“I’ve had parents tell me I’m not allowed to tell their child ‘no.’ Watching them come in… dirty clothes… chaos at home… and knowing they need more than you can give them in a classroom of 21, with less and less support, multiple languages spoken, several different disabilities… it breaks you.”
‘I was cussed out by parents who wanted to attend field trips but missed the THREE notes that went home. When they did attend a trip, they sat on their phone the entire time. The filter comes off now.’
‘It was playtime on the playground. My student looked anxious. I climbed to get closer to him, placed my foot on the rail and tumbled, hitting my head on a metal pole. I fell to the ground.’
“That’s it. That’s all it took. Five minutes to change my entire life.”
‘I’m sick of getting dinged for test scores when my students don’t have food at home, or clothes that fit. I’m so sick of it, that I’m leaving the field.’
“Teaching was tenable when I was a 22-year-old single renter. It no longer works when I have a family and a mortgage. I’m not looking to have a crazy affluent lifestyle over here. But the fact is, I can only afford to live in the neighborhood where I teach because I’m married.”
‘My classmate’s baby had a fever. Our teacher told her to bring her. I heard Katie say, ‘She’s a little fussy,’ when handing her over.’
“Teachers like Dr. George will hold your sick baby when you can’t get a last minute sitter so you can take a test. She always makes it clear we can ask her for help.”
‘My daughter, who is always listening, said, ‘I bet she will say, ‘OH, NO! It’s fine!’ But deep down, she will be angry at you.’ That is what my 9-year-old daughter has already learned. From me.’
“I lie awake after parties and wonder if my joke was taken the wrong way. Whose feelings did I hurt? I apologized to my daughter for my actions that lead her to think women had to hide. That pleasing people should be a top priority. The truth is enough.”
‘Thank you my grandfather, who sexually abused me for years. You taught me how to protect my children. You taught me the good and bad in the world. That bad exists, but it never wins.’
“Thank you my ex-boyfriend, who cheated and treated me like I was never good enough or thin enough. If it wasn’t for you, I would have never known my true worth, and that I would never tolerate being treated that way again.”
‘I laid with my son before bed. I looked in his eyes, and noticed tears started to run down his cheek. This was a look of defeat. ‘Okay mom, I’m sorry I am bad.’
“It is a scary notion that no matter how much we want our kids to do well, they may not. We can set them up for success, but sometimes they will still fail. We can work with them and lead them and guide them, but in the end, they are going to do what they want.”
‘One of my Deaf students farted loudly in class, and other students turned to look at them. ‘Why are they looking at me?’ ‘Because they heard you fart.’ ‘Whhhhat do you mean?!’
“*Totally horrified* Wait, they can hear all farts?!?! TELL THEM TO STOP LISTENING TO MY FARTS! THAT IS NOT NICE!”
‘You are phenomenal. Never give up. You can do this.’ I realized my student’s mother took the time to write on his pencils. I asked him if he would mind showing me the rest of them.
“I took the pencils he handed me. When I was sharpening them, I noticed writing on a few of them.”
‘OK, FINE. You don’t want to pay teachers like a college educated PROFESSIONAL? Then give them the glorified BABYSITTER RATE.’
“As a young teacher, I am in $70,000 of school loan debt after finishing my bachelor’s and master’s degree. I had 5 years of experience and a master’s and was making $47,000, and as the primary income in my household, we were living paycheck to paycheck.”
