Grow Slow and Steady

In 8 Ways to Become a Better Educator Every Day from Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher, states,

“Growth is a slow, steady thing. When you learn and apply a little bit consistently, you look back and realize what a big difference it has made. Become a better educator every day. When you do, it means that you’ll be an incredible teacher after a pretty short period. All that growth adds up!”

When I first started teaching I wanted to be the best teacher ever without any behavior problems in class and teaching the most dynamic lessons all of the time!

Well, it didn’t happen. I think I had visions of grandeur because those were high expectations. In fact they were totally unrealistic.

Looking back over time, I realize that I knew nothing when I started teaching. It would take time and experience for me to become better (because I never became perfect!)

I needed to do the best I could and evaluate my own teaching on a regular basis. I needed to make sure that I learned something about my teaching from every lesson that I taught. These became building blocks to do a better job next time.

Every lesson I taught could be done better the next time. There was always something that could be adjusted or modified to meet my student’s needs better.

I may have used the same lessons over the years but I never taught the lesson the same way at any time. I was able to use the skeleton of the lesson but I was always changing the other parts to make it more interesting and meaningful. As time goes by, it is important to check the relevance of the lesson and if it matches the current events that are happening or is it really an obsolete lesson.

During my 30+ years in the classroom, I don’t believe a day went by that I didn’t learn something new about my teaching and myself.

There are constantly new trends in education, new tech tools, or new strategies being suggested. By keeping involved in knowing what is happening currently in education, I’m always growing and learning.

I believe that once a teacher believes they know it all and doesn’t need to continue to grow, then it is time to take a closer look in the mirror. They actually can learn that they are frustrated, overwhelmed, or burned out and need to look for ways to revive their excitement. This in itself is an important time for growth.

Do you continue to grow as a teacher? What activities do you do to help yourself grow? Please share.