Area schools are about to start, but teachers have been readying for the return of students for months.
Stamford math teacher Jeanine Scinta-Sass has been teaching since 2000, though this marks her 11th year at Stamford. Scinta-Sass, a master teacher, teaches “a mixed variety” of math courses for students in grades seven through 12, including AIS, geometry, algebra II, pre-calculus, and calculus I and II. Scinta-Sass said, while eager for students’ September arrival, her planning begins in January.
“It’s before the school year ends, honestly,” she said. “I start prepping for September usually in January of the year before. With labs and stuff like that, you have to get supplies for the following year and prepare for new curriculum.
“It’s getting materials in January and getting that passed through the budget,” Scinta-Sass continued. “You’re trying to assess, ‘What did I need this year that I didn’t have?’ and it’s prepping materials for labs, if you’re doing hands-on learning, or maybe there’s a really cool digital resource. It’s preparing and getting different types of text books and things. You never really stop; there’s never a moment where you’re like, ‘OK, I’m preparing for next year,’ because you’re already doing it.”
Some of that preparation, sources said, is practical.
“Of all the things teachers do, for me, it’s setting up my classroom that’s the most important, and it takes me days,” Courtenay O’Hara, a Unatego pre-K teacher, said. “I’m trying to get as much done at my home in the summer because, once school starts, I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving to get stuff done at home, then Christmas, so getting as much done in the summer as I can is ideal, so I can focus on the classroom. I spend a lot of time doing that, and I don’t like a lot of things on the wall and I try to keep it minimal. Knowing it’s their first time, usually, away from parents and the first time in a classroom for most of them, I know they’re scared and it’s important for me to have them want to come to school every day.
“I do have a lot of furniture — between the art easel and sensory bins and blocks — so there’s a lot of furniture and it needs to be safe but, more so to me, it’s important that it’s cozy and welcoming and bright,” O’Hara, in her 13th year teaching, continued. “I want them to walk in, as terrified as they usually are, and just feel safe and loved.”
Morris English teacher Julene Waffle has been teaching since 1998. This year, she will instruct 11th- and 12th-grade level classes, as well as college-credit classes. Morris Central, she said, is home to about 320 students.
“Every year, you have to put your room back together,” she said. “Some teachers have to move entire classes, so it’s a lot of boxes and you’ve got to set it up, because you’re not going to teach the same thing every year. There’s also a lot of paperwork involved and class lists and new lesson plans and tidying up old ones, adding to them, and research. I had to think about school requisition in January, and (those supplies) arrive now.
“It’s not just a summertime thing; I was planning new units last year, and I’ve been reading several books over the summer to plan for new units,” Waffle continued. “We have a common read — it’s the same book as they’re doing at Oneonta State — so I’m reading that and planning for that … and you’re doing cross-curriculum work (with other teachers). And that helps students see that what they learn in this classroom is applicable elsewhere, and vice versa. I’m always researching and introducing new stuff, otherwise it gets boring. I’m making new plans and trying out new literature. I’ve taught “Hamlet” and “Of Mice and Men” since I started; they’re never old, because it’s always new for the students, so, as long as I can stay excited about it, students can catch the bug, too.”
“We have to clear out our rooms completely, so it’s putting everything back up and set up the way that will best utilize the space,” Brianne Thompson, a music teacher for students in grades three through 12 in Morris, echoed. “And it’s going back through all of my slides and lessons and taking everything I learned and revamping it to meet the needs of all the students. And it’s looking at what went not the way I wanted it to, and problem solving, like coming up with a sensory corner in my room for some students, or thinking about things that kids were coming in asking for that I didn’t have on hand so I can make sure I do.”
Thompson will begin her second year of teaching in September.
Another big part of readying, sources said, is knowing students before September.
“You’re always figuring out your gaps in learning from the classes coming up,” Scinta-Sass said. “My counter teacher has seventh-graders and they’re doing … reference tests that tell you where kids, especially during COVID, are lacking in skills and where to build them. So, if kids are lacking, you’ve got to fill in the gaps and you really need to know your students as they’re coming up, and, because we live in such a small district, you already know those kids. So, you’re always prepping for next year. I’ll have Math 8, but I’ve been learning those students the year before.”
“I think there’s a misconception that, once you have lesson plans done, they’re done,” Waffle said. “But they’re not all the same; you’re making them less challenging or more challenging, based on the kids coming in, so you’re also meeting with teachers of different grade levels to get a handle on what students are coming to you.”
“I thought it was just wash, rinse, repeat — the same thing every year,” Thompson said. “But kids are all different and their needs are different and what my third-graders needed last year, my incoming third-graders might not need, so it’s a lot of reflection and just coming up with fun and new things that will engage them.”
Personal and professional development, sources said, is also part of preparing.
Thompson said she began her summer with a 27-hour continuing education conference.
“The way I keep excited about it is by always changing and adding new things,” Waffle said. “If I was doing the same stuff I was doing in 2000, I wouldn’t be teaching the right stuff anymore, because the world has changed. There are new tech apps, new teaching tools, new ways of thinking and accessing thinking; it’s not changing traditional ideology or beliefs, it’s just that having a broader worldview is more prevalent than it was. If you don’t change, you’re doing students a disservice.”
“I think the biggest thing about being an adult, in general, is that you’re a lifelong learner,” Scinta-Sass said. “Being humble and being able to learn is the biggest thing, and especially to collaborate with others, and there are some really cool teachers out there.
“For me, it’s like a sigh of relief; if I can’t get something, I can go work with another teacher,” she continued, noting that she did a grant-funded joint outdoor history-geometry lesson with the Catskill Forest Association last year. “If (students) see you’re working with others, that engages them more. If you find it interesting and engaging, the kids will be interested and engaged. It’s kind of a round-robin, and it’s really humbling. So, in the off-season, I’m getting materials and ideas and doing professional development. You’re always educating yourself, striving to be better than you were the year before. Professional development is required for a lot of new hires and I’m not required to do it, but I do do it, because there’s some really cool ideas out there that I don’t know.”
Much of the work, sources said, goes against common conception.
“I was really excited about having a summer off and spending so much time with my kids and doing all these great things, and I’ve been in the building every single week, doing all these little things and making lists of what I need to do next time,” Thompson said. “I started summer with my conference and then it was once-a-week meetings with students to do summer lessons, then we performed at the fairs, so I really haven’t stopped. And I did all my lesson planning for next year the last week of school.”
“Yeah, we might get two months off, but that whole second month, we’re school-oriented,” O’Hara said. “It’s working on things at home, going into your classroom once or twice a week and setting up, then the end of the month, you’re in there all the time. The first week and the first few days when we start school, without students, it’s meetings and professional development and it’s not like we have free time; we stay after school then on our own time, to continue getting ready on time. It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot more than what people probably think it is.”
“I feel like, with the parents that I talk to, a lot do know, but sometimes it surprises me that they don’t know you’re constantly educating yourself,” Scinta-Sass said. “Even when you have summers off, you don’t have summers off. You might have a weekend here or there, but you’re always looking for the next activity.”
“A lot of people say, ‘Oh, you have three months off,’ but I’m here until 5 every day, grading papers and making plans,” Waffle, who is adviser of the 10th-grade class, yearbook, newsletter, calendar and golf club and Morris’ softball coach, said. “I’m working over vacations and I plan every day. You’d think, 20-something years in, it would be done, but you’re always adding, revising, changing and making sure it’s applicable and engaging for students.”
And it’s the students, sources said, that keep them passionate.
“I miss them,” Thompson said. “It’s just knowing that they’re going to be in my room, happy, excited and making music. I can’t wait for the school year to start.”
“It’s the kids, 100%,” Scinta-Sass said. “I know most of them really do love being loved, even the toughest kids. You’ve got to relate to them in a way that shows you genuinely care and you do that by listening and relating and being real. I’m old and have gray hair, so I’m not going to go back to my 20s and be able to do that, but you have to have a sense of humor and be real to a point where they know they’re safe. Their safety is first and foremost; it’s priority. But I think the key is to be able to listen and legitimately care.”
“Pre-K is my favorite, without a doubt,” said O’Hara, who has taught various elementary-level students in her career. “I just love these little kids. As crazy and as hectic as it is, especially in the first weeks, by the end of the year, it’s just so worth it. They grow so much and change so much and … I know I’m not their mom, but I treat them like I’m their mom, and I’m just so proud of them. When they go from being terrified to bouncing in and saying, ‘Morning!’ it’s just all so worth it.
“They’re so innocent and loving and sweet,” she continued. “I’m catching them at the best time of their life, and I truly get emotional when I think that I have this role at this time in their life.”