Reputation Matters

1.24.11 By Stephen Yang

One can spend weeks planning a five-minute lesson and watch it fall apart in front of a classroom filled with unimpressionable kids.  I remember this happening to me during my selection day mini-lesson.  On my way up to the front of the room, I heard a kid snicker: “Oh crap, he’s Chinese!”  What a keen observation, I remember thinking—I guess it matters!  The fact is that in this profession your reputation carries weight, and you should take it seriously.  Education specialist Harry Wong has this to say: “Right or wrong, accurate or not, your reputation will precede you.”  But no matter how much you do to define yourself by the values and persona you manifest, kids will judge you, and there’s no limit to what they will assume about you as a teacher.

I wake up every morning thinking about the choices I’ll make and how they will, in some way, redefine or expand my reputation.  Sometimes I need to read from a lesson plan.  I detest it.  Appearing as though I have no clue what I’m talking about makes me feel as if I haven’t mastered my content.  I’m still figuring out a teaching style and values system that is distinctly my own.  This is something the Boston Teacher Residency can’t teach me.  So to all the talented Selection Day applicants who feel as if your mini-lessons weren’t implemented according to plan last Wednesday, here’s the rub: half a year into the program, I still don’t feel like my lesson plans turn out the way I want them to.  I’m still figuring out how to analyze student data effectively to inform my instructional practices.  I’m still refining my performance, and I don’t envision the struggle ending anytime soon.

I wonder: How much does your reputation really affect your students’ willingness to learn from you? When does the educator’s learning curve really begin to straighten out? 

I welcome your comments.