My Teacher Journey: From Classroom Chaos to Teaching with God’s Peace
Hey Transformational Teacher,
Are you struggling to find peace in your classroom? From managing challenging behaviors to navigating difficult parent interactions, teaching can feel overwhelming. But here’s the truth: you don’t have to do it alone.
In this episode, I share my journey of transformation as a Christian teacher:
- Bringing God into My Classroom- I talk about how inviting God into my classroom reframed my mindset and perspective, equipping me to teach with confidence and peace.
- Overcoming Burnout and Pride- I share my honest story of reaching a breaking point in 2015, feeling inadequate, and learning the importance of asking for help, walking in humility, and embracing community support.
- Seeing Teaching as Ministry- I discuss how viewing teaching through a spiritual lens shifted my classroom management and student engagement strategies.
Practical Takeaways for You:
- Seek God’s guidance daily to navigate classroom challenges with peace and strength.
- Stay connected to a supportive community of educators walking in faith.
- Remember teaching is not just a job—it’s a Kingdom assignment where your spiritual growth fuels your impact.
- Allow God to transform your mindset so you can teach with joy, confidence, and purpose.
Reflection Question: How can you invite God more deeply into your teaching journey this week?
Encouragement: Your role as a teacher is powerful. God placed you there for a reason, and He desires to guide and strengthen you every step of the way.
Explore More: Visit TheTransformationalTeacher.com for faith-based teacher prayers, devotionals, and resources to support your journey.
Connect & Share: Instagram: @thetransformationalteacher DM me and share your biggest takeaway from this episode—I’d love to encourage and pray for you this week.
Subscribe & Share: Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Christian teacher encouragement and practical faith-based tips. Share this with a fellow teacher who needs a reminder of God’s peace today.
Transcript
Foreign hey teachers, welcome to the Transformational Teacher Podcast.
Speaker A:I am your host, detoya and thank you for being here.
Speaker A:On this podcast, I will talk about faith, mindset and the importance of self care.
Speaker A:I believe God desires for us to flourish in our relationship with Him.
Speaker A:It plays such a vital role in transforming our lives.
Speaker A:In turn, it will help us to transform our classroom his way.
Speaker A:When we teach with Jesus and see things from his viewpoint, guess what?
Speaker A:Those anxieties and classroom challenges that try to trip us up will no longer have the power to do that.
Speaker A:Because God will help us.
Speaker A:He will give us the strength, wisdom, patience, and whatever else we need to rise up and teach with joy and peace.
Speaker A:Hey transformational teachers.
Speaker A:I am so excited about this first episode.
Speaker A:I on this episode, I want to give you all an overview of why the Transformational Teacher was created.
Speaker A:It was a personal journey that I went on.
Speaker A:To sum it up, I went from chaos to having peace in life and inside the classroom.
Speaker A:So this is a personal, transformational journey that I'm on and I want to invite you all on this journey with me.
Speaker A:Grow with me as a teacher, but also grow with me as a Christian.
Speaker A:Well, let's get started.
Speaker A: y teaching journey started in: Speaker A: I'm going to Fast forward to: Speaker A:That is when I started working at my current school that I'm at now.
Speaker A:The first few years at my current school, it was decent for the most part as far as behaviors go, only, you know, encountered, you know, a few things here and there, but it was nothing major.
Speaker A:Now, I did have some parents that intimidated me in the beginning, but, you know, that's neither here nor there.
Speaker A:We're gonna go ahead and fast forward some more.
Speaker A: Let's go to: Speaker A:And that was the year that was the worst year I have ever experienced.
Speaker A:That year I had three, three students with a lot of challenging behaviors.
Speaker A:And one of those parents was not on board with the different things we were trying to implement to help their child.
Speaker A:They were in denial for most of the year.
Speaker A:So I found myself investing so much time and energy into those three main students that were causing a lot of disruption in my classroom.
Speaker A:And you guess what started to happen.
Speaker A:I wasn't showing the other 15 students the attention they needed.
Speaker A:Some days I felt like I wasn't even really able to teach because I had to deal with behaviors so much.
Speaker A:And those other 15 students, some of them, they even started to act out because they seen h I can get her Attention more if I cut up.
Speaker A:So, you know, we continue, you know, to go on through the school year.
Speaker A:It wasn't the way I expected things to go go.
Speaker A: But that year: Speaker A:I don't feel like I'm doing my job.
Speaker A:I started to see how the stress was hindering me, not just as a teacher, but in life in general.
Speaker A:And I was the type of person that was a little prideful.
Speaker A:And I didn't really want to ask for help because I. I didn't want people to know that I was struggling as much as I was struggling because I felt like I've been teaching for a few years and all of a sudden this comes up.
Speaker A:But I got so tired and I was like, something has to change.
Speaker A:I just wasn't sure how to go about it.
Speaker A:But then I heard, you have to put the pride aside and ask for help.
Speaker A:So that, that's when I started seeking out help.
Speaker A:And I realized I'm not in this alone and you're not the only person going through this.
Speaker A:So I reached out to my principal and the pre K department that I work in.
Speaker A:I took some online workshops, attended some in person workshops to help me in the realm of classroom management.
Speaker A:The pre K department told me about an organization that helps students up to age 5.
Speaker A:So I reached out to them, but the thing was I had to get the parents consent.
Speaker A:And at first the one that really needed these services was not on board with what I was telling them because they were saying, oh, he doesn't act like that at home and everything.
Speaker A:So that was a struggle in itself.
Speaker A:But then finally the child's grandfather came in and said, no, we see this at home.
Speaker A:So then they finally got on board.
Speaker A:I started implementing some of the suggestions they gave.
Speaker A:Now, everything didn't change overnight, but things slightly got better.
Speaker A:But it was so nice having help and having someone to talk about what was happening.
Speaker A:And that's when I again realized I'm not the only teacher experiencing this.
Speaker A:So again I talked to my school community about the things that was happening and I again, things slightly got better, but part of the puzzle was still missing.
Speaker A:Remember what I mentioned earlier about being prideful and how I felt I couldn't ask for help?
Speaker A:Well, one of my close friends knew things were challenging at work, so she would always tell me, talk to pastor and first lady.
Speaker A:And I finally did that.
Speaker A:Of course with her help.
Speaker A:And I also talked to one of the ministers at my church, and things again started to change.
Speaker A:Well, the situation didn't necessarily change, but I started to change because I started implementing some of the things they were telling me to do.
Speaker A:They were praying for me in my classroom.
Speaker A:They were also giving me advice and encouraging me every step of the way.
Speaker A:Now, they gave me a lot of advice, but the thing that stuck with me most was that I had to stop looking at things from just a natural lens.
Speaker A:But I had to also start looking at things from a spiritual lens, because what I was encountering was a spiritual battle.
Speaker A:And this was new to me, to be honest with you.
Speaker A:I didn't really understand everything completely, but the things they started to tell me to do, I started to do them.
Speaker A:I said, I have nothing to lose.
Speaker A:I knew they wouldn't tell me to do something that would hurt me, so I knew this had to help me.
Speaker A:So I started praying in my classroom, praying in my heavenly language before I went to work to build my inner man up.
Speaker A:I started anointing my students chairs.
Speaker A:I started anointing myself, you know, doing some of the other things they said.
Speaker A:I started asking God, what do I need to do both spiritually and naturally to make the impact you have me to make here?
Speaker A:I started having more conversations with God on my own.
Speaker A:Once I started doing these things, I was given things that I needed to do in the natural and also things I needed to do spiritually.
Speaker A:And again, things I started to see them getting even better.
Speaker A:But some of the challenges were still there.
Speaker A:But one thing I noticed, although some of the challenging situations were still there, I noticed I started to change.
Speaker A:I noticed that I had a shift in my mindset because for the longest, I didn't really think the classroom and God had much to do with each other.
Speaker A:My mindset was, when I'm at work, I'm here to teach.
Speaker A:And that's not it.
Speaker A:It's where I had to realize that teaching is a part of my ministry.
Speaker A:So I have to do things the way God tells me to do.
Speaker A:So once I started doing that, I started to see the picture clearer.
Speaker A:And I knew could not throw in the towel.
Speaker A: t God was so amazing to me in: Speaker A:He knew I needed a sign.
Speaker A:So that year I wanted to give up was the year I received teacher of the year for my school.
Speaker A:And that was kind of like God showing me, I see you.
Speaker A:And although you think you are being, you know, not an effective teacher in the classroom you are and others are seeing you.
Speaker A:So don't give up, because this is what I've called you to do.
Speaker A:And if you give up, you're not just giving up on the kids that's coming in your classroom, you're giving up on me.
Speaker A:You're throwing in the towel that I handed to you.
Speaker A:So again, I kept going.
Speaker A:Once that year was over, I was able to look back and see the growth I had made as a teacher, but also the growth I made on an individual level.
Speaker A:I will say, even though it was a challenging year and I didn't want to have to go through that year, but as I look back on it, it plays such a vital role in the teacher and person that I am today because it caused me to rely on God more and it helped me to fill my teaching toolbox with vital resources that has helped me in the years to come.
Speaker A:And I even asked, you know, as going into, you know, the summertime, I asked God, you called me to do this.
Speaker A:So how can I prepare for the next year?
Speaker A:And good thing about God, when you ask, he shows you.
Speaker A:So I came across this devotional study and it was geared toward teachers and I also came across some classroom management workshops and things of that nature.
Speaker A:But the thing was they were biblical base and I had no idea that it was something out there like this.
Speaker A:And I'm going to be sure to provide a list of some of the books and trainings that I took that are still available and I'll post them on my website.
Speaker A:This helped me gain so much clarity and strength for what to do in the year to come.
Speaker A:I went in doing things the way God told me to do it.
Speaker A:I realized that teaching with Jesus is, is a must because he is the master teacher.
Speaker A:Now I will be honest, I still experience some challenges inside the classroom the next year.
Speaker A:But I started handling them differently.
Speaker A:I knew how to target my prayers more.
Speaker A:I gained self regulation, tools to regulate myself, and I asked for help.
Speaker A:When I started to see challenging things arise, pride no longer had me.
Speaker A:I walked in humility and I started to walk more in line with what God instructed me to do.
Speaker A:I now have the understanding that I am a change agent and I can shift the atmosphere as needed because God has given me the power and authority to do that.
Speaker A:I will say that I now have more peace and joy in the midst of the challengings, challenging things that arise in the classroom.
Speaker A:Oh, I almost forgot.
Speaker A:I need to share this with you all.
Speaker A: e next school year, which was: Speaker A:That gave me a lot of challenges that year, and she would send me pictures of him with awards that he received, his progress report.
Speaker A:I even still have his kindergarten picture in my phone with him holding his kindergarten diploma.
Speaker A:That is such a precious moment for me, and I'm so thankful they shared it with me because it showed me that I made a difference in his life.
Speaker A:Although I didn't completely see it when he was in there, I saw it as he continued to go throughout his school journey.
Speaker A:So that just blessed me so much.
Speaker A:So again, this is a journey and I'm so thankful that I now know that I don't have to go through it alone, that I have a loving father that wants to walk by my side every step of the way.
Speaker A:And also that he loves me so much that he has connected me with some great people to help me.
Speaker A:And so I'm just thankful for that and I'm thankful that I'm able to connect with you all.
Speaker A:Now, I want to give you a few takeaways from today's podcast because we're going to wrap it up and and the things that I want you to remember is to ask God to come alongside you and help you on this teaching journey.
Speaker A:Walk in humility and allow others to help you.
Speaker A:And remember, if God has called you to teach during this season, he will give you everything you need for the journey.
Speaker A:But keep in mind, God equips us, but we can't just sit back and do nothing.
Speaker A:But we have to do our part.
Speaker A:We have to trust Him.
Speaker A:We have to have an ear to listen, to hear what he tells us to do.
Speaker A:He may tell us to pray a specific prayer, fast, worship, take a workshop, go sit with a teacher that has been through what we're going through.
Speaker A:The key is that we have to listen to his instructions.
Speaker A:So make sure you are open to hear everything that God instructs you to do.
Speaker A:And before we go, I want to pray with you all.
Speaker A:So let's pray.
Speaker A:Well, Heavenly Father, we thank you right now.
Speaker A:We thank you, Lord, just for who you are.
Speaker A:I thank you, Lord God, for every teacher that listens to this podcast.
Speaker A:I thank you that their ears are open to hear everything that you have to say to them.
Speaker A:I pray, Lord God, that you will refresh them.
Speaker A:I thank you for what it says in your word in Isaiah 40, verse 31.
Speaker A:I thank you that you will renew our strength and that we will soar on wings like eagles and that we will run and not grow weary.
Speaker A:I thank you, Lord God, that we will just sit before your feet and we will allow you to minister to us.
Speaker A:We will allow you to fill us up.
Speaker A:We will spend time in your word and we will ask you for wisdom.
Speaker A:We will ask you for the guidance that we need to help us on this teaching journey.
Speaker A:So I thank you, Lord God, for that.
Speaker A:And we just glorify you for loving us so much.
Speaker A:And we just thank you for always being by our side.
Speaker A:We thank you that in you there is peace.
Speaker A:So we thank you that we continue to look to the hills from where our help comes from.
Speaker A:And as we look to you, as we trust in you, we thank you that your peace will be our peace.
Speaker A:In Jesus name, Amen.
Speaker A:Well, today's one action step that I want you to do is to find a scripture, if you haven't already to stand on as you journey throughout this school year.
Speaker A:One scripture that I'm standing on is James 1:19, and I'm going to read it from the amplified version.
Speaker A:It says, understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters.
Speaker A:Let everyone be quick to hear.
Speaker A:Be a careful, thoughtful listener, slow to speak, and a speaker of carefully chosen words and slow to anger.
Speaker A:Patient, reflective, forgiving.
Speaker A:So that is something that I have written on my desk at work.
Speaker A:Because each day I'm asking God, God, I pray that I am quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger in every situation that arise in my classroom.
Speaker A:I pray that today's podcast blessed you and I will speak with you all soon.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for listening to this podcast episode.
Speaker A:Be sure to check out my website@teachingwithjesus.com for my transformational resources that will help you flourish in life.
Speaker A:As always, remember to continue to pray, listen, transform, and so you can teach and make the impact God has called you to make inside of your classroom.
Speaker A:Be sure to stay tuned for our next podcast episode.
