“Those who can’t do teach.” As you may remember, I loathe this phrase. In fact, I’ll toss another common phrase right back at it. We want our role models to “talk the talk and walk the walk,” right? Absolutely. This is what makes a great teacher: you can teach a lesson in a way that’s relatable to your students, but you also serve as a living lesson of how to put the content into action. So, to anyone who believes teachers teach because they can’t perform in their respective content areas, I think you’ve missed the mark. Why would someone choose to teach something outside of their strengths?
I care about great teaching, and, more importantly, I care about our teachers. If anyone out there reading this is a current teacher who struggles with feeling burned out or overwhelmed, let’s take a deep breath and have a gut-check moment together. (I’ll wait for a nice, long exhale. Let it go.) In this short pause, tell me whether or not you’ve built your teaching career around your strengths. If you have, maybe the deep breath wasn’t necessary and you’re feeling both content and fulfilled in your career. If you haven’t, however, what are the classes on your plate right now that are a negative stretch on your energy? What are the subject areas you’re responsible for that aren’t among your passions?
Now that we’ve done some reflection, let’s play a little game of “What If?” What would happen if you restructured your teaching load to align more closely with your personal passions? What if you worked on saying “no” to the classes or subjects that don’t light you up on the inside? Teachers are often overworked these days, and they often don’t feel that they have the right to set boundaries on their work life. I’m right there with you!
But I care about you, and I care about excellent teaching for today’s students. You deserve a teaching career that feels like “your jam,” and students deserve teachers who can both talk the talk and walk the walk. If you can’t do it, don’t teach it. If you love it, share it with the world!
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