Ann's Anntics

Another Day... Well, it is Thursday night and I have survived another day. Today I looked around my room at school and thought about my profession. It is amazing what teachers are asked to do. I spent some time in my adult life in the corporate world. I had a demanding job and absolutely loved it. It was only after working my way through a maze of responsibilities and ending up with no job because of a corporate buyout that I decided to come back to teaching. I read Tuesdays with Maury and felt this inspiration to go back to teaching. I need to read it again. My inspiration has been replaced by perspiration and frustration. I find our responsibilities endless, our accomplishments minimized and often unrecognized, our daily duties constantly increasing and our professionalism undermined by arbitrary standards. It is impossible to determine the effectiveness of a teacher in a year. I told my students the other day that I want them to come see me in 20 to 25 years. They will be in their mid-thirties. Maybe then I will know if I made a difference in their lives. Maybe then THEY will know if I made a difference in their lives. I cannot undo parental apathy or overindulgence. I can only work to create a relationship that allows me to influence them slightly and teach them to love to learn.

The father of one of my students told me the other night that he didn't worry about whether his son really did all that well in school. His son is very bright and can be quite a delightful young man but upon lamenting I wished he would meet his academic potential, his father informed me that in the end it was really people skills that would make the difference for his son. He is not worried about whether or not he reaches his academic potential. I looked at him and thought, "Well thanks for negating the validity of my purpose. I'll just try to help him be a good bullshitter and that will make him a success in life."

On the other hand, the same man bemoaned the money he would make with a master's degree if he started teaching school...after all, teachers shapee the lives of the children of America. This really is a hard profession. System Analyst was a snap and people ooed and awed at that title. I rarely brought home work. I didn't agonize over what to do and how to do it. My opinion was valued and my judgement trusted. Now, my opinion absolutely doesn't matter and my judgement is questioned every day.

No child left behind makes for great politics but our education system breeds apathy for students and burn out for teachers. Something is wrong with how Americans look at education.