10 Things I Learned In 10 Years of Teaching
I have taught for nearly 10 years. Mostly in middle school and always in Title 1 (low income) schools. I never meant to be a teacher when I went to college, but I did enjoy tutoring and helping others. I sort of fell into becoming a teacher and fell in love with the students I had and the colleagues I met along the way. I never meant to teach for so long, but I blinked and next thing I knew it had been 10 years. These are things I have learned that go beyond the classroom experience.
1. Always have a back up plan
Teaching is probably the one job where it is more work to call off than just show up. It can be even worse if you are unable to make a lesson for that day, because it can stick a fellow teacher covering a bunch of unmanaged kids with nothing to do. I learned early on to have a back up plan and to have back ups for my back ups. I kept a box on my table with files filled with worksheets and games, anything to keep my students busy if plan A didn’t work out.
Believe me, it will happen.
Computers will lose internet, administration will come in and confiscate a book, air conditioning will go out and suddenly we need to move to another room. (All has happened to me) I even bring a little something in case it turns out I have to cover that class who doesn’t have anything to do.
I feel this lesson goes with any job and in life in general. Always have a back up plan. From your photos and writing, to retirement accounts and even jobs, have a back-up.
2. Fake It Till You Make It
Classroom management is by far the most difficult part of teaching in my professional opinion. You need to figure out what works for you and your students and the same practice may not work from year to year or even period to period.
I was a bit deluded when I entered my first 6th grade class thinking I would be the nice teacher, or the quiet teacher. That’s usually how I am in real life. But that’s not what my students needed. They needed someone they could respect and hold them accountable, so I have to put my personal self aside and be the teacher they needed.
I faked it until it has become my teaching persona. I faked being more confident than I was, more sociable than I even want to be, and even more strict than I really am. Now I am one of the most successful teachers in the school and have learned that if you want to become something, you may have to play a bit of pretend until you learn the skills for real.
You want to run a business, be in charge of an event, or even become a writer? You may need to fake different parts of your personality until it becomes real. You may need to be more confident in your sales, more sociable than you are used to, or be more sure of your writing skills than you are, again and again until you reach the level of skill and charisma you want to have.
3. Be a fan
I figured out in college how to make friends as a introvert in every class I had. I would turn to whichever person sat next to me in class that looked the most friendly and give them a compliment. This would open the doors for discussions over classwork and lead to having a usually wonderful study buddy. I became their fan.
As a teacher, I have won over some very difficult students by becoming their fan. Yes, they may be difficult in the classroom but then I would show up to their practices and cheer my head off for them. Next thing I know, I’m having full conversations with the student and they pay me visits after school. A lot of my students’ parents do not come to their practices or games, so having someone in their corner can completely flip a behavior. Becoming a fan of someone, focusing on their strengths and not their flaws can help build relationships, even with those others may find difficult.
Outside the classroom, becoming a fan, giving people those compliments, showing up to your friend’s projects and events shows people you are really invested in them. You don’t just want their support, you want to support them in their interests and passions. If we can be fans of sporting events or fake stories, we can be fans of our friends and parts of our social circle too.
4. Change and Adapt
If something is not working, change it. When my students are not understanding a lesson, I would change it. One time, I was teaching something a bit advanced for my students but I was 90% sure they would be tested on. Parallelism. I tried my best to explain it, but I only had one brilliant girl understand me. (She truly was/is one of the smartest kids I ever taught) I let her explain it to the class her own way and took notes on what she said, then used her way to explain it to the rest of my classes. I know her way was better than my own, especially since it was a student explaining it to students.
Every teacher is used to having to change and adapt in some way. You were planning to teach the same curriculum this year? Well now you have a new curriculum 2 weeks before the school year. (And you won’t get the new books until 2 months into the year.) You were planning on grading during your planning period? Now you have a meeting with the principal and you don’t know why. You had this amazing lesson for your students all planned out for the next month? Well, turns out there’s a pandemic spreading across the country and you won’t be going back to the classroom this year.
Every teacher has to learn, (probably learn the hard way) how to change and adapt to ever-flowing circumstances, sometimes by the minute. The important thing is to not be so stuck or stubborn on something, that it makes you upset when it doesn’t work out. Because inevitably, something is going to come along and screw up any or all plans you had and you are going have to change and adapt anyway.
5. Work with What you Got
Classroom has no cabinets? Work with it.
District has suddenly decided no teacher needs a desktop computer and everyone gets half working laptops? Work with it.
You want a home and kids on a teacher’s salary? Well…
Ain’t nobody know how to work with what they have like a teacher. (Or dont have in most cases).
This adaptability has allowed for a lot of innovative ideas from teachers, whether through gathering donations, soliciting volunteers, or getting side-jobs. I can teach a lesson with nothing more than paper and pencils (though I’d prefer at least having a white board and dry-erase marker to go with it).
Outside the teaching profession, take advantage of what you have instead of lamenting what you don’t. Make sure to look into what your company offers as perks and take advantage of them. You cannot win a contest if you do not enter them. You cannot get a better job if you do not apply for it.
6. Go When You Can
Teacher bladder. Its a thing. Not a healthy thing, but it has happened where the last bell of the day rings and I haven’t gone. The. Entire. Day. (Or eaten) I’ve learned, especially after becoming pregnant that if an opportunity arises to use the restroom, take a break, or even have a day off, to take it. Even if you don’t really need to, because you don’t know when the chance will come again.
Outside the bathroom stall, I used to hold all my favorite lessons for the end of the year. Something fun for students that they had earned with all their hard boring lessons in the first half of the year. Well, one year I had my favorite bunch of students yet and we had just started diving in to my favorite lessons. (Socratic Seminars, Debates, Plays, Projects, and a unit on the holocaust.) We left for spring break and never came back due to COVID.
This lesson has transferred to me becoming more outgoing, and not putting off the more fun things until later. If a chance comes for me to do something, I know to take it because who knows if it will come around again. If a chance comes up for a position I want or an opportunity I’ve always wanted to do, I need to go for it.
7. Kids be crazy…and Adults too
My first year teaching, I stopped a kid from jumping off the second floor of the building. Not enough to kill himself, but probably break a bone or two. Since then, I’ve had students make bomb threats, destroy bathrooms, destroy a weight room, flash an entire courtyard, write suicide notes…
Lets just say I’ve seen a lot.
But I can’t even hold it against kids because I’ve also seen adults act SO much worse. I’ve seen adults, both teachers and parents, throw chairs, make threats against children, try to get teachers fired, lie, steal, cheat, one even tried to run another adult over with a car.
Yeah, I have seen a lot.
It isn't just a “kids these days” kind of thing, we all have a little crazy in us. We just need to find healthy outlets so we don’t end up on the local news for it. Personally, I turn to writing. Many of my friends turn to therapy or some form of art. Another friend just takes a flight to another country when she gets too stressed out. Whatever works for you.
8. Be respectful, even if you don't want to be
I make sure to always treat my colleagues and students with respect, even if in my head, I have lost all respect for them. Bad mouthing and shit talking can be really hard not to do for some people, especially when things get rough. The kids get a free pass, because, hey, they’re kids and chances are they may not have great examples of respect at home.
But when adults start being disrespectful to each other, or even worse, kids? That’s just a reflection on themselves. When I hear it, I maintain my own composure, but that person has fallen from grace in my eyes. It does always seem to come back to haunt them in the long run, so maintain respect for everyone. In the schools, and outside it. It makes for progress, and helps you see other’s true selves.
In the same way of giving respect, I learn to demand it. If someone tries to talk down to me or shout, I don’t tolerate it. I call them out on their disrespect and either leave or have them removed. If we cannot have basic respect for each other, then I refuse to interact. I don’t find it worth my time on this Earth to be disrespected.
9. Kids Deserve our Best
They deserve a loving home and support. They deserve good teachers and programs. They deserve services and the means to receive them.
I have had students who have fully admitted they knew they weren't wanted at home. I’ve had students whose parents admitted to not caring about their child, or even trying to leave them behind. Kids, whether as students, neighbors, or relatives, they deserve our best. I wish that were part of our society that we placed more value on their education, health, and happiness than anything else.
When we say kids are our future, it makes it seem like it is far away. How about kids are our right now? Right now, they need our love and support. Right now, then need to learn and be taught. Right now, there are kids struggling where they shouldn’t be. Kids should be given every opportunity to be successful, in safe environments, where they can make mistakes and learn from them. They deserve our best today, not in the future.
10. Teaching is hard
The biggest lesson of all as a teacher, is that teaching is hard. Whomever coined the phrase, “those who cannot do, teach,” was a complete moron. Or perhaps hated their teachers that much.
It’s hard to teach. Yes, some are truly gifted at it, but most people aren't. It’s a skill to learn, in the same way we ourselves learned. Don’t believe me? How often have you trained a new coworker? Did you enjoy it? Did they enjoy it? Remember, chances are you taught someone who wanted to be there and was being paid.
Now try not paying them.
And make it 25 if them at the same time.
Sound easy?
Teaching is hard and continues to be. They are underpaid and overworked. Schools are understaffed and underfunded. It all compounds on one another. Not paying teachers enough leads to poor teachers. Poor teachers lead to bad learning experiences. Bad learning experiences lead to underfunded schools. Whether I continue to teach for a few more decades or not, this lesson will stick with me the most.
The most difficult part of teaching I find, is that I spend so much time with these students and building relationships with them, and when they leave my classroom on the last day of school, I never hear from most of them again. I send them off with 1–3 years worth of experiences and lessons, and my hopes that they will make the right decisions at the right time.
And if any of my former students are reading this, know I’m proud of you.
…
And if any of my current students are reading this, don’t you have make-up work to be doing?