Teaching is Like a River

As I was reading The Random Thoughts of Louis Schimer I ran across this post about how teaching is a bed of roses. I think that Louis makes a great point in his introduction to the analogy:

If you know anything about roses, they are high, very high, maintenance plants. And, they have thorns that prick, scratch, and draw blood. To make roses into an alluring “bed of roses” is complicated, challenging, time consuming, and occasionally bloody. That’s why they’re sometimes known as the “temperamental divas of the plant world.”

I also enjoyed this observation about roses that do not make it.

Now, I’ve helplessly watched some roses whither from whatever. But, you’ve got to be tough enough to win. You’ve got to be tough enough to take some adversity, make mistakes, and keep on without considering the possibility of losing.

I have had a few students like that. I have had a student who was doing very well, but he/she made a mistake and then were removed from school. I am not disagreeing with the admin for their decision, they were doing the right thing, but it was a shame to see a student who had been doing well make a poor choice, and essentially withered from the classroom.

As I read this analogy, I was thinking about my own analogy, but more from the first year teacher perspective. As I stare down the large stack of papers to the left of my computer, I to me, a river is an analogy about teaching.

Rivers are great. Swimming in them is refreshing, much like teaching is refreshing and a great life to have. If someone is drowning in the river, much like a struggling student, we wade in and do our best to help them. If we can't save the student ourselves, we go and get help. We throw the lifeline out and hope that the student can grab on. We work with our colleagues to pull them back in. We all hope that they make it.

Sometimes the current moves really fast in the classroom, and other times we get stuck in an eddy, but no matter the flow, we have to keep our heads above water, or we'll drown. Drowning is especially important to avoid, especially as a relatively green teacher. About half of teachers quit in the first 5 years.