Teaching: A study in contrasts

I love being a teacher. There are so many wonderful things about this job. Usually this is where people laugh and say..."Yea, you never work weekends, you get summers and all major holidays off. Of course you love your job! What's not to love about your job?" Mostly I agree with all those people who say that.

Here's what I do love: I love my students and each class is different every year. All those personalities combine in a magical way. Sometimes that magic tends to be a bit black or maybe dark gray, but it can be magical. I love when the lights go on and they understand some new concept I've taught or we read a truly wonderful book that makes us laugh or cry together. I love discovering each of my students' strengths and cry sometimes over their weaknesses. I love being part of a classroom of learners. I love when we create poetry or art that is fabulous. I especially love when I find some new aspect of one of my students: perhaps they are the poorest reader in the class, but the art they create is beautiful. I do love not working weekends or holidays or during the summer, although summer is getting shorter and shorter as they extend the school year. I love being with my own children. Except for a few days here and there when they aren't in school, neither am I.

Here's what I don't love though.... I hate having to make CPS reports. I hate spending 30 minutes filling out the form and then spending 30 more minutes on the phone, recounting exactly what I put on the form, only to have them never to investigate what I report or find that the allegations of abuse, neglect, etc are unfounded because they waited too long to come out to see the bruises on the child's body. I hate the standardized testing. I can almost see these people in rooms maniacally rubbing their hands together cackling about how to fool 7 and 8 year olds. Approximately 6 hours of testing is far too much for children, even spreading it out over a six day period is insane. Another thing I hate having to deal with a system called, "No Child Left Behind". How can a child that has had severe brain trauma either at birth or born with some sort of problem be expected to pass a test so insanely hard that most "normal" kids struggle with.

So being a teacher isn't all its cracked up to be. There are wonderful aspects to this job, and like all jobs frustrating ones too.