My Process as a Writer By Jennifer Nelson

Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom

By Jennifer Nelson

I have my good friend Peggy to thank for my writing Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom. 

Years ago, I left my journalism job to teach high school French. It was clear that writing for a weekly business magazine was too demanding for a single mom with three young children. Peggy, a writer and editor from New York City, commiserated with me as I said goodbye to a profession I loved and started one that I wasn’t confident I knew much about. “Everything will be alright,” she told me. “You’re going to be a great teacher. The kids will love you.”

Over luncheons in Manhattan, I told her about the realities of teaching. It wasn’t easy reaching disillusioned teens. I felt I needed a Teaching for Dummies manual. I didn’t know what to say to snarky adolescents, or ones who badmouthed me. Peggy loved my stories, laughing and sympathizing with me about the challenges of teaching. She encouraged me to write down my stories, insisting that parents needed to know about what was really going on in classrooms. 

And, so I did. I too wanted to document my journey of becoming an educator. Besides, this was a way for me to continue to write—not as a journalist, but as an author. 

Periodically, I penned chapters about teaching at a Catholic girls’ school, then in a public school where I failed, and finally in a school where I thrived. It wasn’t long before I had enough pages for a book. I aimed for a compelling narrative arc, engrossing characters, and realistic dialogue. By then, I was enrolled in an MFA program, and used lessons from that program to create vivid scenes. 

At Vermont College of Fine Arts, some of my stories on education were workshopped. 

Students and instructors helped me see the appeal of my stories, encouraging me to revise chapters by cutting out fat and accentuating the conflict in each chapter. It was clear that I was writing a memoir—not just a couple of disjointed essays. I was overjoyed to have a book in the works—and it promised to be an uplifting one. 

It took me a good year to structure the story in a logical way. I toyed with the idea of using flashbacks and flashforwards, but that was complicated, so instead I decided to arrange stories chronologically. An editor friend from Baltimore read my book. She loved it, staying up until 2 a.m. to finish it. She recommended trimming repetitive sections and tightening up dialogue. I appreciated her feedback and enthusiasm for my book. It was done. But I was anxious to get it published. I was still teaching, and worried that my words could get me fired. Better to put it aside until I left teaching. 

After the pandemic, teaching became a hot topic in the news. Teachers were leaving the profession, not enough young people wanted to teach, school districts were banning books, students were suffering from mental illness, and reading and math scores were plummeting. People wanted to know what was going on in our schools. Why was our nation facing a teaching shortage? What could be done to attract more people to the profession? I was still teaching, and understood the rewards—and challenges—of working with young people every day.  

I no longer thought my book should be a memoir. I wanted the world to know how I had considered quitting teaching. Wasn’t it more important to explain why teachers were leaving the profession instead of penning a memoir about my move from journalism to teaching? Certainly, the market was aching for a book that provided information about teachers’ salaries, classroom management techniques, and working with tech savvy Gen Zers? 

So, during the summer of 2022, I completely restructured my book. The publisher of She Writes Press approved of this new focus, agreeing that the book would be more marketable. Publication of the book was postponed until 2023 to allow time for revision.

I reread Teaching with Heart with the idea that it would no longer be structured chronologically. A talented editor helped figure out a structure that worked and how to make each chapter shine. I wrote several new chapters about teaching remotely during the pandemic, then returning to the classroom for in-person instruction. I researched initiatives to make teaching a more attractive profession and included these facts in sidebars. It was tough determining the beginning of the book, but finally we chose a very dramatic scene in the classroom, and then worked to make sure all chapters fit in logically. I used flashbacks and flashforwards. 

In the end, I believed we achieved our goal of not confusing the reader and making the book entertaining. Most chapters included a sidebar with facts about the education field and some even got a New Yorker-style illustration drawn by my nephew. She Writes Press provided a modern, clean cover design. I approached other writers for endorsements for my book. In September 2023, two boxes of Teaching with Heart: Lessons Learned in a Classroom were delivered to my door. 

Finally, after working on-and-off on this book for almost a decade, my book was published. My dream had finally come true—and I now could call myself a published author and maybe even someone who people would come to for advice about what it takes to be a teacher. 

—

TEACHING WITH HEART: LESSONS LEARNED IN A CLASSROOM

Why are so many teachers leaving the profession? They’re burned out; they feel disrespected, and unsupported. After teaching remotely during a pandemic, they’re returning to classrooms with under-socialized and sometimes out-of-control kids. What to do?

Teaching with Heart chronicles the journey of a journalist-turned-teacher determined to make teaching work—despite its difficulties. Peek into Madame Nelson’s classroom to see her trying to reach teens who dance, cry, and hit each other in French class; administrators who laud the latest pedagogical trends and testing regime; and parents who sometimes support—and sometimes interfere with—their children’s education. Meet colleagues who save her from quitting, and her children who provide advice. Along the journey, she evolves from an aloof elitist into an empathetic listener to all sorts of teens.

Isn’t it time we create schools in which teachers want to stay and new ones enter? Without committed teachers, how can we prepare students to run our world? Teaching with Heart illuminates why it’s so hard to hold on to classroom teachers these days—and what can be done to better the situation.

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing