Teaching

This week was tough. I had to refer a child to social services because one of my kids is definitely experiencing neglect and possibly experiencing abuse. On Thursday when school let out, getting him to go home took 20 minutes and broke my heart in the process. On Friday one of my students told me he loved me in the morning and in the afternoon he hated me. Also one of my students kicked me because I wanted him to do his language worksheet. I called his guardian and she got so upset when she got to the school she began to have medical problems and we had to call an ambulance. Needless to say, on Friday I came home exhausted, had a good cry, and picked myself up again.

Despite all of this, I'm really happy this is where I ended up. This is where I need to be. A lot of people told me not to take this job because it was a rough school, but I think that's why I took it.

Teaching is a misunderstood profession. When you are a teacher, you're a nurse, a parent, an advocate, a judge, and a counselor. People are quick to blame the parents, but I know that's not it. Poverty is rampant and desperation causes people to loose sight, give up, or kill themselves trying. With the cost of food, energy and gasoline things that were already hard are getting dangerously worse.

My school has a health clinic on campus and is working on getting a dentist. My school understands that we have to tackle the whole problem. You can't teach a child that is hungry or a child with a toothache or a child whose relative has just been shot. Because of all of this, I'm proud to be a teacher in my school. I am also profoundly glad to have my Masters from the Clinton School. I know I could have taught without my Master's degree, but I also know that I would have had no idea how to fix any of the problems my 10 year olds deal with everyday.