Right before I started this blog, I was having a conversation with two other teachers and one of the teachers expressed an issue with teacher blogs. These blogs share amazing ideas that work so wonderfully and every student using language with a high degree of proficiency.
That can make us feel like bad teachers. We’ve all felt that way at some point? Right? I know that I have.
So, this isn’t one of those blogs. Let me be very honest and say that in my class, I work every day to help my students learn and improve – their French, their writing skills, etc. I don’t succeed with every activity or every day. I try new ideas and sometimes they are great successes and sometimes they crash and burn.
My key to balance teacher blogs and real life in the classroom? I constantly remind myself that I am not other teachers and my students aren’t their students. Each of my classes are so different from each other anyway.
So, I take ideas from blogs, brainstorm with other amazing teacher near and far, and I try a new strategy, lesson, etc.
Sometimes it works and I add it to my plans, my units, my toolkit.
Sometimes it doesn’t work and I give myself permission to let go of that failure and try something new the next day.
Feel free to take my ideas and try them for yourselves. If they work, that’s great! If they don’t, don’t stress! All I want to do is give back to a community of teachers that has given so much to me.
Teaching is an imperfect art. You have to be willing to take risks because that’s where the magic happens, but you also have to be willing to let go of things that don’t work.
Legend by Marie Lu is one novel I always recommend to my students because it’s just lovely. I’m going to share my favorite quote with you as an encouragement to get back up one more time even when nothing seems to be working.
“Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything’s possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.”
~ Marie Lu, Legend
Tomorrow is a new day. Cut yourself some slack and try again.