Remembering the WHY
Wow. One week into my one blog a week challenge and I'm already a failure. I am my own biggest critic and even so I am amazed that I managed to let it slip so soon. All week I was thinking about possible blog posts and sat down to write on more than one occasion and then 'The First Day Back' happened and it was all a downhill stumble from there.
On 'The First Day Back' we were all busy discussing our new timetables (or lack thereof), our odd room assignments (practical PE in a classroom), and our huge workload that was already stacking up behind all the meetings that lay ahead in the first few days. There were obviously the conversations about endless summer holidays, the beautiful weather and how many days we had clocked up at the beach but lurking not too far beneath the surface was the undeniable tone of the teacher grumble. We do like to moan. All to often I find myself in a negative mindset - something I'm working on this term - and joining in with the conversations about all the things we can find that aren't quite going the way we had planned them to. I got drawn in.
Then we were shown a video. Rita Pierson's TED talk - Every Kid Needs a Champion.
http://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en
Rita enthusiastically discusses just how important teachers are. Undoubtedly she has inspired hundred of students that have flowed through her classes, as well as the tens of staff sitting in that classroom last week watching her. Rita oozes charisma and confidence. She talks passionately about the importance of relationships between teachers and students and how much they can mean to the students that we teach. She touches upon those teachers we inevitably come across who just don't seem to get 'it'. The one who proclaims that she doesn't need her students to like her, only to learn from her - she is only there to teach. But are we even teaching without relationships? How can we? They are the root of every lesson and underpin all learning - surely?
The video made the grumbles grow quieter. It made me stop and remember why I got into the job and why I missed it so much when I had some time out. I genuinely missed the interactions with my students over the summer break and I hope they are as excited about sharing the year ahead as I am. Of course, there were some students who I perhaps didn't miss at all but as Rita Pierson quite rightly put it - they should never, ever know it.
On 'The First Day Back' we were all busy discussing our new timetables (or lack thereof), our odd room assignments (practical PE in a classroom), and our huge workload that was already stacking up behind all the meetings that lay ahead in the first few days. There were obviously the conversations about endless summer holidays, the beautiful weather and how many days we had clocked up at the beach but lurking not too far beneath the surface was the undeniable tone of the teacher grumble. We do like to moan. All to often I find myself in a negative mindset - something I'm working on this term - and joining in with the conversations about all the things we can find that aren't quite going the way we had planned them to. I got drawn in.
Then we were shown a video. Rita Pierson's TED talk - Every Kid Needs a Champion.
http://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en
Rita enthusiastically discusses just how important teachers are. Undoubtedly she has inspired hundred of students that have flowed through her classes, as well as the tens of staff sitting in that classroom last week watching her. Rita oozes charisma and confidence. She talks passionately about the importance of relationships between teachers and students and how much they can mean to the students that we teach. She touches upon those teachers we inevitably come across who just don't seem to get 'it'. The one who proclaims that she doesn't need her students to like her, only to learn from her - she is only there to teach. But are we even teaching without relationships? How can we? They are the root of every lesson and underpin all learning - surely?
The video made the grumbles grow quieter. It made me stop and remember why I got into the job and why I missed it so much when I had some time out. I genuinely missed the interactions with my students over the summer break and I hope they are as excited about sharing the year ahead as I am. Of course, there were some students who I perhaps didn't miss at all but as Rita Pierson quite rightly put it - they should never, ever know it.
Cool reflections. I often tell my people two things are infectious: optimism and pessimism. Which do we want to catch off others and/or infect others with?
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