Here in my neck of the woods, it’s the weekend before the start of classes. At my house, life got frantic this week as my wife, a high school language arts teacher, returned to work.
It’s about to get really busy if you are at all involved in education. As you gear up in whatever way that you do, I selfishly wanted to jot down a few reminders that I’d be telling myself if I were about to get started.
First. I hope you take lots of risks for the sake of learning this year. Not just for your students, but also for you. Make it a goal to try to learn something in a sustained and meaningful way that has little to do with your classroom life. I’ve been trying to learn photography this year, and while I’m nowhere close to proficient, it has been helpful to be in the mindset of a learner who’s struggling. That’s how many of our students feel everyday.
It doesn’t have to be a big risk that you always take – take little ones, too. Ask the question that you’re hesitant to ask. Share the writing you’re doing with your students. Volunteer to do the silly dance at the assembly. Just challenge yourself a little bit every now and then. We rise to the challenge when we’re pushed. But it’s easy to forget to reach.
Try very hard not to work all the time. I suck at this, at turning off my work brain and focusing on being a dad or a husband or “just a dude reading the paper at the corner coffee shop,” but I recognize the value of being at rest and at play, of knowing that it’s better to let small work things go in the name of preserving long term relationships. You CAN be that hero teacher that everyone loves and is in awe of, but only for a little while. Then, you burn out and fade away and don’t do anyone any good at all.
You need no one’s permission to postpone a due date or modify an assignment for the benefit of a student, or to delay some grading for the benefit of yourself or your family. All will be right with the world if you’re a day late, so long as you had a reason.
Be an expert when you need to be. Be a learner always. You are probably the most experienced learner in your classroom. But don’t assume you’re the most knowledgable person or object. If you’ve a computer handy, then you’re not. Embrace that. Relationships and mentoring cannot be outsourced or Googled. They take time and genuine concern.
Model always what you want your students to do. You and your behaviors and habits, no matter how much you might wish otherwise, are a curriculum of sorts, perhaps THE curriculum.
Be humble, but fight like crazy for your students.
Have at all times, as Geoff Powell says, “a healthy respect for young people.”
Work on your crap detector. Teach your students to develop theirs. Read and write lots. Let your students make meaningful choices in their learning. Hold them accountable for the choices they make, good or bad.
And share the good stuff. Your stories are all human ones, and they are all special, just as each one of you, and each of your students, is special. There is always someone curious about what you’re up to.
You’ll have nervous days and scared days and failure days. But you’ll also have “yes” days. Write about, reflect upon, and learn from all of them, but build a special place to keep a record of the “yes” ones. Return to it when you need a boost on some of the not-so-good days.
I wish you well. I ask you to be brave and humble and kind and tenacious and wise and caring and gentle and fierce. We so need you to do well. And there are lots of folks out there who want to help. Do good stuff.
Thanks, Bud. Perfect. I’ll be sharing this with our readers and with my staff. Thanks also to JBlack for the Wordle. Way cool. I’m going to print it and hang it where I can look at it often.
We did a series this week called “The Big Picture Series,” which connects to this. Thanks for this important open letter too!
Your last paragraph is going up in my classroom this week as a little mantra for all of us. It is a great reminder for my co-teacher and me and a wonderful message to send to our students. THANKS!
“I wish you well. I ask you to be brave and humble and kind and tenacious and wise and caring and gentle and fierce. We so need you to do well. And there are lots of folks out there who want to help. Do good stuff.”
Thanks for the pep talk, it was needed. We go back on 9/2/08 and I find as the years go on I get less and less excited and more and more stressed. Once the initial first day is done then I tend to “settle down”.
Thanks for this reminder; I’m already back, but I could read this everyday 🙂
This is wonderful. I sent out the link to many people and linked it to my blog.
http://www.debrennersmith.com/2008/08/teachers-matter.html
http://www.debrennersmith.com
type teachers matter in search engine
As another new year begins, it is good to read encouraging words. Thank God we are not in this alone, and have the understanding of our families like your wife does. My husband hears it all and lets me laugh, cry, and rant when necessary. God bless our families too as we begin another year.
I’m going to print about ten copies of this and put it in places where I will read it every day! Such important reminders– I’m working on take risks and don’t work too much!
Thanks.
It’s always a difficult, seasonal adjustment to fit my life alongside the large time and temporal territory teaching occupies.
I assigned an essay on the first day, and have spent more time working this weekend than I have with my family.
You’re right. I can set my own pace.
Hey, Bud…
Are you the Bud that worked as a Teaching Assistant for me at CSU in the Myth and Biblical Backgrounds class, many years ago? I’ve been wondering.
Steve Miles
Very nice, Bud. Am very glad there is someone else out there who has a tough time turning the brain off. Have an awesome school year!
Thank you for the reminders and the kick in the pants to get started. I’m not prepared *spoken in the Monty Python tone of “I’m not worthy”*
I love this blog! Keep up the good work.
Check this out:
http://theinfluentialteacher.com
Wonderful.
I think the most important part: Model always what you want your students to do. You and your behaviors and habits, no matter how much you might wish otherwise, are a curriculum of sorts, perhaps THE curriculum.
At our school (www.hillcountrymontessori.org) we have specifically set up adult education so we can model adults continuing to learn for our students.
I am honored and pleased by all of the positive attention this post has received. Thank you all – and go do good things. Also, tell me what I missed – what else should teachers be thinking about?
I’ve very much enjoyed following the comments to this post, Bud. I wanted to add a student perspective, shared recently by my son, who more than once has dropped out of school, but last week enthusiastically returned to a local community college. As he headed in to his first class, he called and left this message: “So much depends on getting a good teacher.”
Yep, Bud! You got it so right, I’m finally posting! Even at three weeks in, your words are an excellent reminder – I think I’ll give myself permission to take one more hour before I start grading papers this Sunday morning to have another cup of coffee, continue to read the paper, and play on the internet. I’m spending my first year in a new school even though I’ve been teaching for years, and it’s all about risk, building mutual respect, and keeping balance right now!
The first year (of any new job) is tough with the huge learning curve, the second year is good practice, and the third year feels, finally, like an overall success! I think we should also be supporting those new to the profession, in the middle of that learning curve right now, to find successes. The shiny newness of the job has worn off, the overwhelming amount of work is piling up, and I’m guessing many new teachers are fogetting to give themselves permission to have some fun and recharge (even sleep); I know we have no extra time at school, but let’s help support each other as well as our students. Thanks Bud!
Thanks Bud! I’m organizing my lesson plan book tonight. The first thing I see when I open it up is your letter. I want to make sure I keep seeing your reminders to take risks and fight like crazy for my students.
Great thoughts! You can visit http://www.K5Stars.com for a few more ideas as to make learning purposeful.
…you managed to encapsulate so much wisdom into this post…the hero-complex is such a driving force for me…but you’re right, its flip side is the guilt and exhaustion that accompany it….as you say do it “for a little while”. thanks.
Hi! I’m an Uruguayan EFL teacher finding new ways to encourage students to write. To do so, we have created two blogs where they are starting to post; however,I think they would feel more motivated if they knew people from around the world visit them and read what they have to say.
Could you help me? Please, visit their blogs and leave a comment. I’ll appreciate it.
Thanks!
Analía
http://donotreadmythiblog.blogspot.com/
http://preprofwritingproject.blogspot.com/
By the way, your blog is awesome!! I really love it
Thanks for this post. It’s great you encourage educators to keep things in perspective when getting ready for the long haul of the teaching year. Your blog has given me a ton of ideas for a site I started with the NIFB Young Entrepreneur Foundation. If you get a chance, stop by and leave some feedback.
Thanks!
Julie
http://youngentrepreneurfoundation.wordpress.com/
What a nice letter! I would’ve liked to have read it before the first day of school to give me a motivating pep ‘talk’. But it sure is nice to read it now, as we only wrapped up our 6th week of school last week, and I’m already needing encouragement!
Thanks so much! 🙂
Wow!! You’re so right. We can’t aways be the favorite. There are times we have to be tough.g
Awesome thoughts – after 13 years in the classroom I have experienced many of those “yes” days and also some of the failures – Emerson has been quoted as saying that those days will happen, rise above them, and go to the next day unhindered by the events of the previous day – a great idea
Reminding ourselves what it’s like to be a struggling learner is such an insightful perspective…..and so worthwhile.
Tracy
I feel the daily challenge of trying to leave work behind. I find it so difficult to feel adequately prepared for my days with my students without spending too much time on getting there. I am constantly trying to recommit to spending more time with my family. I try to remind myself that every day is a new beginning…another chance to get it “more” right!
I have only been a teacher for 12 years but I’ve been the position to mentor several up and coming teachers. Much of the advice you give could be a life saver to new teachers and those considering teaching as a profession. Without vision, the teacher perishes. I have instructed the new teachers to only choose one thing per year to improve/work on because that way, that one improvement feels like an accomplishment. I also firmly believe in having my own life outside of my classroom and advise my proteges to set time limits on how many hours they work per week. Its nice to see other teachers who love his/her job but hold to this belief.
Thanks Bud… Your post helped me frame some things that I want to share with my staff when they return at the end of the month. Hoping you have a great year…
You’re quite welcome, Tim. I imagine you’ll have a fine year.
Thanks Bud. Very inspiring. These reminders bring us all back to a universal standard for teaching/learning.
Superb, and a reminder of what that voice said when I was called into this profession, back when I was young and the world was mine to change. Still is, by the way.
Thanks, Bud.
Great words.
An excellent way to start every semester.
Inspired & inspiring words, dear teacher.
It’s been a great cheer-up to read your letter, for us educators sometimes tend to forget the fact that we are human beings as well.
Wishing you and all teachers a great next term!
Encouraging, inspiring, uplifting, in other words…two thumbs up! Thanks for sharing that thought.
Thank you for this inspiration Bud. Your words help remind me of why I became a teacher, all the things I’d like to try this year, how excited I am about building relationships with students and hoping that I can do that even with the most challenging. Your words are great encouragement. Can’t wait for the year and am excited to continue working with you.
Thanks for giving the right value to Education Bud. Your great thoughts are impressive and make teachers all over the world so motivating and envolving with the students so that we (teachers) can inspire them much more now. I am looking forward to hearing from you more meaningful words.
Bud;
I agree, you should take a few risks and try to push the boundaries that are sometimes try to fence us in, so to speak, with respect to technology.
Personally, I am somewhat apprehensive about sharing some of my writing with my students. First, if I write, it is usually something boring like my prospective on various Educational Technology ideas. I think they would find that boring!
I enjoyed your comment about being an expert at what you want to be. I don’t know if I qualify as an “Expert” in anything, well maybe in my specialty of Emergency Medicine and maybe Twitter. I do try to learn, that’s what my PLN is for and why I value it so much. Also, that’s why attending something like ISTE which we just returned from is so energizing for me, getting to have face-to-face meet-ups with many in the Edublogosphere!
I will try to not work all the time as you suggest. I know how easily I am sucked into my PLN, fun and interesting blog posts, such as yours, and spend many hours online when I should really unplug and enjoy some quality time with friends, family and my students. But I am going to really try to make a concerted effort to do so this school year!
I will try to teach my students to develop and learn their “Crap Detector”, hopefully my Principal will not misunderstand this one!
All the best;
John
Thanks for an important reminder. The kind of teacher you describe is what every parent wants for her/his child and every student wants as well. Unless we are learners ourselves, willing to take risks, we cannot be effective teachers. Have a wonderful school year whenever it starts for you.
Bud-
Well said! Thank you for sharing this with us! I think it is so important you reminded us to take time for ourselves, to give ourselves an extra day and in return give students as extra day if they need it. We are all human and life sometimes interferes with our best intentions. We need to let kids know we understand that.
I think also, as teachers, we carry a gene for nurturing. Sometimes this means we spend more time caring for others than for ourselves which can lead us to a place we don’t want to go! We need to nurture our own selves.
You asked what you might have missed? For me, laughter is a huge part of being happy and successful. I love the silly moments in my classroom with my students every bit as much as the thought provoking discussions we have. And there is no better medicine for a bad day than to come home and giggle with my own 4 boys. They remind me what is important.
Great post, Bud! You gave me just the pick up I needed as I return to work this week. I blogged about your post and added more ideas here: http://macmomma.blogspot.com/2010/08/open-letter-to-teachers-my-2-cents.html
Thanks for making me think.
~Lee
Thanks! Always good too be reminded and to reflect and to learn!!!
Happy New Year everyone! (Yes, my year begins with the school year. . .)
Excellent post!! Thank you, on behalf of myself and educators everywhere, for putting these most important reminders in writing.
Susan
Just started school on Thursday! Looking forward to a great year and thanks for the great inspiration!!