Actually as teachers, you do have a choice. I know that there are so many curricular and classroom management decisions that are out of your hands, but you do have a voice and you do have a choice.
When you concede and say there is nothing you can do, you are conceding your power as a professional decision maker.
Just as we hope our students will show growth over time, as teachers we can show growth in our practice if we take the time to reflect. Professional growth can occur if we first look back on our practice to draw conclusions about events, then change our behaviors as a result of research, knowledge and reflection.
I know that often it is easier and more easy to manage to not rethink what has happened over the last year this summer, but I wonder if you did what you would discover.
Did the year go exactly as you planned it last summer?
Did you get your students to the place you wanted them to achieve?
Often, these are the first questions we ask ourselves, but we hardly ever take the time to think about ourselves.
Did I learn something new this year?
Did I try a new method, a new resource or a new teaching position?
When we ask these questions and look inward, then we are starting the painful process of realizing that until we have ourselves centered, then we can’t truly guide and direct students to become who themselves.