The Redress of Teaching

When I think about some of my favorite years in the classroom, what makes them so special is an abundance of hope and creativity. The beginning of the school year starts with excitement about meeting your new students, getting to know them individually, and eagerness to try new things in the classroom. There is an initial rush of creativity as you set up your classroom, create seating charts, and organize new school supplies. The first days of school are happily exhausting, similar to a runner’s high after a race.

As the year progresses, outside stressors accumulate: meetings, paperwork, sickness, missed lunches to cover another class, testing, more meetings, shortened planning time to make a parent phone call, mandated initiatives, teacher evaluations, more testing. Veteran teachers understand that these things just come with the job. Many of are outside of our control; we take the hits as best as we can, and continue to teach.

Experience has taught me that the more I fill my classroom with things I love: book clubs, building classroom culture, poetry recitations, music, critical thinking, flow states, deep mathematical thinking, laughter, creative learning experiences, poetry, classroom discussions, and connections, the easier it is for me to bear the drudgeries.

And so, throughout the year, the balance shifts from banalities to brightness. I’ve learned in my career how to navigate the heaviness of teaching and amplify the good. When I let the have-to’s outweigh the get-to’s, teaching is more difficult. My naturally curious and optimistic attitude slowly erodes away leaving cynicism and stagnation. Some weeks, teaching feels light and full of possibility. Other times, it feels heavy and hopeless. The countless meetings, trainings, fundraising, interruptions, and testing all make it easy to lose sight of the intended, aspirational ethos of teaching and learning.