S01E06: First the Worst – Mike Jones
Nobody is born an expert, or so host Kristin Brynteson learns from seasoned teacher Mike Jones.
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KB: Experts are not born. We cannot expect to be a master at something the first time we try it. That only happens in Hollywood. I'm Kristin Brynteson, and this is the Failure Bites podcast, where successful people tell bite-size stories of failure, growth, and success. In this episode, we hear from science and STEM teacher Mike Jones about one of the most difficult times of any teacher's life: the first year of teaching.
MJ: For me, thinking about my first year teaching, I don't think any teacher ever looks back and goes, oh, remember that first year teaching I had? I was such a great teacher then. I had everything figured out. No one looks back warmly on that first year teaching. For me, though, I was focused on more of the duties of a teacher, and I focused more on trying to get the content... that I had a good understanding of the content to be able to teach. And I forgot--or I didn't have the skills yet that I really needed to be a good teacher. How do I connect to students? How do I make this relatable? How do I make adaptations and accommodations? And I think you do better when you know better, so for me, starting to go to P.D., starting to go to training... It was actually my fifth year teaching, I switched schools voluntarily and moved to Bloomington Junior High. And my principal there, Dr. Silvey, who was a fantastic lady, she basically kind of challenged us, like what kind of teacher do you want to be, and why aren't you there? And really, the importance of being not just a teacher but being a learner for your students. And how do you get that feedback on how to improve? Going to your peers.
Going from a small school where I was the only science teacher in middle school, to where I was in a building with nineteen other science teachers so I could collaborate and learn and discuss, like what does this standard mean? What does this standard--or how do I assess it? What's the best ways? And those discussions, which you may not think of as professional development, but it is professional development, so how we become better... Being humble in our learning to realize it's okay not to know things yet. To have that yet mindset, and also just keep on reaching out, saying like, okay, what do I need to do better? What's some things I need to work on? What's one thing I want to excel on, to be able to share with others? What are one of my three weaknesses that I want to identify and keep on building it up? So, there's so much of teaching that you learn through the experience of teaching.
Sometimes, it's scary to have a--to be new and to be unsure because we don't want to let our boss know, hey, we really don't know what we're doing yet, right? We want to do that good evaluation, so... For me, my failure was like how I taught. And I don't want to say I've taught well now, but I can say that after twenty-some odd years, I'm teaching better. And hopefully, in fifteen, twenty more years down the road, I'll be teaching even better than that. There's never a mastery, there's always something that you're going to tweak on. Yes, I failed. I failed greatly, but hopefully, you can do better.
KB: Some experts say that it takes approximately ten thousand hours to become an expert at anything. They should know. They're the experts. For the rest of us, that means a lot of practice and time is needed before we even come close to being a master at something. In teaching, as in many professions, you never really become an expert. You simply keep practicing, keep learning, and keep doing better. The goal is to become a master learner. I'm Kristin Brynteson, and this was Failure Bites. Learn from other stories by subscribing now. And leave us a review, so we can learn from you. This podcast was produced by NIU STEAM at Northern Illinois University. Your future, our focus.
