Week 13: More Than a Teacher

I am learning that teachers often have to wear many hats, sometimes hats which leave them saying, "this wasn't in the job description," but at other times, hats which seem like a great honor to wear. As a teacher, you play many roles in your students' lives. From coach, to shoe-tyer, to encourager, to nose-wiper, to everything in between; teachers have the responsibility and privilege of wearing these various hats. Whether they want to or not, teachers do more than just teach in a classroom.

Good teachers are more than just a teacher.

I am writing this at the end of a difficult and tragic week for my students, for the teachers, and for the school community as a whole. First of all, it's testing week. During this week of Cambridge testing, the students were taking the most intensive tests of the year, and tests which may have an effect on their future schooling outcomes. It's been tense and stressful for some, despite our efforts to relieve the pressure and calm their nerves. Testing made the week hard, but it's not what made it so difficult and tragic.

This week, a teacher at my school, Mr. Benjie, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.

In my short time at SPH, I had the chance to get to know Mr, Benjie a little bit, as well as his wife who is also a teacher at SPH, and his two young girls who both are students at SPH. Mr. Benjie teaches music, and was so dedicated to teaching music and leading worship both inside and outside school, and in fact, around the city. Being away from the strong community at Trinity has been difficult for me, and it has also been difficult to to suddenly try and be part of a new community on the other side of the world where I barely know anyone. But Benjie (and his family) were some of the people who have helped me see community here and feel more like a part of it. Early on in my time here, I wanted to visit a specific church, and I did not know how to get there, so Benjie and his family picked me up, brought me to their church, and got lunch with me afterwards even though I barely knew them at all. I got to learn about his life, his love for teaching, and his love for people and cultures and music. This was just one interaction, but even so, I could tell how much he loved this community and how much of an impact he had on it.

On Thursday at noon, the teachers all heard the news of Mr. Benjie's passing and had to deliver the news to their students. I watched as my CT broke the news to the students, something I don't think I could have done and still held it together. I watched my students react--some instantly, some gradually--with questions, tears, and looks of shock. As I walked to the lunch room with my students, the news was being told to the entire 6th grade, a class who had especially close ties to Mr. Benjie, whose daughter was also sitting in that lunch room. Hearing masses of students sobbing is one of the worst sounds to hear, and one that I hope to never hear again. What was and is our response as teachers when extremely difficult things like this happen?

This is a time that we must be more than teachers.

We can't just go on teaching as if nothing has happened. Suddenly those other hats must be worn, and teachers become counselors, friends, encouragers, and shoulders to cry on. In some senses, students need to be provided with normalcy in order to cope, and we tried to do some of that on Friday. The school also opened up spaces for counseling for students who needed it. There were tests cancelled, despite the importance of those tests. There were movies playing during RTI, even though students had work to do. I stayed in with a few girls and ate lunch with them in the classroom, even though there is normally no eating allowed in the classroom. Yes, normalcy is beneficial for some students, but others cope differently and have different needs. As a teacher, you must be able to recognize those varying needs and adapt.

Through these difficult times, teachers continue to teach, but they also teach things like...
        ...it's okay to be sad and cry.
        ...it's okay to be mad.
        ...it's okay to be confused.
        ...it's okay not to feel anything at all.

I know that being a teacher means you have to be prepared for the hard things, and I definitely caught a glimpse of that this week. Whether it's sudden deaths, sicknesses, weather emergencies, injuries, school shootings, or any other tragedy, teachers suddenly have to take on a new role when things like this happen. Part of that role is being strong for your students, even when it's difficult, or being brave when you feel like cowering away, or being prepared for students to ask a million questions that you might not have any answers to. Sometimes teachers simply need to be there for their students, in whatever way that is needed.

I have also recognized the importance of teachers being there for other teachers, and have been able to see that more this week. Teachers may have to be strong for our students, but it's different with other teachers, because they understand what it's like to be a teacher in that situation. Teachers can be there for other teachers and know that other teachers will be there for them. When so many teachers join together like this to support one another, they are more than teachers-- they are a community.

Benjie was definitely more than a teacher, and even I could see that.

He was a father and husband, who loved his two girls and his wife so much and so well. He was deeply involved in SPH, teaching music during and after school, and leading worship at chapel services with his wife. He may have worn even more hats at the school that I don't even know about. He was also involved in his church, leading worship there as well. He was involved in the community, leading and participating in music concerts around the city of Jakarta. I barely knew Benjie, but I can tell how much he is going to be missed by this community.

So thank you, Benjie, for showing me community, and thank you for showing me what it means like to be more than a teacher, even if I only knew you for a little while.



Classroom Confidential: Chapter 12
As a future educator, "lifelong learner" is always a label I have used to describe myself. To me, lifelong learner means to have a curiosity for the world around you that never runs out, and to realize that you are never done learning. Through teaching, you may be helping your students to learn, but you are also learning along the way as well. I plan on being a lifelong learner wherever my teaching journey may take me. God has created such a world of abundance in which there are endless things to discover. Knowing that I can never discover everything God has created, but I can try shows that I will never be done learning and that I am always going to be a lifelong learner, just as he is never done teaching me. These are ideas that I want to instill in my future students.

Chapter 12 talks about this idea of being a lifelong learner. Through Schmidt's writing, I found a few interesting ways to foster this lifelong learning. She talks about finding colleagues to learn from. By having a relationship with fellow teachers, you learn from each other through their ideas, advice, and experience, and also get to build support for one another along the way. It is also important for teachers to get connected to communities of knowledge existing outside their immediate school community. In making these connection, you gain knowledge from outside perspectives and gain more opportunities to grow and develop professionally. For students, they also should be provided with opportunities to learn from one another, whether that be in the classroom, or cross-age.