Hannah McLean spent most of her youth denying the inevitability that she would end up as a teacher. She wanted to be different. She wanted to do something new. She tried to separate herself from her mother and two older sisters.
Eventually, though, the family business won out, and now she’s in her first year as a first-grade teacher at Ward Elementary School.
McLean, who graduated from ACU last spring, is the daughter of a pair of recent AISD retirees – Scott McLean and Susan McLean – and the youngest sister to Amy and Emily, both of whom attended ACU (where their dad graduated from) and are now teachers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
“For a long time, I tried to deny that I wanted to be a teacher,” Hannah said. “As the youngest sister, I was determined to be different, but then I ended up at ACU and as a teacher. It just became evident that teaching is what I’m supposed to do with my life. Plus, my mom having been a teacher had a lot to do with my decision. And even my dad in his job (former Associate Superintendent for Operations for the AISD), I appreciate a side of public education that I don’t think many people have a chance to see.”
One of the perks of having a mother who spent more than 30 years in the classroom as a kindergarten teacher is that Hannah inherited most of her classroom “stuff.”
“I think most first-year teachers are at a disadvantage because they don’t have much to put in their classrooms,” she said. “But with my mom retiring, I inherited an entire classroom library that my kids use daily. And I will text her a few times a day if I’m struggling with something or to ask her opinion about things going on in the classroom. And she’s not busy with her own classroom or students, so that she can help me.”
One of the things that Hannah has already seen in her first seven weeks on the job is how much students need to know they’re in a safe place.
“I tell people all the time that I have a loyalty and appreciation for the Abilene ISD because, as a student at Alcorta Elementary School (then Jackson), Craig Middle School, and Abilene High School, I was exposed to people who were so different from me,” Hannah said. “So I see this as an opportunity to serve a wide variety of kids with so many needs. An educational need is one thing. But they also need support and love. Even within my classroom, I have such a variety of needs.”
Through the good and bad days and ups and downs, Hannah has learned to reach her students through some new-age thinking. She has a “tattle phone” – an idea she picked up from TikTok – on a table near her desk. She took an old rotary-dial phone, painted it hot pink, and brought it into the classroom. And now, anytime one of her students wants to snitch on a classmate, they’re sent to the “tattle phone” to talk into the phone.
She also uses the great philosopher of our time – Taylor Swift – to send her kids home each day with a positive message. Hannah has posted a sign above the door that reads, “I had the best day with you today,” a line from Swift’s 2008 hit “The Best Day.” It’s all to make first grade fun for students experiencing more challenging assignments than what they went through in kindergarten.
“First grade is hard, and I don’t think people realize how big a jump it is from kindergarten,” Hannah said. “There are so many expectations, and they learn so much content in the first-grade year. And honestly, from a teacher’s perspective, what your kids are expected to achieve in one year is overwhelming. So many outside circumstances play into what they’re expected to retain.
“I’m going to teach them what they’re supposed to learn, and we’re going to have fun doing it,” she said. “but I’ll consider myself successful if, at the end of this year, my kids have enjoyment for school, know that this is a place where they’re safe and belong and that they know they’re loved. Some so many kids don’t have any of that. After growing up here, I have a totally different perspective on how great the need is in our schools.”
Like anyone, those students also need daily affirmation from someone, and Hannah gives it to them in her classroom, whether they get it anywhere else or not.
“We have a very consistent morning routine,” Hannah said. “And I will always take time for social and emotional issues. Those discussions and issues are important; I’ll always make time for them. We also have consistent affirmations that we do daily, and one of them is, ‘I’ve got the power to make someone’s day.’ That was something my dad always told me growing up: ‘You have the power to not let someone else ruin your day, and you have the power to go out of your way to make someone else’s day.’ We have dance parties at the end of the day for a reward. We’ve done science outside. We laugh a lot. And even when I haven’t had the best day with them, or they haven’t had the best day with me, I get to tell them I had the best day with them. Because I want them to go home feeling good about themselves and wanting to come back the next day.”
