It's a Marathon and not a Sprint, by Rafe Esquith

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Being a teacher these days is overwhelming. The demands placed on an instructor's time can deflate the heartiest of spirits. Even the most talented and energetic teachers are finding that there are not enough hours in the day to jump through all the hoops of pacing plans and standardized instruction. As a result, many good teachers have shared their frustration with me that they are not reaching their kids.

You don't know that.

Please remember on your worst day that life is messy. A school district may have decided that on a particular date all of your students will have mastered a skill, but that's unrealistic. Time and again when you have begged, pleaded, and cajoled a student to see the light, you may have think you have failed because he has done poorly in class or makes poor life decisions despite your heroic efforts to prevent this from happening. You become depressed and believe you have failed.

You don't know that.

Frequently there are times when your lessons and advice kick in years after a student has left your classroom. Children learn at different paces and in different ways, even though the No Child Left Behind fiasco believes that all children are simply Learning Units ready to be programmed. It's not that simple.

I ask all teachers, especially the younger ones, to not be so hard on themselves. There is something both wonderful and tragic about our profession. The wonderful part is we change lives everyday with our teaching and guidance. The tragedy is that oftentimes we do not get to see the result of our efforts. There are millions of young people out there who have better lives because of you. But they don't write to you to tell you this. They may not even realize it themselves. This is not It's a Wonderful Life with Uncle Billy coming through the door with a basket of money to save the day.

Instead, it's a thankless but important mission. You change lives every day, so please don't sell yourself short. Use pacing plans and standardized curriculum as a starting line, but remember this is a marathon and not a sprint. The real measure of your efforts will be calculated years after the kids have left your classrooms. Teachers like you are making the world better in ways you might never know. You make a difference, and that's why teaching is an honorable and important profession.

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