When tough times occur many times people decide to depart for greener pastures and for the last few months I’ve discussed, considered and planned a departure from the school that gave me my first teaching job. (actually second but it hurts too much to discuss the previous situation. SMH) From the endless days of last minute schedule changes that alter my lesson fluidity or the last minute push for completed Response to Intervention paperwork that I had no real understanding of, I would walk out of the school in the afternoons and dread returning 14 hours later.
These thoughts subsided when I convened with my fellow colleagues and talked about our school, our collegiate experiences, personal stories and our futures. As I am the youngest person on my school staff by at least 5-6 years, many of the stories they reflected on were foreign to me because of my youth. One teacher had played professional baseball before becoming a teacher and has taught at 3 other schools before coming to our school. Another teacher had been an administrator before returning to the classroom; she had also taught every grade except 2nd and 4th. Another teacher discussed her challenges of teaching “special ed” when it’s more of “behavior ed” than special services. Absorbing all this insight and information, I realized that my impatience was causing me to “tweak” and consider leaving the place that has molded my early career.
“Patience is a virtue.” Well if that is truthful than I am the furthest thing from a virtous this side of the Mississippi River. I was impatient in the sense that I want a school that was nearly perfect; SUPERB principal, unlimited copies, collaboration amongst teams, high parental involvement, etc. Of course and when you are looking for something you can look past the great things you have and want the “BETTER”. After the reflecting with my fellow educators, I realized that what makes a school an attractive station is the students that you work with and the people you get to work around.
The relationships that I have built with my students, to where their parents request that they stay with me while in Washington D.C. or the my ex-students that come to visit me every chance they get or the teacher that asked me to stand up in his wedding is what makes the school a fixture in my school, social and spiritual life. Being a teacher is a lot more than paperwork, IEPs and lesson plans; it’s about waking up daily and being excited (at least remotely excited) to battle with your students to push them to become better or to sit in the teacher’s lounge and console a friend that had a bad review or just experienced a divorce.
As many student teachers will begin their job search soon, BE openminded to the schools and neighborhoods that you search in because an open-mind can lead to a happy heart. Find what is perfect for you, test scores and other people’s opinions should only influence your decision so much…find your own internal desire and you’ll find the perfect school.
