Teaching Perseverance

This may as well be a blog about teaching for the time being.  So much of my life is wrapped up in exploring this incredible art.  There are many levels to being a great teacher and each person can bring something new to it.  And there are many ways to feel that one has failed one's class or a particular student.  This can be true of a particular moment, day or even over time.  The rub with teaching is that it is always possible to do it differently, there are so many ways to approach delivering a concept.  How do we think about any given thing intellectually, emotionally, spiritually?  What are we giving to a student?  Are we open to receiving what that student has to give to us?

In the past week I've been making an effort to observe more teachers at the charter school where I'm teaching.  I was also able to attend a meeting/presentation on behavior management and classroom culture.  And through these interactions I've come to learn that many, if not all of the teachers there, struggled with feeling successful in this teaching system at the beginning.  Even those that had been very successful teachers in other schools in the past had a hard time adjusting.  But this school demands a lot to be considered successful.  There is constant monitoring of classes by administration, constant feedback, collaboration among teachers.  It isn't without stress, but it also isn't without support.

I've been practicing framing my directions in the manner that the school uses.  The presentation gave some very specific pointers about lesson planning, giving directions, and managing behavior in the moment.  And today was a lot smoother.  In fact it was incredibly rewarding to work with the students during that time and I felt a feeling of satisfaction that was very complete, even if not fully grown.  I am so incredibly aware that this is fleeting.  There will be more bad days when I'm less on my toes, less practiced, had less time to fully think through a lesson plan.  But a beginning is a beginning and the reward for sinking into this challenging work is there.  I can see it.  It feels good to be working towards something that has so much to offer.

There will be days when it will cost a lot more, when I will want to walk away.  But this is here, putting a little more weight in this direction.  Trying and trying.  There is always another way to teach, another way to learn, another way to try.  If I don't do it myself, how can I give it to others?