I am a teacher. And I’m tired. Not tired in the way that we always hear
of teachers being tired--overworked, stressed, defeated. I’m tired of the
story we tell ourselves about teachers and teaching. We post blogs and share videos of overwhelmed teachers with
a heart of gold, share articles about why so many teachers are leaving the
profession, describe in detail all the challenges of our profession. They
are all true--trust me, I know. I
live and work with educators. We
are tired. But I want to challenge
us to something better. I think
it’s time to change the sob story.
Because, let’s be honest, it isn’t working.
We are still fighting for fair wages and smaller
class sizes and resources. Complaining about how much we work and how
unfair our demands are and how much we sacrifice our family and our free time
just isn’t getting us anywhere. Truthfully, my brothers and sisters,
almost everyone I know is also overworked, stressed, and defeated. My friends who work in health care, or
in corporate offices, or in social work agencies, or in graphic design agencies
are also struggling to pay their student loans and to deal with difficult
coworkers and to balance their family and personal lives. As Cherry
taught Pony Boy in the Outsiders--guys, “it’s rough all over”. Complaining louder isn’t changing
anything. Teachers have tried to
be the squeakiest wheel for years and we still get the shaft--low pay, low
respect, low resources to do our jobs.
Even more importantly, complaining about how
difficult things are and how overwhelmed we are demeans all the work we do
every day. Teaching is hard--that’s no lie. It is time tell the REAL story behind our work. That we do a difficult job with care and competence and we deserve to be proud. My friends who show up to work every day are damn good at
it! We are experts in our field,
experts in our content area, experts in social and emotional development,
experts in data review, experts in curriculum design, and experts in
collaboration. We are experts because it’s our job and we are supposed to
be.
We teach children that letters and sounds are
connected and that they form syllables and words. We teach children that
numbers have predictable patterns and relationships. We teach children that stories follow certain structures and
that all living things are interconnected and that ancient societies affect our
lives today. We teach those ideas to six-year-olds. It’s is our job, because we are
teachers.
We take complex skills like balancing chemical
equations and calculating rate of change and break them down into manageable
steps so that twelve-year-old students can master them. We take universal
concepts like the dehumanization of marginalized groups, or the development of
identity, or coming of age, or solving problems in society and we make those
concepts relevant to teenagers. It is our job, because we are teachers.
We take those steps and concepts and plan lessons
where every student is engaged in the task, communicate clearly the
expectations, collect evidence of student understanding, analyze the data with
our peers, and plan better lessons to teach the ones who need more help, or to
extend the learning of those who already understand. We analyze state and
national data to ensure that our teaching is making an impact. We hone in on individual students who
are struggling and we teach them creatively and responsively until they master
the skills. It is our job, because
we are teachers.
We collaborate with coaches and specialists, we attend workshops, we read professional books, and we watch webinars. We constantly work to refine and reform our craft. We seamlessly integrate technology that didn't exist when we were students, that didn't even exist last year. We support each other and challenge each other to do better when we know better. It is our job, because we are teachers.
We learn about diverse cultures, we make
connections with students who lack connections in their lives, we empower the
weak and we temper the wicked. We build communities of life-long
learners, who care for each other, and support each other. We collaborate with teams of people
(parents, advocates, social workers, psychologists, specialist, and
administrators) to ensure that every student receives the free and appropriate
education that he or she deserves. Sometimes, we may not even like some
of those people, but we do it because they are part of our team and they matter
in our students’ lives. It is our
job, because we are teachers.
We are overworked and underpaid. Let’s
stop telling stories of overwhelmed, stressed, and defeated teachers.
Let’s start celebrating effective, competent, and empowered teachers. I know we are there because I work with
them every day. Imagine if someone in power finally told us, “I know your
job is tough and demanding. That’s
why we need someone as powerful as you to do it. And we are going to pay
you a fair wage for all of your expertise and knowledge.” We do a vital service to
society and we deserve to celebrate that. We deserve to expect fair
compensation and resources because we are kick-ass makers of positive
change. My friends, let’s tell
THAT story.
