Letter From An Ordinary Teacher

I am an ordinary teacher. I may be teaching first graders….or third graders….or little kindergartners. Whatever the age of the children whom I teach, I work really hard and really try to reach each one of them. I may be a classroom teacher, a special ed teacher, a Title 1 teacher, a reading specialist or a paraprofessional. Whoever I am, I am working really hard. Oh, did I say that I am working really hard?

Teaching is not like it used to be. I often feel overwhelmed with "the new direction" schools have taken. It seems that it used to be easier. It seems that no matter how hard I work or how many week-end hours I spend on plans, it just isn’t enough. I am being asked to implement interventions that relate to some of the new assessments that I am required to use, but I sometimes feel confused about how, in the face of everything else I am doing, I am going to do more new things.

I would like more help. I would like to be offered more frequent and consistent professional development opportunities that would help my colleagues and me meet the educational requirements. I would like more help in my classroom. Budgets are so tight that I lost some of the aides I had. Last year, the librarian’s job was cut so I lost that "library time" when I used to have some time to plan or to work with a struggling reader. The materials I have are out dated and don’t reflect current information about how kids learn. So, I have spent a lot of my money on purchasing a lot of things that I thought would help.

I love the kids! I am happiest when I am teaching them and working with them….that is why I went into teaching. I get confused about what our goals are because there has been some turnover in the administration. Our school has gone one way and then another, so I can’t keep up. Who is to say that this latest new initiative that I am working to learn about will stay? Can someone help me figure some of this out?

Reading and math are so important, but I find that I am so focused on worrying about those subjects that I can’t take time for some of the "fun" activities I used to do….and did I say that I am working really hard?

There seems to be a lot of "buzz words" floating around. There is a lot of talk in the teachers’ room about such things as "flexible groupings", progress monitoring, formative assessment tools, differentiated instruction, research based instruction, and of course MCAS, DIBELS and NCLB. I often wonder how all this works together….how I would love to take time to learn more about all of this and learn what my colleagues in other districts are doing about all of this. I feel isolated sometimes.

I am just an ordinary teacher. My co-workers are also ordinary teachers, but sometimes it feels like we are being asked to do extraordinary things that involve more time, training, technology, materials, and people than we have. What keeps me going? It is that "ah ha" moment that a struggling learner gets when I actually reach him. It is the hope and idea that things can work the way I want them to. I do worry about these kids…so many have such challenges in their homes that I take that issue home with me every night. These kids are so complex and that, too, is different from "the good old teaching days".

What can I do? I guess I can share these thoughts and feelings more with my colleagues. I know I am not alone. Maybe my principal is just as challenged? Maybe there is something we can do together, as a faculty to share our concerns and learn how to coordinate new findings that may actually help kids. Maybe we could organize a study group (during all of our spare time…grin) But, after all, doctors have had to change and they certainly need to adapt to new information. Maybe I can bite the bullet and sacrifice some of my precious free time to really grapple with some of these "newish" things and talk some others into joining me. Maybe I can realize that there is a good reason why the Chinese symbols for danger and opportunity are identical. Maybe these opportunities for growth are really just part of the important role that I am playing. There are short and long term challenges…