Guide:
Diversity of the Job
Multiple Responses
Joys of Teaching
Fears of Teaching
Teaching is Broken Down
Shows Perseverance

Diversity of the Job. Traveling along roads, rivers, and pathways, teachers and students will come across highly diverse people, places, and things. Each and every new day will bring new ideas and surprises. Some days on the job will be filled with joy, other days filled with fear, melancholy, new hope, or renewed resilience. How we recover from each day is important, as is what we do to learn and grow from the trial and error involved in each shift. The people and places are going to be different everywhere we go, but teachers need to focus on what will benefit their students the most. There is not one book, nor is there one curriculum, that can be prescribed to guarantee success for every student. Educators must approach every learning situation ready to teach- but also must simultaneously be ready to learn. Every structure and classroom, every year, will present different challenges than the groups and years past. 

Multiple Responses. Whether students are individualistic or collective in nature, working with diverse students is always going to be a challenge. Traits of diverse students to be cognizant of include their ethnicity, family upbringing, tribe, culture, socioeconomic status, passions, and their specific and unique lived experiences. School campuses are where students of all roads, rivers, and pathways, meet at a point of confluence. Educators have enormous impacts on which distributaries students choose to advance along, taking their own ships in their own directions after departing schools. Educators need to read the room, and to actively learn from their students. The words and actions of teachers will affect students for an indeterminate amount of time as the students forge their own pathways. Starting out on their own, collecting experiences, and continuing to build upon what educators have shown them, students will one day recall something we once told them. Educators cannot travel the entire length of any given student’s particular lifepath, but teachers can prepare tool boxes and resource repertoires, and akin to sending children off to college, teachers can give care packages and send students out into the ‘real world.’ Teachers who possess ability, adaptability, and flexibility, are going to be better equipped to assist in stocking the tool boxes of students before sending them off into deeper waters. 

Joys of Teaching. There is joy in learning about others. There is joy from factoring in what you learn about others to aid in advancing them along their pathways. There is joy in developing camaraderie within a group as they work to keep their raft from overturning or to keep their team from going-under. Cheering everyone on, as they set goals for themselves and as they meet them, is a huge joy in teaching and coaching. There is joy in supporting and advocating for others. Nothing can make teachers happier than hearing that former students have received recognition for their own work and own achievements. What would make me happy as a teacher would be knowing that  former students of mine went on to work at higher levels of education, sports, science, business, civic responsibility, and society. Contributing to greater society as a whole, is something students will always make their former teachers proud of. Joy in teaching also includes having former students sending messages back to you after they have advanced down their own river of life. Educators experience joy when their students succeed.

Fears of Teaching. Everyone else will pass you, if you don’t keep your knowledge of the road current. Keeping with the current is important, because you are the boating instructor, whether students are on kayaks, canoes, or inner tubes, you have to keep them afloat and moving. Fears of teaching can also include fear of drowning, fear of failure, and fear of not living up to expectations. In teaching, drowning would involve falling behind on your grading, feeling powerless regarding staying ahead of current events when working with your students, and being consumed by your work, and having your own personal health affected by work-related and emotional stress. In education, fear of failure could mean not seeing your students increase their national standardized test scores, could be interpreted as having noticeable performance difficulties occurring for multiple students, and could mean not making the life-long lasting impacts and connections you hope to make as an educator. Fear of failure from the teacher’s point of view could also mean not living up to your own expectations, and could be a fear of letting your administrators, colleagues, and community members down. Fears of teaching prompt us to do what we can to keep our heads above water. 

Teaching is Broken Down. When students break down, teachers are called to come help. Teachers are the roadside assistance when students are on their shoulders. Who tows the tow truck if the tow truck breaks down? Teaching practices become broken down when the safety of the everyday routine takes an unexpected left or right turn. Unexpected turns result from funding and programs being cut, from teaching loads and hours being reduced, losing students for any unforeseen circumstances, and if your administrators decide to not renew your employment for the following school year. Another example of teaching becoming broken down, is when the humanity, empathy, and authenticity of connections with students is lost. The authenticity of connections with students can be lost from entering robot-teacher mode- where educators come in to strictly deliver standards, expectations, and grades. When teachers lose the ability to actively listen and respond to students with empathy, is when teaching becomes broken. Approaching the work as only seeing the students for a short period of time at a gas station, dock, wharf, or tourist shop and sending them on their way as quickly as possible, is a major breakdown of what teaching as a career is envisioned to be. 

Shows Perseverance. Perseverance in education is characterized by having a growth mindset. Being willing to continuously learn while simultaneously teaching others. Enduring ups and downs during school days, courses, and lessons, and being willing to come back and apply effort everyday, are characteristics of perseverance in teachers. Being in it for the long haul as an instructor, whether for high schools and colleges, and working hard to grow your skill set, are traits of teachers who are persevering. Perseverance is continuing to improve, apply effort, and to be strong in the face of adversity while helping students navigate down their roads, rivers, and pathways.