At the beginning of every great story the hero is weak and ill equipped. At the end, he is strong and resourceful. What happens in between is the transforming process and the details that make us connect with stories.

Like the hero, I believe every greatly respected professional has taken advantage of transforming opportunities in their career. I don’t claim to have arrived as a greatly respected professional and I haven’t been coined a hero, but I did start in the same place as the hero. I once was a weak and ill equipped teacher and in some ways still am. Allow me to fly you through the transforming journey  of my first 11 years in the classroom.

Teacher Types

I’ve journeyed through each of these styles and I now try to exemplify the the teacher types that are best for today’s students.

There are many different styles in the classroom. One’s style is determined by what the teacher believes to be her students’ needs.

• One might determine that her students’ lives lack structure and self-control, resulting in a “You will follow the rules” Teacher.
• A teacher might feel the student needs to, above all, learn the content of the curriculum. Thus resulting in a “You need to know this” Teacher.
• One might feel their students need to like and enjoy their teacher in order to learn, developing the “You will think I’m cool” Teacher perspective.
• Another educator may feel that first a student must feel safe and cared for in order to learn, which creates the “You are loved” Teacher.

The Early Years

“The Early Years” makes me sound either accomplished or elderly, of which I’m neither. My first few years of teaching was about building a reputation. I was insecure in my ability so I obviously formed myself into the “You will think I’m cool” Teacher. I told myself that students liking me would bridge the gap left by the infancy of my teaching craft. The nature of teaching doesn’t allow a new teacher to catch his breath and reflect until at least the third year. This reflection morphed me into my next teaching style.

Gaining Control

The first portion of my career was laced in selfishness. I wanted to be liked and my reflection revealed something about the teacher I was. Wanting to be liked caused me to forfeit much control and authority in my classroom. In walked “You will follow the rules” Teacher! I developed a numbing class routine paired with stern discipline policies. Classroom management is a wonderful thing because it affords avenues for consistent learning! While I had control, I lacked understanding of curriculum and instruction. My class was well behaved but there wasn’t much deep learning going on. It’s Interesting how the trail of my deficiencies have shaped the teacher I am today.

Becoming a Teacher

Now that I’d arrived as a Cool Guy with control of a classroom, it was time to actually become a professional. Yes, I’d learned strategies and was a hunter and gatherer of resources and teaching tools.

As you move further into your career you either become isolated into one of these teachers or you become a combination of a couple. I’m hoping to be both the “You are loved” and “You need to know this” Teacher. The more I myself learn the content of English Language Arts and work to design the ideal curriculum, a deeper love for my subject area is formed. The same can be true for my students. The more I learn about their lives, interests, and families, the more I want my students to know their unquantifiable value!

Let Your Job Work for You

I get to spend my days participating in a pretty amazing job. So amazing that it actually has the ability to speak into and impact other facets of my life.

We spend so much of our life at work. I sure hope we allow it to transform us into better people. Too often the professional journey is on the attack with stress, envy, and bitterness. This dismantles not only the professional but the whole being.

If we spend enough time at a job we start calling it a career. If we spend enough time at a career we want to call it a legacy. If we have a job, career, or legacy it better be working for us individually.