2014 - teaching year 24 begins...
As our Christmas break winds down, I am preparing myself for the inevitable return to a 5:30 am wake up time, 30 minute commute, 140 students, creative lessons to prepare, meetings to attend, parents to call, assessments to develop, papers to grade and a teaching day that really does not end at 2:25 like people believe.
Can I remember all the acronyms? PLC, SBA, NCLB, ACT, SAT, SIG, PED, EOC... Do I even want to? Not really.
So, just why am I doing this? It has been 23 years now and I love what I do. Teaching has always been my dream and teaching French my passion and professional path.
Really, why high school? Why an urban school in New Mexico? I am talented and well-educated. I could leave this behind, move to France, find a little house and ride my bike to the village patisserie. Or, I could build my business, teach at a college, or even get my PhD. There are so many other options than high school.
I am certainly not teaching because everyone in the country is supporting me and reassuring me that what I do is important. What is the first thing people often say to me about teaching. "Oh you get the summers off. Teachers are paid too much with all the time off they get." Really? Why have I given up on the idea of being appreciated by society?
The summer syndrome. Why is it that parents are so ready to send their kids back to school in August? They often don't know what to do with them for more than 10 weeks full-time. So, we get to work with them for 183 days? Why? We work with them because it is what we do and what we do best. We are passionate about our content and have a heart for kids. We have something to offer that no one else in the world has to offer.
I have realized that I need to constantly answer this question of "Why teach?"
I believe the answers will give me the spark I need to go to my classroom everyday thankful and happy for the opportunity.
There is beauty in simplicity.....my students.
This is going to be their story...
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