained under this approach at Lipscomb and Clarksville-Montgomery. Davis, who worked in hospice for most
of her career and now teaches 1st grade at Hazelwood Elementary School, spoke to Education Week about her journey into the classroom and the joys
and frustrations of teaching so far.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I loved hospice, and often what I noticed
was that I sat at people's beds at [their] end of
life, and a lot of them lived their life feeling
unloved or not valued-that they didn't
matter. Especially during COVID-19, that was
difficult because in the early stages, families
were often isolated from their loved ones, and
they were dying in facilities alone. I became
the person that was at their bedside who
watched and helped them go through all that.
The breaking point for me was when I
had 30 patients die in two weeks. I just was
like, I can't emotionally do this anymore. I
thought maybe if I can turn the paradigm
and start loving these children earlier in life
so that maybe when they get to that point
at their end of life, they can say, " Hey, my
teacher loved me. She believed in me. " I just
wanted to start earlier and see if I can make a
difference that way.
I [heard about] the master's program,
and I thought, this is a good time to make a
change and try something new. So I entered
that program two years ago. I started out as a
teacher resident going back to school, getting
my master's level classes at Lipscomb. Last
year, I taught 1st grade on a job-embedded
license, [which allows candidates with at least
a bachelor's degree to work as a teacher while
working toward full licensure]. Now that I
graduated in the spring and got my degree and
my licensure, I'm teaching independently.
[The program] covered my classes, it
covered books. I was able to get some pay
because I was a teacher resident. It was almost
like a paid internship, as an assistant.
Honestly, [the cost] had been why I had not
made a change earlier. I love hospice, but it's a
lot of burnout watching that many folks pass.
I'd always wanted to go back [to school], but I
just thought at my age, I don't have that many
years in the career, and I don't want student
debt going into retirement. It was a big game
changer for me not having to pay all those
expenses.
I have to say, I'm on a learning curve.
You've got to realize, I'm 58. When I was
in school there wasn't Canvas [course
management software]-I mean, honestly,
we didn't really have computers. So I had a
big learning curve, probably, compared to my
much younger cohort and colleagues. They
were in their 20s, so I had to work extra hard.
It was almost like they took me in as their
mother or grandmother, but they were helping
me navigate Canvas, helping me with some of
those technology obstacles that I faced. I was
also working as a hospice PRN [an as-needed
nurse] at night-the TA salary was helpful, but
it did not sustain what I needed it to. So I had a
lot of irons in the fire.
Just to give you a picture, last year on an
embedded license, I had a mentor that I had
to Swivl live. [Swivl cameras track teachers
as they move across the classroom, and an
instructional coach can watch remotely.]
Now, think of all the technical aspects of this.
I had to Swivl live with a mentor while I was
teaching 25 students, set all that up, which
mostly occurred on my lunch hour, [and] be
observed by them.
I had four formal observations from
administrative staff. I also had observations
from [reading interventionists] because
we were in a pilot project that's trying to do
added reading interventions for struggling
students. So I had those people dropping in
my classroom on the daily. I had two to three
drop-ins from principals every day. I'm telling
you, I've not seen so much supervision in a
nuclear power plant. I mean, it's constant.
I think you are getting good feedback,
and you're getting critical feedback. I think
that's important to grow. But sometimes it's
feedback overload, and I think that can be
hard on a new teacher. If I wasn't so old and
stubborn and felt like that this is where God
wanted me, that might've made me give up.
You've got young people coming into this
profession. Not only do you need to mentor
and give critical feedback, but you also need
to nurture. You need to let them know they
count. You need to show them that they're
valuable, and that what they're doing matters.
I think until they get that recipe right, there's
going to be a struggle. I really do. Because I
think teachers are not feeling that love. That,
" I'm glad you're here. We know you're making
a difference. "
They get it from the kids. I get most of my
love and affirmation from being here from the
children. But you're not getting as much from
the parents. You're getting a lot of supervision
from admin, but you need that, " You matter. "
You need somebody giving you that rahrah:
" Come on, you matter, you're making a
difference. "
My heart is running on hugs right now, and
that's from little ones. If I didn't have those, I think
I could be easily discouraged because there's just
a lot of accountability. I knew that there would be,
but not to the extent that I've had.
[Administrators] come in with checklists:
" Did you do this correctly? Did you do the
learning target correctly? Did you set your
timer? " I'm talking accountability with
measurable outcomes. You're managing
behaviors, you're managing classroom
expectations, you're managing standards. Are
you meeting the standards? Are you hitting
the targets? Are you teaching? Is your pacing
good? I mean, it's very intensive.
My mom [who is a retired teacher] begged
me not to make this move. She said, " You don't
know what you're getting into. You're crazy. " I do
see why there is a negative spin. There are lots
of demands. The students are not the part that
deters me at all. But the lack of parental support
is difficult.
The first school I was in, the parents didn't
come to conferences, they didn't respond to
phone calls. You felt like you were trying to
help this student without a lot of support, and
that can be really frustrating because it takes
everybody for that child to succeed. You feel
like you're doing all the heavy lifting.
The class that I have this year, I do have
some really involved and supportive parents,
and it makes so much difference knowing that
we're working together for the best of that
child. That's where you see the growth. That
also kind of reignites a teacher.
I do love it. I know that the days are long.
I'm used to health care, but at least I got paid
by the hour. I'm working long, long hours
[now], and the pay's not there after hours. I'll
be here late tonight. I worked 'til 11 o'clock last
night [doing] lesson plans. When people say,
" You get summers off, " I'm ready to defend:
" You've long put in those summers! You've
earned it during the year. " I work on the
weekends. It's not something that I can just
walk away from and check out and clock out
and say, I'm done.
There's a lot of multitasking in teaching. I
thought I understood, but until you walk in
someone else's shoes, you don't fully know
what all a teacher juggles. I dealt with emergent
trauma, all of that, but it never prepared me
for me against 25 little friends and trying to
multitask all their needs.
They definitely keep me on my toes, but I do
love the students. I love their energy. I love their
desire to learn. I love their personalities and their
spirit. It's been a blessing to see this end of life.
-MADELINE WILL
EXPLAINER: Learn more
about teacher apprenticeships.
> edweek.org
EDUCATION WEEK | November 23, 2022 | www.edweek.org | 7
"
Sometimes it's
feedback overload,
and I think that can
be hard on a new
teacher.

http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - November 23, 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - November 23, 2022