We all have days when we feel like fabulous teachers. We walk into our organized classrooms, greet our students with a smile and then proceed to teach several hours of kick butt lessons in which all students are engaged and make progress as learners.
There are no major behavioral issues. There are no complaints about not having a pencil. There are no interruptions over the intercom. The dreaded copier stands free, without a line, and works flawlessly. Not a paper jam for miles.
It is a good day. You lean back in your chair in your classroom at the end of the day, smiling to yourself and wishing you had your own theme music because the day was Just. That. Good.
There are no major behavioral issues. There are no complaints about not having a pencil. There are no interruptions over the intercom. The dreaded copier stands free, without a line, and works flawlessly. Not a paper jam for miles.
It is a good day. You lean back in your chair in your classroom at the end of the day, smiling to yourself and wishing you had your own theme music because the day was Just. That. Good.
If you enjoy nerding out as much as I do, there are wonderful research based best practices out there for us to hang our hat on and I believe that teachers can, should, and do keep up with those. It is critical that we share our fabulous.
However, there are also all sorts of studies and papers and articles pontificating about what it means to be a good teacher; who is effective, who is not effective and why the so-called demise of the public education system is all our fault. It is a lot of fire and brimstone and most of it is largely not helpful.
However, there are also all sorts of studies and papers and articles pontificating about what it means to be a good teacher; who is effective, who is not effective and why the so-called demise of the public education system is all our fault. It is a lot of fire and brimstone and most of it is largely not helpful.
Listen, we know how to be fabulous. We need to harness that fabulousness for those days that don't go as planned. You know the ones I'm talking about. They generally come one day after the PURELY FABULOUS day. It's some kind of Murphy's Law of Teaching: for each really great day that lifts you as high as your little teacher heart can stand, there is an equally NOT great day that plummets you right back to reality.
Some days are filled with way too many interruptions, a copier that won't spit out a decent copy no matter how much you cajole or curse it, and there are those days that leave you wondering how - or if - you will ever reach that one struggling student.
Those days exist too. And while I try my best to not allow myself believe those are defining moments, they often do bring me down and make my fabulous feel further away, like it's locked up in a box in a room full of mandates, state expectations, and endless streams of data that is just. so. hard. to. keep. up. with.
Teaching is a roller coaster for sure. It's easy to see why it's as much a calling as anything else. It used to be that teaching was considered a noble profession, one where the teacher was to be respected, revered, and - considered a professional.
What I want to say to all my dear teacher friends is this: teaching still is the most noble thing a person can do in life. Whether we touch one life, or many, in our career, imparting tools and strategies that feed growing minds will never, EVER be anything less than the most fabulous thing one can do with their life. It doesn't matter what is happening in The Powers That Be (no matter how miserable they can make our job seem) that dole out their definition of what makes a good teacher and how that teacher should be compensated (or NOT.)
At the end of each day, the main ingredient is still the main ingredient. Our students still need us. Our students still depend on us. Our students still love us. And the best thing of all? We still love them.
Some days are filled with way too many interruptions, a copier that won't spit out a decent copy no matter how much you cajole or curse it, and there are those days that leave you wondering how - or if - you will ever reach that one struggling student.
Those days exist too. And while I try my best to not allow myself believe those are defining moments, they often do bring me down and make my fabulous feel further away, like it's locked up in a box in a room full of mandates, state expectations, and endless streams of data that is just. so. hard. to. keep. up. with.
Teaching is a roller coaster for sure. It's easy to see why it's as much a calling as anything else. It used to be that teaching was considered a noble profession, one where the teacher was to be respected, revered, and - considered a professional.
What I want to say to all my dear teacher friends is this: teaching still is the most noble thing a person can do in life. Whether we touch one life, or many, in our career, imparting tools and strategies that feed growing minds will never, EVER be anything less than the most fabulous thing one can do with their life. It doesn't matter what is happening in The Powers That Be (no matter how miserable they can make our job seem) that dole out their definition of what makes a good teacher and how that teacher should be compensated (or NOT.)
At the end of each day, the main ingredient is still the main ingredient. Our students still need us. Our students still depend on us. Our students still love us. And the best thing of all? We still love them.
I think it's time we define what makes us fabulous for ourselves. Don't let anyone else do it for us. Just do it. Think about how fabulous you can make another teacher feel and the importance of contributing to the conversation about what makes teachers...there really isn't another word for it...fabulous!
