What We Expect (…on believing in the brilliance of my students)

Teaching teenagers to grapple deeply with texts, find their voice, and hone their craft as a writer… well, it’s not always (or ever) easy! But my father, a career educator, told me a long time ago that it’s time to leave teaching when you don’t love the kids anymore.

It’s my love for students (and for my discipline) that has become a safety rail for me. I cling to it when things are tough; when the papers pile up, and when I don’t always agree with something I am asked to do… the kids are still there. And the kids? They are great.

When a new group of students enters my classroom, there is always an air of mystery and expectation. My number one job on the first day of school is to show the students that I care and that I will challenge them. I show I care by learning everyone’s name, and I try to remember something about each student that I can ask about later, or that can become a joke between the student and I. This year, for example, I have a student named Tucker who told the class that his favorite childhood book was called “Tuck It”. He’s now “Tuck It Tucker” and we both grin when someone mentions the nickname. I show them that we will work hard by talking about my goals for the year and sharing my own excitement for reading and writing.

I haven’t always been a great teacher. In the beginning, I didn’t have much pedagogy or skill with classroom management. I sometimes created lessons at the last minute and I wasn’t great at walking kids through the writing process. All of that has improved with experience, time, and the benefit of skilled colleagues to observe. But what has stayed consistent is my attitude toward students.

I am for them. I am on their side. I am excited to know them, teach them, love them, and take them under my wing for a year or two. We will have adventures together. We will laugh when something ridiculous happens, debate hot topics with respect, revel in beautiful stories, and learn to be better students, friends, readers, writers, and human beings.

Every year, classrooms all over the world are filled with students who are new to teachers. What would happen if every teacher had an expectant heart toward each one? What if, instead of giving in to the negativity around us, we just believed more in the power of human connection and education? The power of students to learn and flourish in the classroom of a teacher who expects to be impressed by them?

This is not toxic positivity. It’s hard work. It’s hard to determine to love people that have the power to drain every ounce of your energy. It’s hard to look for goodness in a kid who, for example, says they hate you. It’s hard to expect the best from someone who falls asleep in class. It’s hard to feel excited about getting to know a student who comes to you with a long discipline record. It’s hard. But it’s good work. Soulful work.

The kids are amazing. They make all the hardship more than worth it. We just need to expect the best from ourselves and from them. Lean in.