"When we learn how to teach, we must also consider what it will feel like to teach."
Chapter 7
Are you needing to read a chapter that is personal and vulnerable about what we have all felt at some point or another in our classrooms? Chapter 7 takes readers to the painful hurt of teaching, in which teachers sometimes become so overwhelmed and hurt by their teaching days that they cry or they get angry. Certain circumstances will be so overwhelming that teachers do and say things they never thought they would do or say, and they behave in ways that surprise them—all because of the emotional surprises from teaching. If this has happened to you, this chapter will validate you and give you permission to talk about this with others, to help you reach understanding and strategies on how to make it through. Our goal is to work through these painful circumstances, not to get out of them. Our goal is to identify when we are at a breaking point, so we can recenter ourselves and not choose reactive behaviors. If you have cried in your classroom or have gotten angry over teaching, you are not alone. But you are so very brave.
Questions:
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Reflect on a time in your classroom when heard your inner voice say, “I didn’t sign up for this,” or when you cried because of your classroom or got angry because of your classroom. What made you react? How did this make you feel? What have you learned from this situation that you could share with others?
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We don’t often see teachers as brave. But they are. Very brave. How can you see yourself and all teachers as brave? What does bravery in teaching mean to you?
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What do you think needs to happen within the system of education to reduce the painful situations to help teachers thrive and reduce the complicated emotions teachers feel?
Resources:
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Some Thoughts on Teachers Crying in the Classroom »
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19 Reasons Why the Teacher Cried Today »
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Quotes:
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“The weight of teaching and being just one person can be enough to make teachers highly emotional. It might be enough to make them angry or cry.”
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“Teachers don’t want to do all the hard work of teaching while also playing the losing game of behavior management.”
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“If you have cried in class, in the bathroom, in the lunchroom, in a friend’s classroom, on the way to or from school, or to your partner at home, you are not alone.”
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“I was crying from the overwhelm of teaching because it is an emotional profession, and we haven’t yet seen it from that angle.”
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“Just because we cry or get angry, doesn’t mean we are defeated.”
“Every moment in a tough classroom facing tough students is an act of bravery.”
