Rockford — Rachel Schirmann knows the value of wonder. It’s one of the things the Lakes Elementary third-grade teacher admires most about her bright-eyed, ever-curious students. It also factored into how she ended up working at the elementary level, despite earning her bachelor’s degree in secondary education.
When Schirmann started her career, teaching 11th- and 12th-grade English in Ann Arbor, she couldn’t quite feel it.
“The wonder was gone,” she said. “I was teaching seniors and I was 22. I wasn’t far enough removed.”
But she found it again working as a paraprofessional in a kindergarten classroom. The experience inspired her to earn her master’s in elementary education, and eventually led her to Rockford Public Schools.
‘I teach because I think that our world has a lot of chaos. Each year I get a unique opportunity to work with 24 to 30 brains, and I think I can make that chaos a little bit more manageable.’
— Rachel Schirmann, third-grade teacher
Schirmann feels that she’s found her home in elementary education, and at Rockford. She spoke to SNN about what education means to her, and the challenges and rewards of working in the field.
Why do you teach? “I teach because I think that our world has a lot of chaos. Each year I get a unique opportunity to work with 24 to 30 brains, and I think I can make that chaos a little bit more manageable.
“I really value inclusion in all aspects of the word, and I think that being able to share that with the kids that I have, while I have them, is a really powerful thing. … And I think a lot of educators can relate to that feeling.”
Schirmann said she brings an asset-based perspective to the classroom; that is, she focuses on what students can do, not what they can’t do.
What is your biggest motivator that keeps you excited about teaching? “I think that every kid deserves somebody on their team. At the end of the day, no matter how chaotic a day has been, no matter what has happened or how many conversations with the office I’ve had that day, I think the kids know, and I know, that we’re on a team and we’re working toward a common goal.
“That’s the thing that keeps me coming back: when a kid — even a kid that’s given us a tough time — can say, ‘Hey, thank you. I know what you did for me there.’ … It’s not every child, but it is enough of them that that is what keeps me coming back, because I know I’m making a difference in at least one kid’s life every day.”
Why third grade? What’s the best/most interesting thing about it? Schirmann said she loves how all the content areas come together, leading to moments of revelation for students. For instance, a student who struggles in math might excel in a science lesson, when they’re doing math for more than math’s sake.
“All of a sudden they’re doing that math that you were trying to teach them the day before, and you’re like, ‘Hey, you can do that math that you thought you couldn’t do, because you’re doing it with a reason.’
“That’s something that’s really great about teaching all the subjects — weaving them all together and making them meaningful across your day.”
What are some of the biggest challenges in your role and how do you strive to meet them? Misconceptions about teachers’ motivations and what goes on in the classroom can be discouraging, Schirmann said.
“The community discourse sometimes — at least at a country level, not necessarily in Rockford specifically — about some of the things that teachers do or why they do it is really challenging. At the end of the day, we’re all here for the same reason: to support kids and to help them grow as people.”
Schirmann said she tries to be as open and transparent as possible, and to do whatever she can to highlight the great things students, teachers and schools are doing to support learning.
“I think that any moment that I can elevate the work that all teachers are doing in all spaces, makes me feel like I’m doing something to combat the unfortunate, misguided perspectives that sometimes permeate the dialogue.”
What’s the most amazing/notable/interesting thing about your students? “They’re just so adaptable and smart. They have the wonder. They want to know more. They see the world in such a fresh way that it gives me hope that, if we support these kids, hopefully they grow into adults whose first instinct is to support each other.”
What would you say to someone considering teaching as a profession? “When I was a young person considering becoming a teacher, most teachers in my life told me not to do it. I would not be that person.
“I think that teaching is something you have to want to do. If you are going into teaching because you think you should, I’d tell them not to do that. But if you’re going into teaching because something is pulling you there, you should listen to that.”
Teaching, Schirmann said, is not easy. But it’s rewarding.
“Every day, when I wake up and come to work, I know that I’m coming to work with a reason. I’m not just going through the motions. It’s different every day, and I would tell somebody who’s interested to explore that.”
What’s a little-known element of your job? “I am very adept at shoe-tying, coat-zipping and finding missing mittens. You tell me something’s missing and I will find it. And that extends into my personal life at home, too. I’m an expert finder.”
What’s something you’ve learned from your students? “They’ve taught me so many skills: patience and listening and hearing what people are saying. … And they certainly teach me things about their interest areas. I had a student last year who was very into reptiles and I now know way more about reptiles than I’d ever imagined.
“Each group of kids comes with new interests, so I’m able to literally learn things about their interest areas and bring that into the learning we’re doing as a group. That’s really cool.”
Read more from Rockford:
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• ‘I love seeing them succeed’: Award-winning AD puts students first