An open letter to guys talking about their teacher friend

An open letter to guys talking about their teacher friend
An open letter to guys talking about their teacher friend
Anonim

Whenever we write about a topic related to school, there are always two opinions in the comments: one is that teachers are malicious, counter-selected and burned out losers who cause endless harm to children every day. According to the other point of view, however, they do put their souls out there, and they keep it together, because of them the crumbling education system still works at all.

We came across a very interesting blog post that revolves around this very thing: the opinions of people working in the business sector collide with those of an ex-teacher. Of course, only in my mind. Very educational, read it!

shutterstock 96451247
shutterstock 96451247

Dear Boys from the Train!

I'll start right away with an apology: it's all my fault, I listened, although I shouldn't brag about it. But unlike others, who prefer to put some music in their ears, I like to hear what is happening around me. I am a chronic observer. I think "watching others" could also be a belief.

Anyway, that's enough of me, let's talk about the guys.

I can hear you, you unbuttoned tie wearing Rolex, yes, you, talking to your handsome suit-wearing friend about your third boyfriend, Josh, who isn't there right now. Something like this:

- Dude, this is never going anywhere. Never. He's like a hermit.

- I know, you always act like you're busy. Teacher, bme, in the third. His day ends at three, muhaha.

- It is. If you knew what it was like to work in real life, just for a day. He thinks his job is hard!

- Oh, and he's the biggest snob since we left school.

- Seriously. Try to live with it. Let's say you can't count on a fizu like ours, we work our guts out all year round. Fall break is almost here for him, then Thanksgiving and winter break, when he doesn't work for weeks. And he has a hard time?!

- Phew, if only you knew!

- Yeah (checks her phone) Shall we have a beer? Taylor just texted me saying they're going somewhere.

- Why, I'm in!

Then you went down and I stayed there with my thoughts. And the more I thought about it, the more times I repeated this conversation to myself, the more certain I became that I had to write to you.

I don't know your buddies Josh, but they're clearly not as cool as you guys who went out for beers with Taylor at 10 on a Wednesday night, whoever they are.

From what I've heard, it seems that your teacher friend is full of your pumpkins, it bothers you that he lives modestly, that he goes to bed early, and that he has a lot of time off.

The thing is, I wanted to interrupt, but I restrained myself and didn't pour out my thoughts on you.

Until now.

shutterstock 107801354
shutterstock 107801354

You know, I would like to tell you that I was a teacher for a few years, I taught first and sixth graders. I stopped it because I just couldn't take it anymore, even with taking antidepressants twice a day.

I wanted to ask you if you've ever run for eight hours a day on a treadmill set just too fast, because that's the only way to describe the physical strain that teaching entails.

I wanted to correct you: you are wrong about Josh's work day ending at 3pm. (As a former teacher, I can't tell you the answer, but here's a mini-lesson: teachers arrive long before school starts, and stay inside long after it ends. They spend countless hours in the evenings, nights, weekends, and especially during their "long breaks" preparing lesson plans, correcting papers, writing descriptions of the children, meeting with parents or talking to them on the phone, compiling lists of tasks, grading, making visual aids, props they shop for science experiments (to make learning fun and hope they actually succeed), prepare the children for various competitions and admissions, decorate and arrange the classroom, do administration, organize tasks related to children with special needs, attend further training, etc. That's right.

Here's a challenge for you: make it through a working day without going to the bathroom once, eating a bag lunch in less than a week, and remain endlessly patient while twenty or so students absolutely want to tell you something extremely important, while you only want to reply to an email.

I also want to explain to you why Josh lives so frugally, and also why he's so grumpy whenever he doesn't go to parties. For pennies per student and per lesson, he puts his soul on the line so that his students are not only educated, but also kind and brave, and feel safe and loved.

I wanted to talk to you about my time in the classroom and the students whose fates outside of school kept me awake at night and the emotional toll it placed on me and my marriage.

I wanted you to think about the difference between your work and his work, but I'm afraid we ran out of time. Suffice it to say, you may be tired and hungover from work, but Josh absolutely needs to be there the minute the kids get to school in the morning.

And I also wanted to tell you, in case you didn't know, that teachers don't fill out an expense account at the end of every week: they pay everything out of pocket. And only guys like Josh are cool enough to sacrifice a pint of beer to buy those scissors for third graders.

shutterstock 309239105
shutterstock 309239105

I wanted to give you a bunch of ideas on how you can support Josh and the selfless work he has chosen for himself.

I admit that your work is probably also hard, but I would gently remind you that you are at least recognized and paid for it. Teachers don't get bonuses or raises for good work. They want to do the best because their hearts are in the right place and they know who they are.

I already work in "real life", as you put it, and this only confirmed my old belief that teaching is one of the hardest, most important, and at the same time the least appreciated and underpaid jobs in the world.

Sincerely, an ex-teacher from the train, (and advocate for all Josh's in the world)."

And who do you think is right?

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