I Teach Real People

 

 

I teach real people

Real, live, living, breathing, young human people

I’m tired of the irrelevant expectations

I’m tired of trying to adapt to nonsense I don’t always believe in

Yes, I take charge at times

I close my door and teach

Because I know full well following the rules doesn’t always get the job done

I’m tired of the focus on progress monitoring

While acknowledging it has its place

But it isn’t everything!

I’m tired of people not in the classroom instantly forgetting what it is like

To deal with too many immature students in one room

And the class becomes a constant barrage of who did what to whom

Is it too much to ask that the curriculum acknowledges who they are?

Is it too much to ask to have parental support and not just be told

Deal with it

Is it too much to ask that our society support what we do in public ed?

Doesn’t its success benefit us all?

Yes, I am ranting, borne from a place where I feel like an outlier

For wanting to reach my learners, bring out the best in them.

When too many adults don’t prioritize what they need

How should a preteen know or believe in that mission

When everything they experience tells them otherwise?

They can’t see how it matters.

But it matters.

Always did.

Always will.