Teachers have always been adaptable, let’s honor their craft.
As a student I couldn’t even guess what my teachers were doing when they weren’t teaching. Mostly because I did not care enough to pay attention. Sure, I knew the impact some of my teachers and coaches had on me, but the teenage mind didn’t allow me to comprehend what a teacher does all day.
Flash forward a few years and I had the itch. My experience working with youth in Swaziland led me down the path of education. I wanted to be a teacher, and my classes were showing me there was a lot more to the job than I originally thought. After observation days at various schools and districts across Pennsylvania, I finally made it to student teaching. Lucky for me, my cooperating teacher was the perfect fit. Paul took me around school the first day explaining what everyone did (not just himself). We talked about duties, staff meetings, department collaborations, administration’s role, and of course…the students. He didn’t get tired of my questions (at least that I know of ha) and let me go on my own a few times early to get my feet wet. But mostly, I learned by watching how he interacted with his students, his colleagues, and his administration professionally but also in a friendly manner.
Now I stand at the other end of the teaching spectrum. I’ve been a teacher, instructional coach, and school administrator at all K-12 levels — but more importantly, I have four school-aged children (7th, 4th, 2nd, and Kindergarten).
As I was writing my book (soon to be released) Adaptable, it struck me how resilient and adaptable teachers have always been (not just in the middle of a pandemic). I don’t ever want to forget that.
Because teachers do a lot. In fact, I noticed that in talking with many people they didn’t understand all that goes into the craft of teaching. Here are seven things teachers do that many people don’t ever think about…
1. WE PLAN…A LOT
Teachers plan year round (yes, especially in the summer). With new curriculum, standards, and technology, there are always changes to be made when looking at the “big picture” of the school year. However, most of the planning comes during the school year when lessons, activities, and assessments have to be created…then modified…then tweaked…and then changed again to differentiate within the classroom. Many teachers I know really enjoy the planning process and take pride in their lessons, activities, and assessments.
2. WE CARE…
Teachers care like crazy. We want all of our students to be successful and will try anything to get them to feel accomplished. This can lead to many discussions on “what to do” and hours spent outside of the general “class time” working with students to help them overcome difficulties. I’ve met many teachers who bring this home with them as well (not that this is always a good thing). Wearing their heart on their sleeve for students and families is part of the job for many teachers, and it is why this past two years have been even more difficult than usual.
3. WE COLLABORATE LIKE MUSICIANS
Come into a school and you’ll see teachers working together, planning lessons, talking through curriculum points, and creating projects. We have shared documents online where notes are filled up throughout the school year and during the summer. Better yet, online social networks and tools like Twitter have increased this exponentially. We have “Twitter chats” for almost every possible “sub-topic” possible in the educational field. Gone are the days of teachers shutting the doors to their classrooms…instead they are open and shared with the world.
4. WE TAKE OUR PROFESSION SERIOUSLY
We spend hours setting up, organizing, and making our classroom a perfect learning environment. Teachers did the same thing when it was a virtual learning environment! We go to conferences to connect with other educators throughout the year (and especially in the summer) whether online or in-person. We write books, lead in services, discuss online and in person how we can improve education for children in our own school and around the world.
5. WE ARE LIFE LONG LEARNERS
We continue to learn both formally and informally as we grow as professionals. Schools have been changing and teachers are changing along with them. It’s not easy to completely overhaul curriculum and technology and standards, but teachers are doing this time and time again. Why? Because learning is in our DNA. It’s who we are and why we teach and value a good lesson over an easy one. We know what it’s like to be a student, so we can create better experiences for our own students.
6. WE DO SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST TEACH
My last year in the classroom I coached two teams (football and lacrosse), ran a large school club (FANS), wrote curriculum, helped plan after school events, wrote college recommendations, helped seniors with their graduation projects (things like creating a dodgeball tournament), and so much more. This isn’t just me…this is teachers all over. Sure, we teach every day. But we are also doing so much more than teaching. Every single day.
7. WE DIDN’T GET INTO EDUCATION FOR THE MONEY BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE DON’T NEED IT
You won’t find many teachers who got into education to make good money. However, that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fight for pay raises and get paid what we feel we deserve. This is different from district to district, state to state, and country to country. But please don’t think teachers that are fighting for their income to support their own families don’t care about your children. We sure do.
I realize that everyone has had their own good and bad experience with teachers in their own life. Some have probably been overly positive and I’m sure some have been negative. As a parent of students now in K-12 classrooms, I never want to forget what teachers do every day that goes above and beyond their job responsibilities. Teachers have always been adaptable, in all kinds of unique situations, it is time we honor their craft and lean on them for ideas on how to create meaningful and relevant learning experiences for all our students.
