It’s that time of year again. Shopping carts full of notebooks, colors and mechanical pencils. New clothes and athletic shoes. While you might be focusing on which way the Walmart aisle traffic flows, teachers have a greater worry on their minds. Teaching.
Picture it. *NSYNC opens their “Bye Bye Bye” hit song as puppets dangling from a string. The choreographed dance led by JT might fool you, but the ability to pull strings aren’t in the boys’ wheelhouse or should I say workshop? Sure, we’ve all seen that Justin Timberlake has some moves (right, Janet Jackson?) but you can bet that even as an expert dancer, he was told how to position his feet. Recently, I asked some of my comrades, formerly known as teachers, about the upcoming school year. By the fear in their eyes, you would think I asked them to hike Mt. Everest with me. While most are excited to return to their kiddos, all have some hesitancy towards the end of August 2020. “We’re puppets. Doing what we are being told and not getting an opinion of our own.” Since when did teachers become our pets? They literally guide the future with their classroom behaviors, expectations, and lessons. Let’s hear them out.
Double Duty, Double Pay
Besides the fact that educators are the building blocks to life (shoutout to FACS for keeping me alive in the kitchen), they do not receive double pay. In fact, they hardly receive single pay. I’m not here to fight for wage increase but I would like to slide past some discrepancies. I’m not a teacher. In fact, I couldn’t be. I do not have patience or explanatory skills. I don’t have the patience to spend my Sunday in a classroom working on lesson plans that might come to fruition. I lack patience to create two lessons plans, online and in person. I definitely possess absence of patience to hear murmurs or whispers of the school year ahead without a concrete plan. Are we going? Are wearing masks? Are teachers going to hear a wrath from parents when the virus becomes community spread? Also, did I mention, I don’t have the explanatory skills to be teacher. Anyone who has listened to me tell a story knows that I take 4 backroads, 2 plot twists, and 5 pullovers before I reach the conclusion. Buckle your seatbelt when I say long story short. It’s never short. Anyways, along with extra hours, teachers prepare for students out of their own pocket. Last minute trips to Dollar Tree for the Welcome Board and a pack of rulers for the families who could not afford one. Double duty reaches far past work life balance because teachers are always on duty. Sitting at the bar? “Ope, there’s my student.” Need a coach? “Umm, sure.” I can bet that every teacher, new or retired, has been swindled into becoming a lead of some extracurricular activity. They never sleep. With all that double duty, where is the double pay?
Hold Your Critiques
Remember back in April, when your mini me(s) were running around the house as you attempted to solve for x while simultaneously joining a Zoom work meeting. We really missed our chances to invest in wine sales and online meeting platforms because those were some days. I mean really, how do teachers do it? They take 20+ of those rugrats (yes, high schoolers can be rugrats) at one time. ONE TIME! Not only do they keep them in single file line, but they break through those thick skulls and teach them the different states of matter and the basics of ionic bonds. All I can teach my nieces and nephews is how to become an excellent bullshitter and plug in some random history facts from the 60s. Even that, requires a bottle of wine. As we continue to go back to school, keep in mind to hold your critiques. Your local school board, your educators and even the students’ parents are all trying their best. Everyone’s best looks different because we truly don’t know what each person is experiencing on a day-to-day basis. Nobody knows the future. Well, nobody on this ground. We can try to get kids back to the classroom and we can try homeschooling. Either option has its advantages and disadvantages. Just remember to be open to other viewpoints and then form your own decision. As my sister reminds me on a weekly basis, “you can’t control anyone’s actions except yourself.” Retweet Rachele, retweet.
Be Kind
As I err on the side of mentioning her name with recent news, Ellen has a saying that we should always keep close to our actions. “Be kind to one another.” In such unprecedented times, we should take each day as one. Say hello to your neighbor, donate some school supplies and buy your teachers (and their best friends) something to relax because we are all about to join the show. I thank all the coaches, administration, and instructors for their dedication to keeping our future educated, disciplined and bright. Now, let’s pray for an NFL season because I don’t have advice for the wives if Roger Goodell shuts down the endzone.
Godspeed
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