The Great Irony

As a teacher in the classroom every day, I knew my students better than anyone.  I knew what made them tick, what motivated them, how they processed information, how they learned best, etc.  I knew my kiddos better than anyone.  

As an instructional coach for the past four years, I experienced walking that delicate balance between administrator {which I am not} and support teacher {which I am always}.  I could observe in a class, help you figure out how to work certain aspects into your day, how to help you manage your students, group them, arrange your class to run more effectively and efficiently, etc, but I could and will never pretend to tell you how to teach your students, because you, the teacher, know the needs of your students better than any data report I can pull, better than any observational time.  I could coach you into more sound pedagogy practices, but not teach for you. 

So, herein lies the great irony.  As a teacher, we are told by so many to "Do what's best for your students.  You know them best."  But we are also told, "You must teach this concept this way, and don't deviate from this curriculum."  "We must do it the way the district folks say so."  And as a teacher, we're left wondering if I should just do what I know to be best for my students or choose to do it the way I'm told and prescribed and not rock that proverbial boat.  If I step out of that boat and make waves and I fail, well then I get laughed at, penalized, talked badly about.  But if I step out of that boat and I succeed, then others want to emulate it and I become a "success story."  So, what's a teacher to do?

I will never pretend to know what the perfect, right answer is.  But I completely understand the great irony and know that each teacher has to make that choice daily to do in their heart what is right to help their students succeed or do what is told so as not to cause problems.  What I am certain of, is that no one person, not even a team of folks can make a single curriculum, single lesson, a single strategy that will work for everyone.  In my district we are nearing 120,000 students, so no way can something work for every student.  That's why we need caring, daring, studious teachers to take the time necessary to never give up on a single student and keep trying, keep motivating, keep changing till they "get it", and keep pouring into our students every day.  I always try to keep in mind the thought that if this were my own child, how would I want them treated.  Having three kiddos (Kindergarten, 6th gr, and 11th grade), I know and understand that what works for one may or may not work for the other.  

I know I'm not alone in this great irony.  It's one the echoes through the generations, across socioeconomic statuses, and across the country and world.  And I know that it won't soon go away.  So to each teacher I say, study your students, learn what makes them them, and never give up.