"Hallelujah! We did it! I am so happy, I might cry!" That's right, you did it...you survived the first week of school. You came, you saw, they conquered! This has felt like the longest week of your life and you are exhausted! Your back hurts , your feet are killing you, and somehow muscles you didn't even know you had are throbbing. Your voice is gone and if you have to open one more locker you might just quit.
The first week is always full of ups and downs. From the moment the students walk in on that first day there is drama and screaming; smiles and laughing. It almost seems like the same thing every year. You go through the same routines and teach the same 'getting to know you' activities the first day.
I often have people ask me how I can be a teacher because I 'do the same thing day in and day out every year.' "Doesn't that get boring?" they ask. The answer to this questions is a resounding 'NO!' Yes you teach the same curriculum and most of the time you have the same routines and procedures but there is absolutely no way teaching is boring. You might wake up in the morning knowing exactly what you are doing and what will happen but as soon as you hit those halls, it all changes.
Sometimes the change is good, but sometimes it is bad. You will have days when change is in the form of a fire drill and then days were change is in the form of a fight you have to break up followed by a trip to the nurse. No matter what, you know that the change is good. Change means you have a new goal to work towards. It means that students need new direction and that you need a new purpose. Teaching requires change because no student is the same. On the drop of a dime you must be able to turn into a nurse, or a parent, a sibling or a friend.
Although there is always something different, the only change that matters is the one that you do in your classroom. It is your job to change the students' outlooks. You must change them from self-conscious to confident, sad to happy, and most importantly a strange kid to a caring young adult who you would be proud to call your own.
As in all situations, there isn't always an easy path. With all change comes struggle: the struggle to change the most stubborn student into the happiest, the struggle to put a smile on the face of the bullied student, and the struggle to help the one student know that no matter what goes on at home, you can assure them that things will get better.
Change isn't always easy and a lot of the time it is straight up scary but at the end of the day, you're a teacher and you have the ability to create positive change. As a teacher you might be the only person that hugs them, or smiles at them, or even shows them that you care. You are their teacher but they look at you as much more. To them you are a friend, a mentor, and a person who helped change them from the shy, stubborn, pre-teen to the confident, out-going young adult they are today. Not only that, but they change you. They make you see that there is a future, that there is good in the world, and that there are young minds out there who are willing to learn and grow.
So the next time someone asks you how you can do the same thing every day without any change, you just look at them, smile, and say "If you got to be there when the doors opened on the first day and saw those tired, grumpy faces, you'd understand.
Have a great year!
The first week is always full of ups and downs. From the moment the students walk in on that first day there is drama and screaming; smiles and laughing. It almost seems like the same thing every year. You go through the same routines and teach the same 'getting to know you' activities the first day.
I often have people ask me how I can be a teacher because I 'do the same thing day in and day out every year.' "Doesn't that get boring?" they ask. The answer to this questions is a resounding 'NO!' Yes you teach the same curriculum and most of the time you have the same routines and procedures but there is absolutely no way teaching is boring. You might wake up in the morning knowing exactly what you are doing and what will happen but as soon as you hit those halls, it all changes.
Sometimes the change is good, but sometimes it is bad. You will have days when change is in the form of a fire drill and then days were change is in the form of a fight you have to break up followed by a trip to the nurse. No matter what, you know that the change is good. Change means you have a new goal to work towards. It means that students need new direction and that you need a new purpose. Teaching requires change because no student is the same. On the drop of a dime you must be able to turn into a nurse, or a parent, a sibling or a friend.
Although there is always something different, the only change that matters is the one that you do in your classroom. It is your job to change the students' outlooks. You must change them from self-conscious to confident, sad to happy, and most importantly a strange kid to a caring young adult who you would be proud to call your own.
As in all situations, there isn't always an easy path. With all change comes struggle: the struggle to change the most stubborn student into the happiest, the struggle to put a smile on the face of the bullied student, and the struggle to help the one student know that no matter what goes on at home, you can assure them that things will get better.
Change isn't always easy and a lot of the time it is straight up scary but at the end of the day, you're a teacher and you have the ability to create positive change. As a teacher you might be the only person that hugs them, or smiles at them, or even shows them that you care. You are their teacher but they look at you as much more. To them you are a friend, a mentor, and a person who helped change them from the shy, stubborn, pre-teen to the confident, out-going young adult they are today. Not only that, but they change you. They make you see that there is a future, that there is good in the world, and that there are young minds out there who are willing to learn and grow.
So the next time someone asks you how you can do the same thing every day without any change, you just look at them, smile, and say "If you got to be there when the doors opened on the first day and saw those tired, grumpy faces, you'd understand.
Have a great year!