My First Classroom

At the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, I was a 24 year old pastor - the only job I ever expected to have. Still, no one gets into ministry for the income, and mine was lacking. I started substitute teaching to make some much needed money, and it was some of the most fun I'd ever had. 

Fast forward two months or so, and I had been subbing three-four days a week. The assistant principal of the high school was in a jam and needed someone (anyone) reliable and available to cover for a teacher who was going to be out for a surgery - and they were going to be out in just a week or two. I checked in with my boss (sister) at the church and she said, "sure!"

That's kind of what my first classroom was - teaching four classes a day, three of them with different curricula that I didn't understand: Intro to Business, Accounting, and Personal Finance. I could not believe someone was going to trust me with a gradebook! I figured out what I could, invited friends with more experience to speak to the students, and, a couple times, I played Shark Tank for students to watch. The Business teacher for whom I was subbing got me set up with most of the planning and also helped with grading the Accounting assignments, and I am eternally grateful. 

After that, teaching just kept becoming a bigger part of my life. I taught for my job at the church, revamping curriculum for the membership class and starting a brand-new adult education school for laymen in ministry. I designed courses, recruited teachers and students, and made a school. I also started teaching online with VIPKID, teaching English to Chinese students ages 5-8. Maybe I should call these my first classrooms, because I wasn't teaching as a substitute?

At the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year, I got another surprise call from the same administrator. He said that they needed someone to cover Spanish I for a full semester, and he was hoping I would do it. Spanish is actually FAR more in my wheelhouse than business, and I was so excited to do it! I had covered Spanish III for a few weeks the previous year and, apparently, I hadn't messed anything up too badly. I had lots of support in this role from the teacher-turned-administrator whose spot I was filling and from the next-door teachers. Maybe this was my first classroom? It was the first time I taught a full course in a public school setting.

At that point, I was teaching Bible classes to adults for the church, Spanish to high school students, and English to Chinese students. I was questioning my own role in clergy and the basis of what clergy should look like; I was teaching more every day, and I decided I was ready for a change. With MANY friends and family encouraging me, I decided to do the research and sign up for classes to become a teacher. That also meant I wouldn't have time to work multiple jobs, raise my kids, and be a half-decent husband. Rebekah and Liz were four and two years old, respectively. So, I quit my job at the church and we squeezed our budget tight, knowing this would be a multi-year journey with some really low-income summers.

I spent (at minimum) Tuesday and Thursday nights out that year - I just found somewhere with wifi and worked. Sometimes, I worked in my classroom. When the Spanish class ended for me and I moved directly into the middle school library to teach research papers to 7th graders (a real challenge, by the way), I worked there. Sometimes, I went to Panera and supremely abused the coffee refill policy. Sometimes, I holed up in my own bedroom and graded, planned, wrote papers, read textbooks, took notes, watched lectures, and finished group projects. 

Then, there was summer. Again, I taught online and we used savings carefully. When the school year started up, I taught History to 10th graders for another maternity leave. After that, I had another "first classroom" - the first time I was teacher-of-record, not teaching directly under a "real" teacher. That was teaching alternative education to students who were struggling to keep up with their general education classrooms. I enjoyed that one; there's no doubt it was a learning experience. COVID hit at the end of that year, and I tried to support those students for the last few weeks of the school year from a distance. 

Another summer came after that of penny-pinching and online teaching. In an attempt to avoid being without income for student teaching, I tried applying for every. single. internship. opportunity. under. the. sun. Unfortunately, no one was willing to hire me in that capacity; and, to be fair, it would have been difficult to justify hiring someone without their teaching certification when more qualified individuals were available. So, in the end, I picked one of the very best English teachers I'd met and got ready for 13 weeks of teaching without pay. It was a great experience, and my mom took it upon herself, without even a request from us, to financially support us as much as she could - and if we ever said we didn't need it, she told us that was silly and said, "you must want something." This was my first time teaching in an English classroom! That's been the goal this whole time! Getting into "why English?" is really a bigger question for another post.

While doing that, the school was working hard to make sure online opportunities were available to students and they tapped me to teach 9th grade English online. So, again, I taught two curricula I hadn't taught before. 

Finally, in November of 2020, I finished student teaching and got my certification to teach English. A job opened up that no one expected to open up; I applied, and I got it! Is this (January 2021) my first classroom? I don't know. It feels like my first classroom - maybe because I'm finally qualified to keep it. Maybe it feels like my first classroom because there's not an expectation that I will vacate it as soon as someone more qualified comes along? 

Bilbo finally reaches the mountain, and he knows the journey isn't over, but it's quite a sight to see. Elizabeth and Darcy get married, and they know they will argue as often as humanly possible, but they are excited to enjoy the arguments.  Edmond Dantes finishes his revenge story and learns that the rest of his life can be so much more meaningful than that single struggle. However you put it, the journey is over, and - still - the journey is just beginning. I'm so glad and ready to be in my "first" classroom.