The Teacher Next Door

"Great teachers aren't born.  They are made by the teacher next door." - Harry Wong

This week, I was writing an e-mail to my pastor in which I asked for prayer for my friend, Cheryl.  In the e-mail, I referred to her as the teacher next door.  After typing that sentence, I realized that the only information he would get from that phrase was her location at work.  If I had been speaking to another teacher, they would have understood the depth of relationship that phrase implies.

Then, it occurred to me that this relationship may be unique to the world of education.  Lawyers and accountants may not feel particularly close to the person in the next office.  Architects may not ask the neighboring architect for help with a difficult design.  An engineer probably can't communicate a request to another engineer with just a facial expression.  In teaching, however, the "next door" relationship is incredibly meaningful.

The "teacher next door" is the first person you see when you when you exit your classroom.  Depending on the set up of your school, this may be the person across the hall or the person with an adjacent wall.  The architecture of my school gives me three (an incredible blessing that should be considered in school design).  The teacher next door is the person you vent to when a class has driven you crazy.  He is the person you laugh with in the hall.  She is the person you seek advice from when "that" parent calls.  She is the person you can make eye contact with from the hall, and she will know you need her to watch your class while you run the restroom because you feel nauseated without you have to use any of those words.  It is a powerful bond.  The depth of this relationship means, of course, that when one of you is in pain, you will hurt more for them.  It is worth that risk, however, to have that person in the place you will spend most of your time and most of your heart.

If you are in the unfortunate position of not liking the people nearest to your classroom, you should be very intentional about forming a close relationship with someone in your school.  You need this person.   If you are fortunate enough to have a good relationship with the teacher next door, you should thank God for that blessing.