Pursue Professional Growth, Not Competition

Why Do I Need to Grow?

Have you ever been sitting in your chair during professional development training and thought, "Why am I here?"

You may think to yourself that you have heard it all before. Perhaps you feel like you could teach the class better than the career development instructor, or you think your time would be better utilized planning out the next week.

You're not alone.

I have definitely felt this way and I know many of my coworkers have said that they have been there too. Many of us have mentally checked out of professional development trainings that we thought we didn't need. We feign attentiveness as the speaker drones on. We have drifted in thought or played on our phones during the presentation. (It's not just me, right?)

Pursue Growth, Not Competition

Daunting Expectations

Even though I have had moments where I felt like I knew everything I needed to know (or at least more than the speaker I was listening to), I have also felt overwhelmed when I compare myself to certain colleagues.

I have walked into a veteran teacher's classroom and immediately felt so inadequate about my own abilities as a teacher. Some teachers seem to be running a well-oiled machine, and I wonder if I will ever be able to run my class half as smoothly. Their students are all engaged and respond immediately to directions. The students take responsibility for themselves and seem to act more like miniature adults than children.

As I watch, I think about how impossible this would be in my own classroom and start to feel like I may not be cut out for teaching after all.

Correcting the Mindset

Over time, I have learned to check myself if I start feeling this way. Professional growth does not always result in an epiphany, and other teachers may have incredible classroom management skills that I will never have, but that's not the point.

What I need to ask myself is, "Am I growing?"

"Do I have more patience than I did last year?"

"Are my students more engaged than they were last month?"

"Is my classroom running more smoothly than it did last week?"

"Are my relationships with my students better than they were yesterday?"

I want to know that I am improving as a teacher every. single. day.

Of course, there will always be relapses and bad days -- that's okay! But I want to make sure I am headed in the right direction. I want to know that I am improving as a teacher every. single. day.

This means that it's okay if I attend professional development courses, and I only learn one or two things that I can implement in my classroom -- as long as it helps me become just a little bit better than I was the day before. It's also okay that the teacher down the hall seems to have it all together (newsflash: she doesn't!) and I don't -- as long as I'm making steps toward improvement.

It's Not a Competition

Our job as teachers is not to compete with those around us. We shouldn't compare ourselves to teachers who are still growing so that we feel better about ourselves. We also shouldn't compete against teachers who have Pinterest-perfect classrooms and become discouraged because it seems unattainable.

It's unfair to compare yourself to other teachers. Some of them may have had to overcome a lot more than you have, others may have had more favorable circumstances than you have experienced. Whatever the case, each teacher's circumstances are different, and it is unfair to you and to your colleagues to make these comparisons.

We need to compare ourselves to who we were yesterday.

We need to compare ourselves to who we were yesterday. We need to ask ourselves if we have grown from where we were before. This needs to be our goal.

Comparing yourself to another teacher either gives you an excuse to be passive (because you are performing better than the other teacher, and are therefore "good enough"), or it will give you an excuse to stop trying (because you know you will never measure up). In either circumstance, these comparisons do not help you to become the best you can be.

Compete with Your Past Self

Instead of competing with other teachers who can make you feel like your work is satisfactory or like you'll never make it, resolve to compete with your past self. Where were you before, and where are you now? What can you achieve in the near (and distant) future? We should never be content with where we are, instead, we should always work on improving ourselves.

Would you ever tell one of your students that they're doing better than the majority of the class and that they can stop working so hard? Would you consider telling a student that they'll never be as good as their classmates and that they might as well give up?

Of course not!

So, why do we do this to ourselves?

We look for student improvement, growth, and progress, while we neglect these things in ourselves. When did we get to a point where we didn't need to grow anymore? When did we reach perfection?

There is always room for growth.

The Benefits of Professional Growth

It may seem that the only one to benefit from our professional growth is our organization. Of course, our schools want to have their teachers become better at their jobs, and they definitely benefit from our growth as teachers, but they are not the only ones!

Benefits to Us

We benefit personally from our professional growth. When we grow, we become more energized as we see how much we can accomplish, not only as teachers but as human beings. We have more job satisfaction when we realize how much better we are at our jobs. We also gain a sense of pride as we are able to bring our new skills to our classroom and our school.

Another benefit of professional growth is that it makes our jobs easier. If you are learning to be more patient with your students, create better lesson plans, and gain better classroom management skills, it will make your time in the classroom easier. It will make your time at work more enjoyable too.

Benefits to Our Students

When we grow as teachers, it benefits our organizations and ourselves, but it also benefits our students.

Most teachers get into education for the students. I have never heard a teacher say that they chose their profession for the money, the parents, or themselves -- they love kids!

Every area of professional growth for you will benefit your students in some way.

So, the last (and perhaps the most important) reason to grow as a teacher is to do it for your students. Every area of professional growth for you will benefit your students in some way.

As you become better at classroom management, your students will feel more secure in your class.

When you differentiate your lessons using data, your students will enjoy having tasks that are tailored to them.

As you utilize small groups, your students will benefit from working with classmates that are at the same level as they are.

When you give students choices, they gain responsibility and independence.

If you can create more engaging lessons, your students become more interested in what they are learning.

Any area of growth that you work on as a teacher results in a corresponding benefit for your students.

Your growth also helps your students because it sets an example for them to follow.

If we are content with our abilities and do not work to improve ourselves, our students will have a hard time caring about improving themselves either. We need to show our students that we can always become a better version of ourselves to inspire them to do the same. We should never be content with where we are.

This doesn't mean that we should be depressed or upset because we'll never be perfect. Instead, this thought should inspire us to keep going! Why would you want to keep crawling when you can learn to walk, or walk when you can learn to run, or run when you can learn to soar!

While it may take time to go from crawling to soaring, when you commit to making progress every day, you will be able to look back someday and see just how far you have come -- all because you made the choice to grow just a little bit every day.

More Resources

CLICK HERE to learn how to write a classroom mission statement - or to write a professional mission statement for yourself!

CLICK HERE if you would like a mission statement template to help you set goals for yourself and your class.

CLICK HERE to learn strategies that will engage your students (and make you a better teacher).