“It is not up to you to finish the work, but neither are you free not to take it up.”-The Talmud
I walked in on a conversation between a first year teacher whose previous experience was assisting with research for a charter school organization and a non-classroom teacher. They were bemoaning the problem in schools, which they blamed on lazy teachers. They seemed to get comfort in simplifying the troubles to one source that was entirely outside of their sphere of responsibility. I had joined them after observing in primary classrooms where I had seen teachers working their tails off and students responding with energy and enthusiasm.
They blamed teachers in front of the wrong person. I took a breath so I might keep an edge out of my voice.
I asked the new teacher if he was achieving all he wanted to in his class, to which he admitted, “No I haven’t.” He then told me about mandates, lack of resources, constant negative feedback from people above him. I asked him, “Can you imagine how it is to show up day after day for years being told and feeling like you aren’t doing the job right? And still not able to figure out how to do reach every student?”
When he thought of his own experiences of even a few months in the system, and real people, rather than a faceless horde of easy scapegoats, he saw a different picture.
If you haven’t recently walked in the fast moving shoes of a classroom teacher, it is hard to believe how much they are trying to do. Even in a two-day workshop away from the classroom, teachers start dreaming big about what they will do when they return to the classroom. Then when they return, they get hit with the realities again and find it too hard. It may look like a teacher has given up when really s/he has just run out of steam to persist.
What drives the teachers who keep pushing? Support from any source—leadership, colleagues, a coach, a mentor, an inspiring book, an internal belief and drive, intriguing content, an instructional idea with promise, a student about to break through to new understanding, a collaborative team looking at practice together.
Yes, the demands of teaching can be overwhelming and yet I see so many teachers full of enthusiasm at 7am when the sun is barely up and their school day starts. When we talk, they always share something they are looking forward to doing with their students. They are moving forward and I think, that is the bottom line–finding one thing on nearly every day that you look forward to doing with your students.