Marching In Good Company

12.05.10 By Stephen Yang

During the weeks following Thanksgiving break I dragged myself into December feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.  The youthful energy I began the program with was smothered under the weight of an exhaustive amount of grading, planning, coursework, and data entry.  My feelings of being beset by the demands of the residency reminded me of an article I once read about teaching in a reputable periodical.  The writer (a former teacher) professed that teaching is a profession that fosters fatigue, loneliness, and isolation.  And beyond that, teachers have to spend most of their time away from colleagues, cooped up in windowless rooms, and left to fend for themselves in front of a coterie of wide-eyed young people eagerly anticipating moments to test them.  There’s some grain of truth to such claims about teaching, but I’m becoming blissfully conscious of the fact that the Boston Teacher Residency is painting a more positive picture of teaching on my canvas of experience as an educator.  I am in good company in my trek to become a teacher who is ready to meet the needs of Boston’s youth.

At Charlestown High School I work with residents who have gone through tribulations similar to my own.  They are pillars of patience, wisdom, and confidence in a fast-paced results-driven professional environment.  I learn from a content methods instructor who will spend time to meet with me about how to implement my theoretical learning effectively.  I have a field director who will call me back at 6:30AM when I am in need of an immediate response, and a site director who will check in on me on a Sunday evening.  BTR and its staff know exactly what I’m going through and have my success as a resident in mind.  My colleagues embody and manifest the notion that school reform and teaching excellence cannot develop in a vacuum.  If we are to succeed as a program through a residency mo(ve)ment, we must do it together.  I don’t expect the rest of the year to become a worry-free and unchallenging assignment, but knowing that I’m one in a sea of many who share the same hopes and dreams for Boston’s young people makes me feel replenished, renewed, and refueled to keep marching towards the Promised Land.