Becoming a Teacher - On the front line.

Before I had children, I knew everything about parenting. I would give my friends advice about parenting to try to help. Especially once I was pregnant and reading parenting books.

What an “expert” I was.

I still cringe thinking about how I compared my “sleepless” night with my new puppy to a co-workers experience with her newborn son (insert eye roll).
Now that I have three kids of my own, I shake my head at my past self. It wasn’t until I got into the trenches myself, and experienced parenting first hand and 24/7, did I realize that it isn’t like anything I read in books.

No book could ever prepare me for the sleepless nights, the tantrums, or the pre-teen eye rolls. And the hardest part about it was this: Whatever worked for my first child, did not work for my second child. And the same goes for the third. Three kids, three little individuals who had different wants and needs. Every child is different, and it is exhausting at times.

Fast-forward twelve years to my second year of teachers college, and I feel the same way. It doesn’t matter how much I learn or read about behaviour management, classroom procedures, assessments and lesson planning.

Every child is different, and every day is different.

Yes, there are certain rules to follow that work best most of the time. But if you have never been in a classroom, day in and day out, it is very hard to be an “expert”. In fact, most teachers I know still tell me, that after YEARS of teaching, they still are trying to figure it out.

In my second year of teachers college, I go to practicum every Wednesday. And every Wednesday I go into the classroom with a firm lesson plan and my tool kit filled with love, kindness, and hope.

And most of the time I come out looking like I’ve been trapped in a lions den for a day.

In the trenches… That’s how it feels. On the front line.

But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Because what parenting books don’t tell you is how much love and devotion you will have for your children. A love that is not describable in words. No matter how bad it gets, you are there for them, loving them, and doing everything you can to support them.

And for me, the same goes for teaching. They need someone who can guide them through the trenches, that believe in them, when they don’t believe in themselves. I want to be that person for them. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. Or at least, that is what I hope!

So this is my mantra going into my 6 week practicum:

Everyday is a new day. I cannot control every single thing that a child does, but I can control every single thing that I do. I am 100% response-able. I will do my best to stay calm, and firm and confident. I will not expect that everything will go well all the time. I will focus on the wins, no matter how small, and I will continue to do so, even on days when things feel hopeless. I will not hold grudges. I will start every day with a clean slate. As Anne Shirley says, “Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it. Yet.”

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

When I graduate teacher’s college, I will have a B. Ed. degree, but it will take some time before I am a teacher. Experience doesn’t come from books and assignments. It comes from being in the trenches, and living the experience day in and day out, and coming out alive.

Thank you to all the teachers who do this every day. Who work so hard for the success of other peoples children. Who treat each child as if it was their own. I thank you and I am excited to be one of you, one of these days in the not so distant future.

“You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself.” - Galileo