From the Frozen Medows

The following is not aimed at Jill in anyway, just a random vent that I've been unable to feel comfortable saying for some time. I've been looking around and seeing what fellow teachers are dealing with (and dealing with a tiny bit of it myself) and I've started to see how the corruption of our world fills every area.

I've come to feel that there should be several classes added to the Education requirements for college that revolve around school politics. Today we had some work time and I was engaged in conversation with some of my kids. One of them asked me if I liked being a teacher. I said yes. Then another kid asked me what was the best part about being a teacher and without hesitation I said "hanging out with you guys."

Honestly, there are so many other parts of being in the education field that make my blood boil. Just because someone went to school when they were young doesn't mean they know how to run a classroom or a school. But for some reason, every person thinks it's their place to judge us and tell us how much we suck. In many ways education is a subjective art form, yet teachers are constantly expected to take on scripted curriculum, fit into stereotyped boxes, and take crap from people who haven't stepped foot in a classroom since they were students. Rawr. We as educators have dedicated our lives to the field, yet time after time parents believe the word of their 12 year old who lies about finishing their vegetables over the word of a distinguished professional. Just because you can procreate and pop out babies does not make you a qualified parent. If parents were required to get a bachelor's degree in child development before getting pregnant, then we can talk.

Then there's the vast majority of people that had a sucky teacher so they lump every teacher into the sucky category. There are so many people that have it in for teachers. People I know, people who are in leadership positions who spread their ignorant, stereotypical philosophies about how teachers are flaming liberals who lie and corrupt our world. What the heck?

Then there are the administrations that take advantage of their workers. If your boss asked you to work eight hours a day for three weeks without pay, who in their right mind would say yes? I've seen principals that bully their young teachers into volunteering for coaching positions throwing out the "I thought you were dedicated to education" and even implying that if they don't volunteer, they will not have a job next year. Is this a school that teaches responsibility, integrety and honesty or is this some money grubbing, manipulating corporation bent on getting ahead and crushing everyone in their path? The people that I know who work 50-60 hours a week as teachers/coaches do not make much more than $29,000 a year. Any other carrer working that much a week makes twice that starting out. But yet, people are crying at the school board meetings that teachers get paid too much and we should increase class sizes to 35 and cut out extra curriculars and fire teachers. Our two(ish) months in the summer is taken up by sport camps and try outs and conferences and those who are close to me know that I am kind of hard to get a hold of during the school year because I am so busy with sports and teaching and lesson planning and grading and conferences and meetings and on and on..., so in my mind, those two months are just make up time that everyone else gets in the real world.

But what I can tell you is that when I get to that school and those kids come in, it doesn't feel like work at all. I can push away the thoughts of the hoops I have to jump through and the junk I have to deal with and man, I wouldn't trade it for the world. At any other job, people wouldn't put up with some of the stuff we have to deal with...but that's because no other job is worth putting up with crap for.

somewhere past this setting sun

>from a serene evening in Oregon. i feel belonging here and know at once my belonging anywhere is temporary<
i am poor. there. i said it. although quite exhilarating, moving cross country has sucked the life out of my finances. on top of that, when i first arrived here, this area received its worst snow storm it has had in about 30 years. i decided to keep quiet and not let anyone know that it possibly followed me from the midwest. my car was stuck in the apartment parking lot for days, and since i don't have the internet at home, i felt somewhat stuck with job searching. those dog days have passed and now i am working a job i found through an employment agency. but that is actually all beside the point. my first measly paycheck comes tomorrow, and i will still be poor. i have found myself in a stream that leads to an ocean of debt and struggle. i remain convinced that i possess the tools that will help me swim out successfully.
so i do not complain. but the reason that i am really ok is that i am not alone. we, many of us, are working jobs not suited to our particular tastes. but they pay the bills. or not. but either way, our mouths are not entirely empty. we chew, we swallow, we digest, we give back to the earth. and we do it all again.thrice a day. quite honestly, the wonder of life's simple complexities should marvel us more frequently. and everyone has to do it.
i am not alone. my roommate and my boyfriend are also struggling with meager funds. i would much rather us all be poor together than the contrary. we have to be creative with meals and activities and energy use. we have to learn again to enjoy the little things. it is worth a warm fuzzy to enjoy a small piece of chocolate for dessert.
and. as far as wealth, we are not nearly as poor as the so-called least fortunate on the planet. my stomach may feel more hunger than it is accustomed to, but that is not such a terrible thing. my mouth is not empty and i am not alone.