I need a vacation from teenagers
I love my job. I want to start off by saying that.
But there are some parts of my job that are very exhausting. Dealing with multiple personalities, for example, and wishing the best for each of them but wanting them to desperately see the error of their ways. I think that's the hardest part of teaching, because very often you have to censor what you say and how you say it; you are bound by the duty that is your profession to not harm the psyche in your care. As a teacher you realize that each person is a unique soul and you want that soul to learn and grow and sometimes that means watching them struggle through something. But at that same time, you also feel pangs of disappointment when they don't react to things the way you think they will; they revert back to the reaction that they have committed year after year because that's all they know. So it was today...
The interesting thing that I keep reminding myself is that this is just another year. One more year in the grand tally that will be my career. I get to watch each year pass by with its struggles, arguments, frustrations, and above all exhilarating spendours and then I get to turn around it do it all over again, and again, and again. The kids on my staff will at some point, graduate--leaving in their place a new crew to live through. The perpetual circle that is teaching continues.
I think you always want each year to get easier, but there are some things that are out of your control. Dangit for being a control-freak. You can't control how students react to each other. You can't even control how students react to you. But you can control how you react to them. Which is why, at this point, I sigh, take a deep breath, and remember: the future will eventually be here.
But there are some parts of my job that are very exhausting. Dealing with multiple personalities, for example, and wishing the best for each of them but wanting them to desperately see the error of their ways. I think that's the hardest part of teaching, because very often you have to censor what you say and how you say it; you are bound by the duty that is your profession to not harm the psyche in your care. As a teacher you realize that each person is a unique soul and you want that soul to learn and grow and sometimes that means watching them struggle through something. But at that same time, you also feel pangs of disappointment when they don't react to things the way you think they will; they revert back to the reaction that they have committed year after year because that's all they know. So it was today...
The interesting thing that I keep reminding myself is that this is just another year. One more year in the grand tally that will be my career. I get to watch each year pass by with its struggles, arguments, frustrations, and above all exhilarating spendours and then I get to turn around it do it all over again, and again, and again. The kids on my staff will at some point, graduate--leaving in their place a new crew to live through. The perpetual circle that is teaching continues.
I think you always want each year to get easier, but there are some things that are out of your control. Dangit for being a control-freak. You can't control how students react to each other. You can't even control how students react to you. But you can control how you react to them. Which is why, at this point, I sigh, take a deep breath, and remember: the future will eventually be here.