Initiatives

The struggle to become the best teacher is real. Advice on improving my practice bombards me. I can always improve my classroom management, high leverage lessons, cognitive load, seating selection, social and emotional learning, PBIS, depth of understanding, classroom appearance, independent practice, test scores, and the constant drive to be better. Various amounts of information plague my being, creating a sense of urgency for the gaps that I can fill.

I lose myself in the career, because I find that the alternative will negatively impact students. I must follow various initiatives, fatiguing myself and making my passion towards change feeling like a burden. Students become test subjects in a slurry of initiatives designed from people who have not taught for decades. I begin to improve in one skill to find that there is a new and improved approach.

I rarely feel accomplished. Several tools are placed in the toolbox, stacked in a storage space, and filled to the brim where I cannot even figure out how to use such resources. Then, I am expected to use each of these pieces simultaneously with limited time.

As the clock ticks, and I realize that each moment is vital for students to achieve success; I cannot wait with idle hands, expecting change. I choose to stay in this profession, for I am passionate about my impact in the classroom. Ultimately, if I do not, there will be other teachers who come and go, for many leave. Our students deserve better and so do we.

Best,

Teachers Testimonials

Respectfully Decline

Schools always want you to be a super teacher, which is not realistic. Learning to respectfully decline excess expectations is fair. Teachers feel a sense of guilt when they say that they cannot attend an extra event or offer more time to support students. Work can already be overwhelming, and additional requirements are physically and emotionally draining.

You are not obligated to attend every dance, spelling bee, and football game. Rather, find ways to increase engagement in your classroom. Ask yourself if the increasing obligations will help you become an effective teacher while staying at the school site long-term. If you are only going to stay two years because you are dedicating your life and soul to the job, which is exhausting, would it be better to skip the additional events so you are at the school longer? Then, if a student visits, they do not see a school filled with new faces. Longevity and stamina is key.

Best,

Teacher’s Testimonials