Ahh…nothing like winter in Texas. Eighty degrees on the first official day of winter. Bet it turns cold quickly soon enough! So here we are, gleefully enjoying our two weeks’ break for the Christmas holiday and I thought I’d take this opportunity to dispel a couple of myths folks may have about educators and the holiday.
Myth number one: Teachers are off two weeks. Well, technically this one is true. However, all the teachers I know simply cannot leave work alone for long. For example, I have already begun planning lessons for the first couple of weeks of the second semester. I am researching ideas and trying to figure out the best way to begin when we return.
Granted, teachers don’t go to work for two weeks, but believe me, other than one or two days of luxuriously lounging in our jammies, we are generally kicking around lesson plans and ideas for our classrooms. A common complaint among teachers’ kids and spouses – and one I’ve heard from my own family – “Can you just NOT be a teacher for one day?” Rest assured, we are getting some much needed R&R, but we are also working. Good thing we love what we do!
Myth number two: Teachers live in caves for all holidays. Students seem to believe that teachers and principals are either aliens or some kind of strange cave-dwelling creatures that live to torment children. Well, I can’t speak for principals (ha! Kidding!), but teachers are certainly people with families and lives. In fact, I have found that all those who work within the school district are just average, every day people. We have families, homes, joys, sorrows, and pet peeves. I admit to getting a laugh when students are so surprised to see us in the grocery store with a basket full of groceries.
Student: “Mrs. Moore, what are you doing here?”
Me: “Well, I’m buying groceries.”
Student: “You mean you do that?”
Sort of makes me think of the story of Virginia – yes, little Johnny, teachers are human! Bless them, kids do have a way of making us smile! Of course, the follow up to this is also something to make us smile.
Student: “Hey, I saw you in the grocery store.”
Me: “Yes, you did.”
Student to incredulous friend: “See? I told you.”
As for the whole living to torment children thing? Posh. Of course not….usually. (wink)
Myth number three: Teaching is easy – teachers have the big book with all the answers in it. You know, funnily enough, I remember thinking this myself when I was a kid in high school. Must be karma to now put me in the position that I have to defend this. (Go figure.) Actually, if you ask teachers, most of them will tell you that teaching is changing. Not that teachers EVER had it easy. (Can you imagine one room with ALL grade levels in it?? Yikes.) However, education is changing rapidly, and with this change teachers are finding it necessary to read more, research more, and learn more – just to stay current. Even then, it is easy to get lost in that wave of change called “reform”. Now, not only do teachers have to teach the basics, we have to do it in new ways. Sometimes, we have to teach in ways we are not comfortable with, or are unfamiliar with. Don’t misunderstand – this is not a complaint at all. I like changing things up and doing things differently. I do want to point out that today’s teacher is not simply teaching the 3R’s anymore. This is not my grandmother’s school. That big book with all the answers? Ptui. Now we have internet, web pages, smartboards, laptops, document cameras, and eBooks. Add to that the different kinds of problems kids have today from what they had in my grandmother’s school, and you begin to see how challenging teaching can be.
Myth number four: Teachers are crazy. Ok. So I can’t argue this one. (Ha!) We are crazy – about our kids, our colleagues, our jobs. Yes, ok, there are definitely times when we find our jobs to be…well, extra challenging to deal with, but boil it all down and we love our kids – the students. We are crazy about them, in fact. For all the headaches, hard work, long hours, late nights, and endless papers graded – we do love being teachers. Or principals. Or secretaries. Or superintendents. Or any other of the many jobs held in the school system. Simply put, we know that we are working hard trying to make a difference. We know that we could make a difference for some child – help to put one kid on the right path. Touch lives and hearts and minds.
That, more than anything, is why we teach. And that makes everything worthwhile. After all, this is the season for celebration. We celebrate one child…and then we celebrate all the rest. As one student wrote to me in a note last week, I am “blessed”.
Happy holidays to you all!
Christine Moore currently holds a degree from Howard Payne University and recently earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. She is now working on her Ph.D. in Educational Technology. Married with four children who attend Brownwood schools, Christine teaches 6th grade reading in Brownwood and has been working in education at various levels for the past 15 years. Christine welcomes your questions and comments and would love to hear from you!
