You Had Me at Hello: My Love Affair with Education

You Had Me at Hello

You had me at hello. I love to listen and read the amazing ideas of educators. It makes me recognize room for growth, but it also reinforces my belief in myself as a veteran educator. I absolutely love being a teacher. It’s a relationship that evolves and expands because I never get complacent. I understand it, it understands me. But we don’t always get along. I get angry at it, it overwhelms me. But at the end of the day I go home knowing that it will provide me with new opportunities tomorrow. Education is a beautiful profession, yet it is full of challenges, setbacks and frustrations like no other. It is a love affair for the ages. Both messy and boisterous.

There is a lot of noise, strategies everywhere, opinions, thoughts, sure fire suggestions. As educators we are bombarded with new ideas: some useful some not. Many repetitive and familiar. They often claim to reinvent the wheel, move mountains, yet many of them fall short. However, there are gems out there. You just need to keep your eyes peeled for them. During the back to school season the din gets louder and voices more powerful. It’s hard to isolate the ingenuity and inspirational from the mundane and common sentiment. Education is a profession worthwhile, meaningful and growth oriented. Most teachers want to share and collaborate. It is a wonderful field to be a part of. Hearing alternative points of view makes us stronger.

The Love Affair is Challenged

But the reality is, even with our amazing camaraderie and social media presence, being an educator, on the best day is challenging and exhausting. It is not for the weak of spirit or faint of heart.

Not everything is bake sales, blue ribbons and jars of jellybeans. As of late many strategies sound the same, they just add to the deluge of strategies. Joy, voice, community is classroom gold. Read this blog, listen to that podcast- buy these books. Better yourself by following these heroes of education- be aware, be present, build relationships. Technology is good- use it often. Homework is highly debated- is it bad now? Differentiate, use break-out sessions, stations, active learning. Teach students with visual notes, graphic novels, morning meetings. Be kind, listen, smile. Be yourself, be independent, yet stay a part of the community- build a positive school culture. Take risks, fail and get back up on the horse quickly. Share, reflect, give constructive feedback, accept critical feedback with humility. The list is endless.

Collaborate, celebrate- don’t isolate and always reverberate positivity. Build a student-centered classroom. Teach through PBL, flexible seating, personal connection. Can we do it all? Can we as teachers have a perfect performance every day, every class period? Are we going to like every one of our students equally? Maybe not but can we guarantee we treat them all equally- and keep our classroom student-driven, mindful, engaging, purposeful, productive and challenging? Do we need to use technology every day? Do we have to lecture rarely and always keep our classrooms quiet and well-behaved? Should we not smile until after Thanksgiving? Yes, I have heard a teacher say this aloud. As a new teacher, I was not blessed with Twitter or Facebook. It was collaboration within the building not between them. This has changed- now social media has allowed teachers across the globe to communicate, cooperate and climb the mountains of educational struggles together. But how much time do we need to spend on-line to feel like a good teacher?

All the congratulatory nods – follows and likes are invigorating- but what really matters is the connections we build. The ideas that filter out into the world and get picked up and incorporated into classrooms everywhere. Education is a team sport on an Olympic, Superbowl, World Series, World Cup level. While the players sometimes get overlooked the spectacle is on the news, scrutinized. Education is universal, it is a phenomenon because it occurs everywhere. Most techniques and strategies are universal, yet it is a field changing so rapidly that it is necessary to keep an open dialogue so we can continue to make education better for our students. So, throughout the scrutiny we do not feel alone.

The Love Affair is Strengthened

Yet, ultimately teaching is personal. It is a room where within its walls are interactions, observations and experiences. Relationships are forged, growth, learning and connection happens. It is a place where one or two adults try to build a community so hundreds of children can thrive. The strategies we see and hear about on social media might be perfect for some and not practical for you. Your classroom may seat 32 or ten. You may have the same students all day or within a block of time each day. Everyone has different circumstances, populations and personal philosophies. If homework works for you- use it in a purposeful, meaningful way. If traditional seating is your preference rather than flexible- then make that a way to build student relationships. The most important aspect of teaching is building relationships- if a safe haven is in place then learning is the focus. If trust and respect are modeled and common place, then community is the foundation of the learning space.

I have seen teachers spending a day in silence because the teacher was annoyed or having extra worksheets because the teacher needed a break- is this how we want to spend our time- their time? Our focus needs to be about them not us. We need to listen to other educators and read blogs that inspire us. We need to listen to thought-provoking podcasts because these will help us feel like we are a part of a community of teachers and as educators we know we all have good days and bad and if we share them we can accept the bad days while never letting them effect our students. Mindfulness is the awareness we need to respond not react- to find positivity even in the most frustrating of moments. We all have them its how we cope that impacts our classrooms.

Teachers need to see the barrage of speculation out there as just that- an avalanche of opinion and personal choice. Don’t fill your bucket with too many strategies or you will come tumbling down. You will have stressful days because you will feel overwhelmed. You have instinct, soul and a mindful spirit and you need to focus on what works for you. Don’t incorporate things into your classroom because others say it was successful. Bring things in that you are comfortable with, that you know you will use because it feels right for you. Social media is both a gift and a curse. If we rely too heavily on it, it will bombard us and stifle our own creativity. But if we use it as a tool to probe our understanding and get us curious, it will open our minds to new ideas, and this will enhance our classrooms.

The Love Affair, Unique

Education is like the Himalayas- a towering range of knowledge and experience. For me, the top is too steep, and I don’t have on hiking boots. I prefer sneakers. I like my shoes comfortable, so climbing up the piles of strategies is not going to happen. I can’t read every book, listen to every podcast. Nor do I want to. The middle can be precarious, its crowded and that din is very loud. So, I stay calm, walk slowly and pick a up a few mementos here and there. But I choose to stay near the bottom of the very high mountain of great educators. This does not mean I think I am not a good teacher. I just means I prefer solid ground and room to escape the impending overload. I can choose to climb a little, swim in a nearby pond or just watch the sunset without fear of a landslide.

I am a free-thinker with the indelible need to listen to a lot of people and their ideas- this I know makes me stronger. But I am also realistic- I know what works for me and even though I take risks in my classroom- I can only do this because ultimately, I believe in myself, I know my limitations and I push myself to move past them. I gain strength from my amazing PLN and having one makes all the difference- this is the beauty of education- community and personal independence. It had me at hello and with every greeting, educator and students- the love affair just gets more powerful.