It's Not Easy

When I first started this blog, I vowed it would not be a place for me to vent and whine about my job. I wanted it to be a place where I could write down my thoughts about life and keep things generally light-hearted. However, I also want this blog to be "real". Not some sunshine, butterflies and rainbows fantasy land. If this blog is about real life, then sometimes there will trials and tribulations to write about. We do live in a fallen world after all.

With that being said, my job as a teacher has gotten more and more stressful. The crushing tension I feel on a daily basis has grown exponentially over the last few years. I won't go into detail. It would only raise my blood pressure and probably surprise you at the state of public education in the 21st century. Suffice it to say this year alone I have broken up innumerable fist fights, heard language that would only be found in X rated movies, and had a student kick desks and chairs over and literally throw two chairs across my classroom. I have witnessed unadulterated cruelty from some children toward other children. I deal with blatant disrespect and a general disdain for education on an hourly basis. There really is no break from it.

As a teacher I've heard from others how easy I must have it. Teachers get all weekends and holidays off. We get snow days off. We get three months off in the summer. We are merely glorified babysitters. We give children assignments and then get to drink coffee and read the newspaper as they dutifully and quietly complete those assignments (Um, yeah. Right!). And of course that famous quote that makes me cringe every time... "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach". That one really hurts. Teaching is hard. Really hard. Every day I walk through the schoolhouse door I can count on being an instructor, counselor, mediator, nurse, father figure, nurturer, comforter, disciplinarian, friend, referee, judge, repair man, encourager, and lots of other roles that aren't coming to mind at the moment. I guess my point is teachers are much more than task masters who hand out assignments and homework. So many of my students come from non traditional or even broken homes that teaching the curriculum isn't always a reality. The aforementioned roles sometimes take priority over reading, writing and arithmetic. I come home every evening exhausted. I probably won't ever see 99% of the impact I'm having on these kids, but maybe, just maybe I'm making a difference with some of them.