Join us in the Slice of Life story challenge. Every day for the month of March, bloggers all over the globe are writing their slices and sharing them on the Two Writing Teachers blog.
Today is the last day of the Slice of Life Challenge. I did not write every day this year. I missed two days because I was feeling sick and just didn’t have it in me. The end of the challenge made me start reflecting a little bit about my chosen profession. Being on Spring Break makes it easier to sit back and really reflect.
I have been teaching for fifteen years now. It hasn’t gotten any easier. In fact, it has gotten much harder. There is more paperwork to do. There are more expectations. I am expected to give up more of myself and my time off in order to complete the work that I am supposed to do. I am always facing down the most ridiculous to-do list. I never am able to get my day in the classroom to go exactly right. There is always something that I have not yet finished or something I want to improve. Yet, I would not choose to do anything other than this.
Lately, especially in the last few years in Wisconsin, teachers have been discontent. There are more people than ever talking about leaving the profession completely. There are so many people, at least in my school, who are so negative about the job and the work that needs to be done. I understand this sentiment to some extent, but I do not share the negativity about our chosen profession.
Every single school day I get the chance to give my students a safe place. I get the chance to wake up their curiosity and ignite their passion for a subject. I get the chance to read to them and with them and to talk about characters and situations and to celebrate when they finish books. I get the chance to be told the ins and outs of their lives outside of school. I get to help these kids be good friends to one another. I get the chance to show these children how to create good content and how to be good digital citizens. I get to show them how amazing it feels to solve a really tough problem and how awesome math can be. I get to laugh and be silly. I get to talk and to listen. I get to teach and encourage and love these kiddos. And I would not trade it for anything.
All through my teaching years I feel I have been mostly lucky in my colleagues who are positive. I would suggest that if you can, just stay away, find those who are positive, and focus on the wonderful things you just wrote about that happens with the students. That’s the priority, and the joy, too. Thanks for sharing what’s going on with you, Andrea. See you in other ways on the blog!