“Who was your favorite teacher?”
This is one of my favorite icebreakers, mainly because I’ve never met someone over the age of 6 who didn’t have a passionate answer.
And like many other new teachers before me, I was determined to be every one of my student’s favorite teacher. Ever.
I don’t think it took 24 hours for the naivete to wear off.
What happened and where did I go wrong? The potential energy at the start of the school year is arguably tangible
-- I could see it in the perfectly sharpened pencils, smell it in the textbooks, and hear it from hallway conversations. Yet here I was, no more than a single day into the school year and I felt rather like Cinderella: the excitement and energy of the ball was over, and the experience wasn’t as glamorous or life-changing as I’d hoped. Expectations dashed, I was in desperate need of a visit from a fairy godmother.
A loud noise startled me away from my train of thought -- the janitor was making the rounds. “First day?” she asked me. “Yup. How’d you know?” She didn’t miss a beat: “You were too nice.”
Pshhh. Of course I was nice -- isn’t that what it’s all about? I started thinking about my favorite teachers, and started to think that maybe she had a point. My favorite teachers were my favorites because they were fair, they held me to high standards, and I had no doubt that they cared about my growth. Nice was not what I remembered. I had many nice teachers, but that did not make them my favorites. I didn’t recognize the janitor as my fairy godmother at the time, but any experienced teacher will tell you they’re synonymous.
To be honest, “being nice” wasn’t specifically what I was aiming for on my first day of teaching. It was an unintended byproduct of my inexperience, and the valuable lesson she gave me that night wasn’t one that could be learned with the wave of a wand.
The first day of school brings a lot of excitement, but also a lot of pressure. Much like the story of Cinderella, that shiny presentation makes an impact but expires quickly; all too soon you’re scrubbing the proverbial floor once more. Lucky for all of us, that isn’t where the fairy tale ends.
I learned to balance the prettiness of my bulletin boards with their functionality and that my classroom became more beautiful if my students had a hand in building it themselves. I let go of being authoritative and became more collaborative. I embraced the differences in my students, learning how to access their individual strengths to encourage personalized learning. I forgave yesterday’s transgressions to give each student a clean slate every day. I actively listened to my students, and in doing so became a greater advocate for them and their learning. I gradually learned the difference between being “nice” and being “fair,” ultimately finding that the less I was concerned with being students’ “favorite teacher,” the more it happened spontaneously.
Even if your classroom isn’t perfect and the first day doesn’t go just as you planned, have confidence this back to school season. The impact you’re making this year is so fundamental that your students will remember you for decades. Go forth with the genuine passion you have for your students’ success and they will respect you all year long. Sure there will be some serious scrubbing, mopping, sweeping and sewing along the way, but you’re going to build the foundation for dreams to come true this year.
Have a magical start to your school year -- Bippity Boppity BOOM!
