Life happens to teachers, just like everyone else. In one of the last chapters of our book, I relate some emotional and physical challenges I experienced over a two-year period while I was still teaching. Regardless of what was happening in my life, I was still expected to open my classroom door every day and teach my classes with enthusiasm and creativity. Some days it was a welcome distraction to interact with and teach my students, but on others, it was very difficult to maintain a professional demeanor. During the days when life has thrown you a curve ball, you have to reach deep down and pull up an extra dose of patience to survive.

It’s amazing to realize that students, parents, and large segments of society really don’t understand that teachers have personal lives that can sometimes be very draining. The stresses that come from outside the classroom can be difficult to put aside as you try to deal with other people’s children in a professional and caring manner. I always gave it my best, but some days it was difficult. I’ll let Deidre continue with some examples.

Sue – Voice II

Students oftentimes don’t realize that teachers are people, just like their parents or themselves. I remember telling one class to remain quiet while I stepped out for a restroom break. They looked at me in shock and disbelief as I added, “Yes I do that too.” The quietness was interrupted by infectious laughter! Once they were quiet again, I dashed out quickly and thought how nice it would be to be able to take a break whenever I wanted. It seemed I was always in a rush because one wrong word or tossed pencil when I was not in the classroom could result in a catastrophe, and I would be at fault for not being there while taking care of a basic need. This is the life we have chosen to lead as teachers, but many do not realize it. A bathroom break is a luxury for a teacher – something many people in other careers just take for granted.

Teachers get hungry, just like you. Thirty minutes may sound like a sufficient amount of time, but when you factor in walking your class to and from the lunchroom (five minutes each way), getting your lunch, running a few extra copies, returning a parent’s phone call, etc., that lunch time is gone and ends up being a snack. You are really never off the clock in the teaching profession. These types of things add up to a long, exhausting day.

Teachers get sick just like you, are divorced or have marital problems just like you, grieve lost family members and suffer pain in their bodies while still having to be in that classroom, on the front lines for their students. Many people are quick to criticize teachers, never understanding that teaching is one of those professions where personal needs have to take a “back seat” to others every day. To our fellow teachers, we understand your situation and hope that others will try to “get it” too.

Deidre – Voice I

OK, teachers, here’s the scenario: you are hired to teach in a new school location which houses students in Kindergarten through grade 12. Your certification is for multiple subjects in grades 7 – 12. All of your school belongings have been moved to your new room, its walls decorated with new, colorful posters, and the first week’s lesson plans are written and placed on your desk. All that remains is for you to meet your students.

After day #1 is finally completed and you realize that your early morning excitement has now turned into early evening exhaustion, you also contemplate that this has been a good day. Everything went very well for your Block A classes. Hopefully, this should be a good year if the Block B students that you will meet tomorrow are as cooperative and well-behaved as your students were today.

Up and off on day #2, you have barely begun to prepare for your students, when you realize that the youngsters entering your class are just that – young, very young – they are Kindergarteners! No one has mentioned to you that you would be teaching introductory computer skills to little ones. Your room is not prepared for students that size, you are not certified to teach that age, and your experience is with older students. You might be teaching about computers, but in reality, nothing about this situation computes! Why weren’t you told about this class before school began, or even when you interviewed for this position? Talk about going from the “sublime to the ridiculous!” You need your job and you love to teach, but something about this just isn’t right.

Have you ever heard of a situation like this? What would you do if this happened to you? Do you believe all things happen for a reason? I wonder how many similar events have “surprised” teachers at the start of this new school year? Unexpected challenges for new and experienced teachers are one of the topics Deidre and I discuss in our book. Sometimes the hurdles placed before you by other adults in the building are much more difficult to overcome than anything the students bring into your classroom. What do you think? Please share with us.

Sue – Voice II

I can remember as a new teacher being overwhelmed with three subject preparations using nine different textbooks. Added to that, no one told me that I was expected to be the cheerleader advisor as well. That entailed daily practices and attending each home and away game, which resulted in long days and long nights, sometimes ending at 10:30 pm or later. I got home exhausted, only to have to make final preparations for the next day’s classes. Talk about being surprised!

Each year new teachers experience being overwhelmed by additional responsibilities they didn’t expect with little to no support from administration or veteran teachers who may also be overloaded. Nothing in your college curriculum or student teacher experiences can prepare you for this professional reality. No one can really help you through it, but with time and experience you learn how to deal with all the “extras.” School is an environment that requires teachers to “wear many hats” every day. The load doesn’t diminish, but your ability to make it work does improve. Don’t allow the extras to discourage you or drive you away from your first purpose: the students and the classroom. You will improve with time, and that’s why we’re here to encourage you!

Deidre – Voice I

In the second chapter of our book, Deidre and I reminisce about how and why we entered the teaching profession. She was a young twenty-something when she began, but I was an experienced-looking older novice who was given remedial eighth-graders my first year in the classroom. Saying that I learned more from my “on-the-job” training than from any college class I took is a definite understatement!

Why are you in the education profession? Is it something you “fell into” as Deidre originally did, or was it always your plan/dream to become a teacher? One of the reasons we wrote our book and have begun this blog is to support the educators who are currently working “in the trenches” in our public, private, and homeschool classrooms. We want to hear from you personally so we can discuss the experiences that motivate and keep you going as an educator, and the challenges that threaten to drive you away. As we summarized in Chapter II, “You are involved in the second most influential career in the world. After parenthood, teachers affect the future in powerful ways.” You are a valuable asset in the classroom – we don’t want to lose you!

Sue – Voice II

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God has the ultimate plan for our lives. Perhaps teaching is God’s plan for you, but you are not sure of it right now as you stand before young people each day. At twenty-one, I could not fully understand yet that God had designed and destined me to teach until I began to fully accept that God really did have the plan for my life. I stopped trying to create my own plan and learned how to follow Him. I now know that I did not just “fall” into teaching, but discovered as I committed my ways to Him, that it was God’s plan for me. If you find that teaching is what continues to open up to you no matter what you do or say, then you may need to cry “uncle,” and ask God to strengthen you. After all, when God told the Israelites that He had a good plan for their future, they were actually in bondage and captivity. Some educators may also feel that they are in bondage if they teach at a low performance, poor, or chaotic school. Let me encourage you to trust God with your life. Believe and open yourself up to the possibility that you were put right where you are because your gifts, talents, and creative ideas are needed in that very place. Trust in God means to fully let go of your reins and completely fall into His arms. Actually, they are always there whether you acknowledge it or not.  No matter how bad the fall looks, trust Him to catch you. Experience has taught me that He will.

Deidre – Voice I

I just returned from an amazing trip to Alaska. I thought West Virginia was God’s country . . . and then I saw parts of our 49th state. Everywhere we visited was magnificent in scope and showed evidence of God’s handiwork. From the flight across the country where I soared above the fluffy clouds to the breathing spouts of numerous whales I observed from the deck of our cruise ship, I was reminded of how small and insignificant I am in comparison to God’s creation. Later, as we waited in the crowded Seattle airport for our return flight, I considered that every single person scurrying by me with luggage, baby strollers, or carry-on bags was known by God. That same Creator of all I had seen on our trip knows them and He knows you. Now that is truly amazing!

Sue – Voice II

I agree with Sue that  West Virginia is truly God’s country, although I never thought so as a child. Growing up in NYC with The Statue of Liberty, The Twin Towers, and The Empire State Building as ordinary features just added to my narrow, youthful mind. At one time, my impression  of West Virginia was that it was just another “Hicksville USA.” Why in the world did John Denver ever write such a lovely song about such a wood-filled place, I would ask? That was until I had the opportunity to visit Sue and her family there, and found myself in awe while driving through those breath-taking mountains. When my husband and I actually drove through a mountain that God had allowed mere man to forge out of His spectacular creation, my heart pounded like a woman in love at first sight! I realized that my perception of West Virginia was all wrong. My previous judgment had remained in an infant state because I had made little effort to mature it until I was offered and took the opportunity to actually experience the Mountain State.

Question: How many times do we view others based on our own limited views, experiences, or knowledge of what we feel “we just know?”

Thought: God made us all unique and with a purpose. We must recognize that just like every place has the simple and the spectacular all mixed in together, so does each individual. We must seek to find the good – the spectacular – in everyone. Don’t ever limit God or His creation.

Deidre – Voice I

Another school year is beginning. Teachers, you never know who is sitting in your classroom. Some of my former middle school students are doing amazingly well. Many now have classrooms of their own, are managing their own businesses, enjoying nursing careers, at least one holds a professorship at a major university, several are world travelers, and my most consistent overachiever may soon be interpreting at the United Nations! Make good memories this school year and enjoy each moment.

Sue Whited, Voice II

When I reflect on the new school year, I remember Principal McGee from “GREASE.” She dramatically plays the xylophone as she reminds the students how they can perhaps be the next Eleanor Roosevelt, President Eisenhower, or Joe DiMaggio. As she calls out the prominent names, the different characters who portray the high school students, lift up their chins, poke out their chests, or display wide grins as they think on the possibility of being someone great. The bottom line is that all students really are already great within because of their Creator. They just need our help  to discover it.

Question: How does the teacher or parent in you help bring out the possibility of greatness in each student or child you will directly impact in this new year.

Answer: We must remember to “look-up” and ask God to show us the heart of that child as He sees it. We must be mindful that each person has been given unique  gifts, skills and talents in order  to perform  or complete a specific assignment in this life. Parents and educators alike  are given  the privilege to help a child discover his or her reason for being. As God begins to show us things, our compassionate eyes become more aware and are opened to see new levels. This better insight enables us to love and mold  the ones we least like and to discipline and challenge  the ones who are so easy to love. All  of these actions can be  done  within such  a balanced intricate  realm  that the best in each child is forced to surface beyond what we initially thought was ever possible.

Remember, you have the power to help every student you teach this year reach his or her next level of growth.  Please don’t waste it.

Deidre Hester, Voice I