With Me In Between

(The kids with their Papaw Hunter)

Mom and Dad

Elizabeth and David Hunter

 

To Be or Not To Be

To be honest, I have not worked in any field other than some manual labor the last 25 years. So I want to get that out of the way right from the beginning.

I also want to get out of the way that I know that teachers can be a whiny lot. We seem to complain about any new initiative or any new change.

But...

We have a teacher shortage in the state of Indiana, and from what I have read, we have one from all over the country.

But today, to show our appreciation...here's some pizza, or you can wear jeans, or you get a card in your mailbox recognizing your birthday.

And those things are nice...

But...

We deal with over 100 children who are represented by hundreds of family members, all who have an opinion about teachers usually coming from their experiences in school.

We deal with each other who seem over worked and under appreciated.

But it is not the students that drive this teacher to the point of retirement early, it's the people who are above me, adding more things to our plate every...singe...year.

I want to research, study and do my job in my class.

I do not need to have students leave school early weekly so I can collaborate, conversations and emails work.

I do not need to do silly "games" when we have yet another meeting that could have been covered in an email.

I do need to be able to use the bathroom when I need to.

I do need some time to decompress each day, more than a ten minute passing period in which it ends up shorter than that because students ask questions and it is the only time ALL teachers can find a bathroom.

I do need more money, if not for me, give it to the younger teachers. 

I do not need to be treated like I am a pain in the ass every year when trying to negotiate a contract.

It used to be that admin and the teachers understood we were in the same boat, it doesn't feel that way anymore.

It feels like "us" vs. "them" and the "them" are doing everything in their power to make sure the "us" are not a happy group of people.

To be fair, I don't understand what admins do or their expectations (weird isn't it?"

But you want to improve morale in a school?

On a day when we have yet another meeting that no one wants to be at or will pay the minimum attention...cancel it.

Give every teacher a $50 gift card to a restaurant.

Give every teacher $25 occasionally.

Quit having so many professional development days where you bring someone from outside into the building. IF you want those, let teachers meet and allow it to organically happen...no agenda other than be better teachers when you leave this meeting than you were before you entered.

Finally, get rid of the sick day vs. personal day to miss school...you make liars out of all of us.

Yea, Nothing

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away...

Well, yesterday I finished 25 years as a classroom teacher and to say that I have learned a lot about my job and myself would be an understatement.

What I've learned is as follows:

Idiocracy Wasn't Supposed to be a Documentary

It's actually happening.

Idiocracy...the movie which was made as a comedy is becoming, slowly, the USA that we live in.

If you don't know the movie, it's worth a watch, but a regular guy is put to sleep in a military test for one year, but wakes up quite a bit later than one year.

And when he starts to interact with the USA of that time, he's the smartest man in the country...and he's an average intelligent person.

When it came out, we all laughed at it and thought there is no way this happens, but it is.

And this is how.

We live in echo chambers where we only see, hear, and read anything that agrees with our preconceived notions.

Because this happens, we believe that we are smart, when in actuality, we're not.

Social media has made reading books tedious and boring.

We have every desire and need at our fingertips.

And with ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence "stuff" becoming more widely used, it is really becoming "why do we need to know anything?".

Seriously, we don't need to know anything because everything can be looked up, done and accomplished without any talent or...knowledge.

We have people who cannot define what a woman is, when life begins or even believe that the Earth is flat and "smart" people supporting Russia and Hamas. 

And I mean...a lot.

So how does Idiocracy happen then? If we're not there yet?

We will become so reliant on our devices that we will not know anything other than what we know right now and what our algorithms lead us into believing, and then, probably, at some time those devices will fail us and we won't have anything that reminds us of the times before. 

Before we relied on our devices to tell us what to believe.

Before we just believed what someone we thought was smart told us to believe or feel.

Before memes were our source of the news.

Then, we can only hope some regular guy from the past, awakens from his slumber and saves the day.

Sigh.....

Sadness Today

I'm tired...

As you age, more people in your life, it seems, die.

People older that you saw as invincible as well as people your own age...they pass away.

But young people, it's just not supposed to happen.

I have ADHD, I have no doubts.

But I grew up in the 1970's and they just didn't diagnose that unless it was blatantly obvious.

So I have grown up adjusting and surviving.

But it keeps me outraged and upset about what seems everything all the time.

And it's tiring.

It seems that so many things have surrounded me, and are smothering me.

Coaching, teaching, my family life...I'm pushed or smothered and I've learned to compartmentalize and deal and distance myself.

But then an email comes through and one of your more recent students has passed away...18 years old.

I'm tired...