The Journey continues…

Looking back on my first year of teaching, it was the greatest learning experience of my young life. I was a naïve girl with lofty dreams of saving the world. A recent graduate from Fairmont State, I moved to a very rural area. I didn’t know the town of Cowen existed and I didn’t know a living soul. Not the principal the secretary or the superintendent. As it was mentioned previously, I was hired the day before school started, and then was given a week to find a place, pack, move, get settled and start a professional career as an educator.

I went down the day before school started to meet the principal and the superintendent upon their request. I was greeted by the secretary, who was interestingly enough barefoot. She then introduced me to the principal who was also barefoot. Though caught off guard, meeting the teachers and staff was like a glass of cool water on a hot day. I had no idea what I was doing, and they were kind and helpful. I was immediately made to feel welcome and accepted. No questions asked. The English teacher, who shared my block of students was sweet and friendly. On the other side of me was Mrs. Mathes, the 7^th grade math teacher.

Now Mrs. Mathes was sweet and helpful, but she was also spunky. I loved her instantly and her kids did too. On my second day of school, after the kids had sized me up, they started to push me. Where was my boundary going to be? They stampeded into class like a herd of buffalo. At this point, I wanted to remain as professional as possible, keeping an even temper. But inside it rattled me to the core. Kids running into the room, talking over me while I was trying to begin class. Yep, they had sized me up and I was about to fold like a house of cards. 

Frankly, this was far from the ideal picture of what I thought teaching would be. In my mind, I envisioned a perfectly straight line of students entering the room, and sitting in their seats, hands neatly folded, as the bell rang. What imagination beginning teachers have, truly!

As the bell rang, on the last class of that second day, kids came tearing through the doorway like a hurricane. As I tried to gain my bearings and begin class, Mrs. Mathes pulled me out of the doorway into the hall. She looked me dead in the eye and got nose to nose with me.

With the seriousness of a military drill sergeant, finger in my face, said, “You better get your game face on.” Dead as a heart attack.

It went through me. This encounter left me stunned. Yet, at the same time something inside me rose up and said, yes ma’am. I had been given my first pep talk and the coach was putting me in the game. Though I didn’t know it yet, this veteran teacher had just saved me.

Through-out the rest of this year, I came to learn exactly what this “game face” would entail. Teaching turned out to be so much harder than I believed it to be. You can’t come in with thin skin and win the game. Without this teacher, it would have been impossible to develop the grit I needed to gain confidence as an educator.

Most likely, you have a story of your own of how someone helped you early on in your career and motivated you. You see, we need veteran teachers and those with success to help guide our new teachers when they are struggling. We really are a team. It’s not each man for himself. This philosophy will get us nowhere.

We have new teachers at the start of their careers with nothing but their dreams and the world against them. They need to be encouraged to shoot for their dream to be a teacher, not scared away from teaching because we are burned out! They don’t need to be told to go another way. Teaching is hard, but if all we do is tell them to run for the hills then who will be left to teach our kids and grandkids?

They may be green. They may be inexperienced and naïve about the world, true. But let’s come alongside them and run with them and give them the tools we know they will need. Let’s be the role model for them that they need to succeed in their careers. If they do it like you that might be good. If they don’t do it the same as you, that’s OK too.

The next generation of teachers is here. Let’s support them! Let’s be their cheering squad and partner in crime. Let’s be their coach.  And instead of telling them, “You need to run for the hills. You won’t make it,” let’s give them that pep talk. Let’s be their forerunner and watch as they run past us when we are done with our race. For some, it may be that you run with them in this race and encourage one another. For others, it may be time to pass the baton to the next generation of teachers arising on the scene. You never know if they will teach your child or grandchild someday soon. Lord knows we need them! Tell them so.

“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,” Hebrews 10:24  (NKJV)

Did you have an educator coach in your beginning career? Share with us!

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