Dear Future Self,
I have taken the time to write this to you today as a means to get a good grade in class. I’m sure you remember the stress of grades right? No? Excellent, I was hoping I’d forget eventually. What’s that you say? I can’t possibly know what you’d say so I should stop pretending to have a conversation with myself and instead just write the letter and be done with it? Fine! But I’m leaving that odd sentence there just to spite you.
As you well know, open ended writing assignments are either wonderfully good for us, (yep, we’re a group now) or they’re really bad and tend to ramble on. If at some point you do re-read this, please try to remember that we were far worse at the whole writing thing at one point… and hopefully you’re looking at this as the idle typing of a silly amateur (because that means we did get better eventually). Despite my current writing skill (or lack thereof) I want to remind you of a few things that I’ve found true so far and that I hope you still hold dear.
My first bit of advice is the same that Karl shared with us back when we were at the studio. Stay Hungry. Don’t ever settle for being 100% satisfied with where you’re at. If you get too comfortable and put your feet up then you’ll just gain too much weight and eat too many donuts. And while donuts are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy, getting lazy and not striving to be better is a death by inches. Eventually you’ll get so bad that you’ll just aggravate yourself and then the road back to a good place will be that much harder. Keep at it, and stay hungry for just a little bit more. Sure there will be the days that we set a new low for the spectrum of comparison, but don’t be content to just crumble into failure, stay hungry and remember that Dad’s best days continued right up until the end. Strive to do the same.
I’m now going to include a wonderful little comic: (don’t worry I’ll explain why)
Good ol’ Calvin and Hobbes. But he’s right. It is scandalous how little teachers get paid. Don’t let
economic issues keep you from doing something worth doing. Don’t ever go back to working for a
paycheck and living only through your downtime. You came back to pursue teaching for a reason and if that reason becomes invalid, MOVE ON! There are countless places that you could find yourself where you’re doing something worthwhile, don’t get stuck in a place where you don’t make a difference. Even if you somehow lucked out enough to find a wife and were brave enough to have kids, don’t let that drive you to mediocrity. IF they were crazy enough to be with you, it’s not because you’re boring it’s because you were bold and passionate and crazy enough to throw everything on the line to pursue something of value. Right now that looks like teaching, but you might have something else in your sights, go for it.
Be wrong. Don’t fear being incorrect or making mistakes. The best stories are born from failure,
and the victories we value most were pulled back from the brink of defeat. Don’t fear telling your
students that you messed up if you did. They’ll probably know it when it happens, and do you remember how we respected the teachers who did with us? Sure, control your classroom and be confident in what you know and what you have to offer your students. But to err is human. Also remember the rule for cooking? If you’re not making mistakes you’re not trying hard enough. Teaching is the same way, innovate and grow and make mistakes. It’s ok.
Be happy. I know times will be hard and the whole idea of a worst day automatically assumes that it’s only the worst day so far. I know we’re good at being hard on ourselves and that we’ve already got a pile of failures that are easily referenced. But don’t let the crud be who you are. Be silly, be alive, and be happy. Your students may not be able to define the difference if you are or not, but you know it matters. If something is so fundamentally tough that you can’t live and teach with joy, then deal with it. Don’t be content to just suffer through. Be happy, and don’t stifle your students when they are either.
And now another comic!
Remember who you were. Don’t get too bent out of shape if you get students who make the same mistakes we did. In fact take the opportunity to extend the same grace that helped shape us into who we are today to those who need it most. You won’t have any trouble with having high expectations or pushing for excellence so try to remember grace. You wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without tons of it.
Be passionate. Remember how dad taught us that if something was worth caring about it was worth being passionate about too? Be alive! Bring whatever you’re teaching to life for your students. They deserve to know that things matter and that being wide eyed and wild around the edges iswhere brilliance happens. I know you’re going into the subjects that kids love to hate, but they do really matter. And the ones that’ll love them deserve to know that it’s ok to go nuts. Even if that never happens, make your students ask why you care.
Don’t stop learning. Once we finally get that stupid piece of paper, and the other one that says we can teach, don’t settle for just knowing what is needed to teach the classes we end up with. We’re smarter than that keep reading, keep learning, and remember the great teachers who we wish we were, Dr. Holmes, Dr. Eckman, Dr. Cremean, Mr. Derrick, and many others. They were all brilliant, but they never stopped learning new things. You admired them because they taught you so much… but they also tried to learn from you. Your students are repositories of knowledge you could never possibly find on your own. Learn from them as you try to teach them.
Be flexible. You are a creature of habit and your natural environment is a well-worn routine. Don’t let that be your trademark in the classroom. Sure, build routines that work and set up structures that allow for growth, but you know as a student that no class is ever the same. So once you’re teaching don’t let that become your mindset either. You’re the captain of the ship, but you’re not going to get anywhere useful if you don’t respond and adapt to your students. Let them use their voice in your classroom, they’ll need it to succeed and you know you’ll love seeing them grow into who they ought to be.
Never stop caring. If you’re following my advice so far your students shouldn’t ever need to ask if you care. They should know with bedrock conviction that you care. Don’t let that be a lie. If you care about your job more than your students, you’re doing it wrong. If you stop caring entirely then you need to quit. You remember how it was at other jobs, when it was time to move on it became really tempting to stop caring, especially when it seemed so easy not to. I know we’ve got a HUGE list of times where caring has caused us pain… but it’s worth it. Even though we don’t have anything to show for it, we care. That’s who we are. I know I’ve probably changed a lot over time, but that can never change. Don’t let it happen.
Don’t go it alone. All of my advice is great (I would say that wouldn’t I?) but it’ll be near impossible to do it without accountability and encouragement. You know the times we’ve tried to do it on our own and how that’s turned out. Don’t struggle in the dark, don’t fight without allies. Don’t go it alone! If for some reason we end up in a place where human community is scarce, don’t neglect your relationship with the Lord. Never once has He left us on our own, so don’t try to pretend you can do anything good without Him.
Finally, I leave you with this. You are better and wiser than I am. Sure you might have more scars and more history behind you. But you’ve grown in ways I cannot possibly imagine right now. Whatever the road holds between here and there, it matters little in comparison to the fact that you’re still standing. You have succeeded in things I could only hope for, and failed at things that I haven’t dared to try. You are the me I’m supposed to be, and whatever that looks like, do me one favor. Keep your eyes open, it’s going to be a wild ride, and we’re not done just yet.
-You/Me/Nick
