Wednesday, May 11, 2011

A Note to Second Year Teachers

Dear Second Year Teachers,

The first year of teaching is one I never want to repeat or replicate. In it, I have been stretched, strained, and stressed far beyond the point of anything close to comfort. In all the difficulty, though, you have remained a constant source of...well...honesty.

I could say you’ve always been inspirational and motivating, but that would fall short; you were something much more helpful. In a conversation I had with some friends recently, they said, “what is the typical alternate route teacher like in their second year?” to which I was able to reply without hesitation and say, “they’re much more realistic”. Like me, you probably entered the program “bright eyed and bushy tailed”. You probably felt you had a silver bullet to the ailments of the struggling public schools, but reality quickly and humbly brought you back to earth as well. Having gone through this, you could have lied and painted a picture not accurate, but you didn’t. You knew that teaching sucked at times. You also knew that teaching has unmatchable moments. You knew all these things, and you expressed them. For this I thank you.

An overly optimistic and skewed picture would have been cruel. To tell first year teachers of all your successes without your failures and hardships would simply make them feel like failures. I’ve never met anyone who has stepped into a classroom like the one I teach in and immediately succeeded. I don’t even know what success looks like in this circumstance.

The hardship and difficulty you experienced last year, which you honestly conveyed, gave me hope for my own personal development. Development is difficult to track. It is difficult to see take place. People say it is happening, but dealing with the same difficulties for eight months tends to be somewhat taxing and discouraging. Thankfully, though, you are living proof that there is light at the end of the tunnel. That light still seems dim and distant. A year still stands from that light, but again, the proof that you have been lends a certain comfort.

As you move on to whatever it is that you will do next, know that your honesty has been a tremendous help. As I step into the shoes you once filled, I intend to employ the same attitude. Things will continue to be rough in my second year as well. Students will continue to be ornery. Air conditioners will continue to break. The Delta will still be the Delta. What will continue though, is a gift of truth.


BCW