Dear Reflective Teacher,
Kenny Chesney's song, "I'd done a lot of things different," was not written as an ode to teachers, but it could have been.
I am no poet, so I don't have any pretty, rhyming words to offer.
I'm also not at the end of my career yet. Maybe when social security and cataracts kick in, I'll call it quits. When I do, I'm sure I'll have some sage advice to offer a younger generation of teachers, but for now, the reflection is more for myself and anyone else who may be feeling the same way I am right now.
Twelve months ago, the world shifted in a monumental way. One day I was laying the ground work for a unit on Romeo and Juliet, the next I hadn't bathed and had a pizza stain on my oversized t-shirt. The pandemic upended each of us in an unforgettable way. I did not record/write during that period of frozen time, even though I promised I would. Perhaps that is why I am determined to write now. Years from now, I want a snap shot to remember what schools felt like during a global pandemic.
For years, I had a list hanging in the back of my classroom. I called it a "Do Over, Do Better," list as a tribute to a principal who loved this phrase. On the list, I recorded units, lessons, and reminders of things I wanted to do better next time. Basically, it was little notes to myself that I knew I would forget the next year if I didn't record it in the moment. Notes like, next time assign groups earlier or don't allow students to pick their own partners for this activity. What I did not know, and could not know then, is that my do-over list should have included less about instruction and more about life.
If I could go back to February of 2020, back to a time when nobody had ever heard the word COVID, I would have taught and lived a little differently. Namely, my do-over list would include things like:
- stop majoring on the minor and minoring on the major
- enjoy a moment while you still have it
- focus more on the calling and less on the job
- hug anyone while you still can
- slow down...there is nowhere to be
- toss aside the petty stuff
- zone in on faces that are now hidden
- learn to be more patient and flexible
As I survey this list, I have come to see these are all things I can do now...not in spite of a pandemic but because of it.
And if this isn't reason to give thanks, then what is?