A common conversation during preservice meetings with my teachers this year was the feelings we have when returning to school, feelings familiar from youth that teachers return too every year when the days start feeling too long and too hot. The typical response is a combination of excitement and nervousness. The scale can tip from one side to the other depending on what we are thinking about or planning but having a healthy dose of both is important.
An educator that isn't excited to get back to students and teaching after a nice break probably shouldn't be back in the classroom. Sure, one might not look forward to writing comments, attending meetings, or other such tasks but getting back to teaching and learning should spark enough enthusiasm to make one linger in Target's school supply section a bit longer (not these ones though). Hopefully for most teachers it's even more than just school supplies but a yearning to see the youthful light and energy of learning again.
Likewise, a teacher that isn't a little anxious is probably too comfortable in their routines and relationships with students. I'd rather work with a teacher that is too nervous and needs some guidance and support to prepare for the first day than the teacher who starts the year putting up the same displays, copying the same worksheets, or considers a syllabus update to be nothing more than an exercise of changing test dates. Perhaps this is a good place to apply the principle of creative tension. An elastic band won't bind if it's not tight enough to stretch but if pulled to far it can also snap. Having enough tension to keep me on my toes and not complacent is best, but not so much that it becomes a difficulty or distraction to working effectively with students.
All of these jittery feelings also help me feel young again as they reflect the emotions I had each August when I was getting ready to go back to school. I remember waiting for the day when class lists were posted on the school windows. Discovering who was in your class and the big question, which teacher do you have, hatched much of the same positively nervous energy. Of course "day one" and "day two" can each look a bit different but hopefully the energy of enthusiasm and productive anxiousness can carry on through its ebbs and flows to bring students and teachers through a successful year.
An educator that isn't excited to get back to students and teaching after a nice break probably shouldn't be back in the classroom. Sure, one might not look forward to writing comments, attending meetings, or other such tasks but getting back to teaching and learning should spark enough enthusiasm to make one linger in Target's school supply section a bit longer (not these ones though). Hopefully for most teachers it's even more than just school supplies but a yearning to see the youthful light and energy of learning again.
Likewise, a teacher that isn't a little anxious is probably too comfortable in their routines and relationships with students. I'd rather work with a teacher that is too nervous and needs some guidance and support to prepare for the first day than the teacher who starts the year putting up the same displays, copying the same worksheets, or considers a syllabus update to be nothing more than an exercise of changing test dates. Perhaps this is a good place to apply the principle of creative tension. An elastic band won't bind if it's not tight enough to stretch but if pulled to far it can also snap. Having enough tension to keep me on my toes and not complacent is best, but not so much that it becomes a difficulty or distraction to working effectively with students.
All of these jittery feelings also help me feel young again as they reflect the emotions I had each August when I was getting ready to go back to school. I remember waiting for the day when class lists were posted on the school windows. Discovering who was in your class and the big question, which teacher do you have, hatched much of the same positively nervous energy. Of course "day one" and "day two" can each look a bit different but hopefully the energy of enthusiasm and productive anxiousness can carry on through its ebbs and flows to bring students and teachers through a successful year.
