The End of the Road
Many teachers become teachers because they want to change the world, lower the achievment gap, make a difference, and give back. But let's face it; a lot of teachers who stick it out really enjoy both the power and the pedantic pulpit they feel entitled to due to their position.
Perhaps that's why my departure, and the departure of other rookies, is so rankling to those who have stuck it out--it's seen as an abdication, a de-validation, if not a miserable retreat. It's none of those things, though. It's just a choice, the right one for me, and I'm quite happy about it too.
I'm not sorry I did this this year. In the end, my time was not soooo horrible, even if I did come to my blog on all the worst days. I am weatherbeaten yes, yet I feel anything but defeated-- particularly after fantastic regents results for my students (almost half of my sophomores who sat for the test passed). I am eternally grateful for the lessons I've learned this year, which were from the teens I taught, not from the administration, beaurocracy, or veteran teachers. And that's more than okay, because I do believe (and perhaps this was my downfall) that the younger we are, the closer we are to certain truths and insights. Never is our sense of justice and injustice stronger than when we are adolescents, but never is our frank understanding of the world's petty transactions and cruelties stronger either. It's an awesome thing to witness even from seven or eight years down the road.
And yes, those of us children of the ivory tower who spend a year or two in the inner city before re-entering the rat race--cliche that we are--have that much more understanding of injustice and cruelty. We learn viscerally just how tall the walls our society has built around its ghettos are, just how the same all groups of people are when one comes down to it, and just how arbitrary the idea of privilege is anyway.
The only people I am thankful for within the BOE system though are my fellow first-years, who didn't begrudge my leaving for a second and simply said they'd miss me (or left at the same time), who downed Daiquiris and beers with me at the Bay Plaza Applebees and various Jerome avenue dives and diners, who watched Youtube videos with glee during our lunch breaks, and who fell over backwards with laughter as we strove to imitate our kids. In short, they rock, and should really keep rocking. Fo' Sho.
Over and out for today,
The ramblin' and rantin'...
Fellow-ette
Perhaps that's why my departure, and the departure of other rookies, is so rankling to those who have stuck it out--it's seen as an abdication, a de-validation, if not a miserable retreat. It's none of those things, though. It's just a choice, the right one for me, and I'm quite happy about it too.
I'm not sorry I did this this year. In the end, my time was not soooo horrible, even if I did come to my blog on all the worst days. I am weatherbeaten yes, yet I feel anything but defeated-- particularly after fantastic regents results for my students (almost half of my sophomores who sat for the test passed). I am eternally grateful for the lessons I've learned this year, which were from the teens I taught, not from the administration, beaurocracy, or veteran teachers. And that's more than okay, because I do believe (and perhaps this was my downfall) that the younger we are, the closer we are to certain truths and insights. Never is our sense of justice and injustice stronger than when we are adolescents, but never is our frank understanding of the world's petty transactions and cruelties stronger either. It's an awesome thing to witness even from seven or eight years down the road.
And yes, those of us children of the ivory tower who spend a year or two in the inner city before re-entering the rat race--cliche that we are--have that much more understanding of injustice and cruelty. We learn viscerally just how tall the walls our society has built around its ghettos are, just how the same all groups of people are when one comes down to it, and just how arbitrary the idea of privilege is anyway.
The only people I am thankful for within the BOE system though are my fellow first-years, who didn't begrudge my leaving for a second and simply said they'd miss me (or left at the same time), who downed Daiquiris and beers with me at the Bay Plaza Applebees and various Jerome avenue dives and diners, who watched Youtube videos with glee during our lunch breaks, and who fell over backwards with laughter as we strove to imitate our kids. In short, they rock, and should really keep rocking. Fo' Sho.
Over and out for today,
The ramblin' and rantin'...
Fellow-ette
Labels: Teaching from the trenches
posted by SarahMarian at 9:23 AM
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