Today's Affirmation

 

"Today, I appreciate all of those teachers who have given me the opportunity to become the person I am today."

Soon, very soon, where I live, it is today, teachers and students will return to the classroom for another season of teaching and learning.

So many people that I meet ask me what I do.  I teach children.  Most people either (a) ask me what I teach and when I tell them, they say they weren't very subject at my subject-English, or (b) they shake their heads and say, "Oh, I'm sorry."

Being a teacher is a special job.  No one goes into teaching because they have no skills; people go into teaching because they have a genuine passion for the subject they teach.  They go into teaching because they have a desire to pass on all of the knowledge they have accumulated to others, and what a better audience than a group of students to whom they are committed.  They have a dedication to not only being the passer on of knowledge, but the role model, the mentor, the guide, maybe even the only responsible adult in the child's life.

This is Lightwork.  And yes, it is difficult.  It is difficult for several reasons.  (1) It requires skill to balance all of the different personalities that walk into the classroom.  Some teachers, like elementary school teachers, may only have 25-35 students in one day, but middle and high school teachers (I am a high school teacher) have anywhere from 125+.  (Last year I had 131.)  That is a lot of people to interact with within a small space and in a short time.

These students come in each with a history of their own, they come in with emotional or mental or behavioral baggage that the teacher is expected to manage and overcome in order to get the student to master the lessons.

These students come in with different cultural traditions and belief systems.  A teacher must put aside her own traditions and beliefs and be unbiased.  She must treat all students fairly.

These students come in, some of them, hungry, sleepy, cranky, afraid, insecure, hostile, angry, resentful, rebellious......The teacher must break through each of these barriers in order to do her job. 

These students come in with either high expectations or no expectations at all.  It is up to the teacher to create an expectation for each student and then help the student achieve it.

How many teachers do I know who keep snacks in their desks, and if a kid is hungry, hands them a package of crackers.  How many teachers do I know who has taken a kid outside the classroom to talk to him about his behavior only to have the student burst into tears and say that his parents are going through a divorce and fought all night and he couldn't sleep and he is exhausted and he can't think straight and that's why he grades have dropped and that is why he was acting out.

 How many teachers do I know who have to stop the lesson periodically to say a silent prayer for patience because her resources have been tapped out.  How many teachers do I know who know what's best for her students, but the district in which she teachers says she must enact certain "silly" mandates that make no sense at all, and they are not necessarily the best mandates for kids.  But despite all these odds, teachers teach them well nonetheless.

And here is a secret:  Not everyone can be a teacher and not all teachers are true teachers.  Sure, anyone with proper training can learn to run a class, can learn a curriculum and pass it on.  BUT, a REAL teacher is born a teacher.  She has always wanted to be a teacher, has always been a teacher, will always be a teacher until the day she retires.  These teachers are rare, but they do exist, and if a student is lucky enough to have one of these blessed teachers, then he is indeed, lucky.

So, dear friends, don't look down on us.  Don't feel sorry for us.  Don't criticize us.  Support us.  We are teaching and guiding your children into their futures.  We give them what they need to have careers better than ours.  Acknowledge the hard work we do and the hours we spend preparing and grading and planning, so that your child can have the best possible experience.  Respect us for our desire to help children and for our knowledge and wisdom.

The next time you hear a person say she/he is a teacher, just shake her/his hand, and say, "Thank you."

In Love and Light-always,
Robin