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Friday, August 24, 2007
Dear Fellow Teacher,
I know exactly what you’re going through...
You love to learn.
You love to teach.
You love children.
You want to make a difference in the lives of young people-your students.
You want them to love learning, to become life-long learners, to enjoy school and make a difference in society.
I used to dread going to school in the morning to teach. I would have a big knot in the pit of my stomach just thinking about my class.
Remember when you graduated from teachers’ college…
You had all that energy, enthusiasm and expertise to make a difference, especially with disadvantaged students who struggle to get through each and every day? You looked forward to teaching any and all students in your class. You spent an incredible amount of time getting your classroom set up during the summer.
It was a warm, welcoming and wonderful classroom—one of the best classrooms in the entire school. You were nervous that first day, not knowing what to expect. Then you met your students. They sat in their desks, alert, attentive and anxious to be taught by you. The first day was an exhausting but an exhilarating, exciting experience. You couldn’t wait to get back to school and teach them some more.
Then, it happened…
It may have been in the first week, or in the first month or in the first term, but it happened.
Your students aren’t attentive any more. They’re off task. They’re defiant. The hours and hours you’ve spent on those picture perfect lesson plans seem to go out the window. Your students are becoming more and more defiant. You get more and more frustrated with them, lose your cool more often and go home empty, exhausted and emotionally upset.
In spite of all these problems and challenges, you’re still passionate about teaching. You still love to learn. You still love to teach. You still love children.
But, you’re running on empty, especially with those students who defy you more and more often, who seem to have taken over your class, who don’t seem to care anymore. You don’t know what to do. You don’t want to confess to other teachers that you’re experiencing problems with your class. That would be a sign of weakness. You don’t want to confess to your principal that you’re experiencing problems. That might mean not getting rehired or worse—that you weren’t meant to be a teacher.
You don’t want to talk to any parents, because word would quickly get out that you can’t control your class, that you’re an ineffective, incapable and worse, an incompetent teacher. The school year has barely started and you’re already counting the days, hours and minutes to the end of the term.
You keep hoping each day will be better, but instead it gets worse. You start thinking about getting out of teaching, quitting and changing careers. You’re fed up, frustrated and fearful. You want the joy, ...

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