A Matter of Faith...

By Carol Round

Pay attention and grow wise, for I am giving you good guidance. Don't turn away from my teaching. Proverbs 4:1-2 NLT

When I taught school, I learned many valuable lessons.

I may not have realized it at the time, but I was a student as well as a teacher.
College may give you the tools you need to teach but only through experience can you learn wisdom.

When I recall my first few years of teaching, I am amazed that I survived 30 years. The first class of teenagers I taught was determined to run me off. Thank goodness, they didn’t succeed—but they sure gave it their best try.

Thinking back on those early years of teaching makes me realize how unprepared I was to handle the responsibility entrusted to me. Facing a classroom full of 16 to 18-year-olds when I was not much older—I was 21—can be intimidating.

College classes require you to regurgitate information to get your teaching certificate. On-the-job experience is what makes or breaks you as a teacher.

I stood bravely in front of a classroom of young people who were required by law to be present. Some were there to learn. Others were not.

I instructed. I lectured. I challenged. I prodded. I tested. I even stooped to begging to get those who didn’t care to work harder, just so they could pass my class. I tried everything I knew to get those who would rather be anywhere but sitting in a school desk to take responsibility for their education.

With each new school year, I grew and my students benefited. I wanted to do better. I expected the same from my students.

In 1975, my journalism students had access to eight manual typewriters. The following year, we were excited to acquire six electric ones. Then, sometime in the early 80s, computers were introduced in our school system. We had one computer in our journalism class—and we hadn’t heard of the Internet yet.

My students still gathered facts for their stories with face-to-face interviews and good old-fashioned library research. No surfing the net for information or interviews via email.

I left the classroom in 1992 to become a library media specialist. I had new things to learn. I had the certification, but I needed hands-on experience so I could teach the skills required for students to be successful.

When the Internet became a daily part of library research at our school, I found myself once again in student mode. How could I teach what I didn’t know?

Our spiritual life is the same. We have the information available to us through the Bible and other resources. As a student, we must read and study the scripture. Then, we have to put it into practice by sharing with others what we’ve learned.

I started a 34-week evening Bible study class at my church recently. We won’t finish the course until next spring but we will have covered the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Wisdom takes time. God is your teacher.

Are you paying attention? You will have a final test.


Carol Round is a former Jay High School journalism teacher who now resides in Claremore. Readers can contact her at carolaround@yahoo.com.