My current job is great in so many ways. I have a wonderful boss who shows confidence in me by not micromanaging my classes. I have great co-workers who are easy to bounce ideas off of and willing to help wherever they can. I have great students who make everyday a fun challenge. The parents of my students are so kind and wonderful to trust me with their kids.
When I first took this job a few years ago, one of the big perks for me at the time was that all of the lesson plans and materials were provided. All I had to do was show up and teach. Compared to the hours and hours and hours I was used to spending in planning, it sounded like a dream!
As I settled into the routine at this new school, I enjoyed being able to leave at the end of the day and just enjoy being with my family without any worries about what needed to be prepared for the next day at school. But, over time, my feelings began to change, and what I thought was a worry-free, piece-of-cake situation began to weigh on me.
I knew that the way I was expected to teach my students each day was not developmentally appropriate, and I was beginning to see the negative side effects that a teacher-led program was having on my kids. Long stretches of sitting, direct instruction in front of the whole class, no outdoor space to allow for lots of movement and fresh air, only short spurts of time to play with toys that did not allow for much imagination….the program I had found myself in was different in so many ways than I had been taught was best for early learners.
As I came to this realization, I was drawn right back to my educational roots, where play-based learning was taught as the gold standard. I began to adapt the daily lesson plans as best I could to provide a more play-based experience for my students. We skipped the worksheets and product art and focused instead on longer periods of play. I eliminated calendar and replaced it with yoga to give the 10 little bodies in my room some time to stretch and move. I started telling parents at the beginning of the year that things in my classroom were going to look a little different and to expect lots of positive growth over the school year that would manifest itself in ways that couldn’t be shown on a worksheet.
Since that time, I’ve made an even greater effort to always teach better tomorrow than I taught today. Even with the limitations that I face with my current job, there is always something I can improve on. I am continually striving to learn, improve, and do better for my students. Part of that growth is trying to initiate change toward a more developmentally appropriate program where I’m at, and accepting that if that doesn’t come to fruition, moving on is OK.
The teacher I was five years ago, two years ago, even two weeks ago is different than the teacher I am today because if not–if I’ve stopped learning and growing and improving–then I am failing my students.