K-1 teachers need to be the smartest and most strategic of all
I remember telling people what I did for a living when I was teaching kindergarten.
“Awwww,” they would say, “I remember my kindergarten teacher.” Then, “You must have so much patience.”
Because kindergarten teachers have traditionally been women, the unspoken assumption is that patience, kindness, and love are all it takes to be a good kindergarten teacher. Really, you don’t have to be smart to teach little kids, right? You just need a big heart.
Nothing could be farther from the truth about what it takes to teach young children.
Kindergarten and first grade teachers have more influence on a child’s academic success than anyone else besides parents (and pre-K for children who have access to it). When it comes to self-esteem and life success for students, K-1 teachers are the most important people in the school, the district and therefore the entire community, and let’s just say the world! Without a strong foundation, there is nothing to build upon in the higher grades.
(Note: Pre-K teachers are just as important, but many children don’t get the opportunity for preschool, so the biggest burden does lie with kindergarten and first grade. Second grade is important also, but on the verge of “too late” for a starting point.)
A good teacher “begins with the end in mind”. It’s one of those 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, if you are familiar with Steven Covey’s classic book.
As adults, will the children in my class be able to read information that enables them to understand their health or will they struggle with terminology? Will they be able to read well enough to think deeply about current issues in the world or will they settle for shallow explanations? Will they be able to use writing to process and communicate ideas, an essential skill for college and many careers? Will they see themselves as smart and capable? The teachers of 5-7 year olds are often the deciding factor on whether their students will have the literacy to be confident and prepared for life.
In other words, K-1 teachers don’t have to be the sweetest, but they do have to be the smartest and most strategic of all teachers. A big loving heart does matter, of course, but it’s only part of the job description. For those K-1 teachers out there, I hope you are daily asking yourselves:
What do I want this child’s future to look like (especially for those who come to you needing more than a year’s growth in skills)? In order for that to happen, what skills will this child need in high school? Middle school? What will this child need to be capable of in third grade?
How much progress is needed this year? What progress is needed today? How will I make sure progress happens today? Is this child getting the right instruction to make progress? Do I have the necessary understanding of the science of reading and the science of writing (how students really learn to read and write)?
Am I demanding the very highest this child is capable of? Am I giving feedback and requiring mistakes to be fixed (this is where all the learning happens)? Am I telling this child how much they matter to me? Does this child know what today’s goal is?
If you are a K-1 teacher, I am not writing this to make you feel pressured. I’m writing this to inspire you to see how important you are!
For my other readers, I want you to understand that teachers of young children have a big responsibility that demands your respect. What is demanded of them requires a lot of intelligence and decision-making. If you are an administrator, consider whether there are more ways to support K-1 teachers in this task of building a strong foundation for literacy and life.
So here’s my wrap-it-up pep talk.
K-1 teachers, you are the final votes, the deciding factors. You need to be the smartest and most strategic teachers of all. The decisions you make daily and hourly about what to teach and how to teach it will have a huge impact for better or worse. When you look in the mirror, see yourself as a powerful influencer and life changer. You have 180 precious days to build the best possible foundation for a life of literacy. Without explicit instruction from you, it may not happen.
You may think that one little lesson isn’t that important to miss, or that it’s okay to let a mistake go. You may think that’s love. But if you do that continually, it’s not love, it’s neglect. Smart and strategic teachers don’t let sloppy work go. Lowering the bar isn’t love. It isn’t love to allow a child not to work because they are having a rough day. It isn’t loving to say “Good job” for work that doesn’t meet the standard.
These are the old paradigm of the sweet kindergarten or first grade teacher with the big heart who is too nice to make anyone work hard. And that is not who you are.
If you want to master the art of teaching kids to write in K-2, and you are serious about getting more than a year’s growth in literacy, check out my Succeed Together class for teachers starting in September 2022.