This summer has been a time of reflection for me. I’ve been considering our profession and how it has changed since I began teaching 30 years ago. Certainly, more responsibilities have been placed on teachers’ shoulders and we’ve seen more teacher burn-out than ever before, AND don’t even get me started on cell phones!   Raise your hand if you’ve had to confiscate a hand-written note passed between students in the last ten years. Yeah, me neither. With a teacher shortage, coupled with teacher burn-out, what can a classroom teacher, low in the educational hierarchy, do about any of this?  I can’t change policy or single-handedly raise salaries across the board, so, how do I impact, support and encourage our profession?

It’s been said that teaching is both an art and a science. Current policies focus on the science of teaching – lots of theories about posting learning objectives in the classroom, the percentile gains of implementing different teaching methods, the effectiveness of PLC’s, and analyzing data to increase student achievement – in other words, how to standardize the classroom; however, I would like to focus on the ART of teaching. How do we spark curiosity in students? How do we create a positive classroom environment? How do we get students excited to learn? How do we touch students’ hearts? How do we get students to see beyond themselves and develop awareness of the world around them? And even more challenging, how do we convey this to our colleagues?  

How many here have flown recently?  We’ve all sat through the “Oxygen mask speech” reminding us to secure our own mask before attempting to help others. As educators, we are unable to inspire, excite and spark curiosity unless we are first nourishing these qualities in ourselves. If we aren’t learning new things and growing in our teaching practices, how can we inspire our students to have a passion for learning?

I was recently reminded of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory called the Zone of Proximal Development, I know, science (gasp), but go with me on this.  This theory advocates that students can perform beyond their independent abilities when support is provided, for example, collaborating with other students. Not surprisingly, this works with teachers also. What “support” do we give ourselves? It is by belonging to professional organizations, attending conferences, and trying new things that I’ve grown as a teacher. When I first began teaching, my mentors impressed upon me the importance of belonging to professional organizations. If I wanted to be treated as a professional, then I should behave as one.  After all, doctors belong to the AMA.  Who among us would trust our healthcare to a doctor who hadn’t attended any new training since completing medical school?  Being around new ideas inspires me and helps me focus on what is important – how to connect to students, how to bring excitement and curiosity to my classroom, how to find my joy in teaching and how to work towards my purpose.  

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to attend Summer Seminar; so many don’t have the means to.  So, let’s help create community in our schools and districts by sharing what we’ve learned here.  Let’s cultivate connections with others by inviting them to CWLP and CLTA events in our areas or online.  Let’s nourish each other’s passion for teaching.  If we want our students to grow and be life-long learners, then we must foster the same in ourselves.  We CAN make a difference in our corner of the world, but let’s remember to put on our own oxygen masks first and then encourage our colleagues to do the same.