SUCCESS AS A GEORGIA EDUCATOR: Notes from the Field
By Scotty Brewington What are the fundamentals of success for a Georgia educator? We asked teachers throughout the state to share their insights, inspiration, and advice. We spoke with veteran teachers, third-generation teachers, those relatively new to the classroom, and one former business professional who changed careers in order to pursue his passion to teach. In the following pages, you’ll learn what these exceptional educators had to say — what works, what doesn’t, what they wish they’d known at the outset, and what they recommend for longterm success in the profession.
Notes from the Field: Veteran Teachers It’s all about relationships. Get to know your students.
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yler Thomas serves as an academic coach and gifted lead at Coosa Middle School in Floyd County. Before taking on his current role this past school year, Thomas was a middle school math and language arts teacher for eight years. In his experience, building relationships with students is absolutely critical to a successful classroom. “The biggest thing is building relationships with the kids,” said Thomas. “If you don’t invest in students outside of the
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desk they are sitting in, you are not fulfilling everything you can do as a teacher. There are kids all over the world who are just seen as a student at a desk — when, often, they are experiencing more at their age than many people experience in a lifetime. We have to see each kid as a whole person.” Thomas, who has spent his teaching career in Title I schools, said that relationships are especially important with students who have been raised in challenging and sometimes unsupportive environments. These factors — those outside of a teacher’s control — can be the biggest challenge in educating students, Thomas said.
August/September 2021
