Well, my 42-day stint back in the classroom has concluded.
How did it go?
Better than expected. Eighty-five percent of the experience was positive and rewarding while 15 percent was deflating and stressful.
Most students were fun. They were interested in my lessons and in me. A small minority of students were apathetic and disrespectful.
Throughout the nine weeks, I met inspirational instructors, supportive secretaries and a glimpse into the future of America which looks promising.
A teacher is not just teaching, but learning from their students.
Here is some of what I took away.
- I still love standing in front of a group of young people and inspiring them. This performance part of the job has always thrilled me, something that my current job as a university supervisor of student teachers does not satisfy due to working with one teacher at a time. Having an audience ready for you to “edutain” them is exhilarating—and a challenge.
- I feel alive when designing lessons. Creating meaningful work for students is part of my duty and it stimulates my brain that nothing else does. For six years I was on low revs, but now I was back at full throttle. The ideas would wake up me in the middle of the night as it did all those years ago.
- The essential thing I realized was how important the job of teaching is, more now than when I first began in 1989. Combating for children’s attention amid social media saturation and device addictions requires skill, patience and practice. Most of my students honored my cell phone policy, but some took umbrage that I disallowed their use as if I were removing oxygen from their lungs.
- The best part of all was making a connection with the kids.
The students enjoyed our unified daily greeting, “Happy [fill-in-the-blank]day!” and our closing “make today count!”
On my final day, one class presented me with a cake and a card full of wonderful wishes. Another class designed their own card and in unison shouted out a thank you.
One student said that this may be another teacher’s classroom, but it will always be Mr. Crosby’s Neighborhood, a moniker I attached to my workspace a few years back in honor of Mr. Rogers who preached kindness via his PBS children’s show.
There’s a saying that we all learn, earn and retire in our lives. An amended version is “learn, earn and return,” meaning giving back and remaining vital in one’s senior years.
I proved to myself that I still have it, returning to a place where I had my greatest professional success—in the classroom.
As for my future plans, I may pursue what I was initially looking for: a permanent teaching position where I would have one or two classes. That would be enough to satisfy my passion of teaching kids not only essay writing, but decency in the decency-deprived society in which we live.
