Take Your Shot

January 9, 2025 | Post by : Shay

Take Your Shot

By: Shay Humphreys

Monitor and adjust. Teachers hear this all the time — and we are masters at it. We do it daily, hourly, by the minute. Sometimes we do it without even realizing. The fortunate part of our work is that when we have an off day or a lesson doesn’t go as well as we’d like, we have the opportunity to re-teach, try another method, or maybe even scrap it all and start over.

This also happens on a larger time scale. We might have hard years. It’s often said that you always have that one class — the one that causes you to need more coffee, maybe more wine, or if you’re like me, more long walks alone through Target. But you know that at the end of that year, you get to start over again.

Then it one day hit me: our kids don’t get a second chance. My students don’t get to do this school year again. This means that I get one shot to make their year the best it can be, to help them enjoy school, to improve their reading skills, to understand multiplication, to feel like a teacher loves them — to make a difference in their lives. One shot to show them that they are my purpose and reason I walk through my classroom door every day. This means that I have to take my shot. Every day. Whether it’s making connections, showing compassion, or helping a student overcome fear. Maybe it’s being a leader and an advocate. Sometimes taking our shot involves a little risk. For example, when we find new ways to assess, or even better, allow students to decide how they want to be assessed. We might need to take a risk on an inquiry lesson we’ve been afraid to try. Sometimes taking our shot requires a bigger risk though.

I am admittedly not someone who loves taking risks. I don’t love the unknown. My comfort zone is cozy. In December of 2022, I had been teaching 3rd grade for 6 years and I was in a groove. I had the same teammate for all 6 years. We were Pumba (me) and Timon (her). We planned lessons together and often swapped students when we felt like we just weren’t getting the results we needed from certain lessons. We were comfortable. That’s when our principal approached us and asked how we would feel about opening the wall between our classrooms and co-teaching.

At first, I was worried about losing control. I think most teachers have this inner (or outer) control freak that likes things in our classrooms to be a certain way. I was also worried that maybe I wasn’t a good teacher and now my teammate would know. The veil would be pulled off and everyone would think I was a fraud. I was concerned that problematic student behaviors would escalate with double the number of kids in the room. But then I thought about what was best for kids. Opening the wall meant we would be able to focus even more on targeted Tier 2 instruction. We would be able to do preassessments and analyze data together to find the learning gaps and work as a team to tackle those. We would have an improved structure for targeting high achievers as well. When I really put my students first, the risk didn’t feel quite so uncomfortable anymore…so we went for it.

When our classes returned in January 2023, 36 students walked into a classroom double the size they were used to. We explained our vision, reviewed old classroom management, had the students help us develop new rules and procedures necessary for a larger class, and kicked off a whole new approach to teaching. And it worked! The kids loved it; we loved it. We saw an increase in academic success and student agency. We saw students taking risks, making new friends, and appreciating one another as learners in a new way. It was magical. In my 16 years of teaching, I had never taken a risk like that, but I was glad that this time I did. Last year ended up being my favorite of my career. That class will always hold a very special place in my heart. They brought the joy back to teaching after Covid took it away. Teaching them was fun; their passion for learning was contagious. They will forever be my favorite class. I left the classroom last year and moved into another position at my school. At the end of the year, I bought a little porcelain Pumba and Timon for me and my teammate. Every time I see it, I am reminded of the year we took a risk and took our shot.

So I encourage you…take your shot…and make it count!

Take Your Shot

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