Sisyphus and the Itsy Bitsy Spider

Working with Children

by Jim Hartsell
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Sisyphus and the Itsy Bitsy Spider: Working with Children

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Why I wrote
Sisyphus and the Itsy Bitsy Spider

I wrote this book for a couple of reasons.

I was preparing for an after-school in-service training in one of the elementary schools in the Tennessee County where I currently work, and the teachers were gathering in the library. They were all carrying their letters from the Tennessee Consol-idated Retirement System, which sends out an annual report detailing each teacher's status in the system. As I passed one of the tables, one of the young teachers said, "I can retire in 2048!" I stopped and looked at her. "In 2048, I'll be 96," I said. It struck me then that when she could retire at 65, I would have been retired for more than 30 years. Even if she took early retirement after 30 years in the system, I would be 86 when she left teaching. That's the first reason — I'm one of the old guys now.

I realized then it was time for me to start giving back.

I realized then it was time for me to start giving back. I've been in this business for 30 years or so, and I have been trying to pay attention.

I was presenting at a class of interns in one of the local college's education program, and gave the students a 90 minute summary of some of the topics covered in more detail in the book. In one of the written responses I got from a participant, she said, "I got more information about dealing with children in the last hour and a half than I got in four years at college." That's the second reason.

It doesn't matter which college or university was being referenced. It appears that we don't prepare our new teachers well enough for the classroom management part of their job. I hope some of the things I've noticed and out-lined in the book will be useful to both people entering the profession and those who have been around for a while.



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