The past 3 years have been incredibly difficult and draining on our entire education system. Society hasn’t valued teachers and the overall public sentiment of them has shifted…
From, Spring 2020 – Thank goodness for teachers!
To, Spring 2021 – Teachers need to get back to work!
And currently, Spring 2022 – Why can’t we find any teachers to hire?
There is a mass exodus of teachers out of the education field and, on the flip side, schools are having a difficult time finding teachers to hire. Regardless of where you are on that spectrum and in your career, we, at Floop, want you to know that you have value and power! Floop was founded by teachers and a few members of our small team are teachers who recently left the classroom, so this topic hits us particularly close to home and it got us thinking, what can teachers do?
We [teachers] can look at an audience and know who is with us and who will be.
We can stand in front of a crowded, chaotic room and command it.
We can speak to a room of our peers and not feel nervous.
We can hear from our administrators in June, “You’re going to write the curriculum for and teach the new course next year.” and not panic.
We can learn deeply and quickly any content that you throw at us.
We can use new technology, curriculum, textbooks, and strategies without skipping a beat.
We can make decisions like no one’s business. Did you know that teachers make more decisions than air traffic controllers?
We can take in rapidly changing information in ambiguous situations and respond flexibly.
We can get through difficult classes, days, weeks, months, and years, then pull ourselves together to keep going and do it with a smile.
We can break down the shields of the most guarded and the most vulnerable, and see earnestness, vulnerability, and hope.
We can take 100 teenagers who don’t want to be there, get them to work harder than they’ve ever worked in their life, and make them feel excited about doing it.
We can go to a student whose head is down, see a person who might have something else going on, ask questions, be curious, show them that we believe in them, and bring them back to the fold.
We can create a culture where trust is paramount, let down our guards to trust others and get them to trust us as well, and help people treat each other with trust and respect.
We can give specific, timely, personal feedback, ask for and receive feedback without taking it personally, and use it to reflect and adjust going forward.
We can set clear goals, objectives, and expectations, and hold others accountable for them.
We can look at a situation with equity in mind.
We can make sure our lesson reaches every person in the room and teach it at a pace that anyone can feel challenged yet successful.
We are superheroes…
So the real question is, what can’t a teacher do?
Want to share something you, as a teacher, can do? We’d love to hear it! Comment below ⬇️.