Got worked up today at a question posted by an educational contact on Linkedin:
Would you recommend teaching profession to your own child?
1/18/15
Yes, most of us teachers are idealists. We want to help make the entire world a better place, and to enable
our children to craft in ways that fit their own eras. And all those fervent
hopes are tied down, like the giant Gulliver, with countless restrictions. Yes, order and standards are in line with our
hopes, but so much more wiggle room is needed.
Each child, each classroom dynamic is unique. Each unique teacher needs to meet that individual
and that group where they are in order to bring them forward. Allow us some freedom as we practice the art
and craft of teaching.
It's six months since I reluctantly took early retirement
incentive. Still having anxiety
nightmares... last night school was a giant compound, and I couldn't find my
classroom... in a panic to get to the kids!
My dad told me NOT to become a teacher; he was a junior high teacher who
escaped by becoming a college librarian.
I heeded him in my 20s, then gave in and became teacher in my 30s. The draw for many teacher-aspirants is the
image of knowing/enriching young people and helping them become their best
selves. Unfortunately, increasingly in public schools I've found classroom
teaching/student contact time is perhaps 50 percent of the equation. And the rest is done on the teacher's own
time and dime. How I miss the days when
I had 20-25 third graders AND a 3-hour-daily professional aide. That enabled me to meet individual student
needs ranging from academic remediation to acceleration, and to work more
effectively with the children's emotional and social needs. I now teach public speaking to children
privately, and it is so gratifying personally and professionally. Still craving student contact, I'll be
substitute teaching as well. None of
this path leads to financial security.
Yet life is more than that.
Border Voices 17: What We Dreamed Of by Jack Webb
