Teaching

As I ponder teaching, I realize each day that this isn't the job to be in if you want fame and glory. This isn't the job to get wealthy in. This isn't the stress free job you might find in other occupations. This isn't the job for the lazy, fainthearted, and fearful. This job will take everything out of you and then even more. This job will eat up hours of your thinking. You will fall asleep thinking back over the day and what to do better or differently the next day. You will plan for hours, days, weeks, and then all that planning will just speed by throughout your day of teaching. You will always be asking the questions educators never stop asking, "Did I do enough? Was that the best way to present the material? Did I handle the situation in the best way possible? What more could I have done?"

This job is truly for the kids. The life lessons you teach and pray they remember and carry through life with them. The learning which takes place when you don't even know it. The inexplicable joy when the light bulb finally turns on. The incredible discussion which occur on everything under the sun. The mothering and parenting you do, day in and day out.

You can never stop learning as an educator; the day you do is the day you should pack your bags and leave. Learning is what drives all of the job. Learning the curriculum, learning the staff, learning the students,  learning the language, learning the parents, learning, learning, and more learning.

I look back at my first days, weeks, and months. From my vantage now, it feels like I had no clue what I was doing. I believe I had been prepared the best I could have been in my college career. However, that preparation seems so minimal after the amount of learning you go through by the end of that first week of teaching. Teaching changes you. Teaching stretches you. Teaching grows you.

This year has flown by, and now I'm getting ready to say goodbye to my first batch of students. As I continue to ask those questions an educator can never stop asking, I'm starting to realizing what teaching and being an educator actually means, and all that this job entails which is an art and science. As much as I've grown and become more of an educator this year, I know there is still much for me to learn. Many students, coworkers, administrators, and situations which will continue to grow, change, and challenge me as an educator.

A Happy Teacher

It was the last paper I graded. These have taken me a week to get through and sadly all of them have been incredibly poor. I know I teach fifth graders, and their writing level is still young, but I could tell my students hadn't put the time an effort into this essay. Then I read the last one. This young man was the first student to support the opinion with facts and details from the articles and video clip I gave them. Which was the whole point of the assignment in the first place.

This student came in as a very nervous, unconfident, and scared writer. He also chose to tell me, when we were discussing women's rights, that women shouldn't be treated equally because they were less of a human being. This young man liked to joke around, so he would look good in front of all the students. Which was part of the reason for his comments.

I started working with the young man on both his writing and treatment of women. His writing improved throughout the year, and he started making comments which made me believe his mindset and viewpoint of women was changing. When I read his essay on women being allowed to fight in combat, I was given proof of his increased writing ability and his understanding of women being equal. As a new teacher, I haven't had the opportunity to really see that growth yet, and I absolutely love it. It completely made my day. His story will be one I tell in the future.