Alliance for Catholic Education
One recent Thursday evening I found myself surrounded by people imitating sharks and cheering as bodies slammed against plastic walls. My community had decided to venture out to a San Jose Sharks hockey game, and surprisingly this raucous environment gave me space to reflect on and articulate some lessons I have learned about teaching during my time in ACE.
The Sharks, despite our passionate cheers, trailed behind the Hurricanes for most of the game. They clearly had some great players, well thought-out plays, and lots of practice. However, the other team continually took possession of the puck and skated down the rink. Why weren't careful preparation and well-intentioned plans enough? The same can often feel true in our teaching. We create lovely lesson plans and have each minute of our day planned out, when the “other team” of students shows up with each of their individual needs and desires, the chaos of a middle school schedule skates away with our weekly outline, and of course there’s a flu going around 6th grade again.
As a teacher and in my own personal life, I have always enjoyed feeling prepared and making schedules to follow. When I can check things off my list as accomplished, I have some sense of achievement and confidence that I am doing what I am supposed to do. My two years of teaching have taught me flexibility and an ability to measure success and accomplishment in ways other than a completed checklist. The students are not in fact the “other team,” and there is no adversary skating away with my puck. Rather, the moments when I change course and respond to a kid's need rather than stick rigidly to a time table actually show that I am growing and learning along with my students. This is not to say that planning is not valuable; it can give us useful benchmarks and allow us to better scaffold towards big ideas and themes we want to reach with our classes. However, teaching also gives us the unique chance to see how dedicated work over time is fruitful in ways we might never have even thought to plan for. We get to balance forethought with adaptability, strategy with audibles.
Approaching the end of my time in ACE, I hope to impart upon my students the importance of being open to change and growth in ways we might not have expected. For all that we do to learn the skills of preparation, the moments that test our ability to change plans are when we truly see who we are. We learn to put care for the whole person at the center of our decisions and thus live out more fully our calling as teachers and learners throughout life (and on the ice rink).
Creativity credits to my housemate Audrey Banner!