This past week I have survived the first week of fourth
grade, sixth grade, tenth grade and my own work at high school. My kids did great and while the new middle
schooler had a tough week, she left on Friday triumphant having finally
conquered her locker. Whew! The boy loves going to his after-school care;
so much so that he is not happy to see me when I get there to pick him up. This should make me feel good, but it does
make me a little mad when I have sat in traffic for an hour trying to get to him.
I have gleaned a lot of knowledge this first week working
among so many teenagers. First, they are
not as clean-smelling as I hoped kids of this age would be. We have two rooms off of the library and when
classes are held in there, it smells like PE class after everyone leaves. I expect this from grade school kids who are
totally clueless that the smell they smell is indeed themselves, but it
surprised me at high school. Second, when
over 2000 kids attend a school, there is not enough room for them all to eat
lunch in the cafeteria. Even with two
lunch periods, kids spill into the hallways, the grounds outside, seniors leave
campus and hundreds of kids make their way into the library. We ask that those who are going to eat to
eat up front. Half of the kids say yes
ma’am, sit where we ask them to and smile pleasantly. I LOVE these kids. The the other half is sneaking food in
every time they think I am not looking.
I am always looking and it is a game of “how stupid is the library staff
vs. fast-chewing teens” for the next 30 minutes. Third, pep rallies are not as fun as I
remember. Our student population is
large, so they have two pep rallies instead of just one. There was a dance routine, a cheer routine,
the football captains murmured something into a microphone, a school fight song
and then everyone was ushered out. Eh. Fourth, having school spirit means you can
wear jeans and sneakers on game days. I just can’t buy enough spirit wear!
However, the most important thing I have learned this week
comes from the teachers. I was hired
with about twenty new teachers this year and when they were introduced during
the first staff meeting, it was a like a Who’s Who of American Teachers. They are credentialed in a million things, they have been working
in urban locations with struggling schools, they just flew in from overseas, or
they are going to be teaching multiple subjects and coaching. This is not just the new teachers though, it
is all the teachers. Very rarely does a
teacher just teach one subject. They are
teaching Math and heading up the Robotics Department, or they teach English and
leading the after school tutoring program or they are splitting time between
multiple schools. Impressed yet? I was,
but it goes on. They are there early or
late or skip their lunch period to tutor or even just be available for kids who
need help. They are encouraging kids who
don’t get encouragement at home and they are cutting through collegiate tape
for those who do. They are taking kids
who won’t go on to college and helping them to identify careers and they are
taking special needs kids and teaching them life skills. It is all very humbling.
This week has opened my eyes to what being a teacher really
means. They are listening when other
adults are not and they are intervening when kids need help. People always comment on how teachers have it
easy with their holidays and their summer vacations. I think they need those in order to save
their sanity and come back to do it again next year. And for those of you who think that your
taxes pay teacher’s salaries, that is inane.
Your taxes pay your taxes and teachers pay taxes too, so they could say
that they are actually funding their own salaries as well. And yes, teachers do make good money their
first year out of college, but what about ten years later when they are raising
a family and have had maybe a 1% increase those past ten years? Not so much right?
My kids have had decent teachers, good teachers and teachers
I would walk across coals for if they asked me because they made such a
difference in my kids’ lives. They have
also had teachers who were going through a divorce and distracted, teachers who
maybe could have retired a few years ago and teachers who got into teaching without
realizing it wasn’t for them. Poor Bill
had more bad teachers than good teachers.
I have railed against certain teachers and how I think they have failed
my children without stopping to just appreciate that these teachers were there
during the day when I wasn’t. Perhaps
their teaching style did not suit my child, but they took care of them, made
sure they were where they were supposed to be and expected things of them. I didn’t care to remember that they were doing all of
this while caring for more kids than their room truly holds and state issued
testing breathing down their necks.
I would like to hope that every teacher my kids get will
be a great one, but I know that they won’t all be. However, even if they are not, I will try to
keep in mind all that they do in a day and respect them for that alone and
teach my kids to do the same.
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