To Teach or Not to Teach, That is The Question!

With each school year comes challenges that leave me questioning my purpose: "Are my students learning?" "Am I a good teacher?" "Is it time to move on in my own personal quests?" "Am I ready for the helicopter parents and the bull dozer parents?" "Can I keep up with this spiraling technology mandate and the constantly changing school board initiatives?" It can be a mentally and physically exhaustive job where the rewards are small. As the students move on, your only measure of success comes from tests created by a company that measures their own success by the number of your students' failures. (ie: If too many of your students actually understand the middle school grade level questions, it has nothing to do with your ability to teach, it means the test must have been too easy! So the company then changes it to be a test of endurance with 12 year olds either giving up or sitting there for four to five hours.) However, just when I decide that I can't take much more bureaucracy and "parentacracy ;-)," and decide it's time to go, God hears me and sends a little angel with a direct message.

I found this in my inbox today :-) ...

"Hi Mrs. Smith! You probably don't remember me but I was one of your students 3 years ago! Today I was working on my AP Lang summer assignment where we had to use and define rhetorical devices...it made me think of you because I already learned all of these in your class. I just wanted to let you know because it meant a lot to me to have a teacher who really cared if I understood the material. Also, R----- ------ was in that class...we are still friends and we always reminisce on how great your class was. Thank you, so much."

Message heard loud and clear: Teach!

A Pedagog's Less Than Perfect Pedicure

As the start of the school year quickly approached, I made a mental note to "get my toes done" the week before class was to begin. That week arrived and departed before I could even fathom a free moment to even call for an appointment, let alone actually go.

Two weeks out: "I'll get them done next week."

Seven days out: "I'll get them done tomorrow."

Six days out: "I'll get them done tomorrow."

Five days out: "I'll get them done tomorrow."

Two days out: "I'll get them done tomorrow."

One day out: "They are not that bad, no one will notice that tiny chip. "I'll get them done next weekend."

The morning of: "Oh no! Three of them have chips! Must have happend in the shower. I'll just do a quick one coat over them. Oh no! it's the wrong color! It looked the same til I put it on. Is it close enough of a match? No, I will just cover all of them in that color."

Ten minutes later: "Oh no! My pants have smeared them! I will have to take the bottle and do them in my classroom before the students arrive. I hope no one sees me."

Thirty minutes and 12 miles later I ran to my teacher teamate to say I need five minutes. I found her with her leg in the air reapplying polish on her own toes. We then hobbled off together all stiff legged to our morning duty.

That night after I removed the tacky, smeared, but dry mess, I applied cuticle cream which needs to soak, so I jumped in the tub were I was able to both read the 6th grade book I was using for class and soak my tootsies at the same time. I was always good at mulititasking; I just hope cuticle cream does no harm to the tushy. Once out, there was still no time for polish, so the next day I had to go naked toes to class. Finally the following day (about two weeks after the initial intent, I slapped on another messy coat of polish on my way out the door and prayed I did not bump into anything with my less than perfect pedicure. After all, it would be another two weeks till I had time to do them again.