Warning: this is going to be a bit ranty.
Dear Everyone,
I am a teacher. Maybe you have seen in the news lately that many fellow educators across the nation are protesting. One item on the protest list is a living wage. Ya know, pay us what we are actually worth. Treat us like the professionals that we are – that would be another item on the list. And this is where I’m going to focus: treat me like a professional. Stop allowing merchants to peddle their product during my workday.
To the merchants – be they insurance, savings plans, ‘bookman’, or whoever – STOP PEDDLING YOUR PRODUCTS TO ME! Now, some of them I can choose to ignore. If I don’t want the cutesy items the ‘bookman’ is selling I don’t buy it. If the insurance man is in my lounge, I don’t have to engage in conversations with him. However, I ask do you go to doctors’ offices and ask to sit in their break room to sell life insurance? Do you go to other local businesses to talk about the great supplemental insurance you can provide? Look, I get it. You need to make a living. You share your knowledge with us and that’s fine, but there must be a better way than exploiting a teacher’s kind nature.
To the districts – STOP ALLOWING THESE PEOPLE TO PEDDLE THEIR PRODUCT ON ME DURING SCHOOL HOURS! This was never more apparent than this past week. Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. For the most part, it was awesome! Our PTO treated us like RockStars! Thank you, PTO! Then there was our mandatory staff meeting. The one with an insurance person trying to sell me supplemental insurance. Yes, you read that right, during Teacher Appreciation Week I had a MANDATORY sales pitch to attend. Really? Okay, there was one moment worth remembering the sales pitch. That moment where the person openly stated that he/she has your back. If your doctor won’t write that doctor’s note for your insurance, no problem “I will…”.
Yeah, I’m still a little irked by the whole situation. But knowing that someone is willing to write fake doctor’s notes for me made it a little bit better.
The end of the school year is upon us. Today someone pointed out that we only have four more weeks of school. That’s not a lot of time. I know many teachers, and students, are in full ‘countdown mode’. Meaning, they are counting down the days until summer. I can’t fault them. The idea of a long vacation sounds wonderful. Time to do all the things that I’ve been putting off: steam cleaning the carpets, revamping lessons, relaxing, training ‘bat dog’ (aka Goldilocks, the 4-month-old puppy). Except, I don’t countdown. I used to, but I don’t anymore.
Yes, I realize I’m waxing on about L and here’s why. L has run our school’s daily news all year – which is a news broadcast. She films, edits, and most recently, been in front of the camera. When I’m having issues with a computer/tablet she’s the first person I consult and she usually has the solution. She uses her phone as if it were a mini computer: downloading Google Classroom, working on assignments at home, using Raz-Kids, and other programs to help her succeed. She has helped her family to download and set up educational apps (on their phones) to help them be connected to Class Dojo and learn a new language. She ‘texts’ me via Google Hangouts (her school account) to ask school-related questions or just tell me that she’ll be out the next day.
My students constantly amaze me. They come up with great ideas and are innovators in their own right. Not only do I enjoy hearing their thoughts and ideas, often times we implement them in our classroom. I also feel fortunate enough that my students feel comfortable enough to share their ideas with me; knowing they will be taken seriously and not ridiculed.
This is a complex issue with many moving parts. The solution will have to be multifaceted in order to address the many components that make up this issue. Simply arming teachers (dumb idea, I’m hired to educate let me do my job) or placing law enforcement in schools isn’t the answer. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the perpetuation of the school to prison pipeline – locked & fenced campuses with armed guards.
Stop and listen to one another. This is something we have been taught since we were children. Yet, in this age of instant communication, I have noticed that we talk more and listen less. Listening, to me, means to take a moment to process what the other person has said or written. We seem to wait politely until there is a break so that we can have our say. We’re doing it wrong.
This is one question I try not to ask. This and “Did you have a good break?” When dealing with many students from differing backgrounds, it’s easy to forget that not everyone has a ‘good break’. It’s a natural question for many of us to ask. We come back not really ready to be back. I mean, we all love to sleep in and get things done around the house or hang with family/friends or go on trips. But for many students coming back to school is a welcome break from their home lives. And for that reason, I no longer ask students these questions.
Nowa Techie 