Those who can't do, teach.
When I declared Elementary Education as my major it was at the very end of my sophomore year but it had taken me a lot to get there. In high school I'd gone through wanting to be a marine biologist, a pastry chef, to wanting to do something with the FBI. I entered college as a Criminal Justice major. At the end of my first semester I transferred college and went undecided. For the next 3 semesters I was going to major in biology, sociology, american studies before I got struck by idea lightening and it all was crystal clear. Teach. I was going to be a teacher and I had such passion for it and loved everything that had to do with training to become one. And I thought I was that exact phrase I started this blog post with. I tried and couldn't complete so many other things that I got relegated to teach but I was going to embrace it and those next 2 years I truly felt like I was home. Then I graduated and it was time for me to step out into that teaching world all by myself. The very first thing I realized in my first year of teaching was that phrase I wrote first in this post was completely wrong. In order to be a teacher you had to be someone who can do everything. Just because the school day ended doesn't mean your day ends and just because there is no school day doesn't mean you have a day off. I've gone into school in the summer, on weekends and even spring break. I've come home 90% of my nights with another 5-6 hours of work to do. No other profession I know pours as much of their own money back into their job than teachers do. You believe I have a summer vacation and holidays off. My summer vacation - if I'm not in workshops my school has for me then I'm doing stuff on my own. I'm constantly looking for new things for my classroom or to do in my classroom. I put my heart into my teaching. I have Cupcake - she's my child that I actually gave birth too. However, every year when I have a class they are my children too and I care for and love them as well. I put not only my heart but my blood, sweat and tears into teaching, into my school and most importantly into my students. And I know of thousands, if not millions of other teachers anywhere not only in this country but also the world who do the same thing.
However, that is the side the world doesn't wish to see or comment on. I'm in a profession where I am constantly the bad guy. If one teacher is in violation of something and it makes the news then you make us all in violation of something. I'm not saying every teacher is amazingly fantastic but don't assume because you come across one that is less than stellar that is how we all are. It takes amazing strength to be a teacher because the deck is constantly stacked against us. Little by little the autonomy teachers used to have has been stripped away. You think teachers have a say in what they teach, how they teach it? No, everything is decided by someone else and passed down to us. You don't think we want kids to play? You don't think we want to make it fun? Of course we do! If you think otherwise than you really have less of a clue than when I started this blog post. No, we are told we have to give this test in March/April and your students have to do this well on it and there is no time for anything else. Not only that, you are constantly being questioned by parents and administrators about the things you do in your classroom. The number of social media posts or articles on websites I've read about parents complaining about something a teacher did. No matter who is at fault or what happened, it's always the teachers fault. Yet, no one cares about the actual person a teacher is. How many times I've tried to reach a parent during the day about situation at school and couldn't? More than I can count. How many times that a parent's gotten angry at me because I didn't get back in 10 minutes when it's not even school hours anymore and I'm at home or it's the weekend? More than I can count. I'm a teacher, yes, but I'm also a person with a life like you. I have a child and pets and other commitments and emergencies pop up in my life too. So how do I not count as an actual person? I have relatives and they too also pass away. My second day teaching I had to leave half day because my grandmother was dying in a hospital in another state. Yet those never seem to matter. We live in a profession where no matter how great something we do is, someone will still have a problem with it and we'll still get called into a conference. I know in life we won't ever make everyone happy but we don't even get the moment to bask in accomplishment. The latest viral teacher post going around is a dad who is upset that a kid got a stamp about needing lunch money on his arm. And again, we are bad. I know exactly why it's being used - the little papers that say it don't get home or if they do they don't get to parents or they get pushed to the side for later and then forgotten. Instead of going and talking to the school, the dad went straight to media. We, as the American public, do love our drama but it's always at the expense of people who work hard. Teachers constantly have to keep doing more and being better to keep their certification, they take workshops, classes and get an advanced degree. Being a teacher is constantly an uphill battle. Yet, we still come back each morning, each school year because we are going to get through to our students and we are going to make them better. Instead of criticizing a teacher or assuming you know how to do their job and attacking them for it take a moment and think of all they do. The teachers I know are selfless, hardworking people who want to put good in the world. Yet the world only gives bad back to them. Don't assume because you read a story or see something you don't like that all teachers are like that. That's all I'm hearing in the news lately is to not judge all by the actions of one, yet still I see teachers still being the bad guy.
If you are a teacher and you are reading this, you are amazing. It doesn't always feel like that, I know most of the time it doesn't. You have strength to keep giving your entire being to your students because everything we do is always for our students.
If you are not a teacher and you are reading this, do something nice for a teacher. It doesn't have to be big - in fact, we teachers love small, thoughtful gestures.
Those who teach, have superpowers.
