Facing Fears
Admittedly, I’ve been through a lot this summer. We have moved to an entirely different state. I have moved to an entirely different school. I will have entirely different students. There are new policies to learn, new systems to digest. New expectations to meet. New standardized tests to give.
New fears. New fears to face. The regular, normal fears that go into a new school year have been compounded. And while I function, I still find myself very much like the woman in this picture to the left- covers pulled up high on my head, afraid to face the day. It is a very weird feeling to come to grips with. I have always been the confident teacher. I was the teacher who could troubleshoot any kind of situation. I headed into school years with absolute excitement, knowing that what I could do with 8th graders, while different than most teachers, still achieved my primary results of building relationships while pushing academic success. We met goals. We had fun. We supported one another.
While I now find myself in an unfamiliar situation, I am finding the strength to face my fears in an entirely different manner. Empathy. Compassion. See, I am the new guy in a new building. All of my 9th graders will be new here. I am the guy who has moved from a different state, the guy who does not yet understand Texas culture. I will have many students who have relocated from a different state, or a different country who do not yet understand Texas, or even US, culture. My discomfort, my fear, has made me ultra sensitive to the needs of the students, and while I have my own fears to face, I also feel better equipped to relate to students that I could not have effectively related to in years past.
I don’t want to be the new guy. I don’t want to feel nervous, even anxious, from time to time. But, and this is a hefty but, what if I was supposed to go through this massive shift in life at just this season of life, so that I can be what “those” students need me to be?
Facing my fears this year means helping my students face theirs. We will engage in a symbiotic relationship where I am them, and they are me. This will be an interesting experiment in socio-emotional learning, one unlike any that I have embarked upon before. I’m afraid of it, but I also embrace it.
What fears are you facing? What fears should you be facing? How might facing your fears make you better able to relate to, and bond with, others who are in the same situation as you?
Justin Belt is a teacher, and the host of “The WhyCast”, a podcast that seeks to answer the question “What’s Your Why?”. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
