Heart of a Teacher (Part 2)

After finally turning off my alarm this morning after pressing snooze for the 10^th time I dragged myself (literally) out of bed and stumbled my way to the kitchen to make a coffee.  I slowly willed myself through making that coffee and stumbled my way through cutting up an apple to eat before heading to the gym.  By managed to get through teaching my class and slowly got myself organised to get ready for work.  While I was getting organised and having a shower I started to play through in my mind how I was going to navigate today.  How was I going to motivate myself though a long day, meeting and everything else in-between?  

I asked myself, ‘How would any normal ‘non-teacher’ person manage the workload a teacher manages daily?’

How many people out there would have the skills/ patience/ sanity levels/ perseverance to manage 20-30 kids in one room.  20-30 different stories, backgrounds, social combinations, learning levels, issues.  And then taking into account that these variables may change at any time depending on the subject, age, what happened before and during school.  How many people out there would manage that AND maintain some sort of communication with parents over various situations, LOTS of admin, meetings, extra-curricular, sports carnivals, events, parent teacher interviews, professional development, emails, phone calls, programing, reporting, planning, marking, adjusting work (and then adjusting again… like Groundhog’s Day…) I THINK I have covered everything?

AND I haven’t even added normal human stuff outside of work!

How would any normal ‘non-teacher’ person manage that with a reasonable level of sanity?

My ‘conclusion’ changes regularly, but there are two that I really hold on to when the going gets tough:

1.     It’s a calling:  I get told ALL the time, ‘I don’t know how you do it.’  Yep I know… some days I wonder how I do it (especially during term 3.)  Teaching isn’t just something I do for the sake of doing, it has to be a calling. There’s something about it that pulls me in no matter how much I tell myself that I’ll just go and find another ‘more relaxing’ career path.  Even on the days when I am having my moments of incredible frustration and that feeling like I may as well have spoken Chinese to the wall some days.  There’s something about the ‘cause’ just keeps me picking myself up and keeping on keeping on.  No matter what, I hold onto the hope that one day that child will turn out fine.  I hold onto the fact that I am becoming a part of the solution rather than contributing to the problem.  There’s a rawness about teaching and any true teacher will say it’s hard to truly articulate to someone that isn’t a teacher. I hold onto the fact that I was ‘called’ into this, that the real impact/influence doesn’t come in the easy stuff.  

2.    I need a spiritual element in my teaching for the sake of survival:I know I have a mix of Christians and Non-Christians who read my blog.  For myself on a personal level God is my spiritual element that sustains me in my teaching practice, especially through the difficult moments. I wholeheartedly believe any practicing teacher needs some sort of spiritual element within their life to sustain themselves as a teacher (whatever this choice may be.)  No teacher should have to go at it alone – it’s a battlefield some days and running out on the field without some sort of amour will get you in danger fast.  A spiritual amour is there for you on the ‘battlefield days.’  Having regular spiritual practice keeps a level of mental calm and creates breathing space for when the stress begins to build.  Spiritual practice helps develop wisdom in the difficult situations.  It gives you guidance in becoming more teachable to become more experienced.  Spiritual practice also keeps my head and heart in the right balance within a world that is fast becoming chaotic!

To all of my amazing teacher friends, I know this term has been super tough, but keep pressing forward.  Keep being reminded that this is a calling… an opportunity to be the shining lights and building blocks of our future generations.  Keep reminding yourself that you have been given something you can handle.  This is your chance to personally grow while you help others grow.  Stay strong, stay focused on the course and keep on being amazing at what you do.