In the summer of 2006, while attending the Alaska State Writer's Consortium, I was introduced to a wonderful teacher and poet, Taylor Mali, via his poem What Teacher's Make. We were then asked to shadow his poem, come up with our own version, or write something else in the same vein. You can find the original poem at his website, www.taylormali.com. While I shadowed his poem, it nagged at me, haven't we gotten beyond this nit-picky attitude?
I am so tired of hearing from well-meaning friends and family..."I wish I had summers off." or the ever popular, "I wish I got to leave work at 3:00." They truly have no idea what it takes to be a teacher. I spend part of every summer taking classes, attending workshops or other education related conferences. I haven't taken a summer "off" since I started teaching full time in 2000. It takes commitment, perseverance, and attitude. You wonder why so many new teachers leave in the first five years? Here are some of my thoughts on the topic.
Teachers burn out faster than other professionals. How many other professions require you to spend your summers and breaks taking classes to maintain your credentials? How many of those jobs pay more than a teacher's salary? How many professionals are there, who have a BA or MA (even a PhD), and yet continue to take college courses for credit because they want to learn more about how to do their job, to the best of their ability, and stay current of the newest research? How many of them would listen patiently while a parent complained about how you do your job? I don't know that many.
It takes commitment to be this motivated to make sure our students get the best that we can give them. I go to school an hour before school starts, 7:30 am, I stay at school until 3:30 or 4:00 most days. Then I take a satchel of work home with me to grade and record; sometimes I work on grading until 7 at night, sometimes later, it depends on the assignment. Then I spend an hour or more each evening modifying my lessons to address the areas that they need to review/learn. Another hour a week is spent contacting parents, sometimes more, again it depends on what is going on at school. Other days I stay at school until 6 or 7 pm to attend programs, help with projects, monitor students in an extra-curricular capacity or work with other teachers. If you're looking for a 40 hour week, you won't find it here.
It takes perseverance to be a teacher. You must be willing to stick to your ideals when others don't believe it can be done. You must be willing to offer a student as many attempts as they need to get the story right before they turn it in and praise every attempt. You must be willing to seek out others for guidance when your ideas don't succeed, we never admit defeat, it's not in our vocabulary. Your child will learn because I won't give up, I will find a way for them to be successful. I will not give up on my students, if they fail it is because they gave up. I teach them that they can do anything that they set their minds to, and they come back years later and tell me that I made a difference. How cool is that?
It takes attitude to be a teacher. I don't mean just any attitude, I mean attitude! I believe that children need structure in their lives and I teach them how to follow that structure. I believe that children need to know that the world isn't always structured and they need to be able to follow my structure even when they aren't in my room. What is my structure? R*E*S*P*E*C*T If you treat them with respect, expect them to be respectful, they will be respectful...and it will carry over into other areas, outside of school. I will forever remember the day that I walked up behind one of my students at the county fair just in time to hear her ranting about someone. Her language was poor to say the least. I didn't say anything, I just waited in line, suddenly she realized that her friends were no longer listening. She turned around, spotted me, and turned beet red. "I'm sorry. Mrs. C!" I accepted her apology and the line moved on. At school the following week, she again apologized. I just smiled and asked her if she were embarrassed about her language why use it? I doubt that it was a life altering conversation but I found it very interesting. You see teaching isn't just about books!
So why do I teach? Because I love the kids, I love learning, and by choosing to teach I get to do both. It's true I won't know how much they've truly learned until long after they've left my little room...but I hope, no...I know, I make a difference.
I am so tired of hearing from well-meaning friends and family..."I wish I had summers off." or the ever popular, "I wish I got to leave work at 3:00." They truly have no idea what it takes to be a teacher. I spend part of every summer taking classes, attending workshops or other education related conferences. I haven't taken a summer "off" since I started teaching full time in 2000. It takes commitment, perseverance, and attitude. You wonder why so many new teachers leave in the first five years? Here are some of my thoughts on the topic.
Teachers burn out faster than other professionals. How many other professions require you to spend your summers and breaks taking classes to maintain your credentials? How many of those jobs pay more than a teacher's salary? How many professionals are there, who have a BA or MA (even a PhD), and yet continue to take college courses for credit because they want to learn more about how to do their job, to the best of their ability, and stay current of the newest research? How many of them would listen patiently while a parent complained about how you do your job? I don't know that many.
It takes commitment to be this motivated to make sure our students get the best that we can give them. I go to school an hour before school starts, 7:30 am, I stay at school until 3:30 or 4:00 most days. Then I take a satchel of work home with me to grade and record; sometimes I work on grading until 7 at night, sometimes later, it depends on the assignment. Then I spend an hour or more each evening modifying my lessons to address the areas that they need to review/learn. Another hour a week is spent contacting parents, sometimes more, again it depends on what is going on at school. Other days I stay at school until 6 or 7 pm to attend programs, help with projects, monitor students in an extra-curricular capacity or work with other teachers. If you're looking for a 40 hour week, you won't find it here.
It takes perseverance to be a teacher. You must be willing to stick to your ideals when others don't believe it can be done. You must be willing to offer a student as many attempts as they need to get the story right before they turn it in and praise every attempt. You must be willing to seek out others for guidance when your ideas don't succeed, we never admit defeat, it's not in our vocabulary. Your child will learn because I won't give up, I will find a way for them to be successful. I will not give up on my students, if they fail it is because they gave up. I teach them that they can do anything that they set their minds to, and they come back years later and tell me that I made a difference. How cool is that?
It takes attitude to be a teacher. I don't mean just any attitude, I mean attitude! I believe that children need structure in their lives and I teach them how to follow that structure. I believe that children need to know that the world isn't always structured and they need to be able to follow my structure even when they aren't in my room. What is my structure? R*E*S*P*E*C*T If you treat them with respect, expect them to be respectful, they will be respectful...and it will carry over into other areas, outside of school. I will forever remember the day that I walked up behind one of my students at the county fair just in time to hear her ranting about someone. Her language was poor to say the least. I didn't say anything, I just waited in line, suddenly she realized that her friends were no longer listening. She turned around, spotted me, and turned beet red. "I'm sorry. Mrs. C!" I accepted her apology and the line moved on. At school the following week, she again apologized. I just smiled and asked her if she were embarrassed about her language why use it? I doubt that it was a life altering conversation but I found it very interesting. You see teaching isn't just about books!
So why do I teach? Because I love the kids, I love learning, and by choosing to teach I get to do both. It's true I won't know how much they've truly learned until long after they've left my little room...but I hope, no...I know, I make a difference.
