“The artwork on the walls is full of shamrocks and gold, rainbows, and leprechauns. Spring was right within their grasp. They said, ‘I’ll see you in a little while.’ A little while has gone on longer than anyone imagined it would, but in that classroom, time stands still.”
‘Forgotten lunch boxes and sweatshirts remain. Untold stories, empty playgrounds. The desks are still full, but empty of the one thing that made them come alive each day.’: Mom says return to school will be ‘a day of celebration’
‘I’m not entitled to a place in this world. A crowded mall. A crowded anything.’: Woman says ‘remind me again and again, to never take for granted this life’
“Dinner dates with friends when you’re just not up to it. The calls from co-workers when you just don’t want to talk about work anymore. Living for the weekend, for the vacation, for the future, when every day feels like one big blur of days. The same faces, the same building, the same good ole’ American routine.”
‘I read a status from a fellow teacher. She’d called all 175 of her classroom students, talking directly with 150 of them. We will not give up.’: Teacher working from home says ‘not even global disease can stop our passion’
“I miss my kids. I miss seeing them light up when learning something new. I miss their laughter, conversation, varying personalities, and energy. This is not what I had in mind when I decided over 10 years ago to be a career teacher. We’ve combined powers of cafeteria staff, custodians, aides, and bus drivers to travel home-to-home delivering hot meals to our people. We will not give up.”
‘After 9 years of teaching, I decided to leave the classroom. No, I’m not talking about summer break.’: Woman leaves the classroom after 9 years, ‘I was slowly losing my spark’
“No matter how hard I worked, how dedicated I was, or how much effort I put into my classroom, I was still considered ‘just a teacher.’ My parents did not raise a quitter.”
‘People HAVE to stop coddling and enabling their kids. Any passion I had for this work has been wrung out of me.’: Woman addresses ‘teacher abuse’ before quitting profession, ‘no one wins’
“For as long as I can remember, it’s been a dream of mine to have a classroom of my own, and now my heart is broken. I’ve never heard of a profession where people put so much of their heart and soul into their job and get treated so disrespectfully from all sides. I’ve made the decision to leave teaching at the end of this year. THIS HAS TO STOP.”
‘When I send my daughter to school, it hurts. My heart skip beats. My cheeks are hot, tingly.’: Mom is ‘worried sick’ about daughter with disabilities being accepted at school
“I feel sick with worry because I am here, and she is there. Every single moment of every single day I see the potential behind my daughter’s beautiful brown eyes. My biggest fear is that others will not see the same things in her.”
‘When they flinch from the stapler dropping, it’s because they weren’t sure if you’re throwing it at them.’: Foster mom pens powerful note to teacher warning of her children’s trauma
“They come from a really, really hard place. The kind of abuse you think can’t be real. They duck for cover. You’ve heard of fight or flight? There is also freeze. One of my kids responds with ‘freeze.’ Her eyes grow wide and her voice silences. It’s how she’s trained herself to survive. My kids need to know you are safe.”
‘I’m nervous leaving my kid with a stranger. This year may be tough for him.’: Mom hopes son’s teacher will ‘be patient’ with her, she’s still ‘learning to let go’
“My biggest fear is that he will get labeled the ‘bad kid’ in his class. Actually, if I’m being honest – my biggest fear is that he will start to believe he actually is a bad kid. I’m nervous about mean kids. I’m nervous he could become one of the mean kids.”
‘We are not your ‘typical’ family. We are white parents with a black child.’: Mom sends heartfelt letter to teacher ‘advocating’ for her black son this school year
“Eli is usually the only black student in his classroom. We are not a ‘colorblind’ family. Eli’s hair is a big part of who he is and how he expresses himself. Please don’t let anyone touch it without his permission. Please provide him with colored paper, pencils or markers that represents his skin color. Not many teachers in our small town think about this subject.”
‘My principal emailed me. She added another student to my roster. ‘But come talk to me when you get a chance. I have to tell you her story.’ Rewind 7 years.’: Teacher remembers every student ‘has a story’ and they just might ‘change you’
“She saw the terror in my eyes. The office lady leaned in to whisper, ‘The guidance counselor will be in shortly.’ He just stood there. Looking up at me with his big, empty, chocolate eyes. In that moment, I could peek into his soul. I knew I was in that classroom, at that moment, for him.”
