My View
Why I Asked to Teach a Course
By SARA E. JOHNSON/School Administrator, August 2020

IN FALL 2019, as a superintendent new to a medium-sized district, I decided to go back to the classroom and teach. I imagined being in the classroom for a semester would give me a chance to see high school from the inside, freshen up my skills and connect me with students.

Teaching a daily 50-minute class, I reasoned, would give me a rare opportunity to gather important, real-world impressions of the service we offer students. I wanted to understand more about the young people we educate today, not the students I taught almost two decades earlier. This was a chance to convert my wonderings into action.

I had no idea how much a return to teaching would impact students, staff, the community … and me.

News media interest in a superintendent opting to teach a high school course was significant, and I immediately had to “up my game” to meet the classroom demands. My school board supported my venture into teaching, but the superintendent workload didn’t lighten up at all. That meant keeping both ends of the candle burning with evening and weekend preparation time. But it was well worth the payoff.

A Need Filled

I hadn’t accepted this superintendency with a plan to teach concurrently, but when it became clear the district needed to offer a one-semester social science course, I realized I could rework a university-level course I had taught on human development into a meaningful high school class carrying college credits for students. I used my lunch break every day to gather my sophomore, junior and senior students to explore how humans develop from infants into contributing adults.
The opening day of my class, I faced 35 teens who had signed up for an elective and who knew little about their peers — and even less about their teacher. They didn’t know what to make of me, and I was about to get a better understanding of them. As I attempted an ice breaker, the reality of my first teaching decision came flooding in: Students had been playing name games during their first five periods and by now, they were sick of them!

I adjusted on the fly, adapting to meet their needs. I grew to look eagerly to class each day. No matter how stressed I was by the demands of the superintendency, when I entered the classroom I was re-energized by the students.

We started each class with a “joke of the day” and what I call an “opening circle” — pulling me and the students into the experience of learning and developing jointly. Seeking formal feedback weekly from students was a practice that helped me hone my effectiveness and adjust my instruction. I learned how to connect with them and add value to their world and my own.

I know my students benefited — and I did as well.

A Deeper Empathy

My classroom time has given me a reeducation in teaching. My core commitments were refreshed and reinforced as I tried out new technology and strategies. My beautiful and savvy students reminded me of the indignities of having to ask to use the restroom or go to the counselor. I also gained insight into the burdens teens carry now — emotionally and physically in the form of the backpacks, books and supplies they drag with them from class to class.

As my students lived the reality of teen parenting, substance abuse, poverty, gender identity and uncertain futures, I lived those experiences through them.

Teaching not only renewed my credibility, it also deepened my empathy for kids and teachers. I now have a fresh understanding of the demands and daily commitment of teaching and have a broadened perspective direct from a classroom.

Because of this refreshed experience, I am a better superintendent. Because I took a chance and made the time and effort, I discovered the students I serve are a continuing source of life and light and hope.

SARA JOHNSON is superintendent of Crook County School District in Prineville, Ore.