I found the above article today while I was doing my usual reading during my prep period. Now most wonder why I am not grading, or being "productive," during my prep but the fact is I am. I catch up on important world news, issues in education, and other things that can be used in the classroom. So there....
The article has to do with a teacher in Pennsylvania who ironically started a blog and in some of her posts her frustration with students and education in general boiled over. As a result she has been suspended from her job and is facing possible termination. My only answer to all of this is....
WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM US?!?! I mean come on, if the rest of the world only knew what we put up with on a daily basis, yet still put up with societies rambling about how our poor education standing is OUR fault. Oh that is right it's not like I have a real job I am just a teacher. I have been told this on many occasions, and it takes every ounce of energy not to pull a Senator Preston Brooks on them (history joke). The fact is I get to school every morning by at least 7 in the morning, and I don't leave until 5 in the evening. When baseball starts it will be around 6 or 7 when I get home. For those of you people with real jobs that is 10 to 12 hour days 5 days a week. That doesn't count the work I do when I get home, I mean why the hell do you think I am starting a blog? A way to relieve stress and relax, though I am really fired up right now.
Now for the rest of my day. When I am at school I am a teacher, a counselor, and a principal. I am suppose to make sure kids don't bully, cuss, dress inappropriately, talk about inappropriate things, sell inappropriate things, and basically make sure they act like decent human beings. The amount of rules that are in need of being enforced are endless, and the list keeps growing as kids inability to act in a way that befits school grows as well. I have heard things and seen things that would tear your heart out. I won't discuss any of them for obvious reasons but you get the point. Oh by the way I have to teach 4 sections of world history, 1 section of advanced placement american history, and 1 section of sociology at the same time. The fact that they are ill-prepared for my class in just about every way is another problem, but a topic for another blog.
This year I coached two sports I will concentrate on the one I am about to coach, baseball. This means every day after school I have to hurry up and go get dressed then rush down to the baseball field for a hour and a half practice. I am head JV baseball coach with no assistant, should be awesome. On away game nights I probably won't be home until 9 or 10 o'clock at which point I can work on things for my classes. Dealing with parents is the funnest part. The same parents who are so interested in sports are the same ones who won't come to a single meeting when it comes to what we teach in school.
During all this I am also trying to further my education. Makes sense for a teacher to do this right? I mean you would want your kids teacher to be a life long learner. Ironically, at this point in my career it would make more financial sense to keep coaching than to go back to school. I know it is short-sighted but it is hard not to be.
Now for the cherry on top. Go ahead and read any newspaper about what we need to change in education and it will be dedicated to teachers. "We need to evaluate them more, we need to get rid of tenure so we can get rid of bad teachers, if only we had better teachers our kids would be doing better. We already don't pay them much, lets start cutting their retirement too, I mean it's not like they have real jobs." Hey you know what, you can shove it up your ass. Ever think of looking in the mirror? Education is pretty low on our societies priority list.
Lets go back to this teacher in Pennsylvania. So she uses a blog to vent her frustration, big deal. Probably not the best idea, but when you are put in a position where whatever you is under scrutiny you feel like a guinea pig in a cage with no place to let it out. The biggest problem is they want to just get rid of her instead of I don't know, listening to what she has to say. Teachers are the ones in the classrooms, we are the ones who face the problems day in and day out. We are the ones who are on the front lines, but when we talk about it we are ignored. Yeah sure there are bad teachers out there. Ever think that maybe they were beaten down to the point of not caring? I am in my third year teaching, and every year my idealism is torn just a little bit more. The majority of teachers who quit do so within the first five years. Either you keep your innocence and idealism and get out, or you stay on and turn into a bitter teacher who works for the paycheck.
Whats the moral of the story? If you want to change education for the better shut up and listen to what we have to say, you might be surprised.
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