Warning: This blog post contains a fair amount of ranting. Proceed with caution. ;)
For the parents of "my" kids,
I am a teacher. And I am proud to be one.
A teacher, according to definition is a person who "teaches or instructs, especially as a profession."
And yet... being a teacher is so much more than that. And recently, even in my very own "Mayberry" community, I've been hearing a lot of teacher-bashing going on. And it makes me furiously sad... if that's a thing. Which I think it is, because I feel it!
People bashing schools because of the testing we have to administer. People bashing schools because of the actions of our "clients"... A.K.A.: your kids. People bashing schools because we can't get it all together. My invitation to those people would be this: come spend a day with me. Spend a day in my school, in my classroom, with OUR kids, and then you may have a glimpse. A glimpse of what it's like to look into the eyes of 100 kids every day and know. Just know. Know that your "job" is to teach them History, or Math, or whatever... and at the same time, know that they don't get enough to eat, or that they don't have heat at home, or that they spend their evenings watching their parents beat the snot out of each other.
Teachers are accused of showing favoritism & participating in bullying. Let me tell you what I know about teachers. Teachers love kids. There is absolutely NO other reason to go into this profession! We don't make enough money to deal with the amount of politics and paperwork and parents and testing and evaluations and ..... (fill in the blank with 7,000 other things) to teach for the money. And summers off are nice, but even 12 weeks of vacation don't outweigh 40 weeks of really hard & exhausting work. Teachers are teachers because they care about kids. And even if I don't show it every minute of every day of my working life, I do. And that's why I keep coming to work, and teaching kids, and crying with kids, and laughing with kids, and answering emails and phone calls, and doing. this. thing!
As a teacher, let me tell you what teachers do. Let me tell you what I do.
1. I show up. Every day. Ready to fill young minds with a plethora of information that their parents have probably spent the night before telling them they don't need to know. I'm going to combat that, and teach it to them anyway!
2. I know their names. All of them. First and last. I can even spell them correctly! And I know a lot of your names. And I know pets names, and siblings names, and birthdays and favorite colors and favorite sports teams and bands. Not because I have to... because I get to.
3. I pay attention. I try to recognize when friendships change, and when someone doesn't seem to have any friends at all. I take notice of who eats lunch with whom, and who eats lunch at all and who doesn't, trying to recognize red flags in their behavior. I take notice of students who take food from others... are they bullying? or are they hungry? Are they stealing food or things or attention because they want to be mean, or are they stealing those things because they aren't getting them anywhere else?
4. I watch. I watch them in the hallway and in the cafeteria. Have you ever looked a crowd of people and tried to analyze what each of them is thinking/doing/feeling in that moment? It's not easy. For those people who accuse teachers of "allowing" bullying to go on... Go there. Be there. Stand for a moment in their shoes. As a mother, my eyes are on mine. As a teacher, my eyes are on them all. Who is hurting? Who is hiding that hurt with humor? Who is simply hiding? Who is trying to hurt others? Who is trying to hurt me? Who has just been shut out? Who has been shut out for so long that they're almost on the edge? Who is on that edge? Have you been there? Watching all. of. that? It's not easy.
(FYI - those things weren't in my educational training. I didn't go to school to learn how to do that.)
5. I communicate. With them, with you, with my co-workers. I answer no less than 50 emails a day, pertaining to 100 different subjects. I make phone calls to parents whose kids I'm concerned about. Concerned about a sudden lack of effort (which I notice). Concerned about a sudden change in their peer group or appearance (which I notice). Concerned about a relationship that has just started or ended (which I notice). And I do most of that communicating on my own time, after work hours are "over."
6. I set clear expectations and I hold every one of my students to them. I expect them all to succeed, because I believe that they can.
7. I believe in them. I truly believe that every kid who has or is or will sit in my classroom can be successful. Does "successful" look the same for everyone? No. Can everyone get there? Yes! And I choose to be a part of helping them believe that about themselves. Some are harder to convince than others. And for those kids, I do a little "extra" believing, because they don't do enough of it for themselves.
8. I parent. Not only do I actually parent my own 2 children. I parent 100 8th graders every day from 8-3. During those hours, when their parents are at their actual jobs, I fill in. When "my" kids are sad & crying, I talk with them, I ask what I can do, I even *gasp* HUG them. When they aren't acting safely, I correct their behavior. When they are being mean to one another, I arbitrate. When they're telling jokes & loving life, I love it with them.
9. I let them into my world... and I venture into theirs. I talk to them about my family... because some of them like to hear the crazy stories that come from my people. And some of them need to know that a happy family CAN exist. Even if it doesn't exist for them right now. I let them get to know my kids. And I get to know them. I take in their hurts and fears and joys and pains and worries... I can't count the number of nights I've laid awake, thinking about one of "my" kids and what they might be going through. They are in my world.
10. I pray. I pray for them and for you. I pray for your family and for the families that they will lead one day. I pray for them on days when I know they might be feeling anxious. I pray for them to celebrate victories in their lives. I pray for them even when I'm not "supposed" to... like when they're standing right there in front of me!
Oh, and #11. I teach them some things about History. I do my best to educate them, and assess what they have learned (or haven't) and record those assessment scores so that I can assign a "grade" to what we do every day.
And I know I'm not alone. In fact, none of those things make me unique, or cause me to stand out. Those things make me a Teacher. I'll admit, there are days when I think "Oh. My. Word. I did not know it was going to be this hard!" And some days, I do a little happy dance when the bell rings at 3:12! And some days, I skip into my classroom in the morning because I just can't wait for what they day will bring. But every single day, I know that I am in the greatest profession on the face of the planet! And there is not a single thing I'd rather do... ever.
Even on days when I see mean & hateful things posted on social media sites about my friends and my colleagues & my fellow teachers.
And especially on days when I hear from others how I've made an impact on ONE. That one makes it worth it.
I am a Teacher. And I am proud to be one.
