I am 35 years old. This is only my fourth year teaching.
I graduated high school with plans of becoming an
accountant. My mother was (and still is) a tax accountant. Two of my brothers
were accountants.
I liked numbers. I liked puzzles. I thought it would be the
perfect career for me.
I got married. Three years later, we had our son. I decided
to stay home with him. Seventeen months later, our daughter was born. I loved
being a stay-at-home mom, but I knew I would be going back to work when they
headed off to school.
I did not want another accounting job. I wanted my schedule
to be a little more flexible, and I thought a school secretary position would
be perfect (and would not require me to go back to school). As it turned out,
the intermediate (grades 3-6) secretary position in my children’s district
opened up the year our daughter went to kindergarten. It was perfect!
I wore many hats as a school secretary in a small district –
secretary, nurse, lunchroom attendant, in school suspension monitor, etc. I
enjoyed my job, but it certainly didn’t take long for me to realize that not
all children were treasured and cared for as my own children were. You could
say I was a bit naïve to the things facing many children.
I began making connections with those troubled kids…whether
it was the ones causing problems because they had rough home lives or the child
who came to school with throw up down her shirt (because she had thrown up in
the yard as she was getting on the bus, her parents had to be somewhere, so
they sent her to school anyway). Those kids started pulling at my heart
strings.
A couple years into my job, I felt the Lord leading me to go
back to school to get my teaching degree. I wanted to have a positive influence
in these children’s lives. I wanted to be the person they could count on to be
there every day waiting for them with a smile. I wanted them to feel safe,
cared for, and even loved in my classroom.
After four years of teaching, I can tell you I still feel
that same way. My students quickly become “my kids” and at the end of every
year I have shed tears watching them (even the most challenging ones) walk out
the door.
Are there times when I get frustrated with a student? Of
course! Just as there are times I get frustrated with my own kids. It doesn’t
change the fact that I love them and want the best for them.
My focus as a teacher hasn’t changed. It's all about the kids!
I do my best to make my students’ day fun and engaging. I
also have high expectations for their behavior, academic success, and effort in class. I don’t ask
anything of them that I wouldn’t ask my own children to do.
And I absolutely love my job!
This post was inspired by recent “attacks” or “jabs” against
teachers, schools, standards, and testing that I have seen posted on the
Internet. Rather than respond to these “attacks” and “jabs” (believe me, I’d
like to), I think this post better reflects my heart about teaching. I’m pretty
sure I’m not alone…
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