I can see a 6 year old me standing up my chalkboard easel in front of my stuffed animals. Fast forward to middle school and high school... I can see a teen who adds notes in her journals about what she appreciates and enjoys about good teaching. Fast forward to present time. I am a "rookie" who lives in my classroom. I feel like an actress on stage when I'm teaching, a preacher in front of a congregation, an artist with a brush, a singer with a song.... you get the point.
By no means do I think I'm an exemplary teacher. I aspire to be, but I am not there yet. (Again, rookie status here.) However, I do feel like I'm in my element when I'm in my classroom. As if it comes naturally. And I love to watch other naturals. I always enjoy observing in other teacher's classrooms. I love to "steal" and copy great ideas and implement them myself. I'm always asking, how do I become better? Before graduating, I made rounds and spoke to highly thought of, seasoned teachers. I asked them all to give me a list of tips and advice. I asked them each the question that drove me then and continues to drive me now...how do you become a great teacher?
I've taught in two different counties and in each county I had to attend a series of professional development sessions and cadres geared towards helping new teachers get their feet wet (without drowning). I learned a few things, sure, but obviously the only real way to truly gain knowledge about teaching was to, well, teach. I can remember the very first day I ever taught in my own classroom. I was absolutely terrified when 27 first graders shuffled into my room on the first day of school. Terrified isn't the word for it. The door shut and I looked around at all those eyes glued to me and I thought, "There's so many things no one ever told me..." For starters, I had no idea that even the rowdiest class is absolutely silent on the first day of school. Or how long 8 hours actually is. And at the end of that year, I experienced more things no one ever told me. Like, for example, even the best behaved group of kiddos come close to losing their minds with spring fever around April. And, also around April, 8 hours isn't nearly enough time to stuff all the standards we're supposed to cover into those little brains.
And I could go on and on with the list I've compiled of all the things that only experience has taught me in my 3 short years. But I want to focus on the biggest one. The heart of teaching. The key. The answer to my question. The trick. The secret. The advice that no one ever told me.
How do you become a great teacher? It's simple. Love the kids.
That's it. That's all you have to do. Students will respect you. Parents will request you. Everything else will fall into place. And no one ever told me that.
Here's the catch- also something no one ever told me. It isn't easy.
And it's hard for me to admit that, but I'm just being brutally honest. Because no one ever told me that it isn't easy to love all your students with all your heart all the days of the school year. But I'm telling you...it isn't.
Don't get me wrong, I care about the well-being, safety, and education of every child in my classroom at all times, or I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. I never want any of my students to hurt or hunger or be lost. That's genuine. But I'm talking about something deeper than that. There are some students who are just easier to love than others. There are some students who are just easier to enjoy...if you know what I mean- and if you're being honest, than you do.
Sometimes people just clash. I've met the occasional person that did nothing in particular to me but yet just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure we all have. I don't know why I didn't consider this to also be a possibility in the classroom, but it had never crossed my mind. But just like with adults, it can be the same with kiddos. I realized the truth in that when I met Sally Sue and Bobby Joe. They had personalities that simply clashed with mine. Of course, being the professional that I am, I paste on my smile and use my teacher voice and make sure I treat them like any other student of the class. I make sure I give them compliments and encouragement and ask them about their day. There have been instances where I've actually tried to be nicer to Sally Sue or Bobby Joe than I might be to a child I truly enjoy. But here's the thing, (yet another tid-bit no one ever told me!) you can not fake a child. Somehow, no matter what, they just know. It's uncanny really. And I had no idea such tiny humans possessed such a big radar. But, boy, do they.
So, what do you do if you can't fake it? But it isn't easy to do?
You pray.
I can't imagine a prayer that would sound any sweeter to our Jesus than a prayer for love. Pray that He will pour it into you so that you can pour it into them. Pray to have a heart of genuine love specifically for Sally Sue and Bobby Joe. Pray for the power to put on love through Christ so that they may see and feel His love through you.
It won't always be easy, but it will always be worth it. It never fails to amaze me the work He can do in one's heart! And I do so eagerly pray that He never quits working on me.
