First-year teachers go through stages (and I know that I am very susceptible to the feelings associated). The first stage is idealism. The new teacher is so full of hope and is going to make things better and touch every single student. The next stage is disillusionment. All the bureaucracy and Political Correctness and paperwork starts to add up, and you begin to feel overwhelmed with the responsibilities and the frustrations that come with it. Then, you realize that some of the students don't want to learn, and some of them are more interested in making your life a living _____.
So, anyway, after that, you either give in to the disillusionment and stop teaching, or you battle through it and enter the realism stage. In the realism stage, you know that you will not reach every student, but you can at least try. Some students will get it, but others will not, and there is nothing you can do to reach some. You can reach a couple you never thought you would. A girl that was in a few of my classes at BYU-Idaho got hired here also. She resigned at the disilluionment stage. The thoughts did cross my mind, but failure is just not an option for me. The good thing is that my vice principal restored some of that hope that gets lost so quickly. I really love this job. I am excited when I get up for work each day (even though I don't get up on time most days).
No comments:
Post a Comment