Teaching…
It can be a process of transformation for the person willing to be changed.
Oh, I’m not talking about the students.
I’m talking about those doing the teaching.
With my hectic month of training behind me, I’ve been in my classroom every day…maintaining a consistent routine…consistent expectations.
It’s been a tough couple of weeks, full of ups and downs, but finally, I’m witnessing a transformation…
In myself.
I’m finding myself growing more confident as I settle in.
I’m finding myself more empathetic as I hear students ask for food. They really are hungry.
I’m watching them respond as I meet basic, day-to-day needs that might seem, at first glance, to have nothing to do with academics.
I’m starting to recognize signs of deep anger and learning not to take them personally. Such signs are reactions to circumstances outside of my classroom.
I’m working desperately to create an atmosphere conducive to learning…one of calm, so often rare for the students who enter my room.
My heart is melting a little more each day, despite the pressure of teaching intensive reading and all of the misconceptions that go along with it.
I’ve watched and listened as adults respond with comments such as “Wow” and lowered eyes when they find out what I teach.
I’m proud to say that I’m a reading teacher because I know that lives are being touched and changed…simply because my perspective and understanding are changing.
In a way, the process is similar to what sinners go through when they accept the redeeming work of Jesus’s sacrifice.
It’s only through the process of transformation that permanent change comes about…change that has the power to affect others’ lives as well.
Though some days are difficult, I always look for silver linings. I always look for ways to improve. I always look for ways to allow the difficult circumstances to transform my own life so that I can be a more effective teacher who leaves a permanent, positive imprint on my students’ lives.
It’s a process that can’t and won’t happen overnight.
Regardless of how and when it happens, I’m grateful that it is, and I welcome the person I’m becoming.
AuburnChick's Adventures 
The only way to survive teaching is to latch onto those silver linings and the “lightbulb” moments that flash in your students’ eyes. It is so important not to take the things your students say personally. When they lash out in anger, it is often not towards you but towards someone/something else in their life. It’s how you react in those moments that create the cracks in their walls. Keep reminding yourself that you are teaching more than reading: you are teaching children.
Sounds like becoming a teacher is a learning process in of itself 🙂
You are doing just fine!