I give grade school teachers (particularly public school teachers) a lot of credit. It's tough to be able to keep your cool while some students have meltdowns, are disruptive, or just plain unmotivated. There's all this bureaucracy, standards, lack of budget, and countless odds stacked against them. There's parents who think teachers are glorified babysitters who HAVE to pass their students. Oh, please. If your kid didn't do the work, it's up to the student to own up to their responsibilities. Parents can't just swoop in every time their kid makes a mistake, especially if their children are old enough to know about their consequences.
It takes a special kind of person to be able to tolerate all of that and more, and to be passionate enough to show up day in and day out. When my son was in 6th and 7th grade, I volunteered at his school often: served lunch, helped with physical activities, attended parent committee meetings, chaperoned dances. I was able to see the students and teachers in different settings and sometimes got to be a fly on the wall. At one point I thought I could get into teaching grade school. After volunteering and listening to grade school teachers' perspectives, I decided it would be better if I stick to volunteering and to teaching in other ways.
During my freshman year of high school, I transferred from Hawai'i to Florida during winter break. I was blown away with how different it was for me when I first moved there. I ended up in Dade County in South Florida, with its prevalent Latin culture, cold fronts, 95 South (the Interstate Highway, but you can count the musical group), South Beach, and much more. Dade County has a special place in my heart.
My freshman year high school English teacher in Florida, Ms. B, left an impression on me. I think her class was my first class of the day. I was late to class because I spent the morning picking my classes since I couldn't do any registration during the holiday break. I remember the unnerving feeling of seeing a bunch of heads stopping and turning to look at me when I opened the classroom door.
My English teacher seemed really cool, she was probably in her mid-twenties. We did a lot of fun in-class activities and projects. Ms. B played music at the beginning of each class while we did a free-writing activity. Some students chose to write notes to each other (it was the mid-nineties, after all), or wrote random things. There was no penalty for the content of your writing material, you just had to write continuously for the entire length of the song. She was really into Tori Amos, Alanis Morissette, and Queensryche, and sometimes used their lyrics in tests. Once, she had a Tori Amos CD as a prize for the highest score in a test. I unfortunately didn't get it, and was pretty bummed. Ms. B was also a singer-songwriter.
Ms. B also had us do fun group projects and activities. In one group, we made a film trailer for A Tale of Two Cities, where I had my first taste of male drag and film making with a larger group. Our class got to update a scene "Romeo and Juliet" because the Baz Luhrman version was popular at the time. We had to get permission slips signed by our parents to see the Zeffirelli version in class because of Olivia Hussey's boobs. She took us to see "Hamlet" and I was enamored with the black box production. It was simple with minimal set but Renaissance-era costumes, with a Latin actor as Hamlet. I thought (and still think) it was awesome the director casted a Latin actor to play the lead.
I had quite a few awesome teachers during grade school but I think Ms. B was the first to influence me in my interest in Shakespeare as well as furthering my interests in literature, writing, performing, and film. She showed me that teachers don't necessarily have to be fuddy-duddies and actually had interesting lives outside of the classroom. She also incorporated her hobbies and personality into class material. Oh, and she was also good with feedback. We had to write our reactions to a set of chapters from whatever novel we studied. I also remember once showing her the passages I highlighted in A Tale of Two Cities. When she showed me her copy and we noticed we highlighted some of the same ones, I remember wanting to do a little victory dance.
Ms. B doesn't teach high school anymore, but I found out she got into life coaching. She freelances as a writer and also continues to be a singer/songwriter. She also yoga, chanting, and photography. I haven't reached out to her yet but I plan to. I'm not sure if she'll remember me but it's not a big deal if she doesn't since she had many students through the years. If anything, I just want to extend my gratitude to her for being a positive influence in my life.
I really appreciate the effort that passionate and hard-working teachers put in to enrich their students' lives. I'm fortunate that my son has some really great teachers at his school who are great at communicating. It's like we're all a team working together to bring out the best in him, but we're not sugar-coating everything. We've had struggles with him getting organized, turning work in on time, putting his things away (and remembering where they are). He's come so far from the kid who constantly misplaced his reusable water bottles, lunch containers, lunch bags, homework, and text books to someone who is more accountable for his actions. It was tough love but I think being able to be in touch with his teachers really helped. He still has a ways to go but there's remarkable improvement. I also think since he's now in eighth grade, he realizes he really has to step up his game. At the end of the school year, the eighth graders need to do a portfolio defense, showing evidence that they are ready to progress to ninth grade.
Teaching grade school isn't for everyone. I know the burnout rate is pretty high, particularly for public school teachers. Once you lose that passion, move on. You're not helping anyone, including yourself. For those die-hard teachers out there, I applaud you. Parents/guardians, loved ones, and the child all need to be involved in doing their parts. I understand it's not the teacher's sole job to shape their students' minds, but you do spend a chunk of time with them during the school week. Thank you for getting in the trenches and being in the front lines for shaping the youth.
