"It was the BEST of times...It was the WORST of times.." The Life of Today's Teacher

"It Was the Best of Times"
There's an endless amount of reasons why teaching in today's world really is the best job there is (for example...see this powerful video about "What Teacher's Make")

I mean, what other job allows you to make the difference that we do on a daily basis? How many people can say that they are responsible for shaping what our future will be? As cliché as it is...teaching really is the best job there is.

 

Beyond that, with the evolving technology there's a huge increase in the availability of resources via websites like Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers that help to enhance some of our outdated curriculum.

 

This increase in technology has also helped to enhance our lessons in the classroom as student engagement is 'up" with the use of this technology.

 

However...while I've only been teaching for 5 years...I've seen a shift in what "teaching" really means.

"It Was the Worst of Times"

With the state of the economy many teachers, like many other professionals, are seeing huge cuts in funding. These cuts are meaning less jobs, higher class sizes, and no "extra" to help support the resources needed in a classroom...meaning teachers are using their own money to provide students with materials like paper, pencils and markers.  

This strain on the economy is also affecting families as more parents are losing their jobs, putting a huge stress on the student...which is then brought into the classroom. Where it was once our job "simply to teach," we're now responsible for (in some schools) providing students with their basic needs (food, sleep, clothing, safety, love) before we can even consider teaching them anything about reading or math.

We're also being faced with the HUGE task of preparing our students to pass very difficult state, and nation, mandated tests. Students in kindergarten are now being plopped in front of a computer screen during the first month of school so we can see what their "RIT score" tells us about how they learn.

 

Frankly, there are many days where our job seems impossible to succeed at!

 

However, for the sake of our students..and for our sanity...it's important to keep coming back to "the best of times" and remembering what's really important about what we do. Our students.