AfterClass

A reflection by Christie Olsen, NBCT, professional learning coach in Lake Havasu Unified School District.

You probably remember your first teaching assignment: the unruly student, the difficult parent, the office manager with the key to the office supplies just beyond your reach. New teacher mishaps and mistakes are a staple of lunchroom legend. It is even tougher now.

Our oldest daughter graduated from the United States Naval Academy and our youngest from the Colorado School of Mines, both exceptionally challenging institutions of higher learning. To say they faced challenges is an understatement. To be successful, each required an unparalleled support system.

I began to recognize common themes of support. What I told my daughters through texts, letters, and phone calls is what I was also telling new teachers. Three themes emerged and became the foundation of support I could provide to first-year teachers.

Theme 1: They can’t stop time.
No matter what you are experiencing at this moment, it will not last forever: the lesson that went south faster than you could have imagined, the awful toxic conversation you had with an unsupportive parent, ‘that student.’ You know the one, that student. The storm you are experiencing at this moment will not last forever. The question becomes if you will come out on the other side as a better version of yourself. Will you be more precise with your words? More intentional in your planning?  Better prepared? More compassionate to those around you?

Theme 2: Focus on the focus.
Never forget why you are here. No matter what, at the end of the day, our work is about one thing and one thing only: students. Our work is not about observation checklists, Marzano’s Essential Instructional Strategies, depths of knowledge, or 21st century skills. It is much bigger than all of that. This work is about students. If you can’t see the students in the initiative, then dig deeper, ask questions, and push the envelope. Don’t ever forget to focus on the focus.