Broken Lights, No Glue: Teachers Speak at ‘Abbott Elementary’


In the second episode of “Abbott Elementary,” a new ABC mockup about a group of (mostly) special educators at an underfunded public school in Philadelphia, a second-grade teacher named Janine decides to fix a flickering hallway ceiling light the school owns. was ignored.

“More senior teachers are used to giving up,” says bright-eyed protagonist Janine (played by the show’s creator, Quinta Brunson), “but I am still young, cheerful, and I know where they are holding the ladder.”

For Maurice Watkins, a 28-year-old music teacher in Maryland, Janine’s approach to taking charge was ridiculously familiar. He had recently gone to a discount store to buy mops and brooms to clean the classroom floors of three public schools where he taught. While traditional classrooms are subject to regular cleaning, the places where orchestra and orchestra lessons are given are not cleaned.

“As a teacher, you have to fix this yourself,” said Watkins, who works with students in fourth through sixth grade. “I go through one of these situations almost every day.”

(Luckily, Watkins’ attempts at housekeeping didn’t go awry, as Janine did: After adjusting a loose wire, most of the school’s power was gone.)

Brunson’s six-episode “Abbott Elementary” quickly became a talker among teachers who were repeatedly challenged by administrative chaos, insignificant sources, and their students’ quirks, reflected in the series’ main characters. . some social media viewers gushing about how relatable The show is for them.

The ratings have been strong so far, with a total of over 7 million viewers across all platforms during the first month after the premiere. According to ABC. (There’s also the Hollywood buzz: on Jimmy Kimmel’s nightly show, The host brought Joyce Abbott, the sixth grade teacher, for whom Brunson named the show, brought the actress to tears.)

Teachers say they know the fictional school’s staff in their own halls: the new young teacher who is too cynical to be cynical, the self-serving principal, the veteran master teacher who stubbornly gets in his way, and the white teacher who falls for himself. He tries to appear progressive around his black students and colleagues.

Watkins said the day after the first episode of “Abbott Elementary” aired in December, “every teacher in the school talked about it.” For some though, slammed more close to House.

“Some teachers I know can’t even watch,” Watkins said.

Teachers say Janine and her colleagues identify strongly with the challenges they face on a daily basis: lack of continued funding, student behavior issues, and challenges with introducing new educational technologies.

“D—all of the above,” said Alisha Gripp, principal of a charter middle school in Kansas City, Mo. But one aspect of the show she definitely doesn’t identify with is the school’s inept principal Ava Coleman (played by Janelle James, who spends her time fixing her Chia Pet and organizing student files with the hottest daddy.

“I think it’s funny—but I’m not like him,” Gripp said with a laugh.

Gripp, who has been an educator for 17 years, said he thinks “Abbott Elementary School” is a more realistic depiction of teaching than in other Hollywood movies. “People of Boston” A Fox drama from David E. Kelley. This show tended to be melodramatic in the fictional high school he went through, and Gripp had a self-proclaimed “He’d be fired; they will be fired; That child is removed.”

He added, “It’s really cool to have a more realistic but still fun education.”

According to the show’s two executive producers, Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, much of the show’s background comes from Brunson’s mother, who was a public school teacher in Philadelphia for 40 years. The producers and writers also interviewed teachers, school staff, and board members about their profession.

Much of the plot comes from real-life educators, including the main part of an episode where Janine is wildly successful in using TikTok to ask people to donate school supplies. It sounds both hilarious and creepy as he has to turn to social media for basic supplies like scissors and glue.

The TikTok episode reminded Kristina A. Holzweiss, a 52-year-old former teacher and librarian who is now an education technologist at Long Island high school, when she independently raised more than $100,000 a few years ago to purchase enrichment. Materials like a 3D printer for Chromebooks and its library. This was before TikTok came along, but teachers could use a website called DonorsChoose that helps them with crowdfunding for their classes.

“Teachers shouldn’t have to do this; That’s not in our job description,” said Holzweiss, “but teachers always put their students first.”

For some, a show that highlights hardworking and committed educators is particularly welcome right now. As schools across the country reopen following prolonged pandemic closures, teachers have been placed at the center of battles over mask requirement and distance education versus face-to-face education.

Long-term problems with low pay, benefits and irregular working hours, as well as the struggles of teaching during a pandemic. nationwide labor shortage in schools struggling to find replacements for sick teachers and resigning teachers.

“Teachers were heroes when there was a pandemic and everything was shut down,” said Jennifer Dinh, a 31-year-old sophomore teacher in Chino Hills, California. door.”

“Abbott Elementary” takes the issue of teacher burnout from the very beginning, by showing a young teacher holding a box of stuff in and out of the building, raising a selection finger. (Barbara Howard, played by Sheryl Lee Ralph, who has taught the school district for 20 years (“More turnover than a bakery,” quips.)

A theme of the show is the conflict between young, new teachers who learn the physical and emotional cost of trying to fix a dysfunctional school like Janine, and more experienced teachers who have learned to accept certain things—a flickering light, for example—to avoid burnout.

“If we burn, who’s here for these kids?” asks Melissa Schemmenti (played by Lisa Ann Walter), an honest-talking Sicilian-American second grade teacher.

Jocelyn Hitchcock, a 57-year-old fan of the show, is determined not to run out after over three decades of teaching. After working as a music teacher for 20 years, frustrated by the dwindling funding for the arts, she turned to the basics. Last fall, Hitchcock began teaching at a small elementary school in the Walker River Paiute area in Nevada.

His school has recently been dealing with a severe shortage of teachers (the principal had to teach in the classroom) and now spends time tutoring before and after school to help kids catch up on the learning gaps created by the pandemic.

At “Abbott Elementary,” he said he found validation in seeing people experience what they experience every day on television.

But since the show is set in a pandemic-free world (at least until now), Holzweiss said he thinks the show missed the discovery of the biggest challenges teachers are currently facing: coeducation, staff shortages, and students who are lagging behind academically and socially.

“It’s a completely different world now,” he said.





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