I did a journey yesterday morning (with 3 gracious friends who dedicated 2 hours of their time to my well being), then went to Maria’s for breakfast, Buca’s for dinner, and a birthday party and ritual for a writer friend of mine. She turned 46.
After over 22 years of teaching, she decided to do the one thing she’s wanted to do since she was 8 years old – write. It felt good to be there for her. And to know we’re all in this together.
My friend told teaching horror stories of some of the things she is leaving behind: spitting, punching, death threats from parents, exhaustion, and disinterested superiors. Being a teacher in an inner city school can be a thankless job. Looking at funding these days, maybe teaching is a thankless job in any school.
I was reminded of the post Shawn did yesterday A Bright Spot on The Pissed Off Professor. Her tag line is One Teacher’s Mounting Frustration Over Educational Disinterest. I think my birthday friend would like Shawn’s blog.
I want to take a moment to thank all the teachers who have believed in me over the years. Mrs. Juarez, my 8th grade English teacher, is the reason I am a writer. I want to look her up the next time I head home. Mom, please see if she still lives up the street from us and, I wonder, do you have her phone number? I want to call her up and thank her.
In the meantime, I woke up with this crunchy spring haiku in my head. It’s not much but it came to me in a dream. So I thought I shouldn’t ignore it.
I am glad spring is here. And there are people who believe in me.
crunchy spring haiku
crunchy spring haiku
taps a rhythm through my brain
bees’ wings in the rain
Sunday, May 6th, 2007
redravine.wordpress.com 
http://pressposts.com/Art/crunchy-spring-haiku/
Submited post on PressPosts.com – “crunchy spring haiku”
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Interesting in that, on Litlove’s site, Tales from the Reading Room, she just wrote about what it is like to be ending her sabbatical for writing a book, and returning to the classroom.
She wrote movingly on what gratifies her most deeply about teaching, here:
http://litlove.wordpress.com/2007/05/05/the-great-imperative/
in the 4th paragraph.
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Nice site, to boot. Thanks for the pointer, ombudsben.
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I just skimmed the Pissed Off Professor site. Egads!
Teaching is a tough gig. Most of us teaching overseas have it relatively easy. It is a tight, close-knit community. We talk about exotic places as Bali, Puket, and Slovenia, like they were right next door. We have friends, colleagues, and contacts in all corners of the planet.
I taught public school for only 4 years. It was all I could take. The politics and back-stabbing were more than I could take. I quit the profession for 4 years to pursue something totally different.
7 of my 19 years as a teacher were out on the Navajo Indian Reservation. I had one terrible year, but the rest were good…especially the school I was at before coming overseas. I am still in contact with one of my students and try to see how she is doing when I am in the USA.
Last summer I was in that Navajo community and some of the people still remember me…”That beligana who rode the bicycle.” I hope I made a positive lasting impression on the students. My former student, Deanna, said I did. She says she runs into her old classmates every so often and she’ll mention my name and they all laugh and have something good to say.
I miss living in the USA, and someday I expect to return, but I don’t think I’d go back to teach, especially in a public school.
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Thanks, Ombudsmen, for the tip on Tales from the Reading Room. I also liked her post on On Simone de Beauvoir. My teacher turned writer friend also has many wonderful experiences to share about students and parents who appreciated her. But it seems at this time in her life, the rewards do not outweigh the gains. There is shadow and light to every story, every profession.
MM, thanks for sharing your teaching stories from both here and overseas. I think it’s good to point out public versus private schools. That could be a whole post in and of itself.
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I once heard the statistics of what percentage of children attend their neighborhood public school. It is very high, way more than I would have guessed. The average family either can’t afford a private education, or doesn’t want that–they believe in public education. As “No Child Left Behind” careens toward imploding, I hope our leaders consult the people in the trenches (teachers) to see what they need.
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My daughter’s fifth grade teacher is a wonderful woman. Bless her heart–the other day she held a session with parents of her students. It’s a public school. Parents of five students showed up for the meeting. We met for over an hour. We talked about the standards testing. The teacher was exasperated, frustrated. At times apologetic.
Dee just completed a project where she was to create a cut-out doll of a hero. She was to learn all about the meaning of heroes–do research on people who’ve made a difference. She decided to make her teacher her hero. She said probably no one else would think to do that and that her teacher would feel good to know she was a hero. (Except, no gray hair–it was done in brown even though the teacher is almost completely gray ;).
Anyway–teachers are awesome. Unsung heroes.
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ybonesy,
Wow–the teacher-as-hero thing is SO cool! Kudos to you for raising a child who’d pick her teacher.
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mimbresman,
I envy you your tour overseas. Had I not wasted the first decade of my adult, career-life trying to be Cagney or Lacey, I would most certainly have taught overseas. (I’d probably still be there now, and knowing how I am, it would be in a mud hut in a small village.)
I am (happily) stuck in good old Cali due to a family, a house in the woods, and a small farm of pets!
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ombudsben,
What a great site to point to. I was happy to read about her joy, and not at all surprised to find it came on the heels of a sabbatical. 🙂
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YIKES!
QM,
I forgot to rave about your poem. I feel about poetry like I do about painting: I so cannot make them happen that I am in awe of those who can.
And “crunchy spring”: that phrase alone is worth a prize.
Yummy yummy words
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Thanks, Shawn, for your kind words.
Sinclair, I agree with you. The people who are making policy decisions should be consulting with think tank groups of teachers to see what’s working and what’s not.
I just heard on NPR, interviews with kids after the test they had taken for NCLB. The kids were treating the tests like a joke, and “bubbling” the answers. The schools get graded on these tests and receive funding based on them. But the kids don’t understand why they are taking them (unless the teachers do a good job of educating them about working for the good of the whole – their school) nor do they care.
It’s scary to think about the differences between when I was in high school and today. I wonder if every generation feels that way?
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