Conquering the 7 Year Itch

In marriage, they say there’s something called the “7 year itch.”  I never experienced this in my marital life, but I certainly did in my professional .  Amidst babies, and diapers, and sleepless nights, and nursing, school and my career just didn’t take precedence. It couldn’t. There simply were not enough hours in the day.  I vividly remember during my 7^th year of teaching, I had been up all night grading, and then up all night with a baby, and I had still had an insurmountable pile of work that I wasn’t able to get to.  As I met with my Accelerated Freshmen, I explained to them what I had been able to accomplish and what I hadn’t been able to.  Just as I was finishing up talking to them, a student arrived late and asked if projects were graded.  What was an innocent enough question was like a dagger to my heart, and it opened up a floodgate of tears, as I ran out of the room. I felt I would never be able to make it through the day, the week, let alone the profession.

Somehow I got through that year and moved to the next one. Somehow, even throughout all the struggles, I didn’t quit. Somehow, I learned and grew enough to keep going.  At the time, I didn’t realize how miserable I was (even though my husband would tell me) and how I had forgotten everything I loved about teaching.  I forgot to laugh and have fun.  I forgot to build relationships with students.   I forgot that assessments and tests and grading were not our only role as educators.  My classroom turned into something that I wasn’t proud of anymore. Was I doing a good job teaching the material?  Sure. But I was focusing so much on teaching the material that I was forgetting other essential parts to teaching. 

A few years later, the fog began to lift, and I regained control of the type of teacher I wanted to be. I started to attend some professional development opportunities that changed the teacher I had become back into the teacher I was previously. I started to “find my tribe,” as they say, and discover  teachers who were like-minded.  I had a whole new world opened to me through the RAISE program   (Reading Apprenticeship in Secondary Education) and through attending Nerd Camp.  I became addicted to twitter and the opportunities it provided.  I realized that I needed to focus much more on skills and less on dumping curriculum down kids’ throats.  I realized that the relationships in my classroom would be better the more I could joke and laugh and be creative again. 

Now, I’ve made it to year 11 and school starts in just a few weeks. I conquered the 7 year itch.  Not only did I conquer it, I destroyed it.  I am not just the teacher I once was; I am the best teacher I have ever been.  My only hope is that I continue to grow and improve and to become a better teacher each and every year.