Teachers--Let's Tell our Real Story

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.