As Long As They Live on Earth
I received a card from a friend lately and the quote on the front noted, "Teaching is the subtle art of shaping young minds without losing your own," (card by www.curlygirldesign.com). I haven't written in my blog for four months, because I have been teaching...and lost my mind...my health...family time...time with friends...free time...Bible reading time...you name it! Teaching took all my time. If I wanted to stay even remotely on top of lesson planning, data collection, and especially paper correcting, I had to work most evenings and every weekend.
Yes, people will say, but you have week long vacations and two months off in the summer. Right, I would reply, that is so I can reintroduce myself to family and friends, clean my house, and write more lesson plans and correct all the papers I didn't get to before the vacation or figure out how to create lesson plans that will "entertain" and educate today's students.
Recently, it was noted on two occasions that many teachers are on antidepressants. This "data" was from personal observations of a principal and a teacher on a health insurance committee. Many blogs and online teacher chat sites, where teachers are sharing their thoughts, have become places where these "tired" teachers state that they can't get parental support or student enthusiasm. That is how I felt as a teacher, I worked long hours to do the best I could for the students and what I got in return was complaints by students and parents alike that what I was doing was not enough in some way or another.
At some point the onus is on the parents to motivate their children to learn and help the students to appreciate the importance of an education. For the students, they must choose to be interested in learning. In the case of parents, they must choose to be supportive of the education system by teaching their children manners, patience, endurance, work ethic, and other life skills that will be needed in the classroom and for the rest of their lives.
Yes, people will say, but you have week long vacations and two months off in the summer. Right, I would reply, that is so I can reintroduce myself to family and friends, clean my house, and write more lesson plans and correct all the papers I didn't get to before the vacation or figure out how to create lesson plans that will "entertain" and educate today's students.
Recently, it was noted on two occasions that many teachers are on antidepressants. This "data" was from personal observations of a principal and a teacher on a health insurance committee. Many blogs and online teacher chat sites, where teachers are sharing their thoughts, have become places where these "tired" teachers state that they can't get parental support or student enthusiasm. That is how I felt as a teacher, I worked long hours to do the best I could for the students and what I got in return was complaints by students and parents alike that what I was doing was not enough in some way or another.
At some point the onus is on the parents to motivate their children to learn and help the students to appreciate the importance of an education. For the students, they must choose to be interested in learning. In the case of parents, they must choose to be supportive of the education system by teaching their children manners, patience, endurance, work ethic, and other life skills that will be needed in the classroom and for the rest of their lives.
Deuteronomy 4:10
"Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Mount Horeb. The LORD said to me, 'Gather the people together to listen to what I have to say. Then they will learn to respect me as long as they live on earth. And they will teach these things to their children.'"
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