Teaching with Endurance

Brad Kahrs

Description

At a crucial time in the teaching profession this book offers hope and inspiration for teachers at all levels. Within the pages of this book, you will find a collection of ideas and heartfelt renderings of experiences as a teacher and coach. The author combines research and stories to provide a powerful perspective of what it means to teach with endurance, always finding meaning and purpose within the challenge of working with young people. The book includes descriptions of human qualities that enhance a teacher’s endurance along with the components of school and learning environments that sustain it. Drawing on significant connections across the country in the teaching profession this book uses the thoughts of educators to address the intense need for a rescue of this important profession.

Sujets

• Methods
• Teaching
• Teach
• Stories
• Teacher
• Self-help
• Education
• Research
• Endurance
• Profession

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 07 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665576734
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

TEACHING with ENDURANCE
Building the resilience to teach for the long haul
BRAD KAHRS

© 2022 Brad Kahrs. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
AuthorHouse™
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Bloomington, IN 47403
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Phone: [phone]
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
ISBN: 978-1-6655-7674-1 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6655-7673-4 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022921849
 
 
 
Published by AuthorHouse 11/29/2022
 
Cover created by Darin Hamm

CONTENTS
Foreword/Prologue
Teaching with Endurance
Introduction
The COVID chapter – Moving through the aftermath
Components of Endurance
Creating a culture of endurance
Where do we go from here? Finding the glowsticks…
What waits at your finish line?
Acknowledgements & References
About the Author
FOREWORD/PROLOGUE
It’s been a journey, this teacher’s life. It’s been an incredible “ride”, filled with challenge and setbacks, frustration and discouragement, BUT it has also been filled with memories and moments, lessons and love. As I near the end of this amazing “race” I continually encounter opportunities to share something with current and future teachers alike. I want to pass on some of the good stuff to those that follow me on this adventure of the teaching life. Early in life my dad imparted the lesson that we should always leave a thing better than when we got there. This book is intended to capture the lessons and experiences of a teacher’s life that is now four decades long. It is my hope that in sharing the things that I’ve learned, along with some personal stories of both failure and success, I can contribute something worthy to other teachers on their own journeys and thus leave the profession a little bit better than when I got here.
I must acknowledge that many of the specific ideas are not my own. I did my best to cite the source of all ideas that came from someone else. However, the stories are mine or have been shared with me during a professional conversation and just maybe these stories will illuminate what matters most with the light of a long-time practitioner. This book is not a work of art, but a work of heart written by an educator who loves to teach as much now as I did back in 1983 when I started. I was once told by an administrator that I’m too “touchy-feely.” That’s probably true but I know that when the heart is fully engaged then opportunities to impact a life are most accessible. I will admit that emotion without information and truth can result in a frenetic bouncing of one idea to the next, but I know that truth without emotion produces lifeless ideas. I recently encountered the following word picture: Truth and thought is the furnace, the heart and emotion is the fuel, and the teacher is the ignition. I have been fortunate to have worked with and been taught by many excellent teachers. Those teachers have ignited so much good in my life. I offer Isaac Newton’s quote to capture my sincere belief that my life has been incredibly blessed by dozens of excellent teachers: If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
I started writing this book as I completed a dissertation where I interviewed dozens of beginning teachers and their district-assigned mentors in an attempt to root out mentoring practices that were most effective in helping novice teachers. I continued writing as I entered Higher Ed and found myself in classrooms from kindergarten through 12 th grade supporting pre-service teachers in practicum experiences. I dedicate this book to those teachers who love deeply yet struggle to hold onto the passion and purpose that makes each day an adventure. For too many educators a career can turn into a long, dark uphill climb with no end in sight. I set this work down several times. As a writer I have wrestled hard with the inner voice that whispers, “It doesn’t matter.” Each time I set this project aside with its vast array of “stiki” notes, index cards, journals, and printouts placed in a big box, the thought “I can’t, I’m done” would echo in my head. But then something, no wait, someone, always a teacher or former student, would breathe life into my heart and soul.
I am reminded of a time, when in the mountains of Colorado with a former student, after getting lost because of heavy spring snowfalls, I ended up clinging to a cliff (and fearing for my life). His calm voice, a trusted voice, talked me down the cliff. Each movement down the death-defying climb was guided and encouraged by his voice. I ended up doing something I didn’t think I could do (and living to tell about it). My love for the mountains and mountain adventures grew that day. It is my intent to provide a voice that can help you recapture the confidence and courage to continue doing great things for kids.
In the many years I’ve invested in the teaching profession I have failed often. Yet my pursuit of understanding combined with a love for fellow teachers has kept me “clinging to the cliff.” This pursuit has allowed me to combine research and all the requirements of a scientific perspective with the experience of teaching kids of all ages and young adults that are preparing to teach kids. The emotions of this work are a vital part of building endurance. As the definition of endurance that I keep close reminds me, “ endurance is more than the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory .” With endurance we can hold onto hope and love. I still love to sit with a student or a group of students, or practicing teachers and generate ideas, strategies, and solutions. I still hope that teaching becomes the profession that our best and brightest long for. I still hope that teachers in the United States and around the world get treated with reverence and respect and are rewarded for what they give. I still believe that we can create a Teacher Development system that helps teachers consistently recollect the pieces of their hearts that get spent and scattered in the mental, physical, and emotional toll of a teacher’s life and allows them to pour more of themselves into their students. I believe that instead of battling burnout we can help teachers develop the habits and actions of endurance and provide them with the time and support that allows them to find their best and most passionate selves, over and over and over again.
During the summer of 2020 (after months of staying isolated because of COVID) I just had to escape. I went to the San Juan mountains in southwestern Colorado for some beauty and adventure. Along the way I spent a couple of days in Delta, Colorado, my hometown for over a decade. Somewhat serendipitously I was able to meet with a former student-athlete who is currently a medical student at George Washington University. At one point in the conversation, she asked me, “How can you write such perfectly meaningful messages in the cards and letters you send?” My first reaction resulted in a somewhat flippant response of “Practice, Practice, Practice.” Yet, this question stirred by soul and prompted a deeper response. We talked about the value of sitting alone, focusing singularly on an individual that matters to you and then trying to carve out a message that will be meaningful to them. I told my former student that frequently when I send a sincere message of hope and encouragement, I hear back from the receiver saying something like, “I can’t tell you how much your card meant to me. I needed to hear that.” Furthermore, I told her that in the giving of a heartfelt message, as the writer I get so much value from the act of writing, even when I don’t get anything back. I know the book you hold is not perfect, but it is the result of years of trying to carve out a timely and meaningful message to those that work in or care about the profession I love, teaching.
From Jennifer Bowling, Instructional Leader, Stevens Point Area Senior High
Sometimes in life we come across people who make our lives better, that change our outlook and make us a better teacher and person. One day, by chance, Dr. Brad Kahrs and a few of his University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point practicum students came into my Advanced Algebra 2 class to observe my teaching. Our first conversation was about both teaching and our love of travel. On that day I had no idea that over the next few years I would have regular conversations with Brad that would push me to be a better teacher. We developed an ongoing conversation about education, endurance, professional development, mentoring, belief in our profession, and hope.
Brad has an uncanny ability to build relationships, to ask the right questions, and to have compassion through difficult conversations. His experiences in all aspects of education, as a teacher, an instructional coach and an instructor of future teachers in higher education, gives him the ability to relate to all people who are looking for inspiration, endurance, and passion in their career and their overall outlook.
As Brad states, “In the teaching profession there are too many ‘broken’ teachers, just going through the motions, unable to find that ‘sweet spot’ of teaching that allows them to consis