teaching, community and the church

Today is the start of my third week of student teaching in the third grade. It is quite the experience! Most of you know of my struggle with whether or not I really want to be a teacher. The thing is, I'm still unsure. I love teaching, but does that mean I'll be a teacher. I think that I am going to have to try it before I can really know.I had to write this paper a few weeks ago for class. It is probably the most honest thing I have ever written in my whole college career. I'm going to share it with you because I feel like it puts words to what I cannot.

“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”

Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (1820 - 1903)

I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My very earliest memories are of me playing school. Growing up I just assumed that I would be a teacher, I never really thought about why. I’m sure that as a fifth grader I would have said something along the lines of, “well, I like to use markers and write on the board.” However, now I know that teaching is a profession that requires much more that what my childhood dreams included. It’s harder. It’s not always fun. I’ve struggled with reconciling the reality of being a teacher to my childhood dreams of being a teacher throughout my time hear at Kennesaw State. However, as I near the end of this journey I am sure of one thing, I did not choose teaching; teaching chose me. I love teaching. It is natural for me. I do it whether I am in a classroom or not. I also love to read. My friends and I have been reading this book called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. He shares about community and how it is important to our lives. These are some of his thoughts that have helped to reassure me of the decision to become a teacher.

“Vocation comes from the same root as voice, denoting the hearing of a divine call. Beyond knowing that God has a purpose for our lives, most of us (especially non-Catholics) spend little energy seeking our vocation, especially in light of how the needs and sufferings of our neighbors might inform how we use our gifts for divine purposes (Claiborne 138).”“So not everyone responds in the same way, but we must respond. We must seek our vocation listening to the voice of God and the voices of our suffering neighbors (Claiborne 142).”

My family and I have always lived in the same community. The land we live on was the land that my dad grew up on. Back then it was farm land. My mom lived less than a mile away on another farm. Our community has certainly changed over the years. However, the longing for true community with others has grown in me. I feel like being a teacher in a local school is a way for me to be a good neighbor, to be involved in the community and to be able to address and meet the needs that are there. I truly feel like that my gifts can best be used to help my neighbors by loving and educating their children.


Reading this again makes me realize that I am connected to my community in way I've never been before. Some of the kids I teach at school are the kids I see at church. Knowing these kids and their stories puts a face to this community. These are no longer nameless strangers to me. They are the children in my class. Children with hurts and fears and parents that have to work really hard just to make ends meet. These children have made it impossible for me to drive through this community and not care. I have to care, I know them now. And that is the key. I know them, so I care. This is what being a good neighbor is all about. This is what I long to see the church be, a good neighbor.

So for now, I'll go to my classroom, do my best to love and care for these children as I teach them all about the habitats of Georgia. I know regardless of where I end up or what I end up doing that these children have changed the way I view my neighborhood forever. Once again Jesus is using children to stire the heart of compassion in His followers. I pray that I will continue to see this community through the eyes of the students in my classroom.

God, Let me be the hands and feet of Christ to this community.