Have You Found Your Soul? My Advice to a New Teacher

image from icanread

The new year may be coming or it may be far away from you, but I sit here and ponder, what would I tell someone starting school?  What “wisdom” would I share with a brand new teacher or a teacher that has been around for a long time, not quite sure that they are ready to go back?  I think i would ask them this; have you found your soul of teaching?  Your essence?

I’m not talking mantras, although Angela Maiers’ “You Matter” hangs proudly above my door.  I am not speaking of teaching style or tips, classroom management ideas, or even your teaching philosophy.  I am talking the inner core, the you that you bring into the classroom.  Have you found it?  Have you listened to it?  And what does it look like?  Yes, we can get caught up in seating charts, grand ideas, and new programs to be implemented, but all those fall away if you don’t have you in the classroom.   If you’re not ready to bare yourself, invest yourself, and give those kids all of you.

What does it mean to be you in a classroom?  To truly put yourself out there, invest fully, wholeheartedly, some would even say foolishly.  What will you give to the students, because teaching is about giving and not just knowledge, but giving the essence of you?  Kids spot phonies from miles away, they see those that are there for the paycheck, those that bring in the baggage, those that cannot wait to leave once the day is done.  And they react, swiftly, without mercy, and we stand there wondering what went wrong?

So I hope you find your essence before the new year arrives, or if it is in the middle of the year for you then I hope you still have it.  I hope you take the time to figure out what you are and who you are and how that will play out with the kids whose lives you touch.  Think of the impact you can have and then use it for good.

Find your soul, find your essence, and then have enough faith in yourself to go in there and share it.