I Teach Students

Right around this time a couple years ago, I was talking to my uncle about teaching, and he asked me, "What do you teach?" I responded by saying, "Fourth grade." His response was, "No you don't."

A little confused, I gave an awkward laugh, and just said, "...what..?" He corrected, "You teach STUDENTS." When he elaborated on it, I couldn't agree more with what he was saying.

I thought about that little first grader in the hallway, who asked me to zip up their coat because they already had their mittens on.

I thought about lunch duty (and cringed a little) and every milk carton I opened (but showed them how every time).

I thought about every time I'd give the ever so gentle reminder, "We WALK in the hallway!"

I thought about every Friday when we got bombarded with all of our old students coming by to say hi, and let us know how middle school was. 

I thought about the clubs I led: Business Club, TECHsperts, Yoga Club, Harry Potter Club...as well as all the other clubs that were offered by teachers in our school: Code Club, Math Club, Art Club, Gardening Club, Community Service Club...etc. 

I thought about my role as an RtI facilitator, and all of the meetings I heard how passionate my colleagues and I were about meeting the needs of all the students.

Now I am in a new coaching role at a middle school, and am completely out of the classroom. I do miss having MY OWN class from time to time, but I really feel like now more than ever, I'm able to see that I teach students.

My role as Student Learning Coach is to help increase student voice and choice in the classroom. I get to talk to, observe, and work with students and figure out their interests and what works for them. I get to work with teachers, and help them implement these strategies, potentially impacting over 900 students in our building.

Then I think about Social Media, and all the teachers I have connected with on behalf of students. I see Instagram teachers with hundreds of thousands of followers, and how incredible of an impact they can and do make.

I don't think this is a surprise to anyone -- we care about ALL of our students. We KNOW our role is much more than teaching content. Our job is pretty cool.

All I ask is that next time someone asks you what you teach, think about how you answer them.