i recently finished reading "the thread that runs so true" by jesse stuart for a class i'm taking. really an easy read, very informative, and a book that reaches across the entire country and time even though it takes place in VERY rural, eastern KY during the 20s and 30s. apparently some things never have changed. teachers are underpaid, underappreciated, there's a lot of disagreement on how schools should be run, buildings are falling down, the budgets are busted, all that. but in spite of these things, you still have people who love what they do and faithfully show up to work without enough supplies, spending their own salaries to buy gifts, pencils, stickers, whatever. you have people who still can't afford their own houses (just like the teachers in "thread" who boarded in townspeoples' homes), can't afford insurance or a new car. but we still keep doing what we're doing. yes, attrition in teaching is BIG but apparently i'm a glutton for punishment and keep coming back! but they are the ones who realize this is not what they signed up for, or they realize they're never going to make the big bucks. i wish them well. i'll take what they leave behind because i love what i do that much.
somewhere in "thread" stuart says something along the lines that teaching is a noble profession and is the profession from which all other professions stem and it's true. just think if you'd never been to school. where would you be? of course the good teachers make a difference and a lot of times those good teachers just breed the next generation of hopefully good teachers. with that in mind, i didn't get to where i am without teachers... obviously.
1.) Mrs. Lohrman, 5th grade teacher. she read to us everyday (the only book i ever ordered from scholastic, i still have was "the little princess" that she read us); she was thoroughly impressed when i recited "jabberwocky" from memory (and still can!); and she helped me through my parents' divorce day after day when everyone was gone.
2.) Coach Troutman, high school government and current events teacher. he let me play devil's advocate and argue with him in class; he helped me through the first gulf war; he showed up to my sister's visitation when she died.
3.) Mr. Smith, freshman english teacher (the only yr. he ever taught it) and 2 years of French. if you're familiar with Robin Williams' character, the teacher, in the movie "dead poet society" then you will know mr. smith. he stood on his desk and yelled; he told stories about his cat; he told us about studying in England; and made me love the most obscure writings from the british romantic era. he tortured me relentlessly and made fun of me because he knew he could and i wouldn't take it to heart. i didn't take his AP class my senior year but instead took a class that taught me how to write 40 page research papers.
ultimately, while many teachers have come and gone, and the first 2 were big in my choice of profession, they all have attributes i want to emulate, mr. smith is who i really want to be when i grow up. not a short, skinny little man with crazy teeth, big glasses, and smokes, but a teacher who makes kids want to take their classes over and over. one who makes kids enjoy education and want to go on to become important things.
i am definitely not in teaching for the money and if you are, you're in it for the wrong reason! there's got to be more to it than all of this. why else would even retired teachers come back to teach? it easily just becomes a part of who and what you are. it's amazingly difficult to tear yourself away from this profession when you genuinely care and want to shape the future. i hope that one day i'll be one of those teachers that made a difference in a positive and exciting way. i don't know what my students will become, but unbelievably i had a hand in starting them off.
i am a teacher. i love what i do for a living. i can't imagine doing anything else.
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