What the Marines taught me about teaching.

One of the biggest lessons I learned about teaching, I learned from my active duty Marine Corps husband. My husband earned a combat action ribbon from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).  When Marines are deployed, they work every single day.  While he did go on convoys, voluntarily like a crazy person, his assigned duty was to be a supply clerk.  He was the "go to" guy.  If you needed something, anything: office supplies,Humve's, food, water flight requests, transfer requests, ANYTHING, he was the person that you'd see to request these things.  He often told me stories of how he'd go to another office on the camp established there and fellow Marines sometimes were less than friendly to him.  For whatever reason, some Marines just weren't the friendly, smiling type like my husband.  Here's proof:

See, happy smiling guy, right?

Well he said that when people were not so nice to him, he knew that eventually, someone would have to come see him... he was the guy that got you stuff. He made a mental note of which offices were less than kind and made sure that when a request came through from one of those not so friendly offices, they would go at the bottom of the priority list.  

So how does this correlate to teaching?  Well, two things come to mind: know the "go to" people and NETWORKING! 

I think every teacher should know the "go to" people in their school and district.  Take a walk outside of your classroom every now and then and make people remember who you are...and that you're a friendly person.  They can help you, believe me. Equally so, try to non-intrusively make yourself a subject matter expert on something so you become a "go to" person as well.  Then you and your new crew can create a perfectly legal quid pro quo type of system. You scratch my back...ring a bell much?  Actually, the better you get to know people, the more they want to do for you.  You won't have to call in favors, they will just come naturally.  Knowing who and how things work beyond your classroom will give you more insight as to how important your role is as well in the system of a school. 

Do you even know how decisions are made beyond your four walls?  You should.  Your principal is busy so running into his or her office and asking about the infrastructure of your school district is a little, well, impractical. Start by attending board meetings. You know, those things you hear about but never attend.  I know, you're busy: kids, school, secondary job, those polka lessons  you've been taking, but I assure you board meetings are only once per week (sometimes less depending on your school district) and I assure you they don't lock the doors once you enter.  You should go.  Make yourself visible.  People remember faces, especially repeat goers to board meetings. Actually, I'd go with a bunch of teachers from your school.  That way your principal gets props for having involved teachers.  Oh yeah, I'd ham it up too.  Tell all your teacher friends to get there and plan on arriving ten minutes past the time you told them to be there.  Walk in and say hello to as many people as possible.  Yeah, its a little contrived but you'll look like a person that people should know. Important people may say "who is this person walking in that seems to know people?  Let's find out." Make sure you dress professionally, make sure you behave professionally.  Limit your cell phone use.  Look involved. Once you get people watching, they will keep watching.  Be consistent.  You don't want people to take notice and then regret that they did. 

So I know what some of you may be thinking... I'm not in teaching to schmooze. I'm in it for the children.  Look, it can only help you to know people and make those connections.  Your students may need information that you can easily provide because you know who to call or resources to produce. Just do it.  It will make your life easier too. 

Ever heard the expression, "your network equals your net worth?"  Its true.  

First, let me ask you this.  Have you put together a five or ten year plan, twenty?  Do you want to be a classroom teacher forever?  If so, put all your energy into becoming a "go to" teacher, become an expert. If not, where do you want to be?  Leadership? Coaching? District level work?  How are you going to get there? One of the hardest lessons I've learned is about burning bridges.  I've done it.  I started teaching at the young age of 21. 21 years old and starting my professional career.  All of my friends were still in undergrad, drinking at night and stumbling into their internships or retail jobs in the morning. I tried to hang out with them but couldn't.  What I did share with them was sometimes being not so punctual in the morning. You know the teacher with the kids standing out in the hallway, that was me. Yeah, I'm ashamed to admit it, but that was me.   I made a lot of mistakes.  Also, I'm a very passionate person.  I've had to learn how to tame my reaction to things. In the past I thought, "its okay to speak my mind, I'm being honest."  Well the truth of the matter is... who am I to share my unwarranted opinion with others?  Sometimes its simply not needed.  Whenever I offended someone, I simply shrugged it off thinking "oh well, I won't need that person in the future anyway." Boy, have I been wrong.  The further up in your career you want to advance, the more people will inquire about you. If people start digging, what will they find?  Be very honest with yourself.  If you've made mistakes, no worries, don't beat yourself up.  Jot down what you've learned and contact people from the past and let them know how you've grown.  Some people will appreciate that.  The ones who don't, don't worry, they may have to see you again. Who knows where you'll be in the future.    Also, I've lived long enough now to know just how small the world can be. Especially so if you want to stay in the same profession.  You will see people again, make sure when you reconnect, its positive.  Also, with the advent of Face book and Twitter, we all have a weird "six degrees of separation."  Believe me, the people you upset today, you will need. Just like my husband taught me from his year deployment, people remember how you treat them, and one day, you may need them.

That being said, are you networking at all?  Are you involved in any community or district organization?  This can only help you.  Oh yeah, when you go out to events, don't just talk shop either, allow people to get to know the real you.  If it is an event with alcohol, don't be the person they get to know because you have no filter and are full of liquid courage.  Be the person who can adapt to their environment.  People will respect that.  Once people get to know you, take advantage of those relationships.  Talk to people about learning opportunities. Volunteer to help people out.  People will appreciate that and remember it.  Don't make yourself someone's virtual slave though, keep your dignity.

So now I throw all of this back on you.  Will you get out of your classroom and mingle a little... it can only help you.  Try it.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think.