So far this summer, I've been trying to make myself relax. My friends and colleagues can attest to the fact that I struggle with that. I've been doing crafts (I bought a new coloring book and one on hand-lettering); sleeping late (well.... until 6:30, which, when you typically get up at 4:30, feels "late"); and binge-watching past seasons of Project Runway. Of course, I can't step away from work for long.
I'm going into my sixth year of teaching. I'm reaching the point in my career where I have some confidence in myself as an educator, and it seems to be a good time to take a different perspective toward the classes that I teach. I've come to an important realization:
I am the best teacher when I'm teaching what I love.
This may seem obvious - of course, we are always the most passionate educators when we are teaching about something that excites us - but we can all admit that we don't love every point of every concept in our curriculum. And that's why, this year, I'm no longer choosing to try to cover everything.
Let me give you an example. In my psychology class, there are dozens of topics that I am meant to cover about the brain's biology, cognitive processes, and reaction to environmental stimuli. Last year, I tried covering each topic in isolation, in order: a "linear" approach, if you will. I covered everything, but guess what? I was miserable, and so were my students. I was throwing a bunch of content at them to "check the boxes" with little excitement or significance.
No more.
This year, I've restructured my psychology class thematically, and chosen themes that I think will be both relevant to my kids and exciting to me: Educational Psychology, Criminal Psychology, and Psychology of Social Justice. I am still covering all of the required standards, but now I'm using them to tell a story that I and the kids can actually be excited about.
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| "Everyone can do something, and this is what I can do / If I'm to start a revolution, my revolution is you.: |
The same thing is true of my World History class. Do my WH kids remember every vocabulary lesson and set of guided notes I taught? No. No student has ever looked at me and said "Wow! That PowerPoint really made me want to take another class with you!!" But guess what? I did have a kid say that after I stood on a chair and rapped about activism and revolutions. That's the teacher they want me to be, and that's the teacher I want to be! So, I've restructured my World History class to be taught by geographic region, with plenty of time for thematic and interest-based exploration. Again, I'll still hit the standards.... my way. And my kids' way.
So, how can you take back your classroom?
- Go back to the beginning. Think about the kind of teacher you wanted to be when you became a teacher. Is that the teacher you are? Would five-year-old you, or fifteen-year-old you, or twenty-two-year-old-you-in-a-college-education-program, be thrilled and excited and captivated by the adult in your classroom right now? Then, for goodness' sake, why is this the teacher you've become? Figure out what the barriers are to your awesomeness, and start figuring out how to mow them down. (I'll be working on some posts in upcoming weeks about some of these barriers, like planning and time management, so stay tuned!)
- Think about what's important - what's really important. Think about the classes you teach. Yes, you have to cover your curriculum standards. But pretend, for a minute, that you don't know what they are. If someone asked you what you wanted kids to walk away from your class knowing, what would it be? Frankly, I don't really care if my World History students can define mercantilism, but I do care if they know what the factors that contribute to tyranny and genocide look like. Figure out your non-negotiables; weave them into a sequence or narrative; then connect the dots with other information and content, as needed, to cover everything you need to cover. (Tip: I took all of my documents for each class that I restructured and moved them to a folder in my Google Drive marked "archived." I was committed to starting fresh... but not ready to delete everything!)
- Get inspired. Figure out who and what inspires you. I turn to Teaching Tolerance, to Sharroky Hollie, to my materials from the Stanford University Hollyhock Fellowship. I look at my Pinterest boards. I bounce ideas off colleagues with similar educational philosophies, and even off some of my students. This year, one of my goals is to observe others in my department and around the school more and get ideas from them. Try something new!
Starting over is hard. But starting over in the best interest of our kids is crucial, and I think it can help prevent burnout, exhaustion, and cynicism - the insidious evils of our profession. I hope, this school year, you all love what you teach.
-HMF
