Valentine's Day marked six months into my first year of being a teacher (and when I first began typing this blog...time has gotten away from me, but decided today it needed to be shared); I am now ten days shy of nine months and the completion of my first year. I think I have experienced about all I can--the good, the bad, the fun, and the not so fun. I have learned thousands of lessons, reflected on many situations, made tons of decisions, and had several epiphanies on my purpose as an educator. One of those epiphanies has been stirring around my heart since the AHA! moment occurred. I would say it is my main purpose in the education field. Something so profound, if I recall it in every moment and practice it as my sole purpose each and every day, it will always keep me from simply being just "a teacher".
As early as Kindergarten, I remember being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I would simply respond, "A teacher." I could not give anyone a reason for my choice. I had no exact purpose behind the plan. No one in my family was in the education field. I had only been in school for less than a year, but that was what I desired to be.
There were only three times I thought I was going
to change my mind. The first time was in fourth grade. My cousin was graduating
from high school and was headed to pharmacy school. I wanted to be exactly like
him and someone said something about lots of money. When I found out about all the math and science in my future, I quickly ran back to "a teacher" (no one told me about those lovely elementary math courses at SWOSU).
In high school I deviated from the plan by saying I
wanted to go into the medical field. I do not do blood. I do not do puke. I do
not do snot. I do not do waste of any kind. (I know, I know. I will have to
handle it one day in my classroom and in my own home; the Lord will have to
give me the strength is all I can say). After passing out from watching a video of
an incident I would potentially deal with in the medical field, I went back to the
plan of being "a teacher."
I had a quarter life crisis in the middle of my
college years. I changed my major for a whole two weeks to social work because
I did not think being "a teacher" was enough. God, in His great
faithfulness, put me back on track a couple of weeks before I found out my
college was no longer offering a social work degree. That was the end of
second-guessing my career choice. I had run out of time. I was going to be “a
teacher.”
Looking back, even as far back as fourth grade, I
chose another career that the world would deem more meaningful, more important,
or more significant. Deep down, I knew that was an incorrect assumption. I knew
being “a teacher” had an essential purpose—even if I could not adequately put
it into words. After all, teachers do FAR more than just teach. I had seen it first hand.
As a follower of Christ, I know I am called to
ministry--no matter what occupation I have. My mission field happens to be an
elementary school in rural Oklahoma. Of all things Christians possess to
share and show to the world, the greatest is love.
Had my wedding been normal and not in the middle of
a tornado, the familiar love passage would have probably been read. Although,
this passage of scripture is not just for the husband and wife. It is for
everyday life—including in my workplace, my classroom. (I will be the first to say I am the
furthest from perfection in exhibiting this real love to my students. This post
is for me more than anyone).
Love is
patient and kind…even when I did not receive the amount of sleep I
needed, a child is ruining my lesson plan, and the Kindergartener inside of me
wants to call names back and throw a fit in the middle of the rug.
Love does
not envy or boast...even when my children failed that test and the
teacher’s class next door rocked it, or when my children were perfect all
morning. Chances are, it had NOTHING to do with me (and just wait until
afternoon).
Love is
not arrogant or rude…even when that whole day went just as expected or I
have repeated myself one thousand times in the first two minutes.
Love does
not insist on its own way…even when it would be easier to go on and
pretend they all are listening and understand. I may just need to stop and listen.
Love is
not irritable or resentful…even if this is the fifth time to say that
kid’s name and it is only 8:20am. I must wipe the slate clean every second.
Love does
not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth…even when
it is hard to discipline. I cannot leave a child where they are; I must teach
them the right way.
Love bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love
never ends.
When a teacher shows this real love in the classroom, the children
thrive. They know someone will fight for them, believe in them, wish the best
for them, and never give up on them. The children will recognize the teacher
will ALWAYS love them, even when they are no longer in that classroom.
During my undergraduate studies, a person in the education field tried
to convince me that loving children is matter-of-factly not a reason to pursue
a degree in education. My argument is when you mean the kind of love discussed in 1 Corinthians 13,
there is absolutely no better reason to pursue a career as “a teacher.”
If I have the best classroom management skills, perfectly elaborate and efficient
lesson plans, the highest test scores, and countless professional development
hours but have not love, I am nothing. My students and I gain nothing. Love is
a teacher’s sole purpose.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have
prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I
give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not
love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it
is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable
or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things. Love never ends."
