The First Few Weeks

Summer school has proven to be the best preparation I could have for something I can’t really prepare for.  The demands of being a teacher (heaven forbid an an effective one) are great.  Work regularly has gone late into the night, and often begins well before any creature should ever be awake or be expected to be productive.  Among the daily duties of a first year teacher are producing lesson plans, finding appropriate worksheets, and the ever allusive attempt at trying to make the material relevant.  Particularly linear equations.  Seriously?  One of the bewildering mysteries is how it can take so much longer to prepare for teaching a class than it actually takes to teach the class.  

Of the many qualities I have grown to respect more and more in veteran teachers, a big one is resiliency.  I think back to some of the most effective teachers in my academic past, and am amazed at the time they have invested into teaching, and in their ability to still be effective.  This truth confirms (at least in my mind) that teaching really is an art.  Some are natural teachers.  They have the tools and are naturally more apt to command a class of algebra students.  I am convinced, however, that all the natural ability in the world cannot compensate for the hours upon hours spent planning, preparing, and sharpening the craft.  

A life dedicated to this cause is to be celebrated and honored.  They put in countless hours and make sacrifices that are often tucked behind closed doors, so it is clear that the motives of effective teachers is neither praise nor profit.  There is a certain love and respect for fellow man that it seems effective teachers have.  They look within every child, no matter how difficult, and look for the solutions, not the problems.  There is opportunity and potential in all students.  Effective teachers find the key to unlock that potential.  That totally sounds like it belongs on a motivational poster, but it really is true.  

So as I reflect on my first few weeks of summer school, I clearly have a great deal to reflect on.  Things will only get more difficult as the weeks and months continue.  Instead of teaching twice a day, it will be 7.  Instead of focusing on the Algebra 1 curriculum alone, I will probably have another subject (or two) to work with.  I have no qualms in acknowledging that it will be just that, work.  Work is not bad, though.  I’m reminded of a great quote I heard recently.  A father said to his son once, “what are your eyebrows for?”, the son, puzzled, shrugged his shoulders and waited expectantly for some sort of wisdom to be imparted.  The father smiled and said, “to keep the sweat out of your eyes”.  Back to work.

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