Yesterday, at the conclusion of a workshop I was giving, I had a couple of younger teachers ask me what advice I would give my younger me about teaching. That really gave me more pause than I care to admit, not because, as I look back, I am unhappy about my career but because I am closer to the end than the beginning and can see the enormity of changes over the years taking root for better or worse.
So, Dear Younger Me, (younger teachers),
As you endeavor to keep that brilliant optimism that you can and will change the world one kid at a time, remember these things.
1. Take Care of Yourself
I am not talking about eating right, working out, and vitamins; I mean set aside to take care of your heart and mind. Many people outside the realm of education fail to comprehend the daily assault on our emotional and mental health. At any given time, we are a parent, counselor, confidant, bouncer, entertainer, supporter, cheerleader, coach, and the list goes on and on and on and on. The emotional and mental toll those many rolls takes on us is very real and can, more often than not, leave the well dry for ourselves and loved ones. Don't get me wrong, being emotionally invested in out kiddos is what makes us all great educators. Take the break. Take the mental health day. Take the time to find a release. Take. The. Time. You are no good to your kids, your family, or yourself if you get to the point where you are plodding through the day completely emotionally and mentally burned out.
2. Work Smarter, Not Harder
This is also kind of a no duh as well, but as educators, we are servants and put our needs last.
- Create a simple paper collection system
- Cut grades off four or five days before report cards are due
- Prepare for the next day before you leave for home
- Make all of your copies at least a week at a time
- Keep three days of emergency sub plans at the ready--vocabulary or standardized test practices work great
- Use you off time at school to grade--do NOT take it home (trust me, it is NOT worth it)
- Create lessons and activities that slam dunk as many standards as possible
- Create a competition system to motivate the kids to do well in class (I use Hogwarts' Houses
3. The TEST Isn't Everything
Many people in the current education culture will, undoubtedly, disagree with me on this one because we MUST have a way to assess the mastery level of the kids as well as hold all teachers accountable. In the twenty plus years of being an educator, I have gone one year--ONE YEAR--without being accountable for a test. While I want my kids to be successful on the test and see their hard work translate into that Adequate Year's Progress measurement of academic growth, that test is not, will not, and cannot be the measure we use to define ourselves and our students. The single snapshot fails to take into account that our students only eat on the weekends and holidays with the help of our communities in schools. The single snapshot fails to take into account a student's challenges in caring for siblings because both parents work two jobs each. The single snapshot fails to take in the endless parade of activities, assessments, and tutorials for our kids to simply build confidence. The single snapshot fails to take into account that we are talking about children and not products. So, yes, prepare the kids, help the kids, and encourage the kids when it comes to testing, but remind them they are not defined by this test.
Now for you. You are bound to teach standards, testing strategies, and skills, but you are not bound to overtly make the test the center of your universe in the classroom. The kids should be the center, not a test. Design lesson so that you are teaching, practicing, and mastering the skills needed but remove the word TEST from your vocabulary! Never mention it! Focus your efforts, instead, on engaging the kids in exciting, fun, challenging learning that will make a much bigger difference for you and your kids.
4. Be Open to New Ideas and Creative with Old Ones
There is always room for us to learn, change, and grow. There is always room for us to leap out of our comfortable little box and dive in, headlong into a creative idea to make our lessons come to life. If you are bored, so are they. Do not be afraid to experiment, to change things up; remember, a filing cabinet is for storage not for teaching.
5. Love Your Kids
Yes, let your kids know each and every single day that you care about them, that they matter, and that they are important. More often than we realize, we are the only people that tell these kids they are loved and important. Just let that sink in for just a moment. Relationships with the kids are the number one priority, all else is secondary. Use Remind 101 not just for homework reminders but for encouragement. Use a grade level or campus social media page to celebrate any and all accomplishments inside and outside the classroom. Trash the lesson some days for an activity that lets you just get to know your kids. In short, take care of Maslow so that the kids can truly Bloom.
There is probably a million other things I could say to answer this question, but these five things are what kept creeping to the front of my mind as I contemplated their question as well as the could've, should've, and would've of my past.