teach me how to teach

The book I’m currently reading on how to be a good teacher says that just because you know how to cook steak doesn’t mean you’ll be a good restaurant owner. You also need to have people skills, be able to manage a business and know the ins and outs of certain laws, codes, requirements and specifics. At the very end of acquiring all of this knowledge and putting it into practice, then your steak cooking skills will come in handy.  

Apparently the same applies to teaching: knowing American history or Spanish grammar or Latin declensions or world geography or Shakespeare’s plays does not necessarily mean you will be a good teacher. Being a good teacher is about preparation: preparing yourself, preparing your classroom and preparing your material so that you can instruct your students. Oh. This makes me feel a lot better. Why? Because thinking about teaching in terms of preparedness, thinking ahead and proactivity is, at least for me, a lot more swallowable than believing I have to have all the answers to all the questions and able to reduce fractions and tell you where Kazakhstan is located.

The school year at JCS is supposed to start next Thursday, and I do have so much to do. Every session of orientation leaves my mind reeling with to do lists and thoughts and questions and ideas. And feelings of overwhelmedness. However, knowing this bit about preparedness is keeping me from feeling completely incapable and a little bit more certain that maybe I really can be a good teacher.

Today we were told that in Dominican Republic, unlike in the U.S., students will often initiate hugs, parents will invite teachers over for dinner or coffee, and establishing a bond of love and care between teacher and student is expected, especially at a Christian school. I’ve already heard so much about my 12 students: they were a terror last year for the 4^th grade teacher, but came a long way over the course of the year and are expected to behave better, but certainly aren’t angels. I am excited to pour into my kids, to learn about them and love them, to teach them and watch them be successful, learn, and grow throughout the year. I can’t help thinking about all the kids I’ve seen at summer camps over the years, those that I’ve had as campers and have worked with otherwise…and I can’t help believing that God has prepared me at least a little bit to be the teacher of this specific 5^th grade group of kids. I just know I’ll have awful stories, funny ones, sad ones, crazy ones, frustrating ones, nonsensical ones, memorable ones…and that, beyond a doubt, my kids and I will all grow together this year.

I am thankful to be here. I am surrounded by blue-jean-colored, misty, cloudy, tree covered, gently rising mountains, by sunshine and fresh air, by sounds of life and the assurance that God is leading me in all I do…despite the franticness I feel, the overwhelmedness, the uncertainty, the doubt, the anxiety and worry that creep into my head far too quickly. I know I am His and I know I am here by His hand.

 
Lesson of the day: Romans 12: 6-12