From the Desk of a Substitute Teacher

Once upon a time, I thought I’d love to be a teacher. For years, I debated between pursuing degrees in English or Agriculture – my two favorite subjects throughout high school – and I knew that no matter which option I chose, I’d without-a-doubt become that ONE teacher that everyone always loved and remembered, not for simply teaching my subject matter, but for teaching great life lessons, as well.

My high school graduation, with Mrs. Kadi Ralston, one of those kinds of teachers I always hoped I would be!

Fast forward almost five years since I decided that education was NOT the career path for me, and where do I find myself today? In a high school classroom…

Since returning from the World Race, I’ve been blessed to spend numerous days as a substitute teacher in my alma mater school district, and boy have I gotten quite the education! Everyday, no matter if I’m teaching agriculture, humanities, algebra, world civilization or band, I’m learning things like:

1. Things are vastly different!

It’s been barely seven years since I walked these high school halls, but sometimes I hardly recognize the place. There are only six teachers still in the building that were teaching when I graduated, and only one that I actually had in class. Emphasis is placed on entirely new curricula, discipline is carried out in whole new facets, and the stereotypes that once dominated – band kid, ag kid, cheerleader, athlete, etc. – have all somehow blended into one unidentifiable blob known as “teenager.” In short, I’ve gotten old.

2. I was an insanely sheltered student!

From 6th-12th grade, I stayed on the Honors/AP track, which essentially means that I was with the same group of people for almost every class. We were relentlessly competitive, but we were definitely bonded in a unique way. We pushed one another to be above average, and over the years we developed our own semblance of societal norms – be a jerk to one, and hear about it from all of us; fail to take care of business, and get very little sympathy from those that put in their effort. If there was ever a case of someone refusing to do an assignment, I never heard about it. That is not so much the case these days. The only unified front I regularly see is unified defiance – I’m routinely told by students that they have no intention of completing assignments, and generally it makes no difference whether the person next to them diligently does theirs, either. Until now, I hardly realized how big of a blessing it was to have this kind of camaraderie with my classmates and friends, as well as how much it meant to have supportive parents who cared enough to make sure I cared, too!

Collectively, this group of people spent more time together than we did with our own families.

3. Every day holds pleasant surprises.

In their defense, high school students catch a very bad wrap, and often times it isn’t entirely accurate. They are people. Undeveloped, hungry, attention-seeking, awkward, undecided people. So often I believe that they have adult expectations placed on them without the benefit of having much (if any) adult experience. Most of them want the exact same thing you and I want – someone to care about them. Maybe that explains the rampant dating cycles or the incessant codependent tendencies (trust me – guys go to the bathroom in hoards just as often as the girls.) Given the chance, though, they will impress you. There are kids who pray longer than the allotted moment of silence, and their peers respect that time. There are students who get excited when given the chance to use lab equipment they otherwise rarely see. There are students who go all out on simple assignments, students who respectfully comply when they would clearly rather not, students who stand up for underdogs and students who take pride in everything they do.

For those students, sometimes I feel sorry. Truthfully, they fight a daily battle of crowded, chaotic hallways filled with peers who assure them that disrespect for authority is cool, that someone else will pay consequences for their actions, that they already know everything necessary to survive life and that from realities of a world full of hurt, they are immune. And who is fighting for all these kids?

Seniors ℅ 2007 in New York City! 

Sometimes it’s like I never left the mission field…

Don’t we all live in a world that seems more chaotic by the day, where truth or honor have almost no weight, where those around us advocate for “easy” and where the ultimate goal is to answer to no one but ourselves? Maybe Bowling for Soup said it best… “High School Never Ends.”

So how do we fix this? Unfortunately, I’m not sure my six-month tenure as a substitute qualifies me to give that answer… but I do have a few suggestions.

1. Prove that you care!

One morning on my way to work, I saw one of my students standing in the cold, waiting for his running-late-ride. I knew he had to be miserable, so I pulled into the driveway and offered him a lift. Granted, it’s probably an inadvisable move in the professional realm, but it seems more imperative to me that we exhibit human decency. People matter – even high school people – and they should know that.

2. Challenge them!

As people, we are wired to meet the level of expectation set for us. Expect nothing and that is what you will get. Give kids the chance to impress you, and then watch them do it!

3. Stop bailing them out!

My parents are great people, and I love them both, but no college professor or job supervisor has ever been interested in what my mom or dad thought. The best lessons I learned in high school were how to accept responsibility for my own actions, live with my results, and generally figure out how to manage by myself. There is no sense complaining about a failing society dependent on government aid if we’re teaching its citizens to be dependent from an early age. Push for some critical thinking and problem solving skills!

4. Be real!

Most of the students I’ve had can tell you a lot about me – mistakes included. I was a high school kid once, and I made a lot of dumb decisions, some of them at a price. I still mess up. It doesn’t hurt them to know that. If you want students to be open and honest with you, then practice what you preach.

Realistically, the world won’t change overnight. Neither will high school. But my prayer each morning I am here is that for at least one student I’ll make the day better, because for many of them the fact that they are even here at all is already a victory!

How are you promoting positive change for the youth in your life?