You’re not a bad teacher.

Here’s how it goes — you, a teacher, have had a tough day. If you’re teaching online, the kids don’t seem to be responsive. Either they’re little cuties and showing you everything in their house except their understanding of the material, or they’re high schoolers and silent behind faceless Zoom screens. That’s if you’re virtual. If you are in-person, maybe your class went crazy today and refused to follow instructions. Or they stared blankly when you explained the concept. And if you’re hybrid, maybe it was some other unique combination of terrible.

So you had a tough day, and you tell yourself that it’s just today. Normally, things are better, you say. You pour yourself a glass of wine, start mindlessly grading while watching your show on Netflix. You go to sleep and wake up, telling yourself this day will get better. We teachers are nothing if not optimistic.

Well, most of us.

The next day, some kid says something cute or someone else demonstrates understanding of the concept. You find something in you to do it all again. Then you pour yourself another glass of wine and tell yourself that teaching is rewarding. The kids are worth it.

***

I used to think there were good teachers and bad teachers. And by “used to think,” I mean about six months ago. But there aren’t.

There are no bad teachers, and there are no good teachers. “Good” and “bad” are subjective, fixed mindset adjectives, and we, dear teachers, are not about that. We’re about…