Change

Recently, I had someone write me a letter of recommendation that remarked that I had taught at Bermudian Springs School District for over a decade. When folks have asked me how long I've been teaching, I've honestly told them twelve years, but over a decade? How daunting and terrible that sounds! How old I must be! I cringed at the thought. No, I'm not some old teacher who has taught the same thing for over a decade. I'm young, and I'm full of great new ideas, and I try new things, and I've never taught the same unit the same way twice.

But it is true. I have taught the same subject, the same grade level, on the same team, at the same district, in the same room for over a decade. How freakin' lucky was I? How many teachers shift rooms, grades, buildings, subjects year after year, never getting their footing? I had the blessing of grounding myself in sameness so that I could twist and play with lessons and units every year because I knew the texts and the standards so well.

But forgive me if I was bored the last few years. Am I allowed to say that as an educator? I love my students, my colleagues, my job, but as an ELA Teacher, I killed Anne Frank at least 4 times a year (4 classes) for twelve years... at least 48 times the Nazis burst through the door and discovered the Franks and VanDaans in hiding. Stop for a moment - imagine taking a text, a story, a movie you're passionate about and teach it 48 times. I can practically recite Goodrich and Hackett's play. Granted, I mixed it up at least 40 different ways when I taught it, but yikes, the last few years, it was hard to find my passion for the text to share it with the students anymore. That doesn't make me a bad teacher or a bad person - that makes me human. You're allowed to get bored teaching the same text over and over - but you need to recognize that and do something about it.

For some, the idea of teaching the same subject and grade level for thirty years sounds perfect - a steady course to sail in a sturdy vessel. Don't get me wrong, I like a steady sea and reliable ship, but I am in it for the adventure when I can. I want to weather a few storms, navigate the coral reef, and taste salt spray in my face. I'd been sailing in circles because I knew this sea.

So, when I was asked (not forced, not coerced, not begged, not bartered with) if I would make the shift to another grade, I found myself with only minor nerves and trepidation leaping at the change. To be honest, I'm not changing too much other than the grade level, the room, and the team, but there is freedom in starting new and there is promise in change and what we make of it. There is also freedom in having the choice to change. When we choose it because we realize it is good for us (and hopefully for others, including the students), we own the change unlike when educators are forced to change teams, rooms, grades, buildings, for some larger picture of which they haven't been a part.

I don't exactly know where I'm going with this (other than stalling unpacking the boxes in my 'new room'), but I think the idea is, comfort and tradition can be very appealing in a career that is as demanding as teaching, however, if we do not choose change when the opportunity is presented to us (or before) we may find ourselves becoming stale and we may find ourselves forced to change unwillingly which is a much more painful process. So, as a mentor of mine would say, "Life Lesson" time: Choose to change before you're forced to change, and you're going to find change much more tolerable - perhaps, it'll even be a little exciting and fun.