Seriously, Who do you talk to when the stress of your teaching gig is driving you crazy? I know that when I was
teaching, it felt like a lonely place where there were not many people that I could trust to share with. And
there were very few opportunities to share with someone who had the possibility of knowing what I was going
through.
Teaching is one of the more demanding jobs one might have. Some days, everything goes smoothly, and it seems so pleasant. Other days can be very challenging filled with negative interactions, and challenging, somewhat dangerous situations.
Teachers may want to hear from other teachers and successful people in education who are accomplishing much in a variety of fields of endeavor. What do you want to see in terms of venues of communication and collaboration among teachers?
A School Is A Dangerous Place. What do you do when one of the learners you protect, on a given school day, current student, comes in with a weapon, attempting to do damage to other students, teachers, or staff? What do you do when one of your former students comes back with a weapon, determined to shoot and kill students, teachers, or staff? We discuss it here...
Have you ever felt that something needed to change, but then realized that you
were just one person? And, after all, what can one person do to improve the
situation, right?
But, what if you were talking about improving Educational outcomes. And, you
decided to teach to improve outcomes. Oh, yes, but you are only one person.
What can you possibly do to improve Education?
One thing that I had to consider as a Teacher, is that I was also a parent. I
needed to get good deals on many supplies for my family, as well as create and provide a suitable classroom environment for the many students that came through my classroom every day.
We used to say as children:
"Sticks and stones, may break my bones but names will never hurt me".; but in truth both the names and the stones hurt, and did damage. We live in a day, and a time, where both literal stones, and despicable names are being thrown around at each other, as if, we never learned childhood lessons of basic proper behavior.
Teachers are entering politics, and collectively bargaining for their own
livelihoods, putting skin in the game, putting shoe leather to the ground to make the change that we need today.
If you have tried for some time to make a go of it, teaching in adverse
circumstances, and now it is time to retire, or try something else, we
understand. The point is, that there are other jobs that will effectively
utilize your skillset, and don't require classroom time.
