The honeymoon was over quicker than I had expected. After coming back from a glorious, sun-filled spring break, yesterday was a new day with returning students, reviewing material and presenting positive ways to pass my class. Well, today began with a student cussing me out, two students being thrown out of the building, being called "old" and ended with a fight breaking out in my classroom just before the dismissal bell. Two days into the return and I'm already stressed out as all hell. I'm glad, although I'll be handling jury duty business, that I have this Friday off. It seems like I'm going to need it.
As of late and more often I ask myself why I continue to put up with the abuse, I'm sure there are many teachers out there who ask themselves that same question. I guess the reasons are numerous - the good pay, the flexible hours, the love of teaching and learning, plenty of holidays and summers off and helping the next generation prepare for life after high school. But for all the good things about teaching, there is plenty of bad - rude students, apathetic students, lazy students, disruptive students, violent students, the swearing, the absences, the tardiness, the challenging of authority, the undone or missing work, the mental and emotional issues, the dealing with sexual and homophobic issues, the draconian administrators, a slow-moving school system, the achievement gap, the loss of creative autonomy in the classroom, the "Big Brother"-like environment. I could go on and on. But today's incidents reminded me once again that I need a change of scenery, despite its drawbacks, private sector life had its benefits as well - more money, work stays at the office, working with your peers, some holidays and every weekend off, bonuses, promotions, seeing change happen quickly and taking an active role in the change. Sure, my private sector jobs had me playing the role of the corporate cog, but at least I didn't have to deal with rude comments like (you're looking old) or being sworn at. Shoot, in the private sector a lot of the things that I deal with at school would be illegal and get people fired and/or sued. In the public sector, since I'm considered a "public servant" (as a black woman, that gives me an uneasy chill), I have to tolerate more from the public. But abuse is abuse no matter what the environment and teachers are people and as people we have rights. For all of teaching's benefits and rewards, I'm tired of the crap that I deal with on a daily basis. It's draining and at the end of each day I just want to collapse (which is what I do at home). I'm wasting my life on the couch because I'm depressed over my job, the direction of my career, my writing and my finances. If just one of those things could get better, it would pull everything else up. I need a break and soon.
But on to other matters, as a teacher and working with high school students, I am privy to all their interests and trends. Although I'm at an urban school, Miley Cyrus is well-known amongst my students and she was the subject of conversation today. Poor Miley. 15 and a multi-millionaire. I feel bad for her. NOT!!!!! Come on! Those pictures for Vanity Fair? If that's racy, what was sent to the cutting room floor?! I thought she looked pretty, innocent, an ingenue. The media is making her out to be the second coming of Britney Spears (or is that Jamie Lynn's role?). Granted, as an underage teen, mom and dad should have been more involved in the picture selection. But Anne Lebovitz, world-renowned photog, who shoots celebrities like I use a chalkboard (i.e. ALL THE TIME), said in today's Boston Herald, that Miley's parents reviewed the digital shots and essentially had no issues with the pictures. Miley viewed the shots as well and didn't have any issues. Now she's embarrassed? She's embarrassed because the media has taken her beautiful photos by Ms. Lebovitz and combined with her much racier Internet shots and have turned something wonderful into something twisted. My students knew all th juicy details of the Miley scandal. Now if they know all this but can't remember to bring a pencil to class what does that say about our kids? Our society? The Miley scandal will pass as soon as some other celeb is caught doing something stupid, dangerous or both. For now, I say to Ms. Cyrus, lay low, stop apologizing for the pictures and wait it out.
Ciao for now.