For the first time since I began my career as an educator, I am not teaching a Spanish class. At first, I experienced an identity crisis. I thought to myself when I meet someone new and they ask me what I do, can I still call myself a teacher? I have met a few new people and I do still introduce myself as a teacher. The hard part is when they ask, what do you teach? I'm never totally sure how to answer this question. Until a few weeks ago, I wasn't actively teaching a class. So for a couple of months, I would awkwardly explain my role as the Technology Integration Department Chair, which to anyone outside of an independent school sounds like a made-up job title. Now that I'm back in the classroom, I feel more like my old self. The only difference, I'm teaching a class on a subject that is totally new to me!
Some time at the end of last school year, I heard through the grapevine that they were looking for someone to teach Small Business Management in our Innovation Department. I approached the department chair and asked about the class. I explained that while I had absolutely no experience in managing a small business, I'd be interested in teaching it if they'd be willing to have me. Luckily for me, most of the courses taught in the Innovation Department use Design Thinking protocols and really look for the teacher to be more of a facilitator than a leader. So there began my journey as a Small Business Management teacher.
During the first semester, I checked in with the department chair regularly and we slowly planned and revamped the final course project to prepare for the class to begin in mid-January. By early December, I was feeling really confident - we had a great plan and we coordinated with real businesses to give our students an authentic experience.
On the first day of class, I walked into the classroom and suddenly my stomach dropped. I had this moment of panic, thinking: what have I gotten myself into?! As the students filed into the room, I saw some familiar faces and others that I didn't know at all. As I was rehearsing my introduction in my head, I realized I was planning it all in Spanish. I took a deep breath and started the class by introducing myself and setting the stage that this class would be about learning collaboratively and using interviews with real businesses as an integral tool. We spent the first class getting to know one another and completing some creativity exercises. By the end of the class, I was feeling more confident.
Over the past three weeks, I have learned so much from my time in the classroom with these students. Because I am unable to answer many of their questions, I get to push it back on them and really encourage them to seek out the information for themselves. I am watching them depend on one another for help and guidance. I leave each class energized and excited to see where the next class will lead us. There are some days I walk in feeling a little nervous about how it will all play out but those nerves motivate me to keep pushing myself further to explore more ways to embolden the students.
My experience makes me question so many times that I just answered students' questions in my Spanish classroom without pushing them to think differently or look for the information themselves. I am the beginning of this journey and it's already made me rethink so many things. I can't wait to see where I am when the class ends in May.
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