It’s really crazy to think about how fast two years flew by. Upon graduating college, I planned to work for two years before going back to school, law school specifically. Teaching was certainly no walk in the park, but there are definitely parts I am grateful for and people I am going to miss. Here’s an in depth look at the highs and loves of my two years as a teacher at a New York charter school.
High: Structure & Resources
As a new teacher, I didn’t worry about creating curriculum or using my own money to buy classroom supplies. All of that was already taken care of. As a result it allowed me to focus on mastering my presence and authority in the classroom. I can only imagine how stressful it can be to need to spend extra time or money on bare necessities that all children should have access to. I’m grateful that this was not a concern for me.
Low: Not Enough Teachers
The specific charter school I worked at is rapidly expanding. It’s great to be able to provide a stellar education to children in New York, but sometimes I believed the school’s network was expanding faster than they could find qualified teachers to work in them. Teaching is not for everybody. When you hire just anybody to do it, you end up either losing them earlier than the year’s end, or placing extra work on stronger teachers to pick up the slack. The former is unfair to students because it causes instability, the latter is unfair to qualified teachers.
Teaching is not for everybody.
High: Vacations
I’ve had a summer vacation every year since I have been in school. I am going to miss them tremendously. On top of that, having multiple vacations during the year, paid might I add, gave me the opportunity to travel. I’ve done more traveling in the past two years that I had done in my entire life before I started teaching.
Low: Teacher Burnout Is Real
But to be honest, those vacations are more than necessary because teacher burnout is real. Despite having access to numerous resources and vacations, that doesn’t make up for how overworked I felt on most days. During my first year teaching, I was stretched so thin when state test prep season had me teaching both history and English with ZERO breaks in the 8 hour school day. This year, while there were less hours that I was physically standing in front of kids to teach, I felt more of a mental burnout with all that I had to think about preparing for both English and History class. Bottom line: teaching is stressful.
During my first year teaching, I was stretched so thin.
High: The Kids, Of Course
It was truly an honor to stand in front of children each day. Obviously there were times when they tested my patience. However in the grand scheme of things, I know firsthand how important it is to have a teacher that you see yourself in. As a teacher, I saw middle school self in many of my students. From the reflective conversations to the corny jokes, I am going to miss directly working with children tremendously.
Low: Underserved Students
This was a big one for me, and single handedly the reason that I knew I could not do another year of teaching without going back to school. My school did not require teachers to have any sort of certification. This year, 12 of the 27 students I taught had IEPs, or individualized education plans, which is a technical way of saying some sort of special needs. I do not have a single day of training on how to teach students with special needs. The most I could do is read their file and try my best. To be honest, on many days, I knew my best was not good enough. I knew I was underserving those students and could not continue to do so.
I am going to miss directly working with children tremendously.
“When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.” Provers 31: 26
