This is a question I find appropriate here at the beginning of another school year. Those of you polishing up your teaching resume and still asking the question, “should I teach?” this post was written with you in mind. My class, as I have shared previously, is a challenge this year. My Principal shared with me that some of the circumstances in my kids are the sort you only see once every 10 years. From extremely low socio-economic to low attention span, the issues I face in there are numerous. Teaching programs prepare you for a lot of things, but in my 11 years of teaching, I’ve learned clearly what they do not. I’m not embarrassed to share with you that the first two weeks left me exhausted. I had a plan every day and most of my plan has been delivered. There are a few things I still have to work on but that’s ok.
So that raises the question: “How hard should teaching get?” When do you say to yourself: “This is not working.” I think the answer is a non-universal one. There is a place in all of us that only we know that answers this question. One one hand, all of us are paying the rent and/or feeding our family through teaching so it’s silly to think we could just “stop” when it got tough. On the other hand, we have to preserve our mental strength so we should know how to gauge if what we are teaching is being effective.
Things to look for are:
- Are small goals being achieved?
- Are large goals being achieved?
- (Am I setting small and large goals?)
- Am I doing everything the school is asking of me? (If not, this should get all your focus)
- Are assessments showing growth?
I think that our psychology as a teacher can be our best friend at times and our worst enemy at others. We should focus less on the question and more on the “data” such as my suggestions above. You might go home exhausted after two weeks and think you are in the wrong profession, but the data should determine that, not your feelings. Of course you can’t feel bad all year, that will literally make you sick. However, when the shift in focus goes from feelings to goals and positive data, you may find you feel better and you know who you are: an accomplished teacher. When you feel that self-esteem, you can do anything even something as ambitious as teaching overseas. To the teachers out there: keep the faith.
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