School is right around the corner, literally, like take a left at Thursday and a right after Saturday and straight on til 8:00am Monday morning at the "Welcome Back" professional development day where you'll find about 200ish professionals waiting to be motivated by the keynote speaker and mentally calculating the time they have left to prep supplies, copies, room arrangments, and schedule changes before children arrive at 9:00am on Friday for "Meet the Teacher" Day.
Run on sentence much?
Yes, but you get the point.
With school starting back comes a prep list, to-do list, don't list, and go buy list.
I still lack some dry erase markers, calculator batteries, and need more pretty washi tape and duct tape to finish labeling every beloved item in my classroom along with other random odds and ends. The top of the list though is Diet Mt. Dew to keep a girl going.
Although guess what I do have...
I have 100's of #2 pencils, blue ink pens, 100's of markers, highlighters, colored pencils, crayons, paper (lined and plaine), paper clips, staples, and tons of other random things a high school student might need throughout the day.
Why do I tell you this?
Well my dear friends, not all high school students believe it or not are capable or have the capacity or means to get their own school supplies.
Also, not all high school students have had someone in their lives care enough to make sure they have supplies.
Also, this piggy-backs with a beyond realistically fabulous article a precious co-worker of mine wrote on the realities we face in a school district where we see students above, below, and in the middle of the poverty line. The link is at the bottom and I encourage every single person who reads this to read her blog because it hits the nail on the head, driving it right through the board of reality.
It inspired me to step up on my box that makes me feel 10 feet tall.
So here it is.
Last year as a first year teacher who had never seen such, my retired, veteran, professional educator of a mother tried to prepare me because no one else was going to.
She gave me youtube links to watch, and shared stories of her kindergarten babies that I would soon be teaching as juniors and seniors.
After experiencing my first year and this whole standardized testing/ratings/mumbo-jumbo, I whole-heartedly agree with Keri when she says that no rating can measure the love, the hugs, care, and everything else non-academic teachers do. No test as such can take into consideration the Little Johnnys and Little Suzies who have experienced and live in immeasurable conditions that we would probably condemn, deal with unruly relatives, or even just flat out don't have relatives to deal with or take care of them.
This is the reality, and this is what we see day to day.
Did you know that sometimes if you don't make it a point to say "Happy Birthday" to your students-- no one else is going to because they don't have anyone to say it to them or care to acknowledge it.
Am I an expert or know exactly what I'm talking about when I say these things?
By no means whatsoever.
But have a seen it and observed it and watched how others treat these situations?
Absolutely.
If you're on the outside looking in, please be careful of how you talk about your local public schools and district as a whole...especially on social media. We as teachers take pride in our jobs, our schools, and our districts.
It stings to see and hear the negativity when you know so much more is going on.
Tune it out you say? Then don't ask me why we can't {insert certain task unaccomplished by said school or test scores or ratings} while I'm buying school supplies at Wal-Mart because you see my staff badge.
Here's the best advice anyone ever gave me starting off as a teacher...
"You know most teachers tell their students that they aren't their momma so they need to take care of themselves...
Well sometimes you're the only momma they ever have. Treat them like you would want someone to treat your own child. Love them. Care for them. Go the extra mile."
Be a momma.
Now go read Keri's article on this ridiculous rating system----->
http://talesofahighschoolenglishteacher.blogspot.com/2017/08/best-and-worst-schools-who-makes-that.html
