Community

It cannot be said enough how important it is to be active in the community in which you teach. Every time your students see you outside of the classroom modeling the same behaviors you model in class, it reinforces that the things you learn and do in the classroom should be used in the real-world.

You might, at this point in time be wondering what it means to be active in your community. It means just being out and about in the community of your school district. There are a few things you can do such as: coaching a sports team, volunteering with an organization, doing something with your church, or even getting a part-time job at a retail establishment. Each option has its positives and its negatives; however, the more you are out there, the better.

If you ever remember seeing your students outside of school when you were in school, it probably shocked you. You were probably like "Mr. Selby leaves the school from time to time?" I was one time seen by one of my students at the grocery store and he asked me what I was doing there. It can be a little bit shocking for students to see teachers out and about in their community, but it can lead to some really great things. One of the things that it does is that it humanizes the teacher. The student realizes that you do the same things that you do. You go to the grocery store and you eat food. That can be shocking for some students but it allows them to relate to you. It also allows you to see another side of the student. Maybe you get a little look at the student's home-life and maybe see how they interact with their friends or family outside of the classroom environment. Lastly, it looks good to the community if you are active. If you are working at a retail shop (one of my side-gigs that I just got is working part-time at a golf courses pro-shop) - it can give you a little extra spending money, maybe a discount and it lets people know that you are a hard worker who is not scared of long hours to get the job done. If you are coaching a team, you are probably spending a lot of time with just the hope of helping students to be successful and that shows that you really care. If you are volunteering at your church, this allows you to build connections with community leaders that may have some sway in school board decisions.

One thing that could make this really easy is if you live in the school district that you teach in. You do have to be careful, when you are in the community, there is a higher chance that if you do something wrong, the consequences could be amplified. You really should try not to work at seedy places in your community (maybe avoid being a bouncer at a strip club), and you should really mind the way you act and dress (That means you probably should not get wasted at the school's bull roast, you probably should not be cussing the whole time at the football game, and you really shouldn't be wearing something really offensive). The more involved you are with the community the more people will see you and the better you will look to all community members - parents, administrators, coworkers and even students. Try your best to get involved.

P.S.

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