Disclaimer: Sometimes we all need a little trash TV mental break
While the twenty something of us in the 2017-2018 cohort have been on this journey to becoming teachers, twenty something women have been on a journey to finding love. As Chris Harrison says, “it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
If you have never watched The Bachelor before and/or have never snuck a peek at the tabloids when checking out at a grocery store which love to talk about the show (99% of us have), let me help you out a bit. Imagine this scenario. Twenty something women put their lives on hold to chase after the same guy. Before you begin commenting about how wrong this is, trust me…I agree. Throughout the short process, the eligible bachelor eliminates women until he is left with two ladies. The end results in him giving a final rose and an engagement ring to the lucky (loosely speaking) winner. Along the way, women leave because they just aren’t “there for the right reasons” or “didn’t realize that the process would be this hard.” In between the “shocking reveals” are tears, drama, and cat-fights—all of which millions of viewers watch unfold each week.
Let me paint another picture for you. Twenty something pre-service teachers put their lives on hold to chase after a dream of changing students’ lives and pursuing a career in education. Before you begin commenting about how wrong this is, let me be the first to tell you that you’re wrong. Throughout the (relatively) short process, some of us have second thoughts. Here’s where things are different. The end doesn’t result in a final rose being given to one lucky person, but instead in all of us graduating (hopefully with jobs).
With the pressure of graduating, passing the GACE, finishing edTPA, and searching for a job, things start to get intense. In a way, we are all fighting for a job as we embark on this life changing journey together. As the not-so-beloved Bachelor season comes to a close along with our student teaching, I felt that this would be an appropriate time to discuss how The Bachelor is not and shouldn’t even closely resemble our student teaching experience (even though it may seem like it does).
- It may seem like we are all waiting for the final rose, but we aren’t. The contestants of the show live in this uncertainty. There isn’t just another woman but other women (please notice the plural noun). They are at the mercy of whatever the bachelor at the time feels is right. While we are all competing (so-to-speak) for a job, there won’t just be one job. While it may start to get a little dicey as the job search unfolds itself, this isn’t a show like The Bachelor where only one of us wins.
- It’s okay to not feel a connection. All of the contestants are competing against one another. The winner of the show has the strongest connection. Student teaching is nothing like this. There will be certain students, teachers, and schools that we just don’t connect with. Not having a connection doesn’t mean you aren’t a good teacher—it means you’re finding out what works and what doesn’t work for you.
- Dr. Birmingham Is NOT Chris Harrison, but he is pretty similar. Not only is Chris Harrison part host of the show, but he is also part therapist, part matchmaker, and part friend to all of the participants. Dr. Birmingham may not be setting us up with a future husband or wife, but he is giving us a lot of the tools we need for the future. He isn’t just an advisor, but our troubleshooter, therapist, and mentor.
- There is not a first impression rose. The Bachelor is known for that first impression rose; the rose people fight for the first night which establishes their street-creds. During student teaching, we all have to fight for our own first impressions that are unique to our experience. Here is the catch: we don’t just have a first impression rose but a year-long impression rose also known as a job recommendation. Without that job recommendation from a collaborating teacher, you may struggle a bit to secure a future job.
- Two-on-ones aren’t bad. The Bachelor is infamously known for the dreaded two-on-one dates—where two women go on one date with the same man. I think the only thing more awkward than that would be forgetting to put pants on before teaching and finally realizing that you were pant-less after two hours of instruction. I’d like to take a second to compare the two-on-one to a co-teaching model. When you find the right co-teacher, the job actually becomes more fun. Just because there are two teachers in one room does not mean your ability to teach is being questioned or at risk of being taken away. By the end of this student teaching process, we should all be professional co-teachers because we have been with at least one other teacher the entire time.
- If you aren’t here to make friends, you probably should change majors. There is usually one girl in the bachelor house who “isn’t here to make friends.” This major—this profession really—is a relational job. To teach students means that we need to stay sane and remain effective, something I believe is done through relationships built and fostered among other teachers. While some of the bachelor contestants may be able to get away with that, not making friends may be what ruins you as a teacher.
- We get a date card every day (minus weekends). Instead of having to wait around for our time to build a connection, we have a date card every day. This is called student teaching. Each day, we have the chance to connect, practice, and spend time with what may or may not be a big part of our future. We don’t have to wait around hoping that our name is on a date card—we all have our individual placements five days a week.
- Don’t completely throw yourself out there. While women on the show seem to throw themselves at one guy, I don’t think the same thing should be done with student teaching and searching for a future job. Just like Amy Poehler once said, “Treat your career like a bad boyfriend. Here’s the thing. Your career won’t take care of you. It won’t call you back or introduce you to its parents.” While it is important for us to put ourselves out there as new teachers, a little distance keeps us sane and (I would argue) more marketable.
- Eat food and take care of yourself. Contestants don’t seem to touch the food on their plates during a one-on-one date. I’m sure there are some logistics about eating when being hooked to a microphone (no one wants to hear someone chewing food into a microphone), but we aren’t hooked up to microphones while student teaching. With that said, taking lunch to school is definitely worth it (something that I didn’t do at all my first semester of student teaching).
- Crying isn’t always the right thing to do in every situation. It seems like most contestants shed more than a few tears. While student teaching definitely presents some tearful/freak out moments, crying doesn’t solve much. There are moments that are inescapable, but whining and crying about every issue sets people up for burnout in the profession. Contestants on the show may be able to get by navigating a sail boat in the ocean of their own tears, but pre-service teachers don’t have that opportunity. Instead of wasting all energy on negative aspects of the journey, taking action in things that we can control is a better use of the little energy we do have.
While student teaching is absolutely not like The Bachelor or any trash TV for that matter, there are quite a few tears shed and monumental changes in our individual lives. I believe by the end of the most dramatic journey yet (YCE 2017-2018), Dr. Birmingham will be able to utter the same words Chris Harrison does after every rose ceremony, “take a moment and say your final goodbyes.” But instead of us saying goodbye to a bachelor, we will be saying goodbye to one another as we launch out into our individual futures as English educators…a journey I cannot wait to embark on.
Teaching as Storytelling 