What Every Teacher Needs to Remember

What every teacher needs to remember when the school year’s got you between a rock and a hard place. I mean, between this piedra and absolute fracaso.

About a 2-hour drive from Medellin, Colombia exists a giant rock otherwise known as la Piedra del Peñol. It’s 740 steps of concrete stairs that are built into the rock face. And, no there is no elevator. (Though, roughly halfway up you will find a shrine to a virgin that, I can only assume, gives weary travelers enough motivation to keep going the rest of the way.)

It’s one of Colombia’s must-see tourist attractions. It’s also stunningly beautiful.

I was there a few years ago with my husband and my uncle, who had dutifully driven us there while battling flu-like symptoms.

The problem, however, aside from my concern for my uncle, is that I’m terrified of heights.

So, once he bid us good luck from the base of the rock, it was up to my husband to semi-blindly lead me up each and every one of those 740 steps while I tried my hardest not to look down.

I’m talking about walking with one hand covering my eyes (so I wouldn’t accidentally see how high we had climbed) while my other hand gripped the wall furthest from the ledge, simultaneously trying to run up as fast as humanly possible, and dodging any slow walkers ahead of me. I’m sure it looked great.

In spite of all of those problems, I still made it.

When my family told me about la Piedra del Peñol the only thing my brain focused on was how I was going to get to the top. It didn’t occur to me what it would be like once I got there. In fact, I can honestly say that I pretty much ignored any conversation after “hey, there’s this giant rock you should climb.”

I was single-mindedly focused on the problem.

Which made it all the more surprising when I saw the view from the top. I thought the point of climbing up was just to get to the top, when in reality there was also a breathtaking view of dozens of interconnected blue lakes and lagunas sprinkled with the vibrant green of trees and fauna. It was easily one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen -made all the more special because of how unexpected it was.

I kept thinking to myself how the whole world didn’t already know about this place and why wasn’t it one of the wonders of the world. Because it should be!

Teaching is kind of like that.

And what every teacher needs to remember it is always feels like an uphill climb. There are always, what feel like, insurmountable problems and handicaps you find on the way up. Your kids are further behind then you can comprehend. You don’t know how to mesh together requirements from your school, district, and state while still addressing what your kids actually need.

You never think you’re going to make it.

But you just. keep. moving.

You come up with a plan, try it out, it doesn’t work, and move on to a new one. You decide what to cut and what needs more of your time and resources.

You scour the depths of the internet for some ideas that you desperately hope will work.

And then, somehow, by the end of the year, when you’ve made it to the top of the mountain, you see real progress. And that’s when you have time to look back over the past nine months and truly reflect. You start to realize there was way more learning and growing going on that you didn’t -or couldn’t- see because you were so consumed by problems.

You see how your students have grown as human beings. How Student A finally learned how to spell her name. Or how Student B, for the first time, left his desk and cubby tidy at dismissal. Or how your whole class rallied behind Student C when he finally learned his addition facts -and proceeded to spontaneously cheer for him and interview him like he was an NBA All-Star (this really happened and is one of my most touching teaching memories).

This happens every year.

Every year we feel like we’ve been dealt a slew of insane problems that we won’t be able to overcome. Every year, because of our hard work, determination, and resourcefulness we find ways to overcome or improve those problems.

Every year we feel like we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yet, every year we come out on top to see the beauty in the progress that’s been made.

What every teacher needs to remember.

And what every teacher needs to remember is that it’s about reminding ourselves where we stand. Because at some point, you will be standing accomplished and exhausted at the top. Though it certainly feels like a never-ending journey to get there.