Hello blog world,
It’s wonderful to take a break from reality (never mind the stack of papers I have to grade and the lessons I still need to plan) and sit at home. I love coming “home” to Minnesota. Even though I live in Indiana and I have a wonderful home with Nathan, coming to my parents’ house is comforting and warm and feels so good. It’s nice to be taken care of when I feel as though all I do is care for others.
Today I went to my old high school and had some wonderful conversations with two of my high school mentors. It was so fantastic to talk to them as colleagues, but to still have them share their wisdom with me in ways that make sense to me. They can still see me as their student and can use that knowledge to help me continue to grow as a professional. I hope I grow to understand my students in the same way. I hope that in 5 years or 10 years a student can come to me for help and I can still offer them the support that they need.
Walking into my high school makes me think about what I want for my students. I am under no illusion that my high school is perfect and meeting the needs of all students, but there are clearly things working in the building. I know that they have students with challenging lives and students who need tremendous support to get through the day and the year, but there is not the overwhelming culture of panic in the building that I experience on a daily basis.
As I brainstormed with these two teachers about how to be more effective in my classroom two main pieces of advice came through:
1. Don’t take the politics and current educational climate personally. I am facing a tough evaluation and rehiring process in my district and there is a good chance that as a first year teacher, I wont be back. I want to go back, but it may not be possible. But, I still have a job to do and students to reach and they need me to keep what happens in my classroom consistent and rigorous. They still need to learn. And while I (and the other teachers) are scared and frustrated, the students should not feel our frustration. I have only been doing this for 3.5 months and have a long road ahead of me, so if I keep plugging away and doing what I need to do, eventually I will be a great teacher.
2. Continue to reflect. I made a comment to one of my mentors that I have been enjoying reading another one of my high school mentors blogs. She is the most reflective teacher I know and probably one of the best teachers I know and knowing and understanding her students. I always thought in high school that she had it all figured out. Now I clearly see that she doesn’t. I think it’s fantastic. My mentor essentially said – I hope she doesn’t and I hope no one ever does. He’s so right. Complacency is not going to help our educational system improve. Constantly changing, adapting, learning, and reflecting is only going to continue to make teachers improve and therefore the ability (cognitively and socially) of our students will continue to improve.
I feel renewed to go back and face whatever my job hands to me. I’m not there yet (and I may never be there) but I have passion and determination.
