Yes- it does!
Alright, that's all for today. See you all tomorrow.
Just kidding, of course. This post goes out to you student-teachers, who might feel from time-to-time that teaching is an endless nightmare of work, little pay, and a lack of appreciation. I was hesitating to post about this, but when I talked to a colleague at dinner last Friday, wondering what I should do for my next post, he said, "You should post about that." So here I am, five days later, ready to tell you the story of pain and love from one teacher in a charter school who reached the end of his rope.
Last Thursday, I came home so stressed that I started to throw up. TMI, I'm sure. My students were opening up to me about various things happening in their life, and I was crouched in front of the toilet thinking to myself, "What more can I do?" So, the next day, I did what any sane teacher would do, and I asked them all some questions.
Are you comfortable? Are you safe? Do you like school?
I think there's no greater power than the honest question. One student in my class said, "I don't like school because it's not real." Other students talked, and we were real with each other, in a light way, because feelings are gross, especially when you're in front of your peers and still trying to navigate whether you say "yes" or "no" to your parent's friend request on Facebook.
In a moment of vulnerability, something I told them was, "You know, sometimes us adults don't remember what it's like to be in middle school." Do you remember what it was like, to try and learn how to act on your own while also knowing how to ask for help? To learn that you're naughty if you're dating, but you're lame if you don't? There are hoops and hurdles there, in the minds of young people, and I'm supposed to tell them that similes and metaphors matter?
My conclusion is that they don't. Figurative language, alongside academic writing, literary skills, mathematics, and science can't matter that much. I mean, aren't the things that really matter the things that we don't talk about? The fears that are in the back of our heads (yes, us teachers too)? Am I the favorite teacher? Do they like my class? Come on, we've all got to think about this, from time to time. Well, at least I do, but honestly, I don't think that matters much either. So here we are, in a state of nothingness, where nothing matters and we're just going through the motions (just kidding, of course, I love school).
I don't know what it's like in any classroom except my own, but if I had to go back in time and talk to my students while I was a student teacher, I would ask them this, and it may be a good question to consider for any classroom as well: When you look back at school, will this class matter to you?
I would listen to every answer, bad or good. Maybe some more bad than good. I had a host teacher once who had every student answer a persuasive writing exercise where they answered whether or not I should become a teacher. I thought it was insanity, but if you want to talk about an exercise that immediately made me aware that no one in that class really cared what I did, it was that. One student said I should become a horse on a racetrack because I have long legs.
So, here I am, three years later, a teacher. And, I've come to the conclusion that every single teacher is doing something amazing, behind that closed door. We all listen. We all care. So, if you haven't already, I'd encourage you to ask some questions to your students when you have the chance about their lives, what they like to do, and things like that. No, it might not benefit them in the realm of common core, but if you make school feel like a place that matters, who would want to stop you? And besides that, if you know your students, doesn't teaching them about similes and metaphors (THE CORE OF COMPARATIVE THINKING- YES OF COURSE IT MATTERS) become so much more relevant and easier to teach?
Thank you.
Your friendly, neighborhood English Teacher
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