I failed as a teacher so I know how to pray
I have an enormous amount of respect for the field of childhood education and the heroes we call teachers. My perspective comes from the near mile I walked in the shoes of an elementary school teacher.
For a 4-month period, I assistant taught an elementary school class. My heartfelt goal was to give back to the community and do something worthwhile. I had a skewed vision of kids listening intently as I taught and of my workday wrapped up by 4p at the latest. I knew the pay wouldn’t be great, but I thought I could adjust.
I was wrong. I have never worked so hard in my life and been paid so little. The experience sent me scurrying back to a corporate job fully defeated but with insider knowledge of what it means to be an elementary school educator.
Teachers are more than their titles, and we ask teachers to go beyond their roles. I was a teacher’s assistant, but my job did not stop there. My regular day included serving as a lunchroom monitor, dispute mediator, behavioral counselor, and disciplinarian. I made copies of materials and helped set up the room. I took paperwork home and graded tests. I broke up a fight, sat through multiple temper tantrums, and had a page of burn book dedicated to my shoes. My other duties included being the primary teacher’s confidant, and I stood by her while some good and challenging parents showed up to conference about their child. I even made phone calls to homes for announcements or reminders, or to report issues. I taught once and spent hours preparing a 20-minute lesson. This was what I did as an assistant teacher, but the primary teacher did that and more.
When I got my first paycheck, I cried. There were interns at companies who made significantly more than I did. Four months later, exhausted and defeated I knew I was not equipped for the environment. There were plenty of moments when a smile or a light in a child's eyes made me feel like a hero, and an equal number of unrewarding moments brought me back to earth. Personally, I was hurting as an assistant teacher and knew I would end up doing more harm than good to my family and to the people I served.
The experience scarred me with important insight - teachers need our support. Practical support includes volunteering for events, accepting your child might be quite different in school, partnering with a teacher for your child's education, and donating to their class resources. These are only a few of many support mechanisms, but the truly valuable support is in prayer. Would you mind spending the next 12 days saying these one-sentence prayers for the teachers in your life? This can be a teacher of your child or a teacher you know, and you can pray for more than one teacher. Say their name and say the prayer.
1. May there be a growing awareness of your Holy Spirit's Presence in their classroom
2. May their great moments outweigh their not-so-great moments
3. May there be harmony between the teacher and their students
4. Provide where there is a lack of resources
5. Hear and answer their prayers when they call on you for their students
6. Let there be harmony between teachers and the administration team
7. Let there be harmony between teachers and their students’ parents
8. Provide a strong peer support system
9. Anoint their lesson planning
10. Restore when their energy is low
11. Let them begin and end each day with joy
12. Equip them for the many roles they will be required to execute above and beyond teacher
Thank you for taking a moment out of your day to lift a teacher up in prayer. Feel free to do this multiple times throughout the year. I know I will because the teacher who spends all day with my extra active, non-stop niece, needs all the help she or he can get.