Performing Under Pressure: Teaching With a Purpose
Beyond the lesson plan
Do you remember the teacher who believed in you before you believed in yourself?
What you might not remember is everything happening behind the scenes for that teacher: the stress of classroom management, difficult decisions, competing demands, and quiet sacrifices that made learning seem effortless.
In this eye-opening episode of our Performing Under Pressure series, Austin Conner, PLPC, sits down with elementary school teacher Lexie Darrough to talk about what it’s really like to stand at the front of a classroom. Their conversation explores teacher burnout, the challenge of caring for both the hearts and minds of the students, the partnership between parents and educators, and the surprising freedom that comes from remembering that God loves every child even more than we do.
Today’s teachers are educators, counselors, mediators, encouragers, detectives, performers, and safe people for children whose lives outside the classroom may be anything but stable. They carry the pressure of helping every student succeed while navigating changing expectations, endless assessments, and the reality that no two children walk through the classroom door with the same needs.
Whether you’re a teacher, a parent, or simply someone who wants to better understand the people shaping the next generation, Lexie’s wisdom offers encouragement for anyone trying to faithfully serve others under pressure.
Highlights from this Interview
Austin: Today we’re going to hear about the pressures that teachers face, particularly elementary school teachers. My guest is Lexie Darrough. I’ve known Lexie for over 10 years now, first as a college student when she was dating her now-husband Connor. They have four kids. Lexie, welcome to the podcast!
Lexie: Thanks for having me on. Such a delight. I was giggling when you asked me to be on it to begin with because I do not feel equipped, but I know that God will help me able to share some wisdom from the teaching profession that can apply to everyday life.
Austin: We’re going to cover all sorts of questions today about the pressures you face as a teacher. But start by telling us what your current professional roles are and how you ended up there?
Lexie: I knew I wanted to be a teacher from the very beginning because I am a very good boss, as all my little cousins would say growing up. Teaching has always been on my radar. I did a lot of tutoring in high school and realized I love elementary school and love to see the light go off in kids’ brains when they understand a new concept.
I got my bachelor’s at Mizzou and then I got my master’s the year after that at Mizzou all in one year, in an accelerated program. So my first year teaching, I was also getting my master’s, and I had mentors and I had help and I had structure and I was able to use my classroom as way to do research.
I taught at a Title I school here in Columbia for three years. There was a very high population of low income school students. There are lots of social, behavioral, and academic needs there. It was very difficult but also a great experience.
Then I had my first child, Hudson, and decided I wanted to be home. I enjoyed staying home with him until he was about six months, and I realized that I wanted to continue to teach. So for the next eight years, I was a mentor for up-and-coming teachers. That was great because I got to help people who were becoming teachers to get the skills and tools they needed.
This past November I got the itch to go back in the classroom full time. I missed the camaraderie and feeling alive in front of kids. I ended up taking a part-time position at a local private school teaching English to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders, which I have never done before. I was able to do that this past semester while also juggling my roles at the university.
Now, I’ve taken a position teaching third grade this upcoming school year. I am so excited for it. I feel fueled when I’m up in front of a class and able to deliver lessons and see the light bulb moment go off and to be able to celebrate with them. A lot of people would probably feel drained being around kids all day and instead I feel more alive.
Austin: Any crazy teaching stories?
Lexie: You never know what you’re going to get every day and you have to have that laughable ability to just go with the flow when things go crazy. I had a kid that got ticked off enough that he climbed into the ceiling rafters and he was up there for probably 30 minutes living his best life while I had to figure out how to get him down.
Austin: So as a teacher, you are the everything. You are the private investigator. You are the counselor. You are the janitor. You are sometimes the mom or the dad.
Lexie: We don’t know what students have been through when they walk into our classroom. We need to be a calm, cool, safe space for them.
Austin: What kinds of pressures do you face?
Lexie: One challenge is understanding the curriculum, but also understanding the multiple ways that learning needs to be graded and assessed throughout the year. There’s a big push right now for more data, but also we realize that if we’re just assessing and taking data from students all day, we’re losing teaching time, which is the most important part.
Teachers are pulled in multiple directions to do what their principals, schools, and district needs, but I want to be sure to care for the hearts of the students in my classroom.
Austin: What are the effects of all that pressure?
Lexie: It leads to so much burnout. It leads to teachers saying, I’m not equipped for this. My mantra has always been that every child deserves the very best education, which is a great concept but at the same time I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to always give them my very best.
Being a parent has changed my mindset about children. I love my kids unconditionally. But my unconditional love is still not perfect. But God as our heavenly father loves us perfectly, and he loves every single kid in my classroom deeply and intentionally. I can release some control and let go of some of the pressure, knowing that God has them and is loving them where they are.
Austin: How does your faith inform your role as a teacher?
Lexie: Walking in prayer has been huge for me. I often pray, God, empty me of me and what I want and what I desire and fill me up with you. Fill me up with your words. Fill me up with whatever I’m supposed to say and do for these kids every day. And that’s been really, really special.
In Colossians 3:23 it says, “Work heartily for the Lord and not for man. And your reward is going to be in heaven.” There’s so many things that teachers have to do every single day. But those things are noticed by God and they will be rewarded. I know that God sees me and he sees my work and it will be rewarded eternally, even if I don’t see the seeds growing that I’m sowing right now.
Austin: What are some of the roles you have as a teacher?
Lexie: We have to be a kid watcher. We have to observe them and see what they know and don’t know so that we can go address the misconceptions they have about their curriculum or see what they’re struggling to understand and make sure to help them.
Teaching has changed a lot. Back in the day, the teacher sat at the front of the room at their desk and the kids did their workbooks but teaching is so active now. You have to be engaging. You are competing against screens constantly. You have to be theatrical in order to keep the engagement and the fun going. Kids are not going to learn if they don’t love what they’re learning or love the way that you’re presenting it.
Austin: What’s the best thing parents can do for teachers?
Lexie: Be supportive. Yes, of course, gift cards, coffee, things like that are wonderful. But being a supportive parent, having my back and appreciating that we are in your child’s life together is the best thing you can do.
Offer your kids support at home; make sure that you are talking through things that are happening at school, whether that be emotional struggles, friendships, peer pressure, all of the things. I would just ask for parents to be present and love their kids well and to be in prayer with their teacher as we’re trying to figure out what these kids need and how we can love them well.
Austin: Can you speak a little bit about the culture of a school?
Lexie: All schools are different. Some struggle just to have the supplies the teachers need to do their job. When you walk into the door of a school, you get a specific feeling. I don’t know if it’s instinct, but you can tell if it’s a school where you can relax and feel at home, or if the school is in survival mode and doing the best they can. If administration is nowhere to be found.
One thing that has helped me was to realize that most of the things that I was in control of were just the things that were in my classroom. I had to remind myself that I was here for the students and didn’t need to worry. It helps to have other teachers that you can collaborate with and have each other’s backs.
Austin: Are you ever able to share your faith in the classroom?
Lexie: A lot of ministering and showing Jesus isn’t through words, especially in school districts. But we have a great opportunity to show Jesus through our actions every single day. We can extend grace, we can show patience when we are frustrated.
I abide in God and stay in step with his spirit, listening to what he wants me to do. We know students are bringing their very best every single day to our classroom and I’m thankful for that. Jesus has transformed my words even if I’m not saying his name. People notice something different about me and often ask me about it.
Austin: That’s amazing, Lexie! Would you mind praying to close?
Lexie: I would love to. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Help us to not grow weary of doing good, but be reminded that the good we’re doing is going to be rewarded by you. I pray that our listeners, especially teachers, would look to you and release some of that pressure we feel into your hands, knowing that it’s all for your glory. Remind us that we’re not working to be noticed by others but we are working for your kingdom.
Give the people listening words of wisdom, that you would be pour out your goodness to them and they would be able to be able to see the goodness of you through their actions and words and want to follow you. God, we thank you for this time. We thank you for this podcast. I pray that you would use it for your glory. In all your beautiful and holy name, I pray. Amen.
Austin: Thank you so much for being here today.