There have been many ways that I’ve evolved as a professional in my years as a teacher. I’ve learned how to prioritize tasks and how to feel okay when tasks are left undone at end of the day. I’ve explored different ways to balance my work and personal life and come to the conclusion this is less of a balancing act and more of a melding of roles. And one of the most important and intriguing things I’ve learned that has brought me great success as a teacher is learning how to let go and do less active teaching.
When I started as a teacher I wanted to make my own worksheets, design my own curriculum, and do as much teaching myself as possible. There was this idea that great teachers do it all. And like the unrealistic expectations of the “super mom,” a teacher can not do it all and be successful. But I tried, and I wasn’t successful.
When I taught students with special needs, I had to use a specific scripted curriculum. I initially chafed at the idea. After I saw how effective it was, I came to appreciate the quality of this curriculum and how much I had to learn from this program.
I teach at a progressive education independent school which requires me to continuously evolve curriculum. In this context, one could lose themselves continuously trying to innovate in isolation. Over the years, I had found that success isn’t so much about doing this work myself but rather collaborating with others.
When creating a lesson comparing Motown and Atlantic Records, I geeked out with another teacher to design the lesson. I could have done it myself, but his insights made the process more fun, and provided more depth to the lesson.
Now whenever I consider teaching a song the first thing I do is search for curricular materials, and more often than not, I can find lessons to work from or simply use. This allows me to focus more time on differentiation and making teaching materials meaningful to my students and less on creating materials.
As teachers our primary responsibility to facilitate the learning of our students. There is an ego and bravado with younger teachers, including myself years back, where one thinks that the best person and the best ways of teaching comes from the teacher him/herself. Partially because of experience, and the fact that my time is more limited than ever, I’ve learned to let go, and through my students’ success, I have found that this isn’t such a bad thing.
While there is great joy in teaching my students, I have found a different, but very meaningful joy in watching other people teach my students more effectively than I could and seeing my students have great experiences. To that end, I've handed my classes over to other teachers and guest more this year than every before. Maybe it’s because I’ve grown to find more meaning in my home life, or because I feel more secure as a teacher, but I don’t need the song to be about me. I do craze credit and recognition for what I set up for my students, I don’t need to be the one in front of my students to feel like I’m doing the work.
Our job is not to be a magical, encyclopedic source of knowledge. We're here to help our student learn, and sometimes the best way to do this is to sit back and let someone else take the wheel.
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