Risky Business

Teachers are not surgeons who can save or end a life during an operation.
Teachers are not lawyers who can present a case that sends someone to prison or sets them free.
Teachers are not Police officers who can protect those who can't protect themselves.
Teachers are not pilots who are responsible for the transportation of many people.

Instead teachers are people that parents trust to provide a safe, nurturing, learning environment. Parents trust teachers to love their kids. Parent trust teachers to provide guidance and structure to their kids. Parents trust that teachers know what they are doing. Parents trust teachers to help their children grow into the best they can be. Parents trust that teachers will do what is best for their kid.

For a teacher to do what a parent is trusting (depending on, counting on, hoping for) them to do requires the teacher to "have" those kids. Those students become the teacher's kids. It isn't just showing up in the morning and putting on a show. It isn't planning lesson and then carrying them out. It isn't using the right textbook, giving the right assignment, writing a good test question.

Teaching the way parents hope we will is building a family in the classroom. Teaching this was is building a place where each student is loved and accepted. Teaching this way is building a place where each kid can flourish. Teaching this way is exhausting.

Teaching this way can't happen when things are unstable, just like unstable families have a huge challenge in providing a good environment for their kids. Teaching this way can't happen when the family gets so big that you can't know each student. Teaching this way can't happen without rest.

As students and teachers return to school, I hope that teachers have had a restfully and recharging summer. I hope that the teachers returning are ready to meet their new families.

Teachers may not end or save a life on an operating table, but they do save lives.
Teachers may not work in court rooms, but they do set people free (or imprison them).
Teachers may not carry guns or handcuffs, but they do (should) protect those who can't protect themselves.
Teachers may not fly planes, but they are responsible for the safely transporting students through more than just the air.

Leaving on a jet plane

But i know when I'll be back again.
This morning when I dropped jaely off she had no clue that i wouldn't be picking he up. She was happy to start her day with Miss Amber and left me standing in the entry way. As I walked out the door i started to miss her imediately. I feel unteathered and I'm not sure I like it.
I spent many nights away from home in the last 2 years, but I wasn't the primary homeworker then. I am going to miss the routine of pickng up Jaely, being a family, having dinner together, and putting Jaely to bed for the few days (and I'm not reallnsure why I am going to this training).
I am surprised that I feel this way. (I know everything will be fine at home, but I want to b there.) I guess I draw more o my identity from what I do then I thought I did.

What are they thinking

This week I one of my students had her baby. I am excited for her. I have known this girl for 4 years. I got phone calls from her when she moved to Detroit and then to Pontiac. She was excited to be back this fall. She is good kid. She has a lot of potential. Her daughter is going to be blessed by having her as a mom. I like this kid.
Yes, she is a kid and now she has a kid. It is not the best situation, but it is what it is.
I have had students every year I have taught that have been pregnant, given birth during the school year, and/or already have little ones. I have students whose parents are my age. (This year I had a student call me "papa". I told him that I am not old enough to be his papa. His reply let me know I am older than his mom. It was hard for me to keep my jaw from dropping. I also had a student try to set me up with her mom.) This isn't ideal, but it is.
I have been tormented by this since I began teaching. My first year teaching 10 graders I had a student tell me that she was pregnant. She was looking for guidance and I had very little to offer. The following year I had a 9th grader that gave birth to her son just before Thanksgiving. The next year a girl almost couldn't graduate because she missed so much school taking her son to the doctors (while a football player missed more school and had everyone advocating for him). A few years ago I knew of 2 girls that didn't graduate because they were pregnant. One of them graduated from that group from the alternative program - I was so happy for her. This year I have had a pregnant student in each class - 4 classes, 4 girls - that will give birth before they graduate.
My heart breaks for these girls and their kids. I think most of them know how difficult their lives will be. Most of them were (are) raised in similar circumstances. My heart breaks even more. I know that in a few more years I will see the kids of my students. My heart will break for them. These kids are not doomed, far from it. Some of the most successful students I know come from this type background. Still, my heart breaks for them.
So back to the present situation... the student who gave birth to her beautiful daughter on Monday came into school today. She came in because next week is exam week. She wanted to know when and how she could take her exam. I told her that I was going to freeze her grade as of last Friday and that I would excuse her exam. Her response was that she wished the other teachers would do the same thing.
Why aren't the other teachers like that? Do they feel the need to punish this girl for her choices? Are they trying to make her more responsible by forcing her to take her exam?
My heart is broken for this new mom and her precious daughter. Good luck ladies, may you find the support and love you need.