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Brighid from NH
Hi – My name is Brighid and I live in NH and commute over the border to teach in MA every day. I teach high school – and in the past have taught everything from Algebra I to AP Calculus AB. This year I am teaching AP Calculus AB, our college prep Algebra II, and honors Algebra II.
I have noticed that I am struggling to find joy in my job, there are days that work so well and then those that blow up in my face. I have noticed that what worked in the past is not working for the current students and I want to have fun (and learn) in my classroom again.
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5 Replies
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@brighid-holden welcome!
I totally get where you’re coming from. This feeling of not enjoying the job is the ashes of where our 3-part framework rose from. We know that your workshop learning will help with this feeling. It did for us and many more.
Do you have any big takeaways so far from the workshop?
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Honestly – I need to rethink what the lesson goals are – and stop focusing on getting through the standards and think about how I can connect to student understanding… And more importantly – try not to do it all at once, but to take a step or two at a time.
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I agree with you Brighid. I have decided to focus on one task for now and try it first. Evaluate it and then move forward.
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Thanks for your honesty and vulnerability. Teaching is a hard job. No day seems quite repeatable. We make thousands of decisions every day and even small shifts can be big variables in how a particular lesson/interaction goes. I think being open to reflecting on what is working and what isn’t shows that you have a high level of committment to your work. We ulimately want to feel successful in the acts that we put so much love and struggle and thought to. I think many teachers have been in a place similar to where you are. And yes, students are different. They are coming of age in a world with really different norms and realities. Thanks for being a part of this community. I am looking forward to being in a shared space with people like you.
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Hi Brighid! I agree…I taught much younger students but felt the same way. I feel like that really changed when I moved out of the front of the room and shifted the responsibility of the learning to the students. Much of my work happens in planning and facilitating. The students take over from there. There is so much wisdom in the room when teachers allow it to surface.
