Feeling Comfortable in the Classroom
Comparison is the thief of joy. If you’re a new teacher, read that first sentence again. A friend said that over the summer while attending a professional development conference, and those words hit me like a ton of bricks. I’ve only ever heard since stepping into the classroom that it takes three years for a teacher to “get comfortable” and if they can hang in there for that long, they’ll stay and thrive. But it’s taken me five to start to feel comfortable and I’m beginning to learn a valuable lesson. Let me explain.
I am about to start my sixth year of teaching AVTF, or as I like to call it, broadcasting and film. Before entering the classroom, I was an Executive Producer for local television news. I’ve worked in Washington State, Oregon, Georgia and Alabama, was nominated for an Emmy, got to chat with a few famous people and be a specials producer live on location. So when I entered the classroom for the first time, I did what I always do with a new job, dove in feet first, ready for the challenge and thought “I’m coming from industry, know how to produce a newscast, I’ve got this.” But I did not “have this.”
Thankfully, before I began teaching in 2019, I had the chance to attend a professional development conference called Camp T&I. I took an empty notebook and filled it with 20 pages worth of notes, ideas, inspirations and contact information. So I felt prepared-ish. What I learned in my first year of teaching, just keep swimming. I did the best thing I knew how, taught what I knew since there is no curriculum for our pathway. It was a good plan, mostly. Sure, not everything worked, and that was alright. I kept a list of things that did and did not work so I could make changes the next year. The one thing I did not have? A newscast. My classroom was a former cosmetology room and before that, home economics. There were sewing machines in the built-in counters. I had cameras that were of different varieties, different tripods, 12 year-old Mac’s that were slower than Christmas, one cloth green screen and a supercomputer for what, I’m still not sure. I knew we were getting a brand new CCA and with it a grant for new equipment. Exciting! But as I worked with the equipment I did have, and watched other teachers' newscasts and short films, I started to feel uneasy. Like I was not qualified in any way to teach my students despite having worked in industry. Like I was an imposter. Guys, imposter syndrome is real, let me tell you.
Covid hit in March of 2020. I had just gotten to Atlanta for the SkillsUSA State Conference when we learned the conference had been canceled. Then me and my fellow teachers who traveled with me, received the email from our superintendent stating school was shutting down and we would be teaching virtually. Now, I know Covid affected people in many different ways, and most of it was not good. But me? I was living my best life. Me, my boyfriend at the time (now husband), and his cousins who were also teachers would pretty much spend every day together on the farm just hanging out and having fun. There may have been a beach trip for just the girls, too, when things slowly started to open again. Needless to say, I did not get to finish my first year of teaching. My second year of teaching, we moved into the CCA in January and I finally had new equipment, edit bays, a studio and a prop closet since I was teaching film as well. But again, we were sent home for several weeks at a time due to Covid cases and once again, I did not complete an entire year in the classroom. So two years down, and I’ve yet to finish one whole year of teaching in my eyes. With year two, there was so much packing up one room, moving to another, equipment inventory and organizing, that once again, I was just trying to keep my head above water.
Finally, year three. My first complete one in the classroom and wow what an amazing year it was. I had a State Officer for SkillsUSA. Darlyn, who has since graduated, was the type of student who volunteered for EVERYTHING because she loved filming and editing so much. A once in a blue moon student. My first year in the CCA, we started a newcast called Wolf Den News, and it was not something we did in class. I decided to get my feet wet, I would do it on a volunteer basis. Darlyn led the charge. She was our TD (technical director) and was the main photog and editor. I taught the kids what a PKG looked like, a VO and a VoSot. Darlyn taught the kids who were not in my class how to film and edit. We recorded every Wednesday morning before school. We had a good little show. I was feeling a little more competent when I watched our newscast and then viewed other schools' shows. I even took a team to Skills State competition. Darlyn could not compete in Broadcast News at SkillsUSA because she was a State Officer. So, she decided on TV Video Production with a friend. They put together an amazing PSA. Beautifully shot, scripted and edited. It even had great graphics, too! And when their names were called up to that stage at SkillUSA State competition and they were awarded the gold medals, I do not think another teacher in that entire building had yelled as loud, cheered as hard or jumped up and down so much. I had the biggest smile on my face. But that’s always been me for my students, cheering hard and getting super excited for them. My film class had won second place at the Rome International Film Festival, or RIFF, in the student category and I could not have been more excited. I’m a bit competitive if you can’t tell yet. I was flying high and the imposter syndrome had gone away…..for now. Finally I had completed an entire year teaching in the classroom and it was an amazing one. What could possibly go wrong as I entered year four?
Most highs come with a crash. Not all of them. But for me, I crashed and burned hard in my fourth year. To the point where I started looking for other jobs and doing interviews for jobs in Public Relations. The move was partly due to things outside my control, and some completely in my control. But this was the year where I felt like the biggest imposter and failure to teach AVTF in the State of Georgia. I will say there was a CTAE Director and CTAE admin turnover that year due to educational politics. Just for reference, as I get ready to start my sixth year, we are on our fourth CTAE administrator in two years. I had been called into several meetings with administration over two failing students (one was the school board chair’s grandson) and a parent had dragged my personal life into the mix. Not cool. Wolf Den News was in its second year, still volunteer based and being recorded on Wednesday mornings. The shows were okay at best. Darlyn had graduated the year before, and there was no one student who led the charge. It was me, I was leading it, but when you’re miserable, kids can sense that, so after two shows in January, we didn’t have anymore. It was hard from the get-go to get volunteers to record, write and edit. All anyone wanted to do was anchor. Plus I was having issues with my Tricaster. I did not get a lot of training when my studio was built, so I had to take myself all the way back to college and see what I could remember of switching. YouTube was also a big help. We are on a block schedule at my high school, so this particular year, I was teaching four level one classes. Two in the fall and two in the spring. Level ones can take a toll on anyone, but I teach at a Title One school, and with that sometimes comes a little “extra” if you catch my meaning. Discipline issues were out to wazzoo. My intro classes despised writing. Wanted nothing to do with it. Now, we all know writing is a huge part of AVTF.
My kids thought this class was all about becoming the next big sensation on YouTube, TikTok or just wanted to rap when they saw the mics in the edit bays. Someone ring the buzzer and tell them that’s incorrect, please! Vaping had also become an issue in my edit bays (I’m still considering taking the doors off the hinges when I go back for pre-planning).
I would get on the AVTF Teacher Facebook page and look for inspiration. Try to recapture the level of excitement I had the year before. Something to know about me, I am not a tech person. Meaning to say, I do not sit there and get excited over the latest camera and its abilities, running cables is not my thing nor can I troubleshoot when something goes wrong. I love to write, get creative with camera shots, and edit. You give me a topic and I see the video come to life in my head before I’ve taken one piece of b-roll. That’s me. So the “imposter, you’re not good enough, you can’t teach, why are you even in the classroom” voice crept back into my head when I would log on and see teachers asking about the latest streaming equipment for sports, the latest cameras and all their capabilities and which ones they should get or posting their shows, seeing how much fun the kids were having knowing mine had failed. The sad thing is, I actually had a lot to be happy about. I had gotten married during the school year and my husband and I were expecting our first child, but work was just not fun. Clearly, I did not get a job in PR. I was in the classroom, it seemed, for good. Maybe there’s a higher purpose for me still being here. But nonetheless, I finished my fourth year, my full second year of teaching in the classroom. To me, it seemed like this full three year deal for new teachers was in fact true.
I started off my fifth year nine months pregnant, but bound and determined to have a much better year. I took that same list I made every year of ideas and changes I wanted to make, and started re-writing lessons. Changing how we did things. Wolf Den News was now a part of my level two class and instead of it being every week, it was every two weeks. That way my kids could work on not only WDN, but whatever lesson we were on, whether it was commercials or PSAs, etc. I have built my classes to where my intro is really just that, intro. Learning to write, shoot and edit. Maybe some intro film if we have time. Level two now does WDN and more production based work such as commercials and level three is just film. I even got the wild hair to record all my lessons as if I were in the classroom, so my kids could watch them while I was on maternity leave. I was starting off strong. That first month of school, I hit the ground running with my kids, and my level two’s had a good grasp on WDN, just not time management, even with two weeks to work on it. Graphics were a big problem and in the spring, my Tricaster decided to stop recording sound from my anchors. A friend had to come and help me solve the issue, and continued to help solve other issues via email. Again, not a tech person. Wolf Den News got on the air every two weeks, and that’s really all I could ask for. Still, not fantastic, but I did something new this year, I did not watch any other schools broadcasts. I did that for my sanity and mental health. I did not want to continue to compare my program to others. I knew there were issues. I know my kids are in a city school and the news is not cool to them. I know all of these things and when I send an email asking for feedback, I’m almost embarrassed to show them my student newscast. Talk about yikes as a teacher.
I tell you ALL of this, because it took me five years and three years physically being in the classroom, to finally let go and learn. It started to click about the time my friend came to help me with my tricaster last spring and more this summer during professional development. I’m sure I’m not the only teacher who’s come from industry and felt this way.
Here’s what I want to say especially to new teachers- you’re amazing just for stepping foot in a classroom. No, it’s not easy, but you can do it! Lean on your fellow AVTF teachers and do not compare yourself to them or their students' work. Your program does not have to look like everyone else's’. I thought mine did for the longest time and I’m still rebuilding it to how I want it to look. Every program operates at a different budget level and with different types of students. Your classroom is going to look different. Title one classrooms are going to look different from those of schools with more money and resources. It is okay not to be a tech person and to lean on others for that understanding. It’s great if you are a tech person! If you came from industry, you are not a failure if your newscast is not the best. I repeat that to myself a lot these days. Working with professionals is very different from students, and I tried to make it the same for so long. I was judging myself based on what my kids were doing with WDN, comparing my students' newscasts to others, and totally feeling like an imposter. Reality check, I’m not an imposter and neither are you if you have felt that way. No one is comfortable straight off in the classroom. It takes time. But if you hit a rough patch, again, lean on your fellow AVTF teachers. I did not, so I felt isolated. We’ve all been there at one point or another. Administration changes, your students change and your lessons will change. But the one thing that should not change and is easier said than done? Your JOY in the classroom. So as we head into the 24-25 school year, I hope all of us discover new things about ourselves, students, create exciting new lessons and projects, understand work/life balance is a real thing, and that our attitude rubs off on our students, whether we know it or not. I’m putting it out in the universe that I will have a great school year, and I hope you do, too!
Meet the Author, Mackenzi Hice
My name is Mackenzi Hice and I am an AVTF teacher at Rome High School. I am currently in my 6th year as a teacher. My journey started long before I stepped into the classroom, however!
I am originally from LaGrange, Georgia. It’s a small city about an hour south of Atlanta. I grew up on a farm in an old farmhouse with no heating or air conditioning and three siblings with my dad and step-mom. My mom lives in Auburn, Alabama.
I graduated college from Troy University in Troy, Alabama in May of 2010 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Broadcast Journalism. Two weeks later in June, I packed up everything I owned and drove across the country to Kennewick, Washington with my grandmother for my first job in local television news. I worked at KNDU for two and a half years, producing the 6 & 11 newscasts. My next move was to KPTV in Portland, Oregon where I spent three years producing the morning show. In 2017, I moved back to Georgia, Atlanta specifically, where I worked for CBS46 for two years again on the morning show. My last job in news was in Huntsville, Alabama at WAAY 31 where I was the Executive Producer for two and a half years. The last thing I worked on was a specials segment for the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary!
During my time in news, I went back to school and received my Master’s in Strategic Communication from Troy University in 2019. I left news for my very first teaching job in Rome, Georgia in July of 2019, and that’s where I have been ever since. I met my husband, Will, in Rome. Got married here and we had our first child, Riley, in September of 2023. We also have a dog named Emma. I am a huge Atlanta Braves fan and an Auburn fan, which causes tension in my house as my husband graduated Georgia. I love my students, being creative with them and helping them in any way that I can. I look forward to seeing what the future brings!
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