Let Your (Teacher) Geek Flag Fly

Last night’s #ONedmentors on VoicEd Radio was alive with great ideas around the topic of communication. We spend our weekly round table show discussing many pressing matters in education with an eye to the mentorship of new and preservice teachers, but this show is so much more than that. Thursday nights at 9:00 pm EST, we meet virtually, and whoever is available from the team forms the panel for the night. We share ideas and address issues for the audience and for each other. We learn a lot through this collaboration, and I am grateful the show is available on demand because I often re-listen to the ideas or revisit a detail that I may not have processed completely during the show. It is also more difficult to recall an insight when you are facilitating the experience.

Derek Rhodenizer is our regular host. He sends out an email with a musical provocation and some prompts to activate our schema on the topic at hand and get us into the zone of what usually becomes a rich discussion. When Derek is unavailable, I joyfully take the helm and send out the email in accordance with his protocol: prompting song, questions and topic-related ideas. Yesterday, Derek was charged to discuss the topic, but forgot to get his computer to follow suite. With 2% battery left, it was an impromptu handover that ended up being a wonderful gift. I got to share some very intimate things about my teaching experience that turned out to be a topic that a lot of people struggle with- being yourself.

As preservice and new teachers make their foray into their classrooms, they are more contextually bound than most teachers. Whatever the school’s culture and expectations are, they must comply. There is little flexibility in the beginning and, when you are being evaluated all the time, you must cater to your setting first. That is not to say that you should not be yourself entirely. I think I said something last night along the lines of being a tempered version of you. I am not just saying this because I understand the plight of the new teacher. One the reasons why I love mentoring new and preservice teachers is because I want to provide them with the best support possible for entering this powerful and dynamic profession, but there is more to the story. I have faced and overcome many challenges trying to be myself at work. That is another reason why I am well equipped and eager to help.

I have a strong sense of myself and deep integrity for my work, but it isn't always easy to be me. On the show last night, we used the word keen to describe certain students and teachers. Sometimes, the keen ones get made fun of because they are always eager to learn or perpetually have their hand up. That doesn’t stop when you become a teacher. Sadly, workplace aggression and negative peer treatment continues. Often, teachers experience push back from colleagues when they are excited and amenable to trying new things. Many innovative and creative teachers have shared the challenge of finding and being themselves at work because there is a lot of pressure not to. Lucky for many others that they are in communities that support and encourage their keenness. I have had a long and wonderful career in teaching, but much of my growth came from overcoming these interpersonal challenges that can feel particularly stifling. “It’s not easy being green.”

In our discussion on communication strategies last night, it was clear that there are myriad ways to communicate and that one must be respectful and inclusive in determining which modalities best suit your learning community, including parents. Personal teacher style impacts choice of communication tool, but it is also a form of communication in and of itself. Like McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” What message are you sending to your students if you are denying large pieces of yourself? Teaching isn’t like other jobs. I don’t think that I am alone in believing that teaching is a 24/7 gig where you are what you do and how you do what you do is deeply affected by who you are. If you aren’t you, then how can you model embracing your individuality for your students? If you are afraid to speak up in a meeting or pursue a new approach because you don’t want to be perceived as too eager or too much of a teacher geek (which I am, and joyfully own), you are denying parts of yourself that will eventually dilute your practice and chip away at your self esteem. You have to be yourself, especially when you are doing what you love.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that I have persevered through many challenges with colleagues who questioned or judged me for my me-ness. When I stopped apologizing for it and embraced myself, the naysayers became friends who saw me as “other” but still let me be me, and I get along with almost everyone as a result. I can be true to who I am as a person and teacher, which is part of my core values as an educator. I believe that our students need to see us be ourselves, within reason. How we communicate that if we aren’t really living it? How can we tell them, “Be you,” if we are always holding back?

In my new role, I look forward to supporting teacher development. I want to help teachers develop skill and knowledge , to create ways to amplify student voice and to propel learner engagement. I also want to help teachers find their voices. As Leo Buscaglia said, “The hardest battle you are ever going to fight is the battle to just be you.” You might lose some battles, but you will win the war by standing united in an army of people being true to themsleves. There are many of us out there, so unite and let your (teacher) geek flags fly!